"What did you do with that kid?" Johnny growled, storming into the backstage dressing room where Lou Pearlman was changing his outfit after the disaster that had occured. Nick had hosed him down pretty good and they had to call for a new change in clothing as Mr. Pearlman was going to attend the awards after party. This was easier said than done since the manager wasn´t exactly wearing the smallest size in clothes.
Turning toward the black man who radiated nothing but anger, Mr. Pearlman mumbled, "What do you mean by that?" Narrowing his eyes he continued, "I haven´t done anything that the boy didn´t agree upon."
"Bullshit! You told Nick that the health drink would CURE him NOT make him this bad. Somehow I don´t think that this is what the kid expected. That he would practically turn his intestines inside and out, especially on an important day like this!" Johnny spat, not hiding the anger that was fuming inside of him like a furnace ready to explode.
"Man, take it easy," Lou grinned, trying to calm the hot tempered manager down, "I said that I was keeping the boys health under control and his weight, and I didn´t hear you complain about this earlier?"
"That was just beacuse I didn´t think that the outcome would be this violent. For crying out loud Lou the kid is sicker than a dog. He is puking both ways." Johnny’s eyes were black with anger. "I really think that spiking his health drink with laxative was taking it one step too far. Now the kid is too sick too perform, and this is NOT something we need right now."
Lou snorted, "It has to be more than that small dose of milk of magnesia I gave him. He probably caught that flu bug that’s going around. God knows the kid is like a human fly paper!" Fastening the belt around his vomniuos stomach he continued, "Nick will thank me one day for this!"
" Thank you? Are you out of your mind?" The anger that was pent up inside the black manager over the way Lou Pearlman treated the people in this business, like they were replaceable animals, was seeping out. He felt bad knowing that he hadn´t exactly treated the kid the best himself. He more than often looked upon him like he was something that the cat had dragged in. He felt that Nick sometimes was often more of a nuisance than a benefit. No matter how angry and demonic Johnny could be at times the thought had never crossed him to make the kid this ill. Especially not on a BIG day like this. He knew how much the kid had looked forward going to this one, and he felt that Nick had deserved to celebrate and not be stuck inside the restroom, too sick to either move or speak.
Not listening to the manager Lou continued, "Ýou and me both know that Nick is startig to gain a little too much weight for his own good. I´ve had a long talk with the boy and he agreed to control his intake on food. This is more than I can say when he was staying with you." There were a hint of sarcasm in the fat man’s voice. "To help him in the process I gave him a health drink and he will be grateful in the future that I helped him in a situation like this. He is starting to become fat, and fat don´t sell. Didn´t you see how he looked on stage?"
The fury build up inside Johnny as he growled loudly, "Speeding up the process! My ass! You can´t give him laxative the way you did. He is just a kid for crying out loud."
"A kid with obligations," Lou stated calmly. "Relax friend." He patted Johnny on the shoulder in a degrading way, "This is a well tested recipe that has helped overweight people loose and control their weight. It is fast and no effects from this one. Not dangerous at all. It causes some small discomfort for a short time and then it is over."
"Tell that to kid right now, or god, tell it to the rest of the boys." Johnny sneered since he wasn´t buying Lou’s pityful excuse to get Nick to diet. Okay, he agreed that the kid was starting to look a little chubby, but to give him a large dose of Milk of Magnesia, a does that was so bad that it literally could wipe out a whole population was a large step. In the wrong direction!
"You´re making it sound like this is bad. For your information this is a well tried method used with models when they want to keep in shape."
"Nick is not a model!" Johnny spat.
"No but he is the girl’s pet and we need him to stay in shape and young as long as possible. Both you and me knows that Nick sells, and he is the golden boy that feeds our mouths. I really think that we can take better care of our investment so it doesn´t run out of profit." Lou grinned.
Johnny felt sick! So this was the way Lou looked upon the boys? As an investment!! Shaking his head he couldn´t believe that this was the same man that once again took the guys under his protective wing, acting like a dad for them. Not that the teen didn´t get on his nerves sometimes, NO the kid could bug the hell out of him with his endless questions and immature ways. Yet he had to confess that he liked the boy. He had his own unique personality, and even if he was often as hyped up as a Mexican jumping bean he was still very likeable. What Johnny had a hard time dealing with was the moody teen that was more and more getting himself known. The manager was also a bit stressed out over the fact that he was in the process of building up another boyband from scratch. It was a new group of teenagers that Lou had put under his protection. Their name was N´sync!
"Anyway someone has to take the kid back to the hotel," Johnny concluded, "he is in no shape to go to the after party."
