Chapter Seven
"This is going to be a little on the -er- insane side," our security guard warned us as we rode in a van across town the next day. We were headed for the CHUM building, where Much Music was going to be filming a special called Intimate & Interactive with us. The security guard's face was sober.
"We've seen crazy," Nick said, waving it off.
"How crazy?" Kevin asked.
"Really crazy," the guard replied. "They had to shut down a part of the street."
Kevin, Howie, AJ, and I all shared a look of oh crap, while Nick insisted we'd seen that kind of crazy before. His tune changed a couple minutes later when the van we were all piled into pulled around a corner onto Queen West street and we were looking down into a sea of people so thick that there was no way in hell the van could possibly work its way through it. We ended up stranded a block from the CHUM.
"Great," muttered the security guy, "Now what?" he climbed out of the front seat and onto the street.
"We could always sacrifice Nick," AJ suggested. "Just toss him out there, let them all go ballistic fighting over him, and the rest of us just walk by like nothin'..."
"What?" Nick's eyes were wide, "You wouldn't dare. They'd pluck my limbs off."
"Oh they'd pluck you alright," AJ nodded.
The driver had the van in park. Somehow the van had gone mostly unnoticed. A few people were eyeing the tinted windows behind which we sat nervously, but for the most part, nobody was paying any attention to the van. They probably thought we were from a news station or something. I glanced back and noticed poor Howie was staring out the window, eyes wide like he'd seen a ghost or something.
Kevin somehow managed to yawn.
"How many Backstreet Boys fans does it take to over turn a twelve passanger van?" I asked, joking. Kevin raised an eyebrow at me, and I realized my joke probably was less than appreciated given our situation.
"Over turn it?" Nick asked.
And that's why it wasn't appreciated. Got it.
"Over turn it?" he repeated. He started scratching his arm nervously. "Dude." He looked around. "There's so many of them. Dude." He was wearing a bright yellow shirt that reminded me of a banana.
"A fine occassion for Johnny and Lou to decide to not come along," Kevin muttered.
"I'm too adorable to be plucked," Nick said.
The security guard returned and said that the Much Music people were waiting on police assistance to organize the crowd, but that there was a back entrance we could use to get in without fan attention being drawn, so the driver started trying to maneuver the car back out of the crowd. It was nerve wrecking because they'd managed to close in around the van and we didn't want anyone to get hurt. The security guard ended up getting out and trying to clear the way behind the van.
"Where is Johnny and Lou anyways?" Howie piped up as the driver and the guard worked to get us back out of the crowd.
"Probably working on something NSYNC," AJ said, his voice flat with disapproval.
"'D'yall think we should be concerned with that?" Kevin asked suddenly. He'd been staring out the window at the fans, almost in a trance, but now he came out of it and looked around at the rest of us as the van slowly inched its way backwards.
Howie shrugged.
"He's a busy guy," I pointed out, "He works with a ton of bands."
"Yeah but he's contracted and getting paid right now to be on our tour, and he's not really doing anything for us, he's too busy being wrapped up in NSYNC everything," Kevin said.
"I hate NSYNC, they suck," Nick muttered, biting his fingernails.
It was true. It was a rare moment that Johnny wasn't on his phone arguing with someone about something NSYNC needed done, since he wasn't there to do it. But the fact was, he wasn't here do to anything, either.
But at least he wasn't having complete meltdowns over being ten minutes late...
"To tell the truth," I said slowly, "I'm more concerned about Lou."
"Lou?" Kevin, Howie, and AJ looked at me like I was nuts. Nick didn't respond. "Why in the world would you be worried about Lou?" Kevin asked.
Nick was staring at his hands as I spoke. "Yesterday, he flipped out on Nick and I when we went downstairs late for that appointment."
"Well he works hard choreographing our appearances and such," Kevin replied, shrugging.
"Yeah but he got really angry," I said, "He was swearing and everything else... To a point that he apologized in the elevator on the way down, but I don't know." I paused. "I felt like I mattered less to him than the money he was potentially losing because we were running late."
