Chapter 7 - Roxie
Roxie
The drive east from Austin to Houston was going to take about two and a half hours. After staring out the window for the first few miles, I opened my laptop and peeked at the tour schedule.
Aside from New York and Seattle, there was a nice gap between each show to allow for transportation and setup.
I imagined the bus traveling around the country, stopping at arena after arena.
I should have plenty of time to explore the cities, too.
It was an amazing opportunity for a girl who had only been out of her home state of Texas once.
I added the schedule to my iPhone calendar, specifically noting Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco as the places I was looking forward to the most. Then I switched over to my graphics design software and got to work on the tour posters.
The Houston concert was tonight, so I started with the next city on tour: Fort Worth. I already had an idea for the style I wanted to use, so it was just a matter of finding artwork for the skyline of the city. Once I had that, I squeezed it together, stylizing it in a big, bold way.
Once I had the background, there was one other thing I needed.
I left my spot and walked over to the driver’s seat, holding onto a handle on the ceiling to steady my footing. “Violet told me there’s a rotation for the big bed. Are we rotating bus driver duties, too?”
“Nope, it’s all me,” Cash replied without taking his eyes off the road.
“How’d you get stuck with the job?”
“Because,” he said with a small smile, “I’m the only one responsible enough.”
“So you’re the tour mom,” I replied. “Got it.”
Cash chuckled, and glanced over at me for a second. “Don’t tell Riot. But more or less, yeah. Someone has to herd these cats.”
“Godspeed. Do you know where I can get the band graphics? I need the band logo, and the font you use for the text.”
“Ask Vi,” he replied. “She’ll give you access to the share drive.”
“Vi means Violet,” Milo chimed in from the booth. He was playing Solitaire by himself, cards spread out on the table. “She hates the nickname, but that just makes us use it more often.”
“Thank goodness you mansplained that for her,” Riot said next to him. “Without your insight, Roxie never would’ve figured out that Vi was short for Violet.”
Milo shoved his middle finger right up against Riot’s face. The lead singer slapped it away.
I carried my laptop to the back of the bus. Violet was stretched out on the bed with her back resting against the wall of the bus.
“I’ve got first rotation,” she said with a wide grin. “You’ll rarely get special treatment with the guys, but every now and then you can guilt them into acting chivalrous. In this case, I acted sad about missing my partner, and Riot offered the bed to me first. You need anything?”
“The band artwork, actually. I need the band logo, preferably the core Photoshop file. And the font you use.”
“Come to mama.” She grabbed the laptop and began typing. “We do everything in Google Drive. I’m giving you access and creating a shortcut on your desktop so you’ll never have to bother me again. Not that you’re bothering me now, but… you get it.”
“Sure.” I stood around, not sure what to do while she worked. “That was your partner you were hugging before we left?”
“Dana. We just celebrated our one year anniversary.”
“She’s cool with you touring for months at a time?”
“Oh yeah, she doesn’t mind,” Violet explained while typing on my laptop. “She’s a charge nurse. If anything, my schedule is more stable than hers.”
“You two make a nice couple.”
Violet paused to look up at me. “You said it weird.”
I hesitated. “It’s just… I feel really dumb. I want to apologize for the way I acted after the concert the other night.”
“Apologize for what?” she demanded.
“For thinking…” Ugh. Was she really going to make me say it? “For thinking that you all wanted to have sex with me. That was my first time being invited backstage, so… I assumed the worst.”
Violet barked a laugh and resumed typing. “Oh, I do. You’re hot.”
I blinked. “Um…”
“But I’m in a happy, very monogamous relationship,” she added. “These other fools, though? They’re single. Every one of them.”
She glanced up at me and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t want to be a groupie,” I said.
“I never said you did.” She paused to sigh. “But you’re like a juicy steak, and they’re a pack of hungry wolves.”
“Thanks… I think?”
“Just be aware of the effect you have on them while on tour.” Her tone shifted into something closer to a warning. “Don’t hurt any of them. You understand me? You’re a big girl, and can do whatever you want, but don’t toy with them. All right?”
I glanced back toward the front of the bus, where Milo and Riot were arguing about whether Las Vegas or Miami would have a better crowd.
“Honestly, I’m more worried about making sure I don’t get hurt myself.”
Violet gave me a sympathetic look. “I hear that. Font’s installed. I saved it to the list of favorites in Photoshop, and bookmarked the band logo as well. The poster for Houston looks dope!”
“Thanks!” I replied, taking my laptop from her.
Violet rose from the bed. She was an inch shorter than me, but somehow carried herself like she was seven feet tall. “I’m serious, though. I love those three idiots. They’re like brothers to me. Don’t hurt them.”
“I promise not to,” I said.
“Thanks, Muse.”
“Muse?”
“That’s your new nickname. Riot’s had writer’s block for the past month, but he’s written three new songs since meeting you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I replied, “I don’t mind the nickname, Vi.”
Anger flared behind her eyes. “Who told you to call me that?” Without waiting for an answer, she shoved past me and marched up the aisle to the front of the bus. “Which one of you told her to call me Vi?”
“Not me!” Riot replied.
“Vi’s your name,” Milo argued.
“So it was you!”
“Can we not argue in front of the new girl?” Cash asked. “Also, you’re distracting me while I drive.”
“He really is the tour bus mom,” I whispered to Milo.
The drummer erupted in laughter. “I like Roxie. She’s smart.”
Riot smiled over at me warmly, then went back to arguing with Violet.
The rest of the drive was uneventful; I eventually put my headphones on so I could work in peace. But my eyes kept being pulled to the right, in the direction of where Riot was sitting at the booth. He wore a faded gray Led Zeppelin T-shirt that showed off the tattoo sleeves on his arms.
Violet’s warning echoed in my head: don’t hurt them.
I would do my best.
We arrived at the Houston arena mid-afternoon. We parked next to the equipment van, which was already open and had black-clad roadies unloading equipment.
“Our label ponied up for hotel rooms in a third of the cities,” Cash explained while we walked outside. “The rest of the time, we sleep on the tour bus. It’s cheaper that way.”
“What about tonight?” I asked.
Cash gave me a small smile. “Tour bus. Our first hotel is in Fort Worth.”
“Great,” Milo muttered. “Two days of bunk beds to look forward to.”
“Complaining about it will surely help,” Cash said dryly.
Milo shouldered his duffel bag and carried it inside.
“Hey,” Riot said, tugging on my arm before I could follow the drummer.
“Hi.” I could feel my cheeks already turning red as the lead singer stared at me intensely. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to thank you for coming.” Riot shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. “I know it’s crazy dropping everything to go on tour with a band you just met. But I think this is going to be great. For everyone.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said, smiling back at him. His eyes were dark pools which held a lifetime of emotion. Joy and pain and hope all mixed together in an intense gaze that made me want to wrap my arms around him and surrender to the feeling that—
No. I gave myself a shake. That’s not why I was here.
But it was awfully hard to remember that when Riot was smiling at me like this.
He turned and walked inside. I let out a long sigh when he was gone.
It was going to be a long three months.