That night we preformed the concert as scheduled, only without Brian.
A.J. and I asked to see him after the doctor examined him. But Kevin wouldn’t let us anywhere near him, declaring his room to be “off limit to idiots”.
It was strange moving around the stage, shouting out the usual greetings to the crowd and falling into our well-rehearsed choreographed dance routines without Brian by my side.
I found myself continually glancing over my shoulder, expecting him to come loping across the stage that sly grin on his face as he launched into a song.
But there was nothing. Only Kevin’s glares as he, for the most part, ignored A.J. and me throughout the concert, only making references to us here and there in German.
“Is he making fun of us?” A.J. asked walking up alongside of me as Kevin, illuminated by a single white spotlight, strutted back and forth across the front of the stage shouting out words like “Junge ohne ein Gehirn” and “Der Dummkopf”.
“Pssssst.” I motioned to Howie.
“What?”
“What’s he saying?”
“I think he’s saying you two are brainless fools.” He said with a smile.
“Huh?” Exasperated A.J. stormed forward into the spotlight attempting to grab the mic from Kevin’s hand as the crowd roared with laughter.
“Well if it isn’t der kleine Eselnow.” Kevin patted A.J. on the head as he tried to wrestle the mic from Kevin’s hand.
“What is that, some sort of crack about my height?” A.J. seethed jumping for the microphone that Kevin now dangled above his head.
“C’mon jump little man jump.”
“Hey their Germany are you ready for another song?” Howie’s voice echoed out of the darkness, the spotlight quickly swinging from A.J. and Kevin who were now on the floor wrestling each other for the microphone, to the back of the stage where Howie stood.
“I said are you ready for another sonnnnnnnnnng?” Howie screamed, the crowd erupting in wild applause unsure of his words but roped in by his enthusiasm.
“Those two are always pulling jokes on each other.” Howie continued waving his microphone around in the air whipping the crowd up into frenzy as he stepped over Kevin and A.J. making his way to the edge of the stage. “You all know as well as I do that boys will be boys.” He roared as the music to “Boys Will Be Boys” began playing in the background.
“Get up, get up.” I leaned down smacking A.J. on the back, the three of us looking up at Howie as he danced across the stage by himself, irritation evident on his face.
“We’ll talk about this later.” Kevin pointed a finger at both of us rolling out from beneath A.J. trying to catch his breath as we joined Howie on the chorus of the song.
* * *
After the concert Trent rounded the four of us up in the changing room informing us that we needed to get our asses moving and get cleaned up because there were some local radio stations waiting to interview us in the lounge area.
Rubbing my face and hair down with a towel, I shed my stage clothes changing into an oversized FSU t-shirt and some black track pants before meeting up with the other guys in the hall.
Filing one by one into the dimly lit lounge area Trent introduced us to the woman who would be the interpreter before we sat down side by side on folding metal chairs in front of six funky looking guys. Each one holding a tattered looking microphone and carrying large tape recorders in packs slung low on their hips.
Before I could even blink the reporters starting shooting questions at us one right after the other until I thought my head would spin.
“Who’s the funny one?”
“Who’s the romantic one?”
“Which one of you is the leader?”
“What do you think of German girls?”
I felt my eyes closing at one point as exhaustion began to settle heavy in my bones.
“…….Nick he’s talking to you.” Howie elbowed me in the ribs.
“Huh?” Sitting up a little straighter I blinked rubbing at my eyes.
“He wants to know what you think of the local robberies that have been going on?” The interpreter smiled brightly at me.
“The what?” I looked around to the anxious faces of the reporters as they thrust their microphones in my face.
The interpreter crossed her long legs leaning her elbows on them as she spoke to me.
“There have been a string of robberies occurring around the area. Wealthy businessmen have had jewels, coins and other possessions stolen by thieves that attack in the night. It is quickly becoming the stuff that legends are made of.”
“I….well…..I…” I could feel my heart begin to race and my palms become damp with sweat as I leaned forward looking to A.J. for the answers to the questions.
“We’ve been so busy with the concerts and meet and greets with fans we haven’t really had time to read the papers or see the news.” A.J. answered without missing a beat.
“The police have been going mad trying to catch them before they strike again. They are calling them die schatten.”
“Die schatten?” Kevin cracked open a bottle of water taking a long swig.
“The shadows.” The interpreter said her eyes narrowing. “Because each time they strike the victims claim that they are only able to see the thieves for a brief moment before they melt away into the shadows.”
* * *
Pushing open the door the four of us walked across the parking lot to the van to where Trent stood, throwing back the door and ushering each one of us in, counting our heads like we were grade school kids on a field trip.
“Jesus Trent can’t you figure out that we’re all here without counting heads?” A.J. asked settling down in a seat up front.
“So what did you guys think of that whole shadow thing?” Howie asked sitting beside me in the seat behind A.J.
“Who knows D?” A.J. answered hooking his hands behind his head as the van inched its’ way out of the parking lot. “Sounds like a lot of shit to me.”
“What do you mean?” Howie tugged on his sweatshirt.
“Well c’mon, melting into shadows and shit? That kind of stuff only happens in the movies right?”
“Yeah I guess you’re right. But it would be pretty cool if it was for real.”
* * *
Climbing out of the van I pulled on my sweat jacket walking into a sea of screaming girl’s, all of them thrusting paper and pens in our faces as we moved slowly through the crowd.
Grabbing for a pink polka dotted pen I pulled it towards me as the hand holding it yanked it back.
Pulling again I fought with the hand on the other end both of us tugging it back and forth like some lame game of tug-of-war.
“If you want me to sign an autograph for you, you have to let go.” I said in a loud voice looking up.
