Those Bloody Tears

Chapter One

             I looked down at the list of potential replacements. All of those names and so far everyone had been dreadful. But there were dozens more left. The thought of interviewing any more people was simply nauseating, but we had to find someone before our next show. The next name on the list read Andy Ciprano. The name instantly intrigued me, I leaned forward studying it. Ciprano? I pursed my lips thinking, I believe it was Italian or possibly Sicilian.

             While I was mentally debating the difference between the two, a smallish boy with dark hair and big dark eyes entered the room. To my dismay he wasn’t especially dark like full-blooded Italians were. He was kind of short and I believe that was a characteristic of Italians, but I wasn’t sure. The boy seemed so unsure of himself. And so very innocent. Childlike almost. I wondered how he had managed to stumble into the interview room.

             I sat back in my seat, studying him a moment longer, before saying, "My names Maxxie, that’s Axel, Korey, and Jersey in case you didn’t know already.”

            “Hi,” he gave a small wave. “I’m, uh, Andy Ciprano, but I think you know that already. It’s nice to meet you all.”

            “Alright, let's see what you can do." I tried to keep the frustration out of my tone because he was so intriguing. Our previous makeup artist had just up and quit last week and we had been forced to interview dozens of people today in hopes of finding a replacement by next week. I was exhausted by the time the possible Italian had come along.

            "Okay," the boy, who didn’t seem as Italian as I had hoped, said blushing and biting his lip as he got his supplies out of his case. "Who am I going to umm.. demonstrate on?"

            "Axel?" I asked glancing at the guitarist to see if he was alright with it. He shook his head, but Korey, our base player and backup vocalist, stepped up. He sat in the chair in front of young makeup artist.

“Make me look beautiful,” Korey said with a smirk. He closed his eyes and titled his chin up making himself more accessible.

            "Okay," Andy said nervously and began applying eyeliner to Korey's lids. He worked quickly and efficiently, finishing in about twenty minutes. He handed Korey a mirror. "What do you think?" he asked looking from Korey to me, chewing on his lip.

            I took a few lazy steps to stand in front of Korey. My eyes swept over his painted up face taking in all the detail. This kid had talent, and lots of it. "Wow. Well, you are much better than our old makeup artist ever thought about being,” I took a step back and asked; “Guys, what do you think?" We all knew I had the final say, but what can I say I’m a sensitive guy.

            There were a chorus of impressed 'yes's' from Korey, Axel, and Jersey. Jersey I can imagine could care less, but Axel and Korey were sincere. Jersey was a bad a** drummer and he knew it too. He usually didn’t care much about anything but himself and occasionally the band.

I glanced at my fellow band members once more, took in their nods, and announced, “Looks like you are hired.”

            "Really?" he asked smiling nervously, like I was going to break out Ashton Kutcher and his film crew. He shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily waiting for my reply.

            "Yeah, when can you start?" I questioned, seriously hoping it would be before our next show. It wouldn’t do for me to do our makeup. The band’s name was Those Bloody Tears not Those Bloody Drag Queens.

            "As soon as you need me," his reply was short and sweet. Music to my ears.

            "Next week?" Fingers crossed.