Rock Chick 06 Reckoning (19 page)

I watched Floyd’s antics and only I could hear my laughter over the music. My eyes moved to Hugo who was doing a weird, super fly black man dancing to rock ‘n’ rol dance, shoulder’s moving up and down, hands tucked tight to his chest, head bobbing, feet moving around in a wide square.

The crowd was there, feeding us but they’d also somehow melted away.

The band was al on its own. We were the only ones in the club and we were tight, most ev’ry night and there was no mistake about it.

Buzz, his bass not needed in the song, was jumping up and down, a wide smile on his lips, tears streaming down his face, his bass flipped around so it was at a slant along his back.

I was working the stage, working the band, fol owing alongside Floyd as he made another crazy crouch-walk back across the stage.

I tossed my hair, throwing my head back to do it and just kept playing.

I stopped, leaned forward at the hips and laughed open-mouthed in the direction of Leo who was moving his hips and shaking his head, his dirty hair in his eyes, grinning like a loon. I looked to Pong who was banging on the drums, swinging his wild hair around so much it was like a living thing.

Linnie would love this,
my brain told me.

Linnie always loved this,
I told my brain and she did.

Linnie’s favorite was always ZZ Top’s “La Grange”, she begged us to do it, every gig.

Here’s to Linnie,
my brain whispered.

“Here’s to Linnie,” I whispered back.

I smiled at Buzz, he smiled at me and went to the microphone as the notes started to fade.

“Long live rock ‘n’ rol !” he screamed.

The crowd roared.

I nodded at the lighting guy.

The stage went black.

* * * * *

“We got trouble,” Duke growled but I’d already felt it. The high from “La Grange” disappeared in a flash and my eyes moved to the source of the trouble just as Duke plastered himself to my side and the band came clattering down behind me.

“What’s goin’ on?” Floyd asked.

I moved toward the back wal where Lee, Vance and a newly-arrived Mace had Monk pinned to the wal using nothing but their col ective badass presence to hold him there.

“And lighten the fuckin’ crowd,” I heard Mace finish on a snarl when I stopped several feet behind his back. I didn’t have to see his face to know Mace was
not
in a good mood. I just had to look at the straight line of his back and the tight way he was holding his powerful body.

“
Have you lost your fuckin’ mind?
” Monk screeched, eyes huge and riveted on Mace.

“You don’t close down the door and lighten the crowd, I’m
gonna
lose my fuckin’ mind, make no mistake,” Mace returned and, honest to God, there was no mistake to be made in the tone of Mace’s voice.

Lordy be.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

Four sets of male eyes moved to me but it was Monk who spoke.

who spoke.

“Stel a, beautiful, cal off your man.”

I felt the band settle in behind me and Duke was stil close to my side.

“What’s happening?” I repeated.

“You don’t cal off your man, we got problems,” Monk threatened.

I never liked Monk. I suspected he skimmed from our take on the door. I knew he watered down drinks. I also knew he didn’t card pretty young girls nor did he serve them the watered down booze. He also got too close when he talked to me and he had bad breath. Al this was not conducive to me liking him so I never did.

I shoved in between Mace and Vance.

“What… is… happening?” I asked, speaking slowly and sounding as pissed off as I was.

I mean, no one messed with a ZZ Top vibe.

No one.

Especial y not someone like Monk.

Monk had dark, thick, bushy hair around the sides of his head but he was bald and shiny at the top. He was shorter than me, rounder than anyone I knew and had weasel eyes.

He looked like a weird, scary clown without the makeup.

“He’s over code for maximum capacity,” Lee answered for Monk. “And his boys aren’t doing thorough searches.” This was not good.

Monk often went over code, this wasn’t a surprise. But thorough searches were kind of important if I wanted to be breathing in the morning. And equal y important for al the Rock Chicks to be safe.

Rock Chicks to be safe.

