Chapter 74

He sauntered down the corridor backstage after the interviews, a curious gleam in his eyes. The day in between shows had been a melting pot of interviews, phone calls and extremely quiet moments with Geena. She was still pissed with him; there was no doubt of that. The very tense set of her shoulders when he was around her was proof positive that he’d screwed the pooch in more ways than one when he allowed his anger out at the wrong time.

She’d kept asking him when he was going to talk to Bri, but every time he’d called Rich’s room he’d been hung up on. Now that had him curious. No matter how angry he and Rich had gotten before, they’d always managed to settle things, had always talked on the phone, even in the early ninties. Hell Richie just wasn’t the type to hold a grudge. 

As he turned the corner and headed towards the bands main lounge he  heard the discordant sounds of a rather angry guitar and winced.  His brother in everything but blood hadn’t played sounds that angry since the days of his divorce from the supreme blonde bitch. Those sounds told him even better than words that Richie was upset but why?  Shit these days he was Mr. Happy.  The lovey dovey stuff was sweet enough to rot teeth if you thought about it enough.

And yet those sounds couldn’t be denied.

He stepped up to the tuning room and rapped on the side of the door with his knuckles. "Haven't heard ya play like that since the divorce man."

Richie didn't even glance up he just continued attacking the cords like a man possessed.  "Don't talk to me fuckhead."

He stepped in, a small frown forming. "Why the fuck not?"

Tear stained cheeks floated into Richie’s mind, sobs that he couldn’t stop no matter how he held and cuddled Bri echoed in his brain. The last two days had been nothing short of bone jarring. He’d never liked to see a woman cry, but he could usually gentle them out of it, but this time?  Bri was inconsolable.  She’d not believed him when he told her it was just Jon in a snit over the concert, and for THAT alone he was ready to maim something, anything, and that included his best friend.

Glancing up, he glowered at Jon. "Because I fuckin’ bet you’d rather I maim this guitar rather than that pretty face of yours Jonny boy.”  

Jon’s brow arched at the barely leashed anger he felt seeping off of Richie.  Richie never did get that angry, it was a rare occurrence. Nothing ever seemed to ruffle his nerves. “It wasn’t THAT bad was it?”

Richie gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain still. If he took a step forward, he’d have his hands on Jon. “Fuck yeah it was that bad and you’re a stupid jackass if you don’t realize it. She won’t even fuckin’ come to the concerts now because of what you said.  She’s not here, she’s alone in the hotel all because of what YOU did Jonny.”

"Gimme a break man, she's a grown woman, I didn't tell her to not come. Hell I haven't seen her since San Jose."

Richie slowly put down his guitar and stalked over to him, his hands flashing out to twist into Jon’s collar as he lifted him.  His head dipped as he went eyeball to eyeball, nose to nose with Jon. "You know what you did, and it wasn’t something you can skate from this time. I won’t allow it. Two days my man, two days I have tried to stop the tears. TWO FUCKIN’ Days I’ve had to listen to the sweetest woman in the world cry in her sleep, when she didn’t even realize she was crying. Know how that feels? Have you gotten so fuckin’ numb you don’t know the damage words can do?  I can’t fix this, no matter how I try and it’s ALL your fault.”

Jon’s hands wrapped around Richie’s wrists, as he pushed away and straightened. “I tried to fuckin’ call. Someone kept hanging up on me.”

“Damn straight I did. What you did you can’t fix on a fuckin’ cell phone you  dick.  It’s going to take way more than you’re pretty voice on the cell to make this right. Dammit what If I did Geena that way? You’d have my ass in a sling. ”

"You don't have it in ya man. You barely get angry,  let alone ..."Of all people he knew Richie didn’t have it in him to lose it with a lady like that. "You treat ladies like porcelain man. Empty threats."

Richie growled and felt his fist connect to Jon’s jaw.  "You wanna to test that theory asshole?"

   

He felt his head snap back and bit back the chuckle and the growl that threatened. The hit hadn't been that hard, but it was hard enough to tell him Richie was working on a pretty good mad. Sambora didn’t get angry easy, or often, but when he did they all usually hunkered down. "I said, fuckhead, you wouldn’t get that way with a lady. Me? You've thrown harder at me before."

"Care for me to do it again? If you only knew how badly I wanted to mess up that pretty face of yours. And ya know, I wouldn’t feel a fuckin’ shred of remorse. Maybe if you feel the pain you’ll finally GET IT, " Richie growled as he cocked his fist back ready to lay another one on him.

 "We have a concert tonight man.  Angry as you are, you wouldn't, so instead of trying to lay me out, why don’t you just fuckin' tell me what the problem is, she’s a fuckin’ fan, they all know my temper. Hell even Geena finally understood, well mostly."

"You should know what the fucking problem is what the hell !! How many times must it be spelled out for you to get i!! You ain’t fuckin’ stupid Kidd."

He groaned, " Dammit man, I lost my cool, I do it all the time. She's a fan, she KNOWS that too. Yes I understand it had to have hurt her, and I plan on apologizing. I just didn't think it would go over too well so soon. But that doesn’t explain everything."

"For fucks sake !! I know G had to have explained it to you, but you just don't get it!  I never took you to be that blindly stupid, or that hardheaded that you can’t understand the facts. She is fucking scared of you now! YOU BECAME JARED!" He felt the anger simmer into a state of nasty he hadn’t felt in a couple of years. “How’s it feel to know a woman doesn’t cream at your voice?  How’s it feel to know she sees you in the same light as an abuser? How’s it feel to know you made one cry? How’s it feel to have a woman afraid of just your presence?”

It wasn't much different from what Geena had told him. He'd hoped that Geena was embellishing things because she was Bri's best friend, but for Richie to say the words brought it fuckin home. He'd stepped way too far over the line.

   

He’d made her cry? She was afraid of him? Fuck. He thought she’d had thicker skin. Maybe what they said was right, some hurts didn’t heal. And for Richie to be brewing to the point of throwing a punch, well it had to be bad. “That would have had ya mad man, but you are about to blow. What is making it that much worse for you? Cuz deep down you know I'll fix it. I always do, So what is it?"

Richie turned back to his guitar, his fingers automatically soothing and tuning the strings he’d been abusing. His voice was quiet, yet intense. "Thing is you might not be able to fix this. I could lose her thanks to your stupidity, she’s mentioned going home.  "

The bereft sound of Richie’s voice went through him like a knife. He got it then, this one woman had went from being some passing fancy to someone who…. Fuck! Richie’s heart was involved. He got involved fast at times in the past, but since the divorce he held himself aloft from it. That Bri had touched him screamed how special she was. Add the fact that she’d been crying? Richie didn’t do tears well, especially if they were from someone he cared about. "Please godtell me she only cried a little.”

He turned to face Jon his skin flushing with anger."What part of she’s cried for two fucking days did you miss? Oh she never cries during the day time, she flits from thing to thing trying to keep it all happy and light. She tries to play strong, even making jokes about how dumb you are.” His head lifted as he put to words the pain he’d witnessed. “Try she’s cried in her sleep for 2 fuckin days jackass, when she doesn’t even know it. Holding her, soothing her, nothing works. The tears just silently track down her cheeks, all thanks to you."

Well double fuck. He’d fucked it royal. He’d drawn the type of blood that made even him sick. He had to fix this and now. Glancing down at his watch, then back up to his friend and managed a half smile. "If I don't fix this before tonight man you can rearrange my face. Deal?"

"Don't worry I will, with pleasure." Richie glared and walked back to his guitar and started to play the same angry cords he was playing before Jon walked in.