Misprinted Lies (Alice in Chains/Bruno Mars)

The Girl with Golden Eyes

I looked at the time. It was 11:30 at night on the East Coast. It was the first night of the Moonshine Jungle Tour. I texted Bruno.

Me: How was the first night?

It took him a little while to respond. He and the band were probably celebrating already. I pulled through a drive-thru to get some food. When I got back to my house, he called me.

"Hey," I said. "You didn't have to call me. I know you're having fun."

"I wanted to talk to you and say thank you again. So...thanks."

"You're welcome. How was it tonight?"

"It was amazing. I starting talking about my mom though," his voice started to shake, "and I almost lost it."

"Awww Bruno. I'm sorry."

He cried a little, even though I knew he was trying to hide it.

"Bruno, have an awesome time for the rest of the tour, okay? I need stories for when you come back. Good stories, okay? I'll see you soon when you guys play in L.A."

"I won't let you down. I'm really glad we're talking again, Lil. I don't know if I would've been able to do any of this without you."

A few weeks later, I saw him play a show in Los Angeles. I was totally right about Gorilla. He nailed it. I got a text from Phil a couple days after the show.

Phil: You need to come up to San Diego. Right now. Bruno's missing.

Me: He's probably eating somewhere...wait it out

Phil: He's not okay...he's a mess

Me: I just saw you guys two days ago. He's alright.

Phil: He's not. He's losing it. Can you make it?

Me: it's 2 hours away...you guys will probably find him and leave for the next city by the time I get there

Phil: Lily this is different. You need to come like now

Bruno texted me in the middle of texting Phil and my heart stopped for a moment.

Bruno: I need you.

I shoved the first and last of my dinner into my mouth and got in the car. Bruno texted me the address. I worried the whole drive there. I had just seen him and he put on a great show. I told him I was proud of him as always. Vocally he'd improved a lot in the three years I'd known him. If you'd told me years before that I'd be driving two hours away to check on his well-being, I'd call you crazy.

Bruno wasn't too far from the venue. He was sitting behind what looked like an abandoned nightclub, a couple of blocks away. It was very dark. I heard sniffling; they were definitely his shrieks.

He didn't notice me at first.

"Bru...Bruno?"

He got up and approached me. He latched onto me tight. "You...you came?"

He cried into my shoulder.

"Of course."

I wiped a tear. I didn't see it in the darkness but I knew it was there. We sat down on the curb for a second and he kept crying.

"I'm not... I'm not doin' so good, Lily."

I didn't know what to say. I usually wasn't on this end of the conversation. "Bruno you told me a couple of days ago that you were okay." I should've known better. Drugs make liars out of everybody.

"I know."

"Why did you lie to me about that Bruno?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."