Back to Business
It felt good to be back, I mean it sucked saying goodbye to Kris, just like I knew it would but once I managed to shake off that humdrum feeling of being alone again a feeling of relief washed through me. Howie was right, we took a break and the world did not end. Sure one of us fell out a window, but other than that, it was all good.
I sat at the console and placed my hands above my head, leaning back and letting out a sigh. Am I even smiling? Why yes, I think I might be. Maybe we should do this more often, take a little break from the craziness when we’re ready to kill each other.
I pulled up the songs we would be working on today. There were three new ones in the pile. “Oh look, more R and B…”
“Hey Kev!” I turned and smiled at my cousin when he walked into the room. He looked well rested too and tan. I’m not sure how he always managed to get a tan whenever we had any time off. He was in Kentucky and Georgia for heaven’s sake. Maybe it was one of those fake tans?
“Kevin why are you laughing?”
“No reason, so how are things?” He placed the Starbucks cup he was carrying down on the table and sat down beside me.
“Good, the break was nice. Leigh and Bay are still at her mom’s house.”
“Everybody all good?”
“Yeah, I even saw Harold. He sends his love.”
“Excellent.”
“When did you get in?”
“This morning…I took a cab here from the airport.”
“Wow, you don’t fool around huh?” He asked me smiling as he blew on his coffee.
“No way, not when my wife is concerned.”
“I know the feeling.”
I nodded at him just as Howie walked in the door. He looked great too, everyone looked so calm and recharged, and it was awesome.
“Hey guys!”
“Sup D!” He thought that was pretty amusing.
“Nothing dawg…sup witchu?”
“There can only be one ghetto white boy in this group, sorry to disappoint you both.” We both laughed at Brian.
“How is the ghetto white boy anyway?” I asked, thinking of me last phone conversation with Nick. When I called back to check up on him, he was already asleep.
“Sore…he’s not coming in today. We told him to stay in bed with the windows locked.”
Kevin nodded, “Good, if he showed up I was going to tell him to go home anyway.”
“Isn’t that what started all of the stress in the first place Kevin?” My cousin had one of his trademark, ‘I’m a smartass and I know it’ looks going on.
“I still can’t believe he fell out the window.” Why I couldn’t believe this was anyone’s guess. After I got off the phone with Nick I called Kris and told her about what had happened and after she got done laughing she said, “And this surprises you because?”
“He’s just lucky nothing was broken, but he looks like hell. He’s all scratched up and his back is bruised.” Brian said while shaking his head.
“Yes, it goes along very nicely with his eye.” Howie added, shaking his head as well.
“He hurt his eye too?”
“Well he didn’t…”
I glanced over at Brian, “Do I want to know?”
“Believe me you don’t want to know.” My cousin answered.
“Where is AJ?”
“Probably being a nursemaid. He’ll be here soon.”
“I think we should buy some childproof locks for the windows.”
“I already helped AJ put them on last night.” Okay I was only kidding but when Brian said that I just about peed myself. Brian has turned into such a daddy.
“Are those locks really necessary?” I looked over at the big blob lying in the bed and shook my head at him. In fact all I found myself doing ever since we got his ass inside yesterday was shake my head at him. “I mean, I fell out because I reached down there, it’s not like I just happened to be walking by the window and fell through.” He finished as if that was an okay excuse for a grown man to fall out of a window.
“You know dude, if that was the case, it almost would have been better.”
“But childproof locks?”
“If you want the window opened all you have to do is ask.”
“But…”
“Look…you’re lucky Brian didn’t buy you an adult sized crib last night. I’m never going to Home Depot with him ever again. He’s like a crazy guy in that store.” I walked over and sat on the bed next to my friend. I loved rubbing his stupidity in. I have done my fair share of dumb things but I think no matter what anyone does, this one will win for at least a year.
Brian was highly amusing last night, after we got Nick into bed, after taking him to the hospital to get checked out. He grabbed me all serious like and said, “We are going to Home Depot right now and buying locks for those windows.” I thought he was only kidding but he most definitely was not. He made Howie stay to baby-sit Nick (I swear to God, I’m not kidding) and then the two of us took off.
