Secrets in the Lyrics (3 page)

             
So to say that Chad wasn’t happy when he found out about the tour last weekend would
be a serious understatement.  I’ve paid for it all week.  I’ve had to avoid the guys. 
He’s told me I’m not going and he’ll never let me go. 

             
I’ve gotta go though or he’s gonna kill me if I stay here.  He’s seriously strung
out.  It’s not like I can call the cops on him, he is a damn cop.  He likes to remind
me of that when he has me tied to something, roughing me up and fucking the hell out
of me.  When I told him about the tour, he hurt me so bad I could hardly walk for
two days.

             
Today I have to throw my shit in a bag and leave.  I’ve got to get to Stoney’s before
he comes back home from his shift.

             
I’m in the shower.  I’ve spent the last hour cramming everything I can into my car. 
I have to leave it at Stoney’s in the garage so I’ll have anything left when I come
back.  I look out of the curtain at the clock and it’s two, I’m supposed to meet the
guys at three-thirty.  Chad isn’t due home until four so I’m good on time.

             
As I walk into the bedroom with my robe on, the room shifts.  I’m snatched by my hair
and slammed into the wall.

             
“Where in the fuck do you think you are going?”

             
I try to stand firm.  “Let me go, Chad.”

             
He presses me harder into the wall, running his hand up my robe.  “No.  I told you
that you were not going off to follow those guys around like a bitch in heat.  They
don’t want you!”  He slams my head against the wall. “You are stupid and fat, no one
besides me will ever want you.”  He throws me on the bed and starts unzipping his
pants.  I try to fight him off, I hit and kick at him. In turn, he slaps me and punches
me.  Finally, I get my hands on the bedside lamp.  I grab it and smash him over the
head with it and he falls off of me.

             
“You fucking bitch!”

             
I jump up and run out of the room, adjusting my robe that is still half hanging on. 
I have my keys in my hand in the kitchen when he comes staggering out the bedroom
door.

             
“You are going to pay for this.”

             
I look over and see a gallon of cooking oil so I open it up and dump it all over the
floor as fast as I can.  “You’ll have to come get me mother fucker!”  I take off running
out the front door.  I hear him cussing and falling all over the place but by the
time he makes it to the door, I’m driving like a bat out of hell to Stoney’s.

             
I look down at the clock, praying they haven’t left me.  I reach to grab my phone
and realize it’s back at the house.  Not going back to get it.

             
I see the guys glaring at me when I come flying into the driveway.  Thinking he might
be behind me, I scream for them to open the garage.

             
Once I’m in the garage, I step out of the car.  “Give me a second guys to grab some
clothes.  I was in a hurry.  I didn’t want you to leave me.  I’m sorry.”  I don’t
even realize I’m crying until Stoney grabs my arm.

             
“Ivie.  Stop.  Look at me.”

             
Suddenly I realize why he wants to look at me.  My face is starting to hurt, well
throb is actually more like it.  “No.” I keep looking down. “I’m fine, just let me
go get dressed and I’ll be ready to go.”  I dart past him and run to his bathroom,
shutting the door.

             
I step in front of the mirror and I’m horrified at what I see.  I guess my adrenalin
was pumping so hard I didn’t feel exactly how many hits he got in.  I didn’t bring
my make-up or anything in here with me.  I gently wash my face to get the dried blood
off of it.

             
Looking down at my bruised and battered body, I realize that Chad was right.  I’m
fat, and looking at this face, no one will ever want me.

             
I dress and hear the guys arguing in the kitchen.
             

             
Keeg is yelling. “No, I’m going to kick his ass!  He did that to her.  He’s not going
to get away with this.”

             
Stoney is trying to talk to him.  “Keeg, man we have to calm down, he’s a cop.  We
have to play this smart.”

             
I step around the corner and the guys catch the first full on look at my face.  Gable
knocks a bunch of shit off the counter.  I know he’s frustrated that, once again,
I’ve brought my drama to the band.

             
I put my hands up.  “Look guys, let’s just get out of here.  I can explain all day
long, but all you need to know is I got my fair share of licks in and he was hurting,
too.”  I didn’t say I got one good lick in with a lamp and he was hurting from falling
trying to get to me.

