Page 9 of Not the Punk

Pierce waved them all to follow him, and they retook the stage. I should have known. Laz helped Joe and Kay again and when everyone looked ready, Joe jumped in on the opening riff for Burning Me Down.

They rocked so hard. But their time was up soon enough, and Joe handed his guitar off to Laz before jogging. Right toward me.

I gave Joe a hug and told him he sounded great. He lit up. Boy or not, he loved praise. “That’s the best. Come back to the bus with us.”

“Of course.”

Our crew walked back through the grounds of Black Rock. This area was protected by security and everyone had to have passes hanging from lanyards around their necks. We also had security escorting us everywhere, but that didn’t stop our group from greeting others along the way. Several other bands waved as we passed, but then I saw someone I knew. “Isn’t that the Social Sinners guys?”

“Yeah,” Joe answered. “But I don’t recognize a lot of those people with him.”

Matty grunted and came up beside Joe. “Pretty sure that’s that new band Mastersons was putting together. They had a big audition for it.”

“That’s right. I heard about that. Imminence-something or other?”

“Danger.” Matty put his hand on Joe’s shoulder, making me want to flick it off, but I refrained, knowing they were just friends, and also wondering why that got me so green-eyed. “Imminent Danger. That’s the name of the band.”

“You sure know a lot about them.” Before Joe could say much else, two of the Social Sinners members came over and started shit-talking with our guys and giving them fist bumps at the same time.

Jinx hugged one of them. “Stoli, you mother fucker. How’s it hanging?”

“Hanging low, and better than you losers for sure.” He slapped Pierce’s palm. I wasn’t sure what all that was about, but I'd be sure to get the lowdown from Joe later.

“Seriously, Punks. We couldn’t make it to your performance because we’re playing next. Hope it was great, but I’m sure you killed it. Peace out.” Then they were gone, just like that.

Joe leaned into me. “They’re the headliners.” I pretty much thought that since they were the only band around that I actually knew of. “Do you want to go watch them? I’m sure it’ll be cool.”

“No. Maybe we can do something like that next year.” It was already dark, and I would feel better if we just got back to the bus.

“Cool. They’re really the best guys. All that posturing was just fucking around.”

I nodded. For a moment, I was going to correct his language, but I didn’t want to do that in front of everybody. We weren’t there in our relationship. I squeezed his hand, and we kept walking.

By the time we made it to the bus, someone had set up chairs between two of the buses, and everyone took a seat before the alcohol started flowing. Joe sat next to me, pulling his chair closer, and this time when he grabbed a bottle, it looked like he took a big swig. “Ahh…” He handed me the bottle. “I’m drinking for real this time. That show fucking rocked.”

Again, with the language, but he wasn’t my Boy yet, so I couldn’t say anything. His bandmates would probably think I was strange. Hell, these guys were rockstars and foul language was part of that. Maybe our rules would allow it when the band was around. I wasn’t sure, and we still had a lot of talking to do before that happened, and honestly, he might not be a Boy at all, but I had suspicions.

I took a swig and passed the bottle to Kay who was on my other side. “Thanks, Unca.”

“Unca? What the fuck is that about?” Pierce snatched the bottle from Kay. “You guys are so weird sometimes.”

“Well, he’s like Saxon’s brother, so he’s our uncle.”

“No, he would be your brother too. Saxon isn’t your father.”

Kay opened his mouth to retort, but Don beat him to it. “Fuck off, Pierce. No one asked you. We can do what we want.” Attaboy!

Pierce flipped them off. “Whatever. I just think you carry this shit too far.”

“Pierce. Stop being so jealous and mind your own damn business.” I wanted to stop this confrontation. Kay and Don didn’t need to hear that shit, and I sure as hell didn’t want Joe feeling his negative energy. It could derail us before we even got started. Plus, I was always going to stick up for my brother, Saxon. “If you weren’t so concerned about what everyone else is doing, maybe you’d have someone.”

I must have hit the mark. Pierce glared at me and walked off without another word. I didn’t want to blow up everything when they were supposed to be celebrating but fuck him. He started it.

Don scoffed, “I’d hoped Pierce would lose the attitude by now.”

Dave passed the bottle on to someone else and cleared his throat. “I think we all have different experiences and bring different shit to the table, you know? Pretty sure none of us know what’s really going on with him. Or me. Or any of you.” He swept his arm out to indicate everybody.

Pierce’s tech—Don said his name was Rowan—walked up, catching the end of the conversation. He nodded at Dave. “I think that’s very true. Thanks, Dave.” Then he walked off in the same direction Pierce had gone.