Catherine’s not in her room, so I go downstairs to look for her. As childish as it may sound, wishing her good night has been my habit for far too long to give up on it now. I move silently, unwilling to disturb the quiet of the dark house, interrupted only by the occasional dripping of water in the kitchen.Raven must be asleep already, too. Lately, he’s been going to bed early.I find Catherine on the sofa in the living room, her eyes closed, probably lulled to sleep by the table clock ticking nearby. I stop next to her, considering if I should wake her up or just cover her with some blanket. From where I stand, I can see a corner of the kitchen counter with the dishes drying on the rack.“I told you.”I look down and find her smiling at me sleepily.“I told you he would eventually do his chores.”“Yeah, right.” I roll my eyes. “Won’t
Raven?” Catherine calls out.After a moment, the door creaks upstairs.“Yes, ma’am?”“Could you come down for a moment?” She nods at me and I flip the switch, turning off the lights.There’re footsteps on the stairs, and then Raven walks into the living room.“What’s with the lights...oh?” He stops in front of the little table with the round cake decorated with rows of candles that provide the only illumination in the evening gloom. He stares at the cake for a moment, then laughs. “Oh, how cute.”“Happy Birthday,” Catherine shouts, pulling the cracker. We all jump at the banging sound, and then a surprisingly dense cloud of confetti fills the center of the room.“Oh wow.” She steps forward to protect the burning candles from the flying pieces, and looks around, shaking her head. “It’s
Raven is all attentive looks and polite nods as Catherine gives him her last instructions, standing by the car. He ’uhu’s and ’aha’s and ’yes ma’am’s in all the right places, while I throw our backpacks in the trunk. The amount of things she made us pack is more suitable for a week of camping rather than going out for a few hours to see a rock show. Still, if us packing warm coats and winter boots in this heat makes her feel better, it’s not worth an argument.As soon as we leave the driveway and her figure grows smaller in the rearview mirror, Raven drops all pretense and starts bouncing up and down in his seat.“We’re doing it!” he squeals. “We’re actually doing it!” He leans over, wraps his hand around my neck, and says into my ear. “I want to kiss you on the lips, you bugger.”“I’m driving, for fuck’s sake!” I pu
I sip my coffee, looking out of the diner’s window at the cars crawling along the highway. Even considering the bad traffic we still have enough time, but Raven wanted to be there before they open the gates, so we better get going. I squint up at the blinding afternoon sun, then down at the brown liquid in my cup, and finish it in one gulp.“Anything else?”The red-haired waitress is standing next to me again, smiling.“No, thanks,” I say. “Can I get the check? We’ll leave when my friend comes back.”It’s then that I see behind her back the door to the restroom open. At first, I don’t even identify the person coming out as Raven, but then I recognize the black backpack with the red stripes he carries on one shoulder. I gape at him, and the waitress turns to looks, too, following my gaze.I expected for his ‘special outfit&rsquo
Strictly speaking, running after the gates are open shouldn’t be necessary. We are waiting right in front of the barriers surrounding the section before the stage, so we’re sure to get in first. Still, Raven starts bouncing impatiently the moment the security guards begin to remove the chains linking two barriers together. The crowd around us is getting restless, pushing us forward. We only pause for a moment to have our green paper wristbands checked, proving our eligibility to enter the Golden Circle, and then we are past the barriers, and the stage is just tens of feet of barren ground away.“Run!” yells Raven, sprinting ahead, along with the other fans that trickle in through two more entrances.I grab my backpack and take off after him.The excitement of the running, cheering people rubs on me, and by the time I reach the barriers in front of the stage, I’m grinning from ear to ear. Raven is there al
The moon stands high in the sky above the crowd exhausted by waiting when something starts changing on the stage. A good half an hour has passed since the warm up band has left, and their instruments have been replaced by new ones, including an impressive drums set with ‘Fake Drug’ printed on every surface. The air is filled with muffled music coming from the dynamics and the noise of thousands of people talking and shifting, stretching their tired muscles.First, I notice the lights. Instead of crawling lazily around the stage, they start moving in jagged patterns. The music from the dynamics gets replaced by a whining of a guitar, its volume gradually increasing. The crowd gets louder as people notice. Then, the screens over the stage light up, displaying what looks like still images from ‘Fake Drug’ videos and album covers. The crowd cheers, and, a few seconds later, four men walk casually onto the stage, waving at us.
Raven,” I say. “Listen, regarding the...regarding what happened...”“What happened?” He frowns at me; then understanding dawns in his eyes. “Ah, that? It’s no big deal.” He turns away and continues to peer at the closed doors to the backstage area. Apart from us, there’s only a couple dozen people waiting by the barriers along the path from the back exit to the parked minivan with tinted windows.“No, I...I don’t know what’s gotten into me,” I say close to his ear so that others wouldn’t hear. “It was...I don’t know...loud and hot and I got... I don’t know...I got...”“Horny,” he offers helpfully. “It’s called horny.”A couple of girls waiting next to us glance at each other and burst into giggles, covering their faces with the magazines they hold ready for autographs. I look away, my fac
Raven, talk to me,” I say. “This is getting weird. Just say something.”I glance at him, unwilling to take my eyes off the road for too long. He’s still sitting with his head rested against the window, gazing at the night highway illuminated by the street lights and topped by the black cloudless sky. He’s been quiet since his brief encounter with Jared. He’s allowed me to usher him back to the car without a single word, buckled in when told to, but ignored all my attempts at conversations.At first, I assumed he just needed some time to digest the events of the evening, but now his state is beginning to bother me. He’s never struck me as a particularly stable person. Could the emotions of tonight have unhinged him even more?On the other hand, how much of a shock could an encounter with a washed-out rock band be?“Come on,” I say. “If you don’t talk to me now