Rock Her (3 page)

“See you guys back at the hotel,” Kip said, handing his drink
to Brunette Becky, who sipped from it. “Or not. Whatever.” He left the balcony.

Jack scooted closer to brunette Becky and smiled a mouthful of
very white teeth. “So, what shall we talk about?”

Kip made it through the undulating masses and found the door.
The cool air hit him instantly and he stopped and basked in it. It was almost
as hot in there as up on the stage. He realized his shoulder was aching and he
spun his arm around a couple times to work out the cramp.

The surgeons told him that it would never fully work the same
way again, but he set out to prove them wrong. It was then that he took the
guitar seriously and honed his skills. He could play since he was a child, when
his mother had forced him to take piano lessons. But on the guitar he was only
mediocre. The day after surgery he was told he would have only limited use of
his arm. That afternoon he slipped a roll of cash into the nurse’s hand and
told her where to go and what to buy. She returned that night with twelve
Gibson guitars. He examined them all and chose which one he liked best he gave
the rest away to hospital staff. Within a week he was playing ‘Stairway to
heaven’ from his hospital bed.

The day he was discharged he ran an advertisement and
interviewed seventy two musicians. Of those he picked the three he’d just left
in the balcony of the Steel Rain night Club and called them
Kiptonite
.

He was sure this all made a great story, and he knew he would
tell it to Annie, but he hadn’t quite worked out how he was going to explain
why he was in the hospital.

He didn’t want to go anywhere near that story. Suddenly he
decided that maybe this whole biography thing was a bad idea anyway.
Fuck, I need a drink
.

He started down the busy sidewalk. A moment later a disheveled
looking man approached and stopped in front of him. He was wearing a grey
trench coat that was absolutely filthy. His beard was long and matted with dirt
and old food. Kip stopped and smiled at the man, then started to step around
him when he said nothing. The guy sidestepped and blocked his path again.

“What can I do for you, man?” Kip said, keeping his smile on
his face.

“Just looking for an autograph, man,” the dirty guy said.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing man, I uh, I have nothing to write with,
you have anything?” Kip said.

The man spread his arms and shrugged.

“Sorry, man. Catch me next time, okay?” Kip stepped around him
again and walked on. He had the strange feeling of eyes on his back, and his
military training sounded off. He turned around and saw the man staring at him.
Kip spread his hands again and turned back around. Up ahead he saw the lobby
for the Hilton and he stepped in. He made his way straight back to the bar,
where he bellied up and ordered a Jack and Coke.

He scanned the bar and at the end caught a familiar sight. He
had to do a double take since it was the last person he expected to see. Annie
sat there, hovering over a drink. Her face was red and she did not look like
she was having a good time.

Kip caught the bar maid’s attention and pointed to the seat
beside Annie, and he made his way over.

“Missed you at the club,” he said as he sat down next to her.
Annie flinched and saw it was Kip. She straightened and wiped her face with her
hand.

“Kip, hi. Didn’t expect to see you here,” Annie said.

Well, that’s clear
,
he thought. “What’s the matter, Annie?”

Annie downed her drink and shifted in her seat. “Oh, you know.
The meeting I had didn’t go as well as I hoped.”

“Sorry to hear it. Can I help?”

“Unlikely,” Annie said smiling. “But thanks for the offer.”

Kip flashed his million dollar smile at her. “Oh, I don’t know,
Annie. I am pretty good at helping people. There’s a lot more to me than just
rock star Kip, you know?”

“No, Kip, I don’t know. I spent five hours with you last night
talking about your life and I still have no idea who you are.”

Kip looked down at the floor. “You’re right, Annie. I am not
being very cooperative, am I? I’ll tell you what, you fill me in on what is
happening with you right now and I will answer all of your questions.”

This is a huge fucking
gamble,
he thought.
I really don’t
want to fill her in on anything she asks. Why did I just say that?
Kip was
praying now that he said it that she would decline the offer.

“I met with my ex-husband tonight,” Annie suddenly confessed to
him. “It didn’t go as well as I was hoping. I had sex with him but then shooed
me out of the room.”