Howie and AJ were looking back and forth between Kevin and I like they were watching a tennis match. Both their eyes turned to Kevin as I finished speaking, waiting for him to launch the ball back into my court. Kevin raised an eyebrow, "Are you seriously trying to say that Lou is, I don't know, for lack of a better term, selfish?" he asked.
AJ and Howie turned to me.
"Not so much selfish," I answered, "As much as just..." As what? I wondered. What was I accusing Lou of being? And was he whatever it was, or was I just being sensitive? I paused. "Forget it," I said.
Nick was still staring down at his fingers. "Lou's not as great as everyone thinks he is, that's all Brian's saying," Nick spoke up. All four of us turned to look at Nick. Nick looked up and around at all of us. "I'm just saying that maybe instead of worshipping the ground he walks on we should be a little more... aware that he's not perfect is all." And with that he shoved his fingers into his mouth and started chewing on his nails again.
"Why has nobody had problems with Lou until today?" Kevin demanded, "Where is this all coming from? This feels a little bit like the crew of the Starship Enterprise turning on Captain Kirk."
I had been wondering the same thing. I mean I knew where mine was coming from, but I hadn't been aware that Nick had been as bothered with it as he sounded like he had been now. But then again, Nick had been bothered by Lou before this, hadn't he? I thought of the Winnie the Pooh comment in the drug store in Montreal. How long had Nick been resentful of Lou? I wondered.
"I think Lou's a good person," Howie said, shrugging. "He's having a rough tour the same as us, and those of us who aren't exactly acting as maturely as they should be are the ones bearing the brunt of it, that's all." Howie's words weren't meant to be harsh, they were just true. I mean, Nick and I had been in more trouble than we really needed to be. By we, I mean mostly Nick, of course, but because we're kind of a package deal I was getting lumped in by association.
Nick muttered something, but I didn't quite hear him, and he muttered it just before the van pulled to a stop along side a back door in the CHUM building and security opened the door and we were ushered out across the small side street. A couple of girls at the end spotted us as we got out of the van - probably the ones that were suspicious before - and screamed and started running towards us. We hesitated, and I personally thought that maybe I'd sign something for them when their screams were echoed by a much larger portion of the crowd we'd seen around the front and a wave of girls started to round the corner. We rushed into the building to the backstage area quickly.
I pictured the van being swept away in a tsunami of girls, swallowed like a matchbox car.
There was tension between the five of us after that conversation, though I'm not sure why. If anything we should've been banding together if we were having doubt in management, but I guess our differing opinions made us react like fractures.
We were received by the Much Music veejay, who resembled a French-Canadian version of Bob Marley. He was tall, skinny, with long dreadlocks and kind eyes. He was excited to be doing the show, and he made it easy for the five of us to fall into our respective charactitures that we needed to be to do the show.
Just before starting, I popped a couple more aspirin.
Intimate & Interactive is essentially a televised concert with a fifteen minute interview segment. The inside of the studio set up in the CHUM building looked like a club, with the staging lighting the audience crowded around the outside of a square performance space on the floor. Doors opened onto the street with the overspill of the fans. Cold air poured in through the doors, but that was okay because it was really hot in the studio with the stage lights and the crowded bodies around. The idea was that we'd perform a miniature version of our nightly show set, part inside and, because of the overspill, they were working on procuring a space outside as well for us to perform out there for a couple songs.
The show went well. The fans were really into the show, cheering and waving. One girl that stood alongside the stage was in tears and I gave her a hug halfway through the show. She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered that our music meant so much to her. It was moments like that which reminded me why I worked so hard and made all the crazy rushing of the last few days worth it.
It was raining a little as we climbed back into the van after the show. The van moved through the crowd of girls that had gathered around the backdoor slowly and they slapped their palms on the sides of the van and held up signs declaring how much the love us. Their ecstatic faces staring up. Nick pressed his hand against the tinted window and they must've been able to see it because they all tried to reach the glass at that point for a couple seconds until he'd taken it away.
