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Part I Chapter 2

The day could have been better but it wasn’t that bad. Checking everyone in and unloading the bags took up most of the morning and by the time she was done with that, the trucks had already been unloaded. The rest of the afternoon was spent running errands for Red.
Thankfully that night they did not have to run to another venue so Red allowed Win to go back to the bus by ten that night. Red did not reserve a room for Win so she was to stay on the crew bus. She didn’t mind, this meant she got the entire bus to herself. She used the time to watch a movie on TV and wash her clothes in the sink.
Win never had many possessions. She kept a small box of keepsakes with her two pieces of jewelry she owned, a small plain gold ring and a tarnished silver chain which she usually wore it on. She also had a pair of plastic rat earrings that a long lost friend had given her a long time ago, but she never wore them. Along with that were a few newspaper clippings, two movie stubs and some bottle caps, all this kept in a cigar box.
The only clothing she owned were two pairs of jeans, three t-shirts, a sweater and the usual undergarments. She owned one pair of shoes, sneakers that were in desperate need of repair. She also kept her wallet, which contained nothing more than a driver’s license and her ID card for the stage, in her backpack and a small collection of books. She always carried her pocket edition of Fairy Tales and Illusions and had brought three books she had never read. There was also a bag of Jack’s, her rat, food.
She changed her clothes and rinsed out the garments she had just changed out of and was just contemplating nipping into someone’s bunk to sleep when the door burst open.
“Hey you! Why don’t you go get us something to drink, we’s gonna party!” Alex roared jovially clamoring up the stairs. Alex was one of the bus drivers, Win was not too familiar with him, and obviously he was not familiar with her, because he usually just called her “YOU!”
“I’m going to bed Alex, find another bus to party on,” Win said, although she was gathering up her things in case she had to move again.
“All the other buses are full, so I get mine! Come on, you’re not doing anything, go buy us a case a beer.” Alex whined pushing Win out of his way on the way to his bunk. Win slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up Jack’s cage.
“Good night Alex,” she said hopping down the stairs and out into the parking lot. She looked around and saw that indeed all the buses except the boys’ personal bus were busting to the brim with people partying. Win just got out of the way of a stream of people rushing toward the bus she was just on.
Mumbling to herself and shaking her head she walked towards the boys’ bus and took out her keys.
“Just for one night, Red can’t kill me for that,” she said to herself. Deep down she knew that Red would not fire her unless she did something so bad as to kill one of the Backstreet Boys. She was too good of a gopher, she did what she was told, when she was told to do it, and even did more than she was supposed to. She would be getting paid well enough, but that money was for college, she couldn’t blow any of it. Maximum she could spend was twenty a week out of her pay checks. She usually spent only ten dollars, and that was only if she had to buy rat food. So most likely if she got caught, Red would not fire her. But she did not plan on getting caught.
She fumbled with her keys in the dark and finally found the key marked “BB BUS”. She popped in the key, flipped it over and the lock popped. She climbed in, shutting the door behind her and flipped the lights on. This bus was certainly much nicer than the crew’s bus, but she figured it would be. She found an empty bunk in the back of the bus, one that looked like it was never used and put Jack down beside her backpack. She looked around for a moment and decided to turn out the lights and get some sleep, she was dead tired.
She went all the way back to the bathroom before going to turn out the lights and was scared to death when she saw Brian on the bus.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” she stammered, her hand over her furiously beating heart.
“That’s okay, you are one of the crew, right?” he asked with a smile, she held up her badge with attached keys.
“Oh, okay, but if you don’t mind my asking, what are you doing here?” he asked.
“Place to sleep, all the buses are full, I don’t mean to intrude, I’ll go,” she grabbed her bag quickly but Brian said,
“No, no, really, that’s okay, I just came to get something, but how come you don’t have a room in the hotel?” Brian asked.
“Management, didn’t give me one, but the buses are okay. Is it really okay with you if I bunk here for the night? This isn’t any one’s bunk, right?” she asked.
“No, sometimes AJ naps there, but that’s it. But you can stay, I’ll talk to Red about getting you a room.” Brian smiled warmly at her.
“Oh don’t go out of your way for me, really, I’ve slept worse places than a bus, this is fine.” Win stammered.
“What’s your name, I didn’t catch it before.” He asked holding out his hand.
“I’m Winifred Caldon, and you would be?” she asked shaking his large hand.
“I would have thought you knew my name,” he said laughing slightly as Win dropped his hand.
“I know you by sight, but I’ve never been told your name, and of course we’ve never been introduced.” Win replied.
“Well I’m Brian, it’s nice to meet you Winifred, that’s a old fashioned name, family name?” he asked.
“Couldn’t tell you Brian, and it’s nice to meet you too.”
“Well, I got what I came for, I’ll make sure to talk to Red about the room situation,” he said walking towards the door.
“Please don’t, he’ll just ream me out for not staying on the crew bus,” Win pleaded.
“Okay, okay, I won’t good night,” Brian laughed.
“Thank you, good night to you too.” Win said finally relaxed. He hopped down out of the bus and Win watched him walk back to the hotel. Grateful for peace she settled down into the bunk and feel asleep.