Might As Well Be On Mars // Motley Crue

Same Ol' Situation

The next morning, the first thing Evie did when she woke up was check the basement. Nikki wasn't there. The tears came again, and they stayed all the way through her shower, and they followed her down into the kitchen, where she tried to make breakfast.

Mick came down right after she decided to give up cooking in favor of a bowl of cereal. By that point, Evie had calmed down, but there was no hiding the puffiness of her face and the redness of her eyes. He hugged her and they made plans to spend the day thrifting, something Mick hoped would cheer her up. Then, he went upstairs to shower.

Evie was sitting at the dining room table, eating and reading a book, when the phone rang. Hope sprang through her, thinking it was Nikki calling to apologize. But it was only Tommy.

"What happened last night?" The drummer asked. Evie could tell that he was confused, maybe even a bit angry.

Evie didn't want to answer his question. "A lot," she said quietly. "A lot happened. Why?"

"Well, I mean first, Nikki tells me to fuck off and yanks you away, then he disappears for fifteen minutes, then when he came back, he sucker punched me and told me to 'never try that shit again.' Then he fucking nailed some dude's earlobe to the kitchen counter. What the fuck did you tell him?"

Evie wanted to sob. Now Tommy was mad at her, too. And maybe he should be. She was the reason Nikki punched him in the face, after all. And did he just say Nikki nailed someone's earlobe to the counter?

"I didn't tell him anything," Evie said. "He was just really high and he thought you were hitting on me, and when I tried to tell him it wasn't like that, he freaked out and we got in this really big fight, and..." She had to stop talking because she was crying too hard. "I didn't mean to make him so angry."

"Hold on, hold on. Calm down," Tommy said. "Why are you crying? What did he say to you? Did he hurt you?"

"No, I mean...I don't want to get into it. We just...got in a really big argument. I left without him and he hasn't been home, and I don't know where he is, and I'm worried he's going to break up with me." She paused to cry again. "And I'm sorry you got involved, and I'm sorry he hit you, it really wasn't about you, he was just angry at me, and not in his right mind, and..."

"Whoa, slow down," Tommy interrupted. "Are you guys...Are you guys dating?"

"Yes. Well, maybe not anymore." She tried to laugh through the pain. "But, yeah, we've been dating for...at least a month, I think."

"Jesus," the drummer said. "That explains a lot."

He was silent for a moment, and Evie didn't know what to say next. She was ready to tell him goodbye when she heard Tommy's voice again. This time, it was solemn and uncertain.

"If you guys are dating, then there's something I should probably tell you."

He stopped, and Evie had to tell him to go on.

"I really hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but last night, after you left, Nikki kinda, uh, went out with two girls."

"What?" Evie shouldn't have been surprised, given all her worrying, but she almost couldn't believe it.

"I'm sorry."

"He 'went out with two girls?' You mean he had some drinks with them and that was it, or he fucking cheated on me?"

"He, uh, he had sex with them."

"Are you certain? You really know for sure that he did it? You didn't just see them together and then they left before anything happened, or something?"