"Sometimes," Howie commented, staring down at one particular girl who was wailing, tears pouring down her face, "It's hard to tell if they're happy or sad."
"Or in pain," AJ added, looking at the same girl.
"Do guys do this to Madonna or whoever?" Nick wondered outloud. He looked around at us, as though expecting us to know the answer.
"I think teen girls do it to Madonna, too," Kevin said, shrugging.
"Proof that females are fucked in the head," AJ muttered.
"Troubles in paradise, my friend?" Kevin teased. AJ shook his head and looked away.
"What good do they think it does?" I laughed, "Like we're gonna see one of them screaming in apparent agony that's really excitement, stop the van, jump out, push through all these other screaming/crying girls, grab her hand, and propose on the spot?"
"I've wondered that for five years now," Kevin murmured, rubbing his chin.
Nick pointed out a sign. "That one wants you to marry her so she can have your children, Howie."
Howie laughed, squinting out at the heart-shaped proposal in the back row. "I'll get right on that."
"You better," Nick nodded solemnly.
Soon enough the van had broken free from the crowd and we were headed for the Toronto airport. The rain was a little harder as the van moved along the freeway. We all sat quietly, staring out at the night, friends again now that we'd blown some steam and laughed together, but tired. I felt like all I'd done was sleep and work since we'd arrived in Canada. The funny thing was it was only a seven-day run and it seemed blurrier in my mind than entire 40-plus-date tours that we'd done in the past. The days all kind of ran together.
At the airport, we were informed that our flight was running a little behind because of the weather. Apparently there was a storm system working its way off the Great Lakes that was hitting the cold front and turning to freezing rain. The temperatures had dropped outside to the twenties and then to the 'teens from the forties that they'd been in during the afternoon. So we ended up sitting in the waiting area. Lou and Johnny and the rest of our entourage were there, too, having caught up at the airport, and Johnny seemed like he didn't know what to do with himself because the storm had broken his cell phone's reception.
Nick attempted to play I Spy, and it took him an amazing ten minutes to figure out that nobody was playing with him, and he was just sitting there describing whatever it was that he saw. I'm guessing the way he was describing it that whatever it was looked an awful lot like a painting by Picaso or else he was changing things. Once he was bored with I Spy, he took off to go find a snack, leaving the rest of us in silence.
Kevin moved and sat where Nick had been next to me. He glanced over at Lou, who was in a deep-looking conversation with Johnny, and then asked, "So, you given anymore thought to the marriage thing?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna do it," I nodded. "I just wanna find the perfect ring to do it with, you know?"
Kevin lowered his voice, "I was thinking we could do that together."
"You wanna help me shop for rings?"
Kevin cleared his throat, "I thought I might shop for one, too."
I looked up at him, a smile spreading across my face, "Yeah?"
Kevin nodded, "Yeah, I think it's time." He drew a deep breath. "And I can't let my little cousin get married before I do," he added, rubbing the top of my head and messing up my hair. "How in the hell would that look?"
"Like I have my shit together and you're a pathetic loser," I joked.
Kevin laughed, "Well. Anyways, maybe when we get back Stateside. Deal?"
"Sure."
"You're in my spot."
We both looked up to find Nick standing behind Kevin, a giant cup of ice cream in his hands. Kevin laughed and winked at me, then moved out of the way for Nick to reclaim his seat. He crossed his legs and dove into the ice cream.
"You're gonna end up looking like a Budda," I told him.
"Nuh uh," he said, shoving a spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth, "I burn it all off on stage."
I poked his stomach and he laughed like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
After was seemed like the longest delay known to man, they started boarding our flight back to Montreal. It was a repeat of the first flight - with Nick taking out passangers with his backpack, thanking them, and continuing down the aisle. He shoved our bags in the overhead and we sat, this time he was against the window and Howie was beside me.
Two barf bags, an hour, and a vow from Howie that he would kill Nick if he ever had to fly two seats away from him again later and we were back on the ground in Montreal.