"NO he would probably just end up puking on someone else," Lou said with disgust. The thoughts that he had about the blonde were not very nice and Johnny feared that Nick was in a worse position than he had ever been before. Vomit on Lou was not something you did without punishment, even if it was accidental. The manager waved with his diamond dressed fingers, "That is your problem!"
Johnny sighed deeply, "One of us has to go back with him." He wasn´t too happy either since he would have rather gone to the after party where there was free liquor and food, than babysitting the kid throughout the night. But at the same way he felt sorry for the kid too. This had to be one of the most humilating moments in the kid’s history. He didn´t want to rub it in, knowing that Nick felt enough bad as it was.
"This is MY big night!" Lou stated with a motion, "I own the Backstreet Boys and if you think that I´m going to let some spoiled brat that ate too much ruin this you better think twice again." Looking at the manager he said with a shrug, "Send Brian. He can take care of his little friend. After all the boys are Frick and Frack, aren´t they?" The voice dripped with sarcasm.
"NO Brian is needed for the press!" Johnny commented, "I´ll take the kid back myself." His voice was being firm, " That boy needs to get into bed."
"Yeah...yeah " Lou waved the manager away. He didn´t care about Nick’s health as long as the boy was up and going again, like an engine. "But don´t forget that the boy has obligations to do tomorrow. To go to the meet and greet."
"The kid is in no shape to do that!" Johnny set his eyes into the top manager. "If you didn´t trick him he wouldn´t be heaving his guts out right now. I really wonder what the rest of the guys would say if they knew this!
"I would leave this alone if I were you. This is something between me and Nickolas." His voice was low, threatningly.
"Well you are not ME, are you?" Johnny snarled back.
"I suggest that you better rethink what you are saying now since the tax authorities would be more than happy to find out about those small businesses you made through out the years that the books weren’t kept on either."
Bastard! "You´re blackmailing ME?"
"Oh," Lou laughed, "I wouldn´t call it blackmailing. I´m just informing you about certain things that could get rather ugly if they were leaked out to the media." Lou looked like a snake to Johnny and for a moment he couldn´t understand how he could be wrapped up in this dirty business. "But if you forget the little deal that me and Nicky has then I won’t spill one word."
"Oh God, you ARE really blackmailing me!" Johnny was taking in the words slowly. He felt even more physically sick than he ever thought was possible, having to sell Nick to save his own ass.
"Okay Wright, if you rather want to run that pitiful business of yours while ratteling prison bars, be my guest." There was nothing kind in Lou’s smile. His eyes were hard and cold.
This was unbelievable. His boss was threatning him if he revealed how bad the boys, especially Nick was treated by the big Daddy, Mr Lou Pearlman! Too afraid that his own ass would be fried, Johnny decided to look the other way over this business. He didn´t want to drag his own family through the dirt and also alot of boybands depended on him. This was what he decided so his guilt wouldn´t eat him up alive. Mentally Johnny decided that he would give Lou an respite. If the kid would continue to be this sick he would throw in the towel.
But for now it wouldn´t hurt Nick to get rid off some of that baby fat. Once and for all, Johnny reasoned.
"Hey Kid, how are you doing?" Johnny boomed, knocking on the bathroom door. The kid had went inside as soon as they had come back to the hotel and had not come out for a long while. This was starting to scare Johnny a bit. "No jerking off in there ya hear," he joked, trying to lighten up the situation.
A loud groan was heard. It sounded like someone that was on the verge of dying. Ratteling the door handle, Johnny was ready to grab a tool desperate to open up the door when a pale face appeared. Sweat pearled on the teen’s forhead, his blonde hair plastered to his skull like a helmet. If death would be personalized Johhny bet that this is what he would look like.
"You want to get to bed?" the manager asked as he tried to steady the swaying teen. All he received was a blank glass eyed stare before Nick walked on wobbly legs towards the wanted bed. "Whoaaa," Johnny was there with a helping hand as the blonde tilted dangerously. "Take it easy." This was worse than when Nick had been drunk at New Years, hell this was worse than ANY time that Nick had been wasted. That wouldn´t say little.
Placing the young man on the bed, he helped him take off his shoes and then the dress pants. To his dismay he noticed that Nick had really started to gain weight, but he knew that this would soon be a memory if Lou kept up with the cure like he intended to do.
"I can do that myself," Nick mumbled when Johnny tried to hoist his sweatsoaked T-shirt over the head. With fumbling hands he tried to take over the task. This was a futile attempt since his hands were shaking too bad, his whole body wracked with chills.