             
Stoney knows me best.  He walks in front of the guys.  “Look.  The sooner she gets
to leave town, the farther she’ll be away from him.  He’s a cop and he’ll get believed
before a group of music delinquents will.”

             
I nod.  “Stoney’s right, let’s go.  I want as much distance between me and this place
as possible.”

             
We meet the tour bus picking us up over by Keeg’s mom’s house so he can leave his
car there.

             
After the bus pulls off, I can tell they want answers.  “Look guys, I’m going to take
some ibuprofen and take a nap. We’ll talk after I get up.  I just can’t do this right
now.”

             
With that, I walk down the hall and crawl in the bunk I decide to claim.  I pray for
a long sleep, but once I lie down, the events of today and the past week catch up
with me.  I begin to softly sob into my pillow until I finally do doze off.

After Ivie walks down the hall and crawls in a bunk, we sit on the small couches. 
Keeg looks over at us. “What are we going to do?  You see what he did to her, he deserves
to die.”

Keeg has a big problem with men putting their hands violently on women.  His mom took
abuse for years that he had to watch.

Stoney looks across to me.  “Man, you haven’t said much during all of this.  What
do you think?  If this had happened to Scar, what would you do?”

I shake my head.  “Man.  Look, Ivie is a private person.  She’s a rock.  Scarlet depends
on me, it’s totally different.”  I say, trying to distance myself.  Because when I
saw her earlier, I was ready to go get that son of a bitch, drop him in a pen of hungry
hogs, and let them devour him.  I have a plan but I can’t get hot headed about it.

Stoney slams his fist down on the table.  He whispers hard to me.  “You hear her back
there, don’t you?  She’s crying.  She’s hurting.  Does that sound like someone who’s
a rock to you?”

“Look man, all I’m saying is Ivie doesn’t want us to make a big deal out of this. 
She wants our support and she wants to move on.  She wants to put as much distance
between her and him as possible.”  I shrug.

Keeg glares at me.  “Whatever, Gable.  I just think he deserves to pay.”

I look over at him seriously.  “He will, trust me.  But it will be my style, calculated
and planned.  Plus, Ivie will know nothing about it.  Get me?”

They both have known me long enough to know that I don’t make idle threats.  They
nod that they understand.  Keeg leans in.  “Do you think she’ll ever tell us what
all happened?”

I look down the vacant hallway.  “When she’s ready.”  I lean back and take a nap on
our way to our first show.

~*~*~

Our first show is going to be in the Florida Panhandle at some Festival.  I let Cade
know it’s close to Destin, where he and his wife have a beach house.  They are going
to be down anyway, so he’s going to drive over for the show.  Daria said she’s too
pregnant and too tired to come out, plus Madison is not really old enough.

I arrange for Cade to come to the bus before show time so he and I can talk.

When we met, he got a little drunk that night.  He and I were sitting out back talking
and he mentioned some stuff to me, some connections that Daria might have.  I have
to say I want him to see Ivie and see what happened to her.  Then, I’m going to ask
for his help.  This dipshit Chad is a cop and he has to be dealt with carefully.

I look over at Keeg and Stoney when we pull into the parking lot.  “When Cade gets
on here I’ll introduce you guys, then I want you to wake Ivie up so I can introduce
her, then he and I are going to take a walk.”

They shrug. “Okay.”

An hour later someone knocks on the door.  I let Cade on the bus and he gives me a
back slapping hug.  “Hey man, this is awesome, I’m proud of you.”

I nod. “Thanks.”  I wave my hands around at the dated tour bus.  “So this is it, home
sweet home, for a few months, anyway.”

He chuckles.  “Well, you have to start somewhere, right?”

I laugh and nod.  “So these are my two best friends and bandmates, Keeg and Stoney. 
We’ve been friends since we were kids.  And coming down the hallway is our lovely
Ivie.”

I see Cade tense when he sees her face.  I shake my head slightly. “Guys, Ivie, this
is Cade, my brother.”