"The damn wait was longer than the flight," Kevin complained as we passed him in the terminal.
It was late enough that there wasn't anybody at the airport in Montreal and most of the flights in and out had been cancelled by this point or rerouted. It was a bit of a miracle we'd gotten in apparently because the airstrip was about to be closed down. The freezing rain we'd encountered in Toronto was reaching Montreal now, but with the lower temperatures here the storm was impacting even worse.
As we were walking out to the shuttle bus that was going to carry us back to the hotel - the same as we'd stayed in before, just a block from the Molson Centre - I discovered that the storm had despoited a pretty thick layer of ice to the ground. The hard way. One moment I was shuffling along and the next I was on my back, my fall only broken by landing on my duffle bag.
"Dude you okay?" Nick asked, fishing me up from the ground and almost falling down himself.
"Yeah just don't fall on me, you'd squash me," I teased as he helped me stand.
Kevin paused a few feet ahead of us, AJ and Howie were already climbing onto the shuttle. "You okay?" Kev asked as I limped towards him.
"Yeah just fine," I replied.
"Don't need any broken Backstreet Boys," commented Lou as he came up behind Nick and I. "Cancelling shows at this point would be a royal pain in the ass."
"Not that falling didn't cause a pain in my ass," I commented.
Nick grinned.
The freezing rain was still falling as the shuttle inched through Montreal back to the hotel. We passed a basket ball court less than a block from the hotel - going the opposite direction than Nick and I had gone the week before - and Nick pointed it out. "I'm certainly not going to play basket ball tonight," I told him.
"Well no there's rain," he said.
"Freezing rain," I corrected.
"Maybe tomorrow after it stops?" Nick suggested.
"Nick, that court is gonna be like an ice rink," I said. He frowned, disappointed.
When we got back to the hotel, there were a couple fans in the lobby, so we signed their CDs and posters while Johnny and Lou got us checked in. Apparently the computers and credit card machines were down because of the storm, so it took awhile, and we all ended up in the hotel's restaurant for dinner while we waited. I couldn't believe Nick was eating again so soon after the ice cream in the Toronto airport, but he managed to pack away a whole cheeseburger and a big plate of fries with no probelm. AJ, Kevin, and Howie all had beers and I had another aspirin and discovered I wasn't a big fan of what Canada called pizza. By the time we were done, our rooms were ready and we all herded upstairs - this time to the sixth floor - and split into our separate room assignments.
Nick stared out the window at the city outside. Ice pellets hit the glass and flicked off into the dark. He turned and looked at me, "Is it what you expected it to be?" he asked.
"Is what?" I asked.
He glanced back at the window as he answered, "Being famous."
"It's more work than I thought it was," I answered.
"Is it worth it?" Nick asked.
I shrugged. "I dunno." I thought of the girl I'd hugged at Intimate & Interactive, how thick and honest her voice had been when she'd thanked me for the music. "Maybe the fame isn't, but the people I meet - they are."
Nick turned around and looked at me thoughtfully. He nodded, "Yeah, the people are worth it," he decided, "Definitely."
Chapter End Notes:
Incase you want to "live the experience"... the Intimate & Interactive appearance is available on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3O9dXlZlC4; There's 12 parts that all link together off this link. They sing Get Down, We've Got It Going On, Hey Mr. DJ, That's the Way I Like It, Anywhere For You, Quit Playing Games (acapella and regularly), As Long As You Love Me, I'll Never Break Your Heart, All I Have To Give, and Everybody. Enjoy!
** Also, thank you to Steffilu84 who pointed out an inaccuracy in the story... Originally it said Britney Spears in the Boys' conversation but Britney wasn't big enough at that time to spark such a conversation, so I've replaced it with Madonna. :)
** Also, thank you to Steffilu84 who pointed out an inaccuracy in the story... Originally it said Britney Spears in the Boys' conversation but Britney wasn't big enough at that time to spark such a conversation, so I've replaced it with Madonna. :)
