Ballad of Cocaine, Whiskey, and Blood

Chapter Two

CJ stepped out of the bathroom, fixing her hair.

"Alright, how do I look?" she asked Mindy, who was sitting on the bed nearest to her.

"You look great, nobody'd suspect you were a cop," Mindy replied.

"I can't tell if that was sarcasm or not but this's the third outfit I've tried on so we're just gonna roll with it, alright?"

Mindy shrugged and got up, fixing her shirt so it showed her cleavage. CJ looked her up and down.

"What are you doing?" she asked her.

"How else do you expect me to get Cohen's attention? And besides, I want to look good if we run into Lou," Mindy explained.

"Okay, just..." CJ's voice trailed off as she buttoned Mindy's shirt up. "There, now keep it like that, alright, you don't need to be walking around like a cheap hooker."

"But I thought that was the look you were going for," Mindy argued, gesturing to CJ's dress.

"N-nevermind, just--the point is for you to distract Cohen as a reporter."

"You think Lou would remember me?"

"I don't know, look, can we just get going, please?"

CJ began walking towards the door to which Mindy followed without protest, to her relief. They walked down the hall to the elevator, climbing in and riding it down to the parking garage. Once there, they made their way to Mindy's rental car, climbing inside and driving out of the parking garage.

As they drove down the streets of Modesto, feeling the California heat on their cheeks, CJ watched the fluorescent lights of the buildings light up the evening sky. Modesto's streets looked even better up close compared to what she'd seen from the plane.

As they neared their destination, she could see the lights from the stage powering up, showering the massive crowd in front of it in neon.

"Alright, you know the plan?" CJ asked, checking the handgun she kept concealed in her purse.

"Yeah, of course, distract Cohen after the show's over so you can talk to Lou," Mindy replied, rolling her eyes. "Could we, you know, switch roles by any chance?"

"No."

"Oh come on, why not?"

"Our goal is to get answers from him, Min, not have sex with him."

"Ugh, you're no fun."

Mindy scoffed as they parked the car and headed off into the crowd. They quickly split up to avoid suspicion, Mindy going to the bar and CJ making her way backstage.

There was a small crowd back there, enjoying drinks and small snacks. No Cohen or Lou though. She walked around people, trying not to bump into them, as she made her way towards the hallway that started at the other end of the room. As she was walking by, a security officer confronted her.

"You got a backstage pass?" the large man asked.

"Oh, ye-yeah, pre-order," CJ replied, digging around in her purse.

She pulled out the backstage ticket that'd been given to her by her supervisor prior to her arrival, showing it to the security guard. The man looked at it, pulling down his sunglasses.

He nodded, pushing the glasses back up on his nose. "You're good ma'am, thank you."

CJ nodded her thanks and continued walking. She walked down the hall, passing by a couple making out fiercely. She ignored them and kept on walking, turning down the dressing-room hallway that branched off from the main one. From there, it wasn't hard to find Lou's, there was a sign hanging on the door with his name on it.

CJ looked around to make sure no one was near and pressed her ear to the door. She could hear Cohen's voice, and by God was he angry. It sent shivers down her spine. He was yelling, maybe it could've been considered screaming.

"Stay on your fucking feet this time, play the songs right, and don't miss a beat on the guitar. If you pass out one more Goddamn time you're finished, you hear me?" Cohen yelled.

CJ heard a different voice mutter something that she couldn't understand fully, guessing it was Lou. There was a sickening crack soon after.

"I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit, now get out there and sing!" Cohen growled.

Lou spoke again, louder this time. "Well, I can't now with you fuckin' up my face."

Cohen growled again. "Here, cover it up and get out there, and make it snappy, show starts in five minutes."

CJ could hear him coming towards the door and quickly ducked into the shadows. Cohen walked through the door, slamming it shut behind him, muttering and growling to himself as he walked away.

A moment later, Lou walked through the door as well, drinking down the last of a whiskey bottle before wiping the remnants from his lips. He threw the bottle into the trash can and started walking down the hallway. CJ quickly got up to follow him. She caught up to him, grabbing him by the arm to get his attention.

"Excuse me, Mr. Monroe? I'm CJ Macey. Is there any chance I might be able to talk to you after the show?" she asked.

Lou continued walking, putting his guitar strap over his shoulder. "Yeah, probably... look, I've gotta get goin' here, sweetheart, I-I'll catch up with ya sometime after the show."

CJ nodded, not sure if he'd remember or not. She could smell the whiskey in his breath and it was strong, too. That definitely hadn't been his first bottle

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The show lasted for nearly three hours with a brief intermission between halves. CJ watched helplessly as Lou performed for the massive crowd of people, not missing a beat with the guitar, singing his songs beautifully and on-point. Not once did he show any signs of passing out from exhaustion or drunkenness. Cohen had gotten his point across.

CJ made her way backstage once more after the show ended, watching Lou stand around just long enough to take pictures with a few people. After a few pictures, he walked off, wiping the sweat from his face. CJ followed him, not about to give up on trying to get some answers out of him. She caught up with him as he walked down the hallway back towards his dressing room. He wasn't doing so good. The sweat had been taking his makeup off and he looked as though he might pass out.

CJ grabbed his arm, just as she'd done before. "Hey, you said we could talk, remember?"

"Uh, y-yeah, not... right now, I'm busy, alright," Lou replied quickly, pulling away from her.

He continued walking down the hallway, to which CJ followed persistently.

"I'm not going to take no for an answer," she argued.

"Well you're gonna have to this time," Lou growled.

CJ ignored him and kept on following him. He walked through the door to his dressing room and tried to close it on her; she caught it and pushed her way in. She closed it behind her, turning to Lou who was trying to hide behind makeup once again. She grabbed his hand, forcing him to stop what he was doing.

Lou growled and tore his hand away. "Don't... fucking... touch me."

CJ flinched, taking a step back. She hadn't meant to make him mad.

Just then, her gaze rested on a small package on the table behind him. She quickly walked over and picked it up, examining it.

"Hey, what is-" she cut herself off as she tore off a corner of it, finding a block of crack cocaine to be concealed inside.

Before she could turn to confront Lou about it, a blunt object hit her in the back of the head, and the world went black.