“You know how long it takes to wand someone and look through their shit? It’d take hours to get people in here,” Monk flashed at Lee then lost his bravado and visibly quailed when Lee’s angry eyes sliced to him.

“Monk, do you have any idea what’s at stake here?” Floyd had shoved in between Lee and Mace and he looked even angrier than Lee but not more than Mace, one glance at Mace said very bad things for Monk’s immediate future).

Before Monk could answer, Lee cut in and said to Monk,

“You agreed to the procedure.”

“I agreed but I had no idea it’d be this tight, take that long at the door. The Gypsies are a solid act but there were people leaving the line and goin’ home. That’s me losin’

money, I don’t like losin’ money.” Monk, stupidly, wasn’t backing down.

“You stil got a line outside and you’re over capacity. You aren’t losin’ shit,” Vance threw in.

“Turn ‘em away, close the door and thin the fuckin’

crowd. I want fifty people ejected before the next set,” Mace demanded.

I watched Monk and it was like in the cartoons when dol ar signs rol ed in character’s eyes. You could see Monk calculating the loss at the bar, not to mention the cover charge he’d have to return if he ejected fifty people.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Monk told Mace.

Mace leaned in and it was not a friendly, shiny-happy-people lean.

Definitely not good.

Okay then, time for me to intervene.

Okay then, time for me to intervene.

I pushed in front of Mace and pressed my back into his front in an effort to hold him back.

“You don’t do it, we don’t go back onstage,” I said to Monk.

“You don’t go back onstage, you don’t get paid,” Monk said to me.

“You don’t pay, I break your legs,” Mace joined the exchange.

“Awesome,” Pong muttered from behind us.

Pong had always liked the idea of us employing muscle so we wouldn’t get cheated by club owners (which happened a lot). Unfortunately, we’d never been able to afford it and even though Hugo had volunteered to kick some ass, I was worried he’d break a finger or something doing it. We needed his fingers, fingers were kind of important for a saxophone player so I forbade it.

Lee got in closer to Monk.

“You eject fifty people and you shut down the door. We got five cops in the club and they’l cal in the code violation if you don’t. Then they might feel inclined to cal the TTB, just for shits and grins.”

At this, Monk paled.

“What’s the TTB?” I heard Leo whisper from behind us.

“Fuck knows,” Pong muttered.

“Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau,” Hugo answered.

“Oh jeez,” Leo breathed with more than a hint of panic.

“Relax, it ain’t the DEA,” Buzz threw in.

“Thank God for that,” Leo said with relief.

“And anyway, that bag of grass you got in your guitar case ain’t shit to the DEA,” Pong declared.

“Yeah, they got bigger fish to fry,” Hugo pointed out sagely.

I made a quick prayer for deliverance from a band who would talk openly about one of their members in possession of a bag of marijuana after having just heard five cops were in the crowd.

When no deliverance was forthcoming, I twisted and looked around Mace’s body to the boys in my band.

“Would you guys
shut up?
” I snapped.

They al just stared at me with expressions that said,

“What?”

My effing band.

I turned back around to Monk.

“So?” I prompted when Monk didn’t speak.

Monk’s expression twisted into one that made him look like he’d just sucked on a lemon. It was not attractive. At the best of times Monk was not attractive so one could say this was more like,
really not attractive
.

“I’l close down the door and thin the crowd,” Monk gave in.

I looked at the ceiling. “Thank you, God.” My eyes came back to Monk when he started speaking again.

“Stel a, you continue to be this big of a pain in the ass and this asshole stays connected to the band,” Monk jerked a thumb at Mace, “I’l have to rethink my schedule.” Okay, there it was again.

Proof that my luck sucked.

We had three gigs scheduled in the next two months at The Pal adium. Even with him skimming off the top, we got our biggest take from Monk. Hel , Leo and Buzz could live for weeks off one night’s take at The Pal adium. We couldn’t lose The Pal adium.