Shit, she really is all
about getting the story
.

“I am sorry. What a fucking dick,” Kip said solemnly. “And you
were hoping for…?”

Annie looked at him like he was clueless. Then her eyes
softened. “Fuck, I don’t know, Kip. I was hoping to make up, maybe. And now I
don’t know why. He was an asshole tonight just like he’s always been.”

“You met him here, at the Hilton?”

Kip looked around the room. He had a sense about trouble, and
his senses were telling him some was nearby. And he quickly spotted it.

“Annie, did you meet your husband here, at the Hilton?” He
asked her.

“Yes, Why?”

“Oh, just cause I think I am about to meet him here, too.” Kip
said matter of
factly
.

Just then she heard the familiar voice behind her. “Who in the
fuck is this?”

Annie spun around and saw her husband standing there. He was
short but well built. He spent a lot of time in the gym.

Kip stood up and put out his hand. “Hi, I am Kip Jones. So nice
to meet you sir. Heard a lot about you.”

Annie’s ex scanned Kip for a moment. Kip knew this was going to
end badly. The man was obviously drunk, and his eyes told Kip that he was
looking to start a fight.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you have.” The man slurred.

Annie tried to get between them. This was clearly not the first
time she had tried to keep her ex-husband from starting a fight.

“Stewart, this is Kip, Kip this is Stewart. Stewart, Kip is the
rocker I was telling you about upstairs. I am going to write his biography.”

“Uh-huh. So you’re going to have to get to know him really
well, huh? As well as you got to know that
fuckwad
democrat senator?”

Kip sat back down so as to not provoke him.
Fuckwad
democrat? Her ex seems to be the
fuckwad
.

“Stewart, we’ve been over all of this,” Annie said. “Yes, I
need to get to know the person I am writing about.”

Why is she arguing with
this drunk?

“Yeah?” Stewart slurred.

“Yes, Stewart, this is the same argument we’ve had over and
over again,” Annie sighed.

“Which is exactly why we’re ex’s, bitch” Stewart said.

Yeah, I cannot let that
go.

Kip stood up and put himself between Annie and Stewart. “Real
nice meeting you Stewart,” he said, and he put his hand out to Annie, offering
to take her away.

Stewart stepped closer. “Uh, I don’t know how it works in the
Rock and Roll world there, rock star, but this bitch ain’t going anywhere with
you.”

“Stewart,” Annie said, and before she could finish his name his
fist shot out and he punched her in the head. The move totally caught Kip off
guard, or he never would have let it happen. In an instant he grabbed Stewarts
forearm and spun him around. He kicked his booted foot into the back side of
his knee and yanked him backward. Stewart crumpled to the floor, his knee
separating with a loud pop heard throughout the bar. The wound was devastating.
More than was required for this drunken idiot. Kip instantly felt badly for
what he’d done, and he quickly kneeled down and offered him aid.

Stewart was wailing in pain. Annie jumped to her feet and
recoiled in horror while holding her head.

Kip yelled to the bar maid behind the counter to call an
ambulance and the police. People at the surrounding tables and bar stools
scattered away from the violence.

It didn’t take long for the ambulance and police to arrive. Kip
willingly took responsibility and admitted he had damaged Stewart’s knee. But
immediately Annie interjected and told them that Stewart had attacked Kip,
missing on his swing and hitting her instead. Kip was only defending himself.
Between drunkenness and his pain, Stewart was unable to offer his account of
events. No one else in the bare was willing to come to his defense. Either
because they hadn’t seen the whole thing or, if they had, they saw him hit
Annie and didn’t give a rat’s ass what happened to him.

In the end, the police released Kip on his own recognizance
with a warning that he may be required to go to the police department for more
questioning, should it be necessary.

An hour later, Kip and Annie left the bar and walked slowly
down the sidewalk toward the Plaza Hotel. Kip apologized profusely for his
actions back at the bar, and Annie apologized profusely for Stewarts.

“Why do you apologize for him?” Kip asked her finally.

She hesitated before answering. “Because I love him. Or at
least I used to. Oh, fuck, I don’t know. I am so confused when it comes to
Stewart. He didn’t use to be like that, you know?”