He was a man on a mission, grabbing a clerk and having him show us all of these child proof locks. I swear I really had to try my hardest not to laugh because the guy asked how old his son was and Brian said it wasn’t for his son but for a friend. Of course the clerk thought he meant a friend’s child but only we knew differently.
He showed us how to install these locks then sent us on our merry way. By the time we got back to my place, Nick was sound asleep and snoring loudly from the pain killers the doctor had prescribed him. Howie was watching “Queer eye for the Straight Guy” and quickly changed the channel before he thought we’d notice. I made a mental note to make fun of him for that later. Only one major mocking an hour, that’s my motto.
The three of us marched into Nick’s room and placed a lock on each one of his windows. We made fun of him the entire time, well at least Howie and I did. Surprisingly Brian was taking this whole thing entirely too seriously and okay maybe it was wrong of us to be making fun of him while he was asleep and unable to defend himself, but still. I do it when he’s awake to if that makes you feel any better.
These particular locks came with a key, so even if the child in question could figure out how to open the window they still wouldn’t be able to get it more than three inches open without the aide of a key. The key which I had the honor of holding!
“I am so friggin sore…”
“Nick you fell out of a god damned window into a rose bush, what did you think you’d feel like?”
“But I thought by now I’d feel better. My back hurts.”
“Do you want anything before I go?”
“I want to come! I can’t believe you are making me stay here.”
“I’m not, your doctor is.”
“He’ll never know.”
“You are already complaining about being in pain and whining…”
“I’m not whining!”
“You’re whining…and I don’t blame you because I would be too, but still…I’m not listening to you whine all damn day. Stay put!”
“This is so dumb!” He crossed his arms and pouted, I know…you all think that’s adorable *sigh* he’s 24 years old!
“Well falling out a window to answer a cell phone was dumber.”
“Dumber?”
“I don’t know…more dumberer? Even more dumb?”
Nick rolled his eyes at me and grinned, “How about we just say stupid.”
“Okay, that works for me.”
“You guys all think I’m a jackass for doing that don’t you?”
“No, not for that…we already had you pegged as a jackass by your 13th birthday Carter.”
“You suck AJ!”
“But I don’t swallow! HA!” I placed my hand on his leg, and tried to be serious for a second, “Do you need anything before I go?”
“No, I’m good I guess.”
“You sure? You want some water or your medicine?”
He shook his head at me, “I’ll manage.”
“Is your cell phone right next to you? I made sure I super glued it to the nightstand so you wouldn’t be tempted to jump after it.”
“Shut up!” He rolled his eyes at me again, yup…I’m good.
I stood up and winked at him, “Okay kiddo…seriously, if you need me for anything just call okay?”
“She still hasn’t called me.” Damn…almost made it out the door.
I turned towards him and tried to act like I wasn’t happy about that. Truth was we were all kind of glad she was blowing him off. Call it tough love, but he was better off without her in the long run. “Don’t give up on her yet Kaos, maybe she’s busy.”
“It’s been two days.”
“That’s not long at all.” Okay I lied. It was long in Paris time. This is the girl that called him once an hour religiously.
He nodded at me and then laid his head back on the pillow, “Tell the guys I said to not have too much fun without me.”
“I will…and don’t worry, every time one of us cracks a joke about you today, we’ll be doing it with the utmost love for you.”
“AJ, go away!”
I chuckled as I tucked my window key into my pocket and headed for the studio.
I have been trying to write some songs that I felt would be a good fit for this album, that’s pretty much what I did on our little break. I must have come up with at least 20 different songs, but ended up throwing about half of them out. I wish I wasn’t so picky when it came to my own stuff; it’s just that I am my own worst critic. I have gotten better over the years. There was a time I was so unconfident in my abilities as a songwriter that I wouldn’t even allow anyone to listen to things I had written. The other guys would come in with stuff that they had lying around their places, some really good and some really bad. We would listen to it and inside I’d be saying “I should have never thrown away that song.” I still say today that if I was a little more confident back in 98, half of the songs on Millennium would have been songs penned by me.
