Tempt My Heart(27)

I let out a small sigh, and rest my head on Dalton’s shoulder as we both stare at Cane’s grave. Neither of us say anything; we just accept the tranquility of this moment. The only sound is our breathing and the birds chirping in the trees around the cemetery.

Finally, I break the silence and tell Dalton exactly what I feel to be the honest truth, “I think that my falling into the destructive patterns that I was in was inevitable. Even if y’all followed my ass around everywhere, I think I would’ve still gotten hooked on drugs. The pain was too much to bear. I needed to find something to bury the sadness, even if it was only for a few hours. I’m trying to find other ways to cope. I’m just taking it day by day.”

Sitting up, Dalton wraps his right arm around me, and hugs me against him. “I’m glad to hear that. Try not to be such a stranger from now on. I’d love to have you over for dinner sometime so you can finally meet my rug rats. I tell them about Cane all the time. They love looking at all of our old photos. I know they’d love to meet you.”

Tilting my head up towards him, I smile and say, “I’d love that.”

Shortly after our conversation, Dalton left to head into work.

For a few more minutes, I lay on the grass beside Cane’s stone and tell him about Beyond Redemption’s newest tour. It has been nice to come to his grave and just be here with him, even if it’s only in spirit, and leave feeling okay.

For the first time, I don’t cry while I visit his grave.

I hope each day I can continue to become a little stronger, and be the person my friends, family, fans and Cane can all be proud of.





Who to do Lists


Jordon

“Can you believe we’re going on tour with Beyond Redemption?” I ask my bandmates Lawson, Jayson and Zane as the bartender slides shots of whiskey in front of us all.

Tipping back a shot and slamming the empty shot glass down on the bar, Jayson our bassist, flashes a cocky grin, “I can’t wait! I heard that the guys from Beyond Redemption only allow the finest pussy backstage. It’s going to be a fucking vagina oasis every damn night!”

Zane, our lead singer, burst out laughing, spewing his whiskey across the bar. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he says, “Did you seriously just say vagina oasis?” Shaking his head he lets out a deep chuckle, “The shit you come up with.”

Jayson gives Zane a light shove and rolling his eyes, grabs himself another shot, “You’ll be saying vagina-fucking-oasis too once you see the number of hot babes ready to jump on our dicks after our first show.”

Natasha, Lawson’s girlfriend, shoves herself between Zane and Jayson, and swings her neon animal print ‘blind-your-fucking-ass’ index finger between the two, “I don’t care how many ho’s are jumping on your dicks, as long as you keep them away from Lawson.”

Lawson is our drummer and is currently engaged to his girlfriend of three years, Natasha. She will be joining us on our tour bus for the first few stops, but then she’ll be flying back to Chicago where we’re all from.

Being down here in Miami, partying it up, is a hell of a lot better than being back in Chicago freezing our asses off! We can’t wait to get on the road and perform at the venues we have lined up. We’ve spent the last two years traveling around in a beat up van with four guys ranging from twenty-two to twenty-seven years old; it’s beginning to feel cramped. A big ass fucking tour bus is going to feel like the penthouse suite at the Ritz.

After our last single, Never Ending, hit number one on iTunes, we had Razor Records calling our agent asking to meet with us. We’ve had a huge following on YouTube for the last couple of years, but this industry can be a bitch. There are a lot of talented bands out there, so you need to find a way to brand yourself so you stand out.

Our unique sound helps us stand out in this ever changing world of music. After traveling around on a tour all summer with a group of Indie bands and selling out everywhere, we got the call that the label wanted us to open for Beyond Redemption on their new Finding Redemption Tour.

We were so fucking ecstatic. Good-bye small outdoor concerts and smoky bars, and hello big ass fucking arenas!

Tonight we’re all at Club Vertigo in South Beach, Miami. The label is throwing a big party to celebrate the tour kicking off here in Miami next Saturday at the American Airlines Center. It’s already sold out and going to be the biggest show we’ve ever performed at.

“You jackasses can sit at the bar all night talking about getting some pussy, but I’m going to go find me some!” Jogging by them laughing, I smack each of them on the shoulder before making my way out onto the dance floor.