2 hours later I heard a knock at my door- it was Eddie. I went over and opened the door, seeing him with his hands shoved in his pockets, and a big smile on his face. His smile was certainly contagious, 'cause I smiled back. I'd assume he knew where I lived cause he used to come over for Jam Sessions, with Mike, Jerry, Sean, and Chris and I.
"You ready?" He asked me, a smile still on his face. I looked down, noticing I didn't have a shirt on.
"Oh fuck-" I laughed at myself, "-one sec." I told him. He nodded, and I turned around.
I put on a black tank top, with the sides mostly exposed, and my black leather jacket, only putting on one arm, and leaving my other arm out. I walked back to the door, and swore to God Eddie looked me up and down, but I shrugged the idea off.
"Hey, uh, thanks for hangin out with me Ed." I told him, with my head down as we walked to his car.
Eddie stopped before he opened the driver door, and said, "Hey anytime. You okay though Layne?"
He furrowed his brows at me, as We both got into the car. We settled into the seats, and he still had the confused, yet worried look on his face.
"I guess I kinda needed to leave the house is all." I looked up at him, to see his expression soften.
Blue, staring into blue lasted for a few seconds, before he said, "Oh okay. Well, whatever it is, I'm here to talk. Always."
I smiled, and replied with a quiet "Thank you."
As we drove In the car, it was silent- all except for the sound of Eddie humming to songs on the radio.
How was he always so happy, and positive? I thought to myself. Must be nice.
---------------------
We pulled up to "Off Ramp Cafe", and hopped out. I looked up seeing a poster for the nights performance:
"Iron Maiden @ The Off Ramp Cafe- TONIGHT! March 23rd, 1996!"
Eddie was right- it was Iron Maiden playing tonight. The Off Ramp Cafe was becoming a huge ass spot for Seattle. Eddie and I's bands played here back in 1990, the start of it all. 6 years later, and I'd say were still humble enough to watch bands, instead of be the band. Which was pretty cool.
Eddie sat down at a table, away from the emerging crowd. He looked up at me again, that same smile. "Wow, isn't this crazy? Like..we used to play up there.."
I gave him a light chuckle and said, "Yea..90' was crazy huh?"
He shook his head frantically, almost as if to be funny. "In- SANE."
We shared a laugh, and ordered some drinks. Ed got some lighter stuff. Sayin ' "He's not into the drinking scene much anymore, and trying to be smarter about when he did drink." -Which I respected.
Eddie was such a pure man, always doing what's best for himself. I wish I was like that. I'd have to agree with myself: I wasn't too smart about things. I was so caught up in the drugs and such.. i HATED it..
We sat and drank for a while, talked about our bands and all that. I was telling him this story about this crazy ass groupie that tried to RIP Jerry's shirt off of him up in L.A, then he laughed and said, "Wow..that's fucking insane dude! I'm not into those groupie girls at all anymore." I couldn't help but agree. The groupies just...weren't for me anymore.
After about 2 more hours of talking, Eddie asked me If i wanted to go up towards the band. He had sort of a worried look in his eyes.. I guess he could tell i was a bit out of it.
I couldn't help but be though. It was a lot for me to think about what the hell I was gonna do in my free time, without being in the band. (Considering band stuff took up most of my time.)
Iron Maiden was playing "Wasted Years" and the crowd was just a shit ton of people dancing their asses off.
I looked over at Eddie, and saw him with his head down, his short hair all in front of his face, as he swayed side to side, with some bounce in his movement. I couldn't help but chuckle at him. He always seemed so comfortable. Especially when he was on stage. Always jumping around like crazy. I've kinda felt "off" on stage..or at parties. I'm not muscular like eddie.. I don't have long hair anymore to hide behind like Jerry, or Sean, or Mike.. I've got long limbs that make me feel awkward when I move around. I mean, I still move around on stage .. but not as comfortable as Eddie does.
He looked up at me, and caught me smiling and chuckling at him. Fuck... He shot me a smile and grabbed at my shoulders, causing me to sway from side to side. "C'mon Layne, dance!"
I dont know how, but Eddie made me feel really comfortable. Although my hair was short, (shorter than Eddies), I still moved my head around as if I still had my dreads in, and swayed along with him.
Iron Maiden finished their set, and thanked us all for coming out, then me and Eddie finished our drinks.
"Hey, I'll be right back, I gotta take a piss." Eddie told me, before leaving for the Mens Room. I sat at the bar and ordered myself 2 more shots. Eddie came back and sat next to me. "Going heavy tonight?" He asked. I finished the second shot, and looked at him. "Yea I guess so."
Eddie ordered 3 shots: 2 for him, one more for me.
"I guess one night of drinking wont hurt." He said as he pushed the shot glasses over to me.
"You really dont have to Ed.." He looked at me, noticing the sorrow in my expression.
"Its alright, I want to anyways. I haven't in a while..and if there's someone I'd wanna drink with right now it'd be you."
Then he shot me a smile. Me? Why..me? We aren't even that close. Out of all people, I'd imagine him to want it to be Stone, or Jeff, or Chris. But me? Wow.. We hit our glasses together, and took the shots. Eddie got 3 more for himself to "get on my level" , and then we left.
"The alcohol hasn't kicked in yet, it'll take a bit longer, so I can quickly take you home before it does." Eddie said, laughing between some of his words.