“Well, he’s like that now,” Kip said, “and you deserve better,
Annie.”

“I know. Would you believe I used to council battered women?”
She said with a forced chuckle. “I cannot believe I let myself get into this
situation.”

“It should be easy enough to get out of,” Kip said.

“You think so, huh?” Annie replied sarcastically.

“Yes, it is. You went to see him, right?

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Kip said. “So stop doing that.”

“You think it is that easy?” Annie said with contempt in her
voice.

“No. No, I didn’t say it was easy. But you do have to do it. So
do it. Stop seeing him. Stop even thinking about him. Yes, it’s hard. Believe
me, I know.”

Annie looked at him with outrage as they walked side by side.
Then her face softened. “Yes, I know.” She said, tears forming in her green
eyes. “I know you’re right, of course.”

“So, resolve to stay away. Stop answering his calls. And forget
the idea of getting back together. You said it yourself, he’s not the man he
once was.”

“You do make it sound so easy,” she said.

“I’m not trying to. I am just trying to make it sound
necessary. ‘Cause it is.”

She gave him a look to the side and he gave her his patented
Kip Jones smile. She smiled back. Then she winced from the pain.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Oh, just doing my part,” Kip replied.

“Actually, you have no part. This was really none of your
business.”

“Well it is now since I snapped your ex’s knee. I am probably
going to get sued even if I don’t get brought up on criminal assault charges.”
Kip said smiling.

“You’re probably right,” Annie said. “Stewart is an attorney.
Not a trial lawyer, but he knows a lot of them. I am sure he will try to sue
you.”

“It’s Okay. I am rich,” Kip said quickly.

 
“I hope so, Stewart has very
good attorneys.”

“Well, I am very rich, so bring them on,” he laughed.

Brag much? Hope she
forgets I said it.

Annie stopped walking and turned toward him. Looking very
serious she asked him, “How rich, Kip?”

Fuck.
Kip stopped
walking, too and looked deadly serious right back at her.

“Very.”

Annie squinted, “How very is very?”

“You got your notebook on you?” Kip asked.

“No.”

“Well, you might want to wait for me to answer that until you
get it.”

Kip looked over Annie’s shoulder and saw a familiar face
approach. It was the dirty grey duster he was wearing that Kip first noticed.
Shit, not a good time
.

Kip had learned in his short time of fame that when you’re in
the public spotlight you should never dodge your fans and admirers. So, he
straightened up and looked sincere.

“Annie, do you have a pen on you?”

Annie patted her tight dress and cupped her luscious tits in
her hand. “Fresh out,” she said. “Left it in my other bra.”

As the same disheveled man from before the Hilton bar incident
approached, Kip held up his hands toward him. “Sorry, buddy, I’ve still got no
pen.”

Then the man opened his duster and pulled out a small handgun,
aimed it and fired.

Kip saw it coming and pushed Annie to the ground and dodged to
the side, rolling on the concrete sidewalk. Pandemonium broke out on the
crowded street. Kip quickly recovered and looked up to see the man spinning
around and looking at all of the running people, a huge grin on his face. Kip
was on his feet and heading toward him just as the bum caught sight of him and
brought the gun up for another shot. Kip dove and planted his shoulder in the
filthy guy’s chest, knocking him to the ground in the street. Traffic screeched
to a halt and Kip gained feet again just as a taxi skidded to a stop inches
before hitting him. Kip slammed his hands on the hood and steadied himself. He
looked around for Annie, who was safe on the sidewalk, pulling down her dress
where it had ridden up during the fall. Then he spun around looking for the
gunman. He was nowhere to be seen. Others had seen him though, and were
pointing in the direction he ran. No one went after him.

Kip caught his breath and walked over to Annie, who was being
helped to her feet by two men.

“This night just keeps getting better and better, huh?” he said
to Annie smiling.

Annie looked up and her jaw dropped open just as her eyes,
widened.

“Kip,” she said, exasperated and staring at his chest.

Kip stopped.
What
? He
thought.
I was just a hero for the second
time tonight? Why the anger?