Before I could retort, Mace moved. One second, I was between him and Monk. The next second,
nothing
was between him and Monk and Monk had miraculously grown six inches. This was because Mace had him off his feet, pressed to the wal partly with Mace’s body, partly with Mace’s hand at his throat.

“Do I have to explain my point?” Mace asked from between his teeth.

Monk’s eyes were bugged out and he was staring down at Mace. He shook his head as best he could with Mace’s hand wrapped around his neck just under his jaw.

Mace dropped Monk but stayed close.

“You give the band’s take of the door and pay to me tonight. I count it and I don’t like what I see, we’re gonna continue that conversation,” Mace told Monk.

Effing
hell
.

Did Mace just say that?

Monk glared at Mace but he nodded then he scooted out and lost himself in the crowd.

I watched Monk go.

Yep, Mace just said that.

Mace just took care of me and the band.

Again.

Effing, blinding hel .

“I fuckin’ love that guy,” Pong said, his eyes were on Mace.

Effing, effing, blinding, blinding, hel , hel ,
hell
.

“Don’t you have groupies to tag for post-gig festivities?” I asked Pong.

Pong’s body jerked at the realization that he was standing around with me and a bunch of men when he could be working the girls in the crowd, setting up that night’s action.

“Oh shit, yeah.” Pong turned and punched Hugo’s arm.

“Time’s a-wastin’, black man.”

Hugo looked down his nose at Pong. “Don’t cal me

‘black man’.”

“Why not?” Pong was on the move. He didn’t actual y care why not, he always cal ed Hugo “black man” and Hugo always told him not to.

“A black man can cal me ‘black man’. An eyeliner wearin’, hair-spray sprayin’, skinny white cracker can’t cal me ‘black man’.” Hugo was on the move too.

“Don’t cal me ‘skinny white cracker’.” I heard Pong say as he disappeared into the throng.

“You
are
a skinny white cracker.” I heard Hugo respond as he disappeared too.

“I need a beer,” Floyd said to no one and he headed toward the bar.

“I need my weed.” Leo headed backstage.

Buzz came up, eyes avoiding mine, and he gave me a brief hug. Buzz was often affectionate but, after al the drama, this stil took me off-guard.

Before I could respond, he disappeared in the crowd too.

I watched the space where I’d last seen Buzz.

I knew what the hug was for – Linnie and “La Grange”.

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t cry.

Duke, Vance and Lee melted into the shadows leaving me with Mace.

I took a swig of my beer. I was too emotional y charged to deal with Mace at that moment.

No, strike that, I was too emotional y charged to deal with Mace at al , ever.

“I need some alone time,” I told him even though I should have been thanking him. Yet again, he was taking care of me
and
my band.

To avoid looking at Mace, I was looking at the crowd.

Duke, Lee and, I noticed, now Hank and Wil ie, were holding back some people who wanted to get to me. They were creating a little pocket of solitude in the crowded club.

I could have kissed them.

“You had a year of alone time. That time’s up,” Mace replied and my eyes shifted to his then they narrowed.

Erm, pardonnez moi?

“Excuse me?” I asked.

He got close.

I retreated.

My back slammed against the wal . His hand came up to rest on the wal by the side of my head and his body curled around, fencing me in.

“Mace, please…” I asked softly, hoping he’d give in as he often did when I went soft.

“You’re magic up there,” Mace clearly wasn’t in the mood to give in and I knew then that he wasn’t newly arrived either. He’d likely been there al night, in the shadows, watching.

This made me shiver.

In the dim light of the club, I saw he’d gone soft too and his soft was a heckuva lot more powerful than mine.

Oh dear.

“Stop it,” I said.

“You think you’re good but you’re not good, you’re fuckin’

magnetic.”

“Stop.”

“You could light up arenas.”

I closed my eyes tight.

“Stop,” I whispered.

I felt him get even closer, the heat from his body hitting mine.

It felt good. It felt safe. It felt right.

“What you’re not is black.”

My eyes flew open but even so, there was only time to see him melt into the crowd.