Battle of the Bands - Round 3
thirty
Dexter
“Bunny isn’t with you?” Marlowe shouted as we walked into the back door of Captain’s. She ran frantically toward me as Rich and Chris shuffled by to head toward the stage.
“No, he’s driving separately. Why?”
She pulled out her cell phone and held it out to me. I saw Bunny’s name on the caller ID. “He just called me and said, ‘I’ll be there, don't worry,’ and hung up. I tried calling him back, but it goes straight to voicemail.”
She had her hair up in two buns, and her bangs were perfectly straight across her forehead. But worry was laced in her blue eyes. Leaning down, I kissed her cheek. “Take a deep breath. We’ve got some time. I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he just left later than he planned.”
Taking a deep breath, she let out a sigh.
“You’re right. Ugh, okay. Head back there.
I’ll be over soon.” She walked away, and I noticed she had on a new Captain’s shirt.
It had the typical Captains logo on the front, but the back had a badass Trash Fest ‘03 Battle of the Bands graphic. The shorts she wore were Bunny’s, and I bit my lip as I turned and walked toward the stage.
Bunny finally showed up right before we went on. I had started to get worried, and then he pushed his way back to us. He wore a beanie and sunglasses, a little out of character for him on a night we were performing, but whatever.
“Oh, Bunny, thank god,” Marlowe said, throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her back with slow movements and took his sunglasses off. He looked like he was half asleep.
Giving him a weird look, he stared back at me. “I’m fucking fine, Dex.”
I threw up my hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything.”
Looking at Marlowe, she scrunched her eyebrows at me and let go of Bunny. He walked away and pulled his beanie off.
Stevie announced us to the crowd and jogged off stage.
We went out and played through our set list. Bunny mumbled through tougher lyrics, not even trying to hit them.
Bunny didn’t even interact with us while we played.
He normally jumped around and worked the crowd too.
But he was just standing there, rocking around to the beat of the music.
Rich missed a count and messed Bunny up when we started our last song. It wasn’t our best show, but we did it.
When we finished playing, the cheers quieted down.
Bunny still stood on the stage, waving at everyone, and I grabbed his wrist, pulling him down the steps with me.
Bunny had a one-hundred-yard stare. Marlowe put a bottle of water in my hand.
“Bunny,” she said quietly as I put the water bottle to his lips.
He snapped out of whatever was happening to him quickly, and I almost dropped the water bottle.
Marlowe looked at me. “I’ll be right back.” She ran out into the crowd, pushing through the mass of people toward the bar.
Bunny leaned against the wall, looking around, giving me a dirty look now and then.
Marlowe returned with her bag and began pulling at my shirt. “Grab him, let's go.”
Following Marlowe, I pulled Bunny by the hand, and he walked behind me.
When we reached the parking lot, Bunny yanked his hand from mine.
He started walking away from Marlowe and me, wandering into the middle of the rows of cars.
It was about to rain, and the air felt humid.
The floodlight on the side of the building shone down directly on Bunny.
“Stop worrying so much about me. Look, I'm fine. I always don’t need you two to be okay.” He yelled from the middle of the lot.
Marlowe waved bugs away from her face, and I handed her the car keys. “Meet me over there by the exit.” She didn’t ask a question, even though I could tell she wanted to.
When I approached Bunny, his face dropped, and he looked like he wanted to cry, but he was fighting it really hard. He just shook his head as I scooped him and started walking over to where Marlowe waited in the car.
Laying him down the best I could in my back seat, I got in the passenger's side, and Marlowe drove us home.
Bunny walked inside and crawled into bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Marlowe and I took his shoes and clothes off so he would be comfortable.
After getting ready for bed, we crawled into bed with Bunny.