"No let me do it." Johnny’s voice was gentle when he helped Nick to lay down in the bed. The teen closed his eyes immediately. It was like the sickness had drained him of all energy and he just wanted to crawl ínto a ball and sleep the night away. Yet he knew that it would be futile since the spasms still wracked his body, not even allowing him to keep any water down or inside. The fact that he was pouring like the Niagara Falls from both entrances, sometimes at the same time, didn´t improve the situation either. He couldn´t remember the last time he had been this sick. As violently ill as he was it had to be a bad case of food poisoning. What else could have caused him to become this sick?
"You want something to drink?" Johnny asked, picking up a glass from the desk. Nick shook his head. "No I don´t think I can keep it down." His voice weak and shaky.
Johnny felt sorry for the kid. It couldn´t be all that nice to be thousands miles from home, stuck in a hotel room, feeling this shitty. He wet a towel which he handed to Nick, "Here, put this on your forehead and you might feel a bit better." Nick looked up. This was a side that he had seldom encountered within the manager. A soft and comforting side. If Nick didn´t know better he would think that the manager acted like he was guilty over something. But that had to be his sick mind playing tricks with him, he concluded. The fever was running in his veins, making it hard for him to think straight, clear thoughts.
"Thanks," Nick accepted the towel with shaky hands. It felt good to cool off his hot face, and he felt a bit better as he felt the cold cloth on his forehead. His head didn´t ache as furiously anymore. This had been one of the worst nights ever in his eighteen year old life and he hoped that he would never have to relive this again. Having the shits sucked, but what was worse was throwing up on Mr. Pearlman when all of the important people in the music business was watching. He could swear that he saw Jon BonJovi in the background, laughing. He would be the laughing stock of the year.
Nick groaned. The headlines of tomorrows newspaper were outlined in his mind "Nick Carter, Backstreet Boys making a speech for entertainment!" And then they would show a close up off him hosing down his manager. Everything was suddenly starting to get too much and Nick could feel the tears prick in his eyes. Moaning he mumbled, "I wanna go home."
"Is it that bad?"
" Mmm.." Nick shut his eyes tightly riding out another bout of nausea rinsing over him, combined with a new set of cramps. It wouldn´t surprise him if he would have to go for another trip to the facilities. Crawling into a ball he did his best to block out the discomfort that burned in his stomach. The loud rumblings came from deep within. The cramps having him in a tight grip made him sob, "Mom! I want my mom."
Johnny looked at the kid. Did he just call out for his mom? Sighing the man felt on the sick boys forehead. He was burning up. "Man you sure hit this flu bug bad." He stroked away a damp string of hair from the boy’s cheek. All he got back as a response was a choked back sob. The kid was crying.
"Shhh calm down," the manager whispered, trying to soothe the kid the best he could. Nick shivered in bed, wrapping his arms around himself, trying to sooth the pain he was feeling surge through the whole body. Moaning he tried to sit up. He caught the situation at once. "You need to go again?"
Nick nodded, barely visible. Johnny was there with an helping arm, " Here lean on this." He tried to hoist the kid to stand up. "There you go," he continued, more or less carrying the sick teen into the bathroom. His legs too weak and wobbly to walk by his own. "You think you can manage now?" he asked as he sat Nick down on the bowl.
The teen blushed, "I´m..I´m so..sorry," he stuttered, his face as red as a cooked lobster. " I´m sorry."
"That is okay," Johnny said gently, "Don´t worry. This happens to the best of us." He handed the teen the trashcan. "Just in case you need it, you know." All he got back was a nod as when the kid squeezed his eyes hard, bracing himself against the pain. He ruffled the kid on his head, "I´ll be outside, shout if you need anything." He closed the door just as Nick was wracked with another painful spasm.
Johnny winced. That didn´t sound too good. If the kid kept this up he was forced to take him to a doctor and this was something that he wanted to prevent as long as possible. A doctor would spot what Lou was up to and even if Johnny was innocent he would still be dragged into the dirt.
'Fuck Lou,' he growled inside him, upon hearing the whimpers coming from the bathroom facilities. 'If this kept up the manager could kill the kid!' Yet there wasn’t much he could do about the situation, afraid about saving his own skin.
Listening to the moans he wanted to do something to help the kid. He would call Nick’s mother if he could, but Jane and Bob were touring with Aaron and Nick’s siblings. Besides it would upset them too grately if they found out what Mr. Pearlman was doing to the kid. His own wife, Donna, was another option, but knowing from past experiences Nick and Donna didn´t get along that great together. Especially not since Nick had given Donna gum that tasted like fish! He wished that AJ´s mother, Denise wasn´t back in the states. She would be great in dealing with a situation like this. Now he was left alone, taking care of a sick kid.
It was going to be a long night!
