No, You Gotta

WHY DID YOU DO IT

[January 1991, Vancouver]

Fuck, it’s FREEZING, Nora thought to herself as she and the boys carried their bags and equipment from taxis to the hotel lobby.  They had been invited to open for Alice In Chains for a two-night gig, and they took up the offer immediately.  It was just one more reason why Nora’s heart exploded with love for her hometown of Seattle—there was such a sense of support and brotherhood among the artistic community there.  She could see that both bands were brimming with anticipation, excitement, and mutual respect as they helped each other move amps, not a gloved finger among them.

“You’re gonna get frostbite, you know,” Nora called out to Stone and Dave as they hauled a metal case together with bare hands.  Dave rolled his eyes and Stone felt it necessary to take a break, setting the case down on the sidewalk and playfully flicking off his laughing girlfriend.

“Love you, darling,” Stone called back to her, his voice dripping with the sarcasm she knew all too well.  With one more light-hearted chuckle, she blew him an overly exaggerated kiss and resumed carrying her camera equipment bags toward the hotel door. 

This is bound to be a hilariously drunken and fun-filled couple of days, she mused to herself.

...

[the next night]

As she stood at the foot of the stage at the Town Pump, filming the second night of the band in Vancouver, Nora couldn’t help yawning.  The boys were putting on a great show, as always, but the night before had gotten pretty rowdy back at the hotel.  She wasn’t sure who was responsible for busting out the tequila, but whoever it was made sure there was plenty—by three in the morning, everyone was running through the halls in their underwear playing a clumsy but seriously full-contact game of tackle football.  As a result, they were all feeling a little worse for wear that night, and she could see the fatigue on the faces of each of the guys.  

Nora and Stone had agreed to head back to their hotel room right after the show for some much needed relaxation—though Nora knew better.  Over the past few months since they got together, Stone had become an insatiable sex god, and it seemed that no amount of fatigue ever deterred him from wanting to yank off clothing and disappear beneath the sheets with her.  Not that she minded—the sex was mind blowing.  Just when she thought they were exhausting their options, Stone would surprise her with a new sensation or a few heartfelt words of desire, and she would be sent soaring again like the feeling was brand new. The bond between them, physical and emotional, was only gaining strength, and this made Nora go about almost every day with a quiet smirk on her face.  It was perfect.

She was smiling to herself once again, as the band launched into their final song of the set—Breath.  Pulling her mind out of her Stone-fueled fancy, she directed her attention back toward the camera lens and refocused the picture just in time to see Eddie trail off and stop singing.  His eyes flashed with a look of deep concern as he stared at the front of the crowd just past and to the right of Nora.  She turned her head to see what it was that grabbed his attention so tightly.

Security guards were pulling a young man over the barricade from the mosh pit, so roughly that it made Nora’s stomach turn when she saw the boy’s head bounce off the front of the stage.  Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, and she felt helpless to do anything for the poor kid—they were clearly being unnecessarily violent with him.  

“Hey, watch it you guys.  They just took that fucker out,” she heard Eddie report into the microphone, still not really singing the song.  The young man was struggling against the guards, trying to reach out and grab one of the stage monitors, but there were three guards and only one of him.  They yanked him down and Nora clearly saw one of the guards knee the boy in the stomach to get him to drop to the ground.  Security was all over this kid, who was now face down on the floor with a knee in his back.