I sound incredibly cocky saying that, who do I think I am anyway…AJ?
“D, what do you think about this one?” I glanced over at Kevin. He was whispering as we listened to Brian singing in the booth.
“I don’t really like this one either. What’s it called?”
“Over her.”
“It’s horrible, we really need better stuff than this, I’m remembering why I was so stressed out now.” I smiled at Kevin; already he was getting that familiar stressed look on his face.
“I know this much is…true!” AJ sang as he walked in the door.
“Hey AJ.”
“Hey guys…Kevy!!”
“Hey!”
“What’s with the True song?”
I shrugged at him, “It’s one of the ones that the record company sent over.”
“Oh…okay.” He sighed and took a seat next to Kevin. “So I see the crap keeps on a rolling in then.”
“Glad we’re not the only ones who think that.”
“What about Rok? Does he like this?”
“He hasn’t said, but judging by the look on his face, I’m going with no Bob.”
“Maybe we should all get together and write something as the five of us…you know like how we did for Black and Blue?” Kevin suggested as the song finally ended and Brian walked back into the room.
“There’s always Max…” AJ added.
“Maybe we should call Max. I talked to him the other day; he said he thought he had some great stuff to send our way.”
Kevin nodded but Brian didn’t look like he thought it was a good idea, “What Bri?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I just feel like we’d be taking a step backwards if we went with Max.”
“You can’t actually call all of the crap we’ve been recording a step in the right direction though, can you?” I was proud of myself for not letting up and giving in. In truth, I called Max to see if he thought he had anything for us. I complained to him about the way our album was going and how much most of us didn’t like the tracks thus far. He immediately sent me a bunch of songs he had been working on and one after the other, I loved them all. He said that Nick had called him a few nights before I did and said the same exact thing.
“No, I guess not…I don’t know. What do you guys think?” Brian asked everyone.
“He sent me some great songs, I’ll bring them in tomorrow and we can listen to them.”
“What style?” AJ asked, now curious.
“Mostly pop but some have a rock feel.”
“Nick will be happy.” Kevin said, motioning for me to go into the studio to record my crappy part of the song.
I can’t believe I am stuck at home on the first day everyone is back in the studio. And I can’t believe the reason is because I fell out a window! What am I, some kind of stupid ass or something? And while I’m on the topic of not believing things, I’ll also say once again that I can’t believe she hasn’t called me yet! I almost died!! And she still hasn’t called me.
You know, the old me would have been pretty happy about being home. Nothing used to make me happier than getting out of work. It didn’t happen very often but as a general rule, people were more lenient on me than the rest of the guys because of my age. I milked that for all it was worth back then. I would have happily laid in bed all day playing video games and eating room service knowing that while I was doing that, they were busy working.
Now it sucks though, because I know they are all in there talking crap about how dumb I am. They would be right too. “Call me!!!” I randomly yelled at my phone. Don’t worry; I didn’t throw it this time, even though I wanted to. I did give it the finger though, oddly enough that made me feel better. I knew I was going to have to bite the bullet on this one and actually call her. I grabbed the phone in my hands and stared at it for a bit. Would calling her make me officially pathetic?
“No dumbass…falling out of a window because you thought she might call made you officially pathetic…the only way to go from there is up my friend.” I said this to myself as I dialed her number.
“What do you want?” Pfft! That’s how she answered. What a bitch! What do I do now? I should hang up on her ass. Tell her I dialed the wrong number, that I was really calling one of my groupies for a night of intense fuckage.
“I fell out a window.” Or I could wuss out and say that.
“You what?” That seemed to work, her voice got a little softer.
“I fell out my bedroom window.”
“Oh my God…are you okay?”
“I will be, I hurt my back and am all scraped up, but other than that, I’ll be all good.”
