History

Chapter 18

Kevin awoke the day of the Minnesota concert in 1998 feeling tired, not more tired than he usually did because he didn’t usually sleep well on the tour bus to begin with. He got up and immediately tripped, falling on the floor of the bus and swearing. 

“Oh, sorry….I thought I picked those up.” Nick commented casually as he walked past, picking up his sneaker from the floor. 

“Goddamn it, Nick. I thought we told you to clean up your crap. Didn’t Brian tell you?” Kevin said as Nick helped him up. Nick shrugged, chucking the sneaker into his bunk across from Kevin’s. 

“Probably before I threw my shoes at him. I don’t remember.” 

Kevin rolled his eyes at the 18 year old who was testing his patience today and just chose to ignore him for now. They all ate dry cereal for breakfast because Nick finished the milk the day before, as Brian pointed out. This sparked another argument between Nick and Kevin until AJ told both of them to shut the fuck up. Nobody talked very much until Howie walked towards the front of the bus on his cell phone with a serious expression on his face. 

“Okay, Dad. I’ll try to be on the first flight out. Okay. Yes. Thank you. See you soon.” he said before hanging up. 

“What’s going on?” Brian asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Howie sat down next to him, rubbing his head and sighing as his eyes watered. He looked as if he was about to cry. 

“What happened, D?” AJ asked. 

“My sister Caroline is not doing well, her Lupus has taken a bad turn and she doesn't have long. The whole family is flying out to North Carolina to make final arrangements….and...to say goodbye.” 

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Is there anything we can do?” Kevin offered when Howie shook his head, crying in front of them. Kevin’s eyes watered and he put a hand on Howie’s shoulder. He knew exactly what he was feeling having lost his father a few years ago. Howie’s sister had been sick for quite some time and was in and out of the hospital so they all kind of anticipated this happening again, however it was still a bit of a shock that she was currently on her deathbed. As the conversation continued, Howie got more and more upset before he finally stood up. 

“I hate to do this, but I am going to have to leave to fly there. I want to meet up with my family. I know the show is tomorrow and it’s last minute, but I have to be there with them. I’m sure all of you understand but I’m worried management won’t like me just taking off like this.” Howie said tearfully. 

“You need to go to be with your sister. I’m sure management can figure something else out. Don’t even worry about them, fuck them. We are just dollar signs to them anyway.” Brian offered as they were interrupted by noises coming from Nick’s game boy. Brian was in a heated battle with management over their money anyway and the other boys all knew that he loved pissing them off. Everyone but Howie rolled their eyes. They ignored him and continued discussing Howie’s sister. 

“I just don’t know what to do.” Howie sniffed.

“Go and be with your family. Like Brian said, management can deal with it. You need to be with them.” Kevin told him, patting Howie on the back. Howie wiped his eyes and sighed. 

“Okay, I’ll go pack and then get a cab to the airport. Thanks for understanding, guys. I’ll call you when I get there.” Howie said before heading to the back of the bus to grab his overnight bag out of his bunk. 

“Nick, that was a little rude to turn on your game when Howie was talking. Don’t you realize how serious this is? His sister is very sick.” Kevin said, turning around to scold Nick before he realized he was talking to an empty chair. Nick had gone somewhere on the bus and left them to finish their breakfast, although none of them did. Howie ended up leaving and they canceled their concert. They knew fans would be disappointed, not to mention management was not happy...but Howie needed to be there for his family at the time.