Ransom(52)
I jog over to him. “Can I talk to you?”
He looks down at his watch. “I do have a couple calls to make, Dalt. Can we talk in the morning?”
“This’ll just take a minute.” I take a deep breath. “I know we’re going to have a bunch of extra rehearsals and responsibilities with this VMA thing.”
He nods. “That’s true. But it’s months away, nothing we have to worry about now.”
“Just listen for a sec, please. I’ve been saying for weeks now that I need a break. I’m exhausted, and my voice and performances are suffering for it.”
I can tell he’s struggling not to roll his eyes. “Your performances have been better than ever this week—”
“Yeah, because I’ve been having a little fun. I’ve had friends here to hang out with, people to spend my down time with. I’ve had a personal life.”
“Son, I know this is hard—”
“I’m not complaining about the work, Dad. I understand that we need to work hard, and I’m happy to do it. But I need a break every once in a while. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll be better for it.”
He watches me carefully. “I can make an effort to schedule more free—”
I’m shaking my head so hard he stops mid-sentence. “No. No more crap about making an effort or trying.” His eyes narrow, and I swallow. I never talk to my dad this way. But I need to get through to him. “It’s too easy to commit to stuff when you put it like that, Dad. There’s always some last-minute interview, some appearance you couldn’t pass up. It’s not good enough.”
He looks angry. “What did you have in mind?”
“I want an entire day off between shows when we get to New York.”
He stares at me for a beat before a smile breaks over his face. “Nice try. Now, seriously, what do you have in mind?”
“I’m not joking, Dad.”
“Daltrey—”
“Look, we’re in New York for five full days.”
“Yes, because it’s the entertainment capital of the world. You have two concerts, several radio appearance, stops at MTV, VH1, and a performance on Letterman.”
“All of which is fine. But if you want me to be at these events, you’re going to need to schedule them on four of the days. Because I’m taking one day off.”
I can practically see his brain whirring, trying to come up with an argument that I’ll respond to. “Look, Dad. You’ve always told us that the worst thing that can happen to a musician is to lose his passion, right? That’s why you’re always so adamant about us not taking drugs. Think of all the friends you’ve lost from the old days because they were too high to give a shit about their music.”
His face tightens. “Are you telling me that you’re experimenting with drugs, Daltrey? Does this have something to do with Daisy?”
I laugh at the absurd idea of Daisy bringing me into the dark world of drug use. “No. I’m not on drugs. But I am worried that if I keep going at this pace, I’m going to be burned out by the time this tour is done. Like, seriously burned out. There are already days when I wish we could just go home, when the idea of picking up my guitar makes me feel ill. That scares me.”
He stares at me. “That scares me a little too.”
“Music is all I know. I don’t want to lose it just because I couldn’t take a damn day off. My brothers are feeling the same way, though maybe not as intensely as me. We need this.”
“Okay,” he says. “I’ll have to move a few things around, but you guys won’t have any band responsibilities on Wednesday of that week.”
I feel a warm wave of relief rush over me. I wrap my arms around him for another hug, so happy that he finally listened to me, that he actually heard me. I see the look of surprise on his face right before I go in for the embrace, but he hugs me back.
“Thanks, Dad.” I pull away. “Really, this means a lot to me.”
“We should have scheduled it a long time ago, huh?” he asks, still wearing that slightly confused expression.
I laugh. “Yeah, probably. And just so you know, I am taking the day off. If anything happens to be scheduled, either by accident or on purpose, I will not be there.” I turn to leave.
He calls after me, “You know I’m proud of you, right, Daltrey?”
I turn back to face him. “Um… yeah, Dad. Sure I do.”
He nods once, his eyes on the floor. “I know I work you guys too hard. I… I don’t mean to. I just know how important it is for your careers that things go a certain way, that we take all of our opportunities. I never want you boys to live with regret the way that… the way that I do.”