Chapter Twenty-Nine
Nick tried to sneak onto the tour bus at two-forty-seven in the morning, long after the other three guys had come back and fallen asleep (even AJ, who seemed to spend the entire night holed up in his bunk smoking). I was asleep, too, and never would've known how late he got back if it hadn't been for the fact that he tripped and fell onto the floor with a colossal bump and a grunted "fuck". It wasn't enough to wake the other guys, but I was a light sleeper, and I rolled over and stuck my head out of the bunk. Nick was on the floor still, rubbing his head, looking thoroughly miserable.
"Nick?" I said in a hushed voice.
He looked up at me, "Sorry," he muttered. He scrambled to his feet, almost tipped over again, and caught the edge of Brian's bunk only just before falling into it. He stumbled over to his own bunk, "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"You okay?"
"Hmm?" he looked at me, his eyes unfocused. "Yeah," he nodded, "I'm aiight."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Nick climbed into his bunk and pulled the curtain shut without another word. I sighed and ducked back into my own bunk. A moment later, there was a rustling, then my bunk curtain opened and Nick poked his head in. "Hey Kev?"
"Yeah?"
Nick paused, "I said some stuff to you before."
"What stuff?"
Nick shook his head, "Some stuff I didn't mean. Back then. Before. You know, when you left the first time. And..." he gnawed his lip. "Anyways, you were right back then, and I was wrong and I said that stuff and I'm sorry." He nodded, then ducked back out of the bunk.
I followed, sticking my head back out into the center aisle. "It's okay Nick," I said, because that's what Nick needed to hear at that moment. "It doesn't matter. Whatever you said, I'm sure I knew you didn't really mean it, whatever it was."
"I thought that was why you left," he said.
"Brian said I left so you and AJ could grow up," I answered.
Nick hesitated. "How does Brian know that?"
"Because I told him, I guess," I shrugged.
Nick looked at his feet for a moment. "I was gonna tell you I was sorry," he said, "But I never got a chance to. First I was too mad, then I felt too stupid to say it, then it just wasn't the right time 'cos we were on a cruise and the fans were there and everything, then... well, then you died." He took a deep breath. "I guess it's still not the right time, since you've got amnesia and everything but..." he shrugged, "Plus I'm kinda drunk."
"There's that," I said, with a slight smirk.
"But I just wanted to say it to you," he said, "Before it's too late again and I can't."
"I appreciate that," I answered.
"Thanks." Nick climbed back into his bunk and stuck his head out. "I'm glad you're here," he said. Then he ducked into the bunk and the bus fell into silence.
The next day would've been Howie's day to help me remember, except we were all trapped on the bus as we drove from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, so Howie decided to wait for his day to participate in Return of the Kevi until the next day. So we spent the driving day on board the Backstreet bus doing things that apparently we used to do all the time. One of which was Monopoly.
"I think Nick's fucking with the bank," AJ said, watching Nick sort out his paper money into stacks of thousands.
"I am not fucking a bank," Nick replied at the same time as Howie, who was playing banker, announced, "Nick is not fucking me."
"Yeah I wouldn't fuck him," Nick said, thumbing at Howie.
"I wouldn't let you fuck me," Howie answered.
"Why? I'm sexy!" Nick said, taking offense.
Howie raised his eyebrow. "Are you seriously upset about that?"
"Everyone should wanna fuck me," Nick explained. "As a general rule. Even you."
"Well, call me crazy but..."
Nick pouted.
"Nick's the master at cheating," Brian stage-whispered to me.
"I am not cheating!" Nick yelped.
I laughed, "It doesn't matter, the more the empire has the harder it'll fall." I rolled the dice, landed on Boardwalk and turned to Howie, the banker. "I'm gonna buy a hotel for Boardwalk."
"God damn it," AJ yelled. He was down to like twenty bucks.
Howie put the plastic red hotel on my square and I tossed the cash in his direction, which he sorted and put into the bank.
Brian rolled the dice and one went off the table. Nick dove under for it, his ass flying up into the air, knocking the board, sending several plastic green houses sliding across the table. Howie caught the bank just before it fell down. A moment later, Nick popped up again, tossed the dice to Brian, then turned to Howie. "Did you see my ass?" he asked, "How could you not wanna fuck me after seeing my ass?"
Howie rolled his eyes.
"Can we stop talking about you two fucking each other, please?" AJ asked, "It's kinda creepy."
"We are not talking about it," Howie replied.
Brian re-rolled the dice. "Aren't you glad you came back?" he asked me as the dice hit the table. Brian moved his thimble around and passed by Boardwalk without having to give me any money. He breathed a sigh of relief, landing on the rail roads.
"That'll be like a billion bucks please," Nick announced, wiggling his fingers.
"You own the damn railroads?" Brian asked, scowling. He glanced over at the pile of property deeds Nick had stacked in front of him. "Prove it. Show me the title."
Nick flipped through the pile until he located the railroad, then waved it in Brian's face, "See? SEE? Doubtin' me.. I'll show you a thing or two..."
Brian sighed and handed Nick the money.
It was Howie's turn. He rolled the dice and landed on the same railroad as Brian. He cussed in Spanish. Nick wrapped an arm around him. "It's OK, D," he said sweetly, "I'll give you a lover's discount."
"Get your hand offa me or I'll keel you," Howie grumbled. Nick removed his arm.
"Remember the time Kevin flipped the Monopoly board?" AJ asked.
The other three guys started laughing. "He-- I mean, I flipped the Monopoly board?"
Howie turned red - well, as red as he could anyways. "It was a championship game," he explained.
"Championship game?" I asked.
"We had a lot of free time on that tour," Nick said. "We had a Monopoly championship."
"Who won?"
"Me," Nick announced, at the same time that Howie said, "You."
"Wow, what?" I asked, confused. Brian's eyes were leaking tears as he laughed. "I missed something," I added.
"Nick cheated like a married man in Vegas on a business trip," AJ said, "And he denied the crap out of it but he stole the title to like half the properties on the board from the bank --"
"I bought them, you bastard," Nick interrupted.
"-- and you should have won because everyone else was out but Nick stole one of your properties and when you landed on it, he tried to take the money --"
"Because I bought it," Nick injected.
"-- and you were like 'that space is mine I don't owe you anything' and Nick was like 'it's mine' and you two got in this fight --"
"Over my property," Nick added.
"-- and finally you got so pissed you just jumped up and flipped the board over," AJ finished.
"And we never saw the dog again," Brian added.
"Or the iron," added Howie.
"Which is why we have a Barbie doll shoe as a game piece," AJ explained.
"All because you're a sore loser," Nick said with a nod, smiling at me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm a sore loser?" I reached over to Nick's pile of title deeds, shuffled, and took out my deed for Boardwalk, which he'd shoved into the bottom of the deck. "Or because you're a shitty cheater?"
Nick's jaw dropped. "How in the hell did that get in my pile?" he asked, feigning surprise as the other Boys cracked up.
After Self by Pengi