They all mumble hellos.  “Let’s go for a walk.  I have a feeling I’m going to be cramped
up in this bus for long enough.”

He laughs.  “Sure.”

We step off the bus and walk to a nearby tree.  “Cade, I need a favor, like a big
brother favor.”

He nods.  “Sure.  If I can.”  He looks off into the distance.  “Does it have anything
to do with that poor girl’s face that looks like someone used it for sparring practice?”

I nod.  “She showed up like that this morning, right before we left.  Her ex, or now
ex-boyfriend, is a douche, but he’s a douche that’s a cop.”  I give him that look,
saying he’s untouchable to the normal guy.

His jaw tenses.  “I see.  So he thinks he’s above the law and he can do shit like
that to girls.”

“I guess.  She hasn’t really talked to us about it, but something tells me it wasn’t
the first time.  But Ivie has always been a private person.  Look man, I know after
you got drunk that night and said those things, I promised I’d never breathe a word
of it to anyone, even Scarlet, and I haven’t.  But if you know someone who could effectively
get the point across to this guy, I would appreciate it.  I would go kick his ass
myself, but then I’d go to jail and ruin the band.  This band is really the only thing
she has.”

Cade looks across the fair grounds.  “I never use Daria’s connections, but I can tell
this is important to you.  Plus, the caveman in me wants to help her.  Hell, if Daria
saw that girl right now, pregnant or not, I’d have to stop her from driving there
and putting that guy in the ground herself.”  He shakes his head.  “Look, Daria does
still have some protection and some friends.  Give me everything you have on the guy
and give me info on Ivie, too.  Where did you say her family is?”

“Her dad went to prison years ago and her mom, last time we knew, was married to a
loan shark in Biloxi.”

He nods.  “This might be easier than I thought. I’ll talk to Daria, her parents may
be able to help.”

“Humph, I doubt it.  They’ve never took care of her.”

“Nope, but in my years with Daria I see things in a whole new light, and people like
her parents owe someone favors, too.”

He pulls me into his big arms.  “Thanks, Cade.  I’ve never known what it was like
to have someone help me.  I’m always the one helping.  I’ve always tried to take care
of Scar and my mom.  I’m always the level headed one in the band.  I was really afraid
I’d do something stupid if I tried to take care of this myself, but I don’t want Ivie
to know anything about it.”

He nods.  “Hey man, no big deal.  So you really care about this girl, huh?”

I shrug.  “Yeah, I mean she’s Ivie, she’s been my bandmate and friend for like five
years. She’s had a rough life.”

He shakes his head with a smirk.  “No man, that’s not the look I saw on your face
when you were telling me about what happened to her.  Trust me, I have my own inner
caveman, as Daria calls it.  I come out swinging my damn club every once in a while,
flare my nostrils, scratch my balls and piss around my wife.  Figuratively speaking,
of course.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, whatever, it’s not like that for us.”

“Dude, you care about that girl, don’t fuck that up.”

I start walking back toward the bus. “Yeah, I gotta go get ready.  I hate that as
soon as you got here, I had to ask you for a favor.  That wasn’t my intention.”

He shakes his head. “No man, it’s cool.  I can’t wait to hear your band play.”  He
stops and grabs my arm.  “Remember what I said about her though.  One thing I do know,
what happened to her with that other guy was wrong.  But I know from Daria, with everything
she’s been through, she thinks she deserves it, she believes since her family doesn’t
care about her or want her, no one else does either.”

Cade makes his way out to the area he’ll watch the concert from and I head to the
bus.

Once I’m inside, I walk down the hallway to the bathroom.  I open the door and Ivie
is just stepping out of the shower. “Sorry.” I say as I back out of the bathroom. 
Her delicate sweet curved body is covered in bruises and whelps.  I hope Cade makes
sure that son of a bitch pays.

She tucks her head down as she walks out of the bathroom.  “S-sorry.  I thought all
of you guys were gone.”  She shuts herself in the back room to dress.

I lean back against the wall.  Cade was right, she really is fragile.  Big question,
why do I care?  Ivie will get through this.