We were still on the bus on the way to the next show. The cities we were doing the shows weren’t too far apart, so we’d gotten to stay in a hotel last night. Unfortunately, my brothers and I had gone out, so by the time I’d gotten back, it had been too late to call Jurnie. She had to work in the morning, so I couldn’t call her at two a.m.
I was strumming my guitar, working on a song. I didn’t write the bulk of them, but once in a while, I was moved to create something new. Guitar wasn’t my usual instrument, of course, but when writing, I liked to pick at it. Daisy wasn’t the only member of our family that could play multiple instruments. Most of us just couldn’t do all of them as well as she could.
The pad of paper in front of me had so many scratch marks on it that to most people, it looked like nothing. To me, it all made sense.
I was working on lyrics and music at the same time. It usually made for slow going, but this was what worked for me. Daisy would help me bring it all together later.
For three days, Jurnie and I had been missing calls and texts. Even Snaps. I’d always reply, it was just hours later. Same for her. This busy life while apart sucked.
“What are you doing?” Daltrey dropped into a seat near me. Having just the three of us on the bus made for more room, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it being the five of us at least some of the time.
Van was now riding permanently on Lexi’s bus, which happened to be Lawson’s bus, and of course Daisy rode on that one. We’d pushed her onto that one for safety after that crazy fucker had gotten onto ours, been alone with her, and scared the shit out of her.
Every single one of us blamed ourselves and felt responsible for that shit. We’d sent her to Lawson’s bus because no one would suspect she was on it. It gave all of us a feeling of safety. Didn’t expect the fucker to fall in love with her.
“Writing,” I told him. “What does it look like?”
He held up his hands and chuckled. “Someone’s awfully pissy.”
“Am not.” But I also didn’t look at him because if I did, he’d see just how pissy I was.
“Yeah, OK. Is it your girl?”
I didn’t answer him. Not with words anyway. Instead, I glanced up, locked eyes, and kept strumming before focusing back on the paper in front of me. Daltrey leaned over to grab the controller to play a game. There was only so much you could do on the bus.
“Of course it is.” He blew out a breath as the system booted and he chose a game. I wasn’t watching close enough to know which one he chose. Halo probably. It was his go-to game. “Why in the fuck would you decide to chain yourself to someone on our first big tour?”
“Can’t help who you fall for.”
He shrugged. “You kind of can. I’m not saying be Van and fuck anything that moves. I’m saying… it’s like you just want a relationship.”
“Listen.” I stopped playing. “I’ve fucked the women I’ve wanted to fuck. Even before the tour, but yes, sue me because I prefer having a relationship with a woman. You have to know what I mean. You’ve had some.”
He nodded. “I know what you mean. I was talking about being away. It’s fucking hard enough to maintain a relationship when you’re in the same city. Why on tour?”
“What’re we talking about?” Mack came out of the back then flopped into the table with his laptop. Since coming on tour, it was like he was always working. He was looking more and more like Lawson every day.
Mack was the oldest. He was also the biggest. Guys didn’t really compare heights too much, but Mack was the tallest of all of us. Given that Van, Daltrey, and I were six feet or just over, Mack had to be six-three or four. It was ridiculous.
“Bonham giving his heart to a girl while we’re on the road. Bad idea,” Daltrey answered for me.
“It’s a bad idea to give it to anyone,” Mack muttered, knowing we’d all hear him.
Daltrey and I locked eyes. There was a story there. Van had never had a relationship before Lexi. Mack had had brief ones. It was always like Mack wasn’t against commitment, but it was more like he hadn’t found the one. Whatever that meant. None of us had found the one. Except apparently Daisy and Van. Now, fuck, maybe me?
Was Jurnie the one? Had I known her long enough to even know that?
Fuck, we were dropping like flies.
Mack talked like he’d had his heart broken before and to my knowledge, he hadn’t. But we didn’t necessarily talk about that shit, now did we?
The three of us grew quiet, so I went back to working on this song, Daltrey back to his game, and Mack focused on work.
“What the fuck are you writing?” Mack asked suddenly after I’d been playing a few minutes.
“A song.”
“You know we don’t do country, right?”
Daltrey burst out into a loud laugh, but I was just confused. It wasn’t country. It was a ballad, but not country.
“What?” I asked.
“We don’t do country,” he said again. “That stinks of my woman left me, my dog left, and I lost my truck. What the fuck, Bonham? Work on what you want, but that’s not going on anything.”
“You should probably never play it in public,” Daltrey added.
“Fuck you both. It does not sound like country.”
“Maybe it was just the way you were playing it then.” Daltrey turned in his chair after pausing the game
