along.”
“I had less time to research you because I was told you were joining us only a few days before we left. But I found some shit out.”
This made me wonder what was on the Internet about me. I scrunched up my brow while I was thinking about this, and Jack must have read my mind.
“Sudden urge to Google yourself?” he asked, chuckling.
“Actually, yes.”
“Don’t worry, Princess, none of it was bad.”
I knew that the worst stuff wasn’t publically available. My deep, dark secret was legally protected.
“I bet it took weeks to sort through all the shit on Hank.”
“Fuck, my printer ran dry.”
I laughed. “I bet it did.”
Even after he was sober Hank had ended up in the paper again and again for his antics. Sometimes it was the girls he hooked up with – there were so many before Bell. Sometimes it was just crazy shit he would do, like the time he threw a roadie fifty feet into the crowd during a show. The crowd caught the roadie and no one got hurt, but the press had a field day speculating whether or not Hank had fallen off the wagon.
Sean balanced him out. There was never much to say about Sean because he’d always been calm, sober and tight-lipped. The press liked to get pictures of him with beautiful women on his arm, but that was about it.
All that had changed last year when Henry was born. It was a like a dream come true for the paparazzi when an ex-girlfriend of Sean’s claimed she had knowledge that Hank was actually the father of Baby’s baby.
I was ruminating about this, and all the information on our lives that was publicly available when Jack snapped me out of my thoughts. “Hey, we should gather up the girls,” he said, looking past me. “I’m not doing a very good job of being chaperone here.”
I turned my head to follow his gaze. Baby was finally done having her marathon chat with the stripper and he’d moved on to shake his ass for someone else. Jack waved at her, so she moved around the table closer to us. Bell was leaving the bachelorette party and heading back to our table as well.
“I think maybe we aren’t the target audience for this,” Baby said, sitting across from me.
Bell sat down next to her and threw the penis-shaped sun visor she’d gotten from the bachelorette party on the table. “Agreed. None of these guys are one-tenth as hot as Hank.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all night,” Jack said. “How about a quiet bar, instead?”
“Seriously? This is not how chicks on a rock tour are supposed to behave,” I pointed out. But in truth, I was more than happy with the idea of a few drinks and some conversation with this group. I just didn’t want them to know that.
Baby shrugged. “Too bad, Stac, you’re stuck with us.”
****
We ended up at a little dive bar down the street. It was the kind of place that still had a jukebox and a few pool tables in a darkly lit back room. We sat in a corner booth with slick wood seats and a wobbly table. Baby, Jack and I each got a beer. Bell grumbled over her club soda.
“No more breast-feeding for me,” Baby said, clinking the neck of her beer to mine.
“Cheers to that,” I said. “You, on the other hand,” I pointed my bottle at Bell, “have a long way to go.”
She rubbed her belly and shrugged. “I don’t drink that much anyway, just when I’m out with you guys. No alcohol in my house.”
“How long has Hank been sober?” Jack asked. Though I was sure he already knew this from his Internet snooping.
“Fourteen years and counting,” Bell said proudly.
“He was so different back when he was sobering up,” I said.
Both Bell and Baby leaned forward over the table. They were interested. After all, they hadn’t known Hank back then.
“What was he like?” Bell asked.
“Well, the first time I met him was after his first stint in rehab. He was dark and brooding. Not the Hank we all know and love today, at all.”
“Dark and brooding? My Hank?”
“Yeah, you probably
“I had less time to research you because I was told you were joining us only a few days before we left. But I found some shit out.”
This made me wonder what was on the Internet about me. I scrunched up my brow while I was thinking about this, and Jack must have read my mind.
“Sudden urge to Google yourself?” he asked, chuckling.
“Actually, yes.”
“Don’t worry, Princess, none of it was bad.”
I knew that the worst stuff wasn’t publically available. My deep, dark secret was legally protected.
“I bet it took weeks to sort through all the shit on Hank.”
“Fuck, my printer ran dry.”
I laughed. “I bet it did.”
Even after he was sober Hank had ended up in the paper again and again for his antics. Sometimes it was the girls he hooked up with – there were so many before Bell. Sometimes it was just crazy shit he would do, like the time he threw a roadie fifty feet into the crowd during a show. The crowd caught the roadie and no one got hurt, but the press had a field day speculating whether or not Hank had fallen off the wagon.
Sean balanced him out. There was never much to say about Sean because he’d always been calm, sober and tight-lipped. The press liked to get pictures of him with beautiful women on his arm, but that was about it.
All that had changed last year when Henry was born. It was a like a dream come true for the paparazzi when an ex-girlfriend of Sean’s claimed she had knowledge that Hank was actually the father of Baby’s baby.
I was ruminating about this, and all the information on our lives that was publicly available when Jack snapped me out of my thoughts. “Hey, we should gather up the girls,” he said, looking past me. “I’m not doing a very good job of being chaperone here.”
I turned my head to follow his gaze. Baby was finally done having her marathon chat with the stripper and he’d moved on to shake his ass for someone else. Jack waved at her, so she moved around the table closer to us. Bell was leaving the bachelorette party and heading back to our table as well.
“I think maybe we aren’t the target audience for this,” Baby said, sitting across from me.
Bell sat down next to her and threw the penis-shaped sun visor she’d gotten from the bachelorette party on the table. “Agreed. None of these guys are one-tenth as hot as Hank.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all night,” Jack said. “How about a quiet bar, instead?”
“Seriously? This is not how chicks on a rock tour are supposed to behave,” I pointed out. But in truth, I was more than happy with the idea of a few drinks and some conversation with this group. I just didn’t want them to know that.
Baby shrugged. “Too bad, Stac, you’re stuck with us.”
****
We ended up at a little dive bar down the street. It was the kind of place that still had a jukebox and a few pool tables in a darkly lit back room. We sat in a corner booth with slick wood seats and a wobbly table. Baby, Jack and I each got a beer. Bell grumbled over her club soda.
“No more breast-feeding for me,” Baby said, clinking the neck of her beer to mine.
“Cheers to that,” I said. “You, on the other hand,” I pointed my bottle at Bell, “have a long way to go.”
She rubbed her belly and shrugged. “I don’t drink that much anyway, just when I’m out with you guys. No alcohol in my house.”
“How long has Hank been sober?” Jack asked. Though I was sure he already knew this from his Internet snooping.
“Fourteen years and counting,” Bell said proudly.
“He was so different back when he was sobering up,” I said.
Both Bell and Baby leaned forward over the table. They were interested. After all, they hadn’t known Hank back then.
“What was he like?” Bell asked.
“Well, the first time I met him was after his first stint in rehab. He was dark and brooding. Not the Hank we all know and love today, at all.”
“Dark and brooding? My Hank?”
“Yeah, you probably
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