Black Ice

vii

seven | antonio

The first shows were in the middle of nowhere, but you know what they say: if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.

The unspoken truth of the matter, however, was that if you can get Suburbia to rock wit'chu, you'd be a household name on a national scale.

At least that's how our tour manager put it.

Things were off to a cool start. A fun one, even.

The first stretch of our trip was spent getting accustomed to our bus.

We figured out who was gonna bunk where— we were sharing a bus with Crucial and his team.

We would aptly be named the Openers' Bus.

We decided what the general rules of the bus were going to be— no number 2's and no disrespecting Mr. Eddie, our driver.

More rules would probably be established with time.

Once we made our very first stop at a gas station, everyone filed out of their buses and into the convenient store. In the aisles of potato chips and frozen meals, chatter of Ceezar's bus being the Party Bus was abuzz.

Soon enough, Cris, Shaan, and Crucial's DJ all decided they would go see for themselves just how the energy differed from that of the Openers' Bus. Our next stop wouldn't be for another eight hours, so hopefully the shit was as fun as it sounded.

Although relatively peaceful, with everyone left still settling in, the Openers' Bus wasn't too boring.

Ceeze's bus may have the party, but ours has the studio.

Ice took full advantage, especially now that he had caught up on his sleep in the first leg of the trip.

We'd had an early start, boarding the buses not long after the sun rose.

It was a bit of a challenge for everyone to arrive on time. After all, we were all coming from saying our last goodbyes for a long time, which meant late nights for many of us.

I was no exception.

I anticipated making up for lost slumber, but as I laid in that bunk, I found myself unable to sleep.

So, I just laid there and flipped through the events that were keeping me up in the first place: Me and Nova's goodbye.

A complete do-over from last year's goodbye, or lack thereof.

Where did the time go?

I'd brought her and Niko home from the feast and subsequent party hosted by her family. I insisted on getting our son ready for bed myself. She could use a break, and I could use some time to just hang out with Niko.

Upon bathing and dressing him for bed, I read a book to him until he started fighting his sleep. I put him in bed, and once he was down for the night, I tiptoed out of the nursery. I made my way into the kitchen, where Nova had a beer waiting for me.

She sat at the kitchen table, sipping a glass of wine. I sat next to her with a deep sigh, cracking open my bottle and indulging. It wasn't long before our silence was broken, "You know something, Tony?"

I set my beer down, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm really gonna miss you," she confessed. I was relieved to hear such words, especially from her.

Lately, we hadn't had time to talk or build any sense of romance. Part of the reason was work, but I couldn't help but wonder if the other part was because she was deliberately keeping me at arms' length.