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“One and the same,” Ziggy answered for me, crossing his arms over his chest and looking incredibly smug. I took his expression as being proud of me.
“Yes.” I reached out and shook his hand. “After hearing your band, I’m incredibly interested in meeting your manager and maybe setting something up for you all in the future.”
“Cool, man. He’s, uh…” He looked around. “Hmm…probably back at the busses. Come on.”
We walked through the festival grounds as Anton introduced me and Ziggy to the rest of the band, and we ended up next to a tour bus with their logo wrapped on it. Yes, they were doing well. But I could still probably help them. Maybe cut them a better deal.
Anton held up a finger. “Wait here.” He got on the bus.
The rest of the band pulled folding chairs out of the bottom storage compartments and set them up in a semi-circle. “Hey, have a seat dudes.” Piper gestured to the chairs at the end.
Ziggy and I sat to wait while Lix popped up, having been in the bus, and held up a joint. “Who has a light.” The group cheered and Piper handed over a lighter.
Anton returned with a bottle of Jack that he held out to Carl. “This will get us started. Our manager will be here in a minute. He was scoping out some other bands.”
“Sounds great.” I took the offered bottle and downed a swig. Jack Daniels wasn’t my favorite, but I could drink it.
The rest of the group passed the joint around, and Ziggy did not refuse. I knew he wouldn’t. After he released his long toke, I handed him the Jack. He took a very short sip and passed it on. He wasn’t a huge drinker unless he was trying to get fucked up, and I knew he preferred Crown Royal. At least most of the time.
After a few more passes of both bottle and joint, the manager came up. “Hey, all. Heard the show was great.”
The band all made appreciative noises and such, but Anton stood. “Hey, this is Coleman Hicks. Coleman, this is our manager, Jackson Spivey.”
I stood and shook his hand. “I’ve heard your name around.”
“And I’ve heard yours for sure. You’re interested in talking business?”
“Yes, but let’s exchange numbers and do it later. This is a fucking party, right?” When I said that, the band hooted and someone else pulled out a bottle of vodka and someone else held up a bottle of champagne.
I thought that was a hell of a party until the roadie crew showed up. It was crazy after that.
At some point, Jackson handed me a business card with a wink.
When I sat back down, Ziggy slid into my lap to make room for some of the others.
There was a lot of teasing and bullshitting going on. Stories of past tours and some of the high jinx Ziggy and Brock had gotten up to. It was relaxing and fun. At one point, Ziggy said, “Be right back.” He kissed my cheek and headed off with Brock. I imagined he was scoring pot. We would need to chat about it later. I wasn’t going to be his babysitter or his daddy, but he needed to think about his actions.
Friday morning, we all got breakfast and discussed what was happening that day. The guys had an interview with a radio guy mid-afternoon, but they also wanted to catch some other bands.
“Surf Son’s are scheduled to play at one of the smaller stages today,” Ziggy announced. “We have to go see them.” He looked around at everyone, but no one said a word. “Come on.Dip and Grindhas been fantastic for us.” Pierce was the singer of that song, and they had to play the video of him along with the audioof his voice singing when they performed. The one time they didn’t, it cost them. A lot. Pierce hadn’t always been the easiest to deal with. “You know he’s going to want to do it with us.”
“Fine.” Miami put his fork down a little forcefully. “But after that, I’m going to find the Social Sinners bus. Those guys are way cooler.”
We left breakfast and headed for Surf Son’s bus, rolling up in force, before the day really got started. As expected, Tad went straight for Ziggy. They had history, and I didn’t like it. Ziggy hugged him and slung his arm around his shoulder. “Where’s Pierce?” They also had history. Ziggy had tried to use Pierce to make me jealous and that ended up in the fan-favorite song that they couldn’t get away from.
Tad banged on the door of the bus. “We’re all just getting up. Got in late last night.”
“Fuck. Off.” Came from the bus. I didn’t know whose voice it was, but it wasn’t Pierce. The guy with the crazy blue eyes and platinum blond hair, sticking up everywhere, came out of the bus. “What the fuck? Oh, hey.” And his demeanor changed instantly, taking in the whole of Midnight Hunt. “Good to see you guys.” He turned to Tad and pointed. “Not you.”
“Fuck off, Aus. Where’s Pierce?” Tad flipped him off.
The guy, who I remembered now was named Aussie, stuck his head back in the bus and yelled, “Pierce.” He came all the way off the bus. “I need coffee.”
“Not a morning person?” Miami asked.
“Hell no.”
“We can go get coffee and food in a minute. They want to chat with Pierce.” Tad glared at Aussie, and it felt like there was serious tension going on there.