“Hey there rocket scientist.” Eva grinned her blue eyes dancing as she let go of the pink polka dotted pen in her hand.
* * *
Pushing my way out of the crowd I left the autographs to Kevin, A.J. and Howie as I ducked down tossing the hood of my sweatshirt over my head before letting Eva grab my hand and pull me down the alley that ran parallel to the hotel.
“So, you’re not a real rocket scientist.” Bumping me with her hip I stumbled slightly as I stood up pushing the hood away from my face.
“And you’re not a doctor.” I replied curtly blowing my bangs out of my eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stopping she flipped her hands up on her hips looking me up and down.
“That means that my friend has an infection in his arm.” Placing my hands on my own hips I imitated her stance.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah. The doctor’s put him on some antibiotics and they’re going to replace the stitches as soon as the infection heals.” Dropping her hands from her hips she chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
“You didn’t tell them about me did you…….I mean you didn’t tell the doctor’s that I did that to him with the stitches?”
“Nah. We didn’t tell anybody anything yet.”
“I’m sorry, I did the best I could do under the circumstances.” She whispered looking down at the ground. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“Yes you are.”
“No, I’m really not.” Reaching out I brushed some imaginary lint from her shoulder in an attempt to let her know I wasn’t mad.
When she looked up again I could see damp trails winding from her eyes down her cheeks.
“Are you crying?” Leaning forward I reached out wiping the tears from her face with my thumb.
“Nope.” She shook her head a few stray curls sticking to her damp cheeks. “I don’t cry so it must be raining.” Looking up at the clear dark night sky I smiled.
“Yup, you’re right.” I said holding out a hand to catch the imaginary drops. “Looks like it’s going to be a downpour.”
* * *
“So you sing?”
“Yeah.” Opening the door to my hotel room I dropped my hand behind me grabbing for Eva’s hand, pulling her into the darkness of the room.
“That’s weird?”
“Why is that weird?” I fumbled along the wall for the light switch enjoying the soft feeling of her hand in mine.
“I don’t know it just is?”
“Well what do you do?” Finding the switch for an instance I contemplated not turning it on so that I could sit with her in the darkness.
“I go to school.” She replied matter of factly like her life was so much more normal then mine.
“So, I go to school too.” I answered flipping on the switch, the four torchieres over the beds flickering on my puppy looking up from one of my pillows where he was curled up in a tight ball trying to sleep. “I get tutored on the road and when we go back home sometimes I go back to my old school.” Nuzzling his head into his back the puppy smacked his lips together a few times before settling back into a deep sleep.
“Where’s home?” I could see her looking over at the bed that she had knelt on just the night before as she stitched up Brian’s arm.
“Florida.” Her hand still in mine I walked her over to my bed and motioned for her to sit down before sitting down beside her. “What about you, where’s home for you?”
She seemed to think about that question for a minute before replying “Anywhere my Dad wants it to be. Right now it’s Germany, but tomorrow it might be Greece, or Bolivia or wherever.”
“What about your Mom?”
“She’s gone.” I felt her hand twitch in mine when she spoke about her mother.
“Gone?”
“She just,” Pulling her hand from mine she whisked it through the air. “Disappeared.”
“How can somebody just disappear?” Reaching for her hand again I pulled it back into mine. For some reason it just felt right there.
“Haven’t you ever heard of a person just melting into the shadows?”
“Because each time they strike the victims see them for a brief moment before they seem to melt away into the shadows.”
“Yes actually I have.” I answered, the interpreter’s words rattling around in my head.
“Nick?” Eva tipped her head her eyes never leaving mine. “Have you ever kissed a girl before?”
“Huh?” I could feel my heart begin to pound hard in my chest as my mouth went dry.
“Have you ever kissed a girl before?”
“Sure.” Readjusting my sweaty grip on her hand I laughed. “Of course I’ve kissed a girl before. I’ve kissed tons of girls, tons. I can’t even count how many I’ve kissed but if I had to say I would guess-“
“Nick.” She squeezed my hand.
“What?”
“Do you want to kiss me?”
Truth be told I had never really “officially” kissed a girl. I had come close a few times only to have one girl in sixth grade laugh in my face, and another girl who had wandered backstage at one of our shows tell me that she really would rather kiss Kevin if she had the chance.
Did I want to kiss Eva? Was she really asking me that question? Of course I wanted to kiss her.
“Well do you?” She asked again her blue eyes sparkling.
“Okay.” I stammered, trying to get some saliva flowing in my dried out mouth.
“Okay?” Her eyes widened.
“I mean yes, yes I want to kiss you please.” Laughing she squeezed my hand in hers.
“You don’t have to be scared.” She whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know.” Wrinkling up my nose at the absurdity of the situation I felt my body begin to relax. Closing my eyes I became intoxicated by the sweet scent of her perfume as I reached my free hand out to stroke her soft cheeks with my fingertips.
“Eva the other day you said I was your destiny?” I could feel her leaning into me with a sigh.
“You are.” Her voice carried over the sound of my heart beating in my ears as she touched her lips to mine, soft and light……. the way a butterfly lands on a flower.
“Eva.” I whispered the words onto her sweet tasting lips.
SLAM
Suddenly the door to the room flew open, making both of our heads snap back so fast I swear we were going to need matching cervical collars.
“Hey dickhead get up I need your help.” A.J. slammed the door behind him.
“We’re kind of busy here?” Widening my eyes I motioned to Eva hoping he would get the hint.
“Busy, schmizy. Brian is incapacitated so just for tonight you’re going to be my ‘go to guy’.”
“You’re ‘go to guy’?” Trying to clear my head from the dizzying feeling of Eva’s lips on mine I stood up scrubbing my face with my hands.
“I’m on my way to meet Devin and you’re going with me.”