“Oh baby, I’m so sorry to hear that. How did it happen?”
“That’s not important; I just wanted to hear your voice.” Oh my god I am the most pathetic human being on this earth. What the fuck…is she laughing at me?
“Well now you heard it.”
“Are you laughing about something?” I asked, trying to maintain my coolness.
“Well…yeah. You fell out a window.”
Okay Nick…control the temper, it is funny…don’t let her get to you.
“What kind of jerk falls out a window?” Don’t say it….don’t say it!
“The same kind that runs up to see his girlfriend when she gets thrown off a damn horse!” AHH! You said it!
She paused for a few minutes, I know that was a bad thing to say, but it’s the truth. I mean I wasn’t anything but sympathetic when she had her accident and meanwhile here she is laughing at me.
“You are such a jerk!” She said before hanging up on me! Yes she freaking hung up on me!
I got mad and threw the phone across the room…yes; I can’t believe I did it either. It didn’t go anywhere near the window this time though. Instead it hit the wall and broke. I rolled over on my side and started to cry. I have issues, huge ones.
“Brian?” I turned to the sound of AJ’s voice and saw that everyone was staring at me looking a little amused.
“What?”
“You were completely zoning out Carter style just then.”
“Sorry, I was just wondering what my son was up to.”
“Baylee or Nickolas?” I shook my head at AJ, but sad as it sounds a little of both. I was thinking of Nick in that particular second. Wondering how he was feeling and more importantly if Paris actually called him or not. I have to say, I haven’t felt this brotherly towards him in a long time. When he fell out the window, all of those big brother instincts came back. My thoughts were mostly on my real son though, the one who was smart enough not to fall out a window.
“I miss having my little guy around.” And I did, I hated when I was separated from my family but especially my son. Leigh and I have lived apart before, it sucks but we could just spend all night on the phone. With my son it was a little different. He didn’t always understand what was going on.
“I’m sorry buddy…when are they coming back?”
“In a few days.”
“That’s not too bad then.” That was Kevin’s indirect way of saying, ‘in other words…quit complaining.’ Keep in mind though, I never once complained, they asked.
“What’s your take on Max, Brian?” Howie asked me again. I didn’t answer him the first time around because I was still trying to figure out what exactly my take was. I loved Max, he is the coolest guy in the universe, but I just had the feeling that if we collaborated with him, it was would be 1999 all over again. Would that really be a bad thing though?
“I don’t know…I think maybe we should listen to what he sent your way and then make a decision.”
“If we don’t like it, we need to do something. I really think we should write some stuff together.” Kevin mentioned again. It’s not that I didn’t like that idea, it’s just that as a general rule, when all five of us tried to collaborate it never went really well. Three of us would manage to take over and leave the other two out. It wasn’t intentional but that’s just the way it worked.
I know when it comes to writing, I tend to be overbearing, but it’s just because I feel like it’s my comfort zone. An area I have always been pretty confident in. AJ and Howie would be the other two that might take things over leaving Kevin and Nick in the dust. It’s not like either of them don’t write. My cousin writes some kick ass songs, he’s just very mellow when it comes to that stuff.
Nick’s song writing has gotten so much better since he branched out on his own. When he wrote stuff before, I would always try to help him out as best as I could and I think it used to hurt his feelings. He thought I thought everything he came up with sucked, but it wasn’t that. It’s just that he was so young; he didn’t have the ability under his belt yet.
When we did that writing thing in the Bahamas it ended up being a disaster because when we didn’t agree it was almost always one of his songs. Five people are too many to write on one song.
“I really think once you guys hear this song, you’ll love it.”
“What’s it called?” I asked.
“Climbing the Walls.”
“Nice…maybe we can rename it falling out the window.” AJ said and of course we all had a good laugh about that. Poor Nick, he was never ever going to live this down. We would all make sure of that!
Maybe I’ll call him to see how he’s doing. But maybe I’d call his real phone and not his cell…just in case.
Have a great Easter everyone! :O)
Adding something else...a banner to info about my book. :O)
