Absolutely Unforgivable(12)
Rowdy’s was bigger than the bar I had worked in, back home in Oklahoma. To the right was a counter that was the full length of the building. To the left was a stage where they already had their equipment set up. Near the stage was a long table where the band and their closest friends gathered. Jeromy grabbed my hand and pulled me forward to meet everyone. I squeezed his hand. My stomach turned in knots.
“Oh my God! You must be Stacy! I’m so glad to finally meet you. I’m Mindy!” She was a perky blonde girl with dark brown eyes, and thinly plucked eyebrows that were shaped into a deceivingly perfect arch. She had tiny arms, velvety soft skin and a paper-thin waste that screamed of unnatural skinniness. When she pulled away from me, I noticed she had a huge smile on her face, as if she was genuinely excited to meet me.
I turned my head toward Billy, wondering if he would explain who she was, but he didn’t at first. He paused for a moment and then realizing his mistake, he leaned into me and said, “That’s Bran’s old lady.” He pointed across the table to where Bran was sitting. Mindy bounced back over to him and sat on the corner of his chair. He put one arm across her leg and with the other picked up his beer, tilted his head and lifted his beer up, as to acknowledge our arrival.
“Hey man. Good to see you again,” he shouted across the table to Jeromy. Jeromy gave him the same sort of acknowledgement. As Jeromy cocked his head back, I noticed a table of girls next to him checking him out, whispering and pointing. You would think by now I would be used to the attention that Jeromy draws from other females, but I quite honestly wasn’t. And now with Billy and him together, they seemed to be drawing quite a crowd of giggling girls. I did my best to ignore it and instead focus on meeting Billy’s other friends.
Bran was the drummer, I thought, trying to remind myself who was who. Sitting next to Bran was Zander, the lead guitarist. I recognized his messy hair. He looked exactly like his picture. Sitting across the table from Zander was Travis. He was speaking to a heavy set man with a goatee. “That’s Brick,” Billy said as he pointed to him. “He runs our website and makes our videos for YouTube.”
I glanced back over to Travis as I noticed two women fawning over him. They looked similar, with long bleach blonde hair, a clearly fake suntan, long nails with bright pink polish, and matching bright pink lipstick.
Mindy popped back up next to me and took my hand. “Come on, let me introduce you to Darla and Starla.” I immediately knew who she was talking about. The girls did look so much alike; it only made sense that they were related. They didn’t look enough like each other to be actual twins, so I surmised that they were just sisters.
But as it turned out, Darla and Starla weren’t sisters at all. They just happened to have similar names and looked alike. It was their similarities that had drawn them together as friends, they would later tell me.
Surprisingly, the bar wasn’t too loud and having a conversation with the others was easy. That was, until it was time for the band to play. Billy was the last to take the stage and when he did the crowds let out a loud roar. I sat down next to Jeromy, positioned perfectly near the stage so I could see the show.
Billy was superb, he really commanded the stage. Countless half-dressed women leapt to their feet and began shouting as Billy sang one song after another. He had such energy, such presence. It was hard to take your eyes off of him. At the end of their set, the band left the stage to uproarious applause and cheers.
As they made their way back to our table, they passed several girls waiting for their attention. While the other men seemed to revel in it, Billy didn’t. Instead he came back and sat down next to Jeromy and I, and the two began a conversation about sports and going to see a Houston Texans football game in the fall. It was strange, really. It was as if he didn’t realize the line of women standing by the stage who were waiting for him, dying to get even a second glance.
Billy was nothing like I had imagined him to be. I assumed he would be your stereotypical rock god with women falling all over him, which they were, but I expected him to love every minute of it and have a new bimbo every night. Although I had just met him, he didn’t seem anything like that at all. I was pleasantly surprised. But then again, maybe he was just putting on a good face since it was our first night in town.
As Jeromy went up to the bar to get us another round of beers, Billy slid over into his chair to sit next to me. “So what did you think?” he asked as he nodded towards the stage.
“Oh, you were fine,” I said to him nervously and then quickly looked away. This was the first time we had really spoken alone. I didn’t know why he intimidated me so much, but he really did.