A simple and successful hometown concert turns into a fight for life. Can Ike survive the Game of Six or will it take Donnie and him down?
Chapter 1 Sample:
“Jeckle! Jeckle!” The crowd chants, as I walk off the stage.
Fourth sold out concert this week, and two more to go. “My man!” My buddy, Kyle, pats me on my back.
All my boys surround me. Some of them are coherent, most of them are drunk. They all pat me on my back as we walk out of the arena through a back door. “That was AWESOME!” I yell, as we make it out the back door.
“Hell yeah it was!” My best friend, Victor exclaims, and I am overwhelmed with head rubs, back pats, and shoulder grabs from all my buddies.
It has been a good year. Three award nominations, and hundreds of concerts. Tonight, however, was my first concert in my hometown since July, so it has been quite the party. All my buddies were there, back stage, cheering me on. A lot of my other friends and family bought tickets for the show. The room was packed with barely any room to stand. I thought for sure, someone was going to get trampled in the mosh pit.
It is humbling to be back in my hometown, and to be able to rock with the people I grew up with. It is a great feeling to make everyone around me proud, but even that won’t touch the comfort and peace, I will get when I finally get to sleep in my own bed, next to the love of my life, Kerra.
Donnie, my buddy from elementary school, opens the back door of the limo that my buddies rented for me for the weekend. All my boys pile in the limo, all of them raving about how “sweet” and “kicking” my music is. I get into the limo last, right behind Donnie. I am halfway into the limo, when suddenly my arm is grabbed. “Mr. Jeckle, can I have your autograph?” A brown-haired older gentleman asks, holding out a printed and wrinkled picture of me that Kerra took at a concert last month in New York.
“Absolutely!” I exclaim, reaching out to grab the picture from him. “Who should I make it out to?”
Before the, now extremely excited, guy could answer, Zack, my drunk dick of a friend grabs the picture from my hand and rips it up. “What the fuck Zack!” I yell, trying to stop him as he rips it into a bunch of pieces.
“He’s off duty, sorry for your luck!” Zack says, tossing the ripped pieces at the guy.
I push Zack away from the door, pissed off. Zack, who was sitting right in front of me on the bench seat to the right of the door, reaches passed, my pushing arms, and shuts the door. I lean back quickly trying to keep it from shutting, but instead, the door shuts on my finger. “Fuck!” I yell, pushing Zack and shaking my finger which is dripping a large amount of blood. I go to open the door, but Zack pushes me back. Donnie tries to get Zack off me as I swing several punches at him, connecting with two of the four. “Drive.” Zack yells, and the limo pulls forward.
“Stop!!” I yell, trying to get up, Zack on top of me, and Donnie wrestling to get him off. “Donnie! Stop the limo!”
Geoff finally gets the drunk bastard of my friend off me, and I look out the window. “Damn it.” I say, seeing as we had already pulled away, and were almost out of the parking lot. “Seriously Zack?!” Donnie says, pissed off. “Why do you have to be such a dick?”
“We got people to see!” Zack replies, not caring about how he treated the guy and how much that will come back on me.
“He just wanted a signed picture!” Donnie says, shaking his head, and handing me a towel from above his head for my finger.
“Oh please, celebrities do it all the time!” Zack says, rolling his eyes and grabbing a cup off the counter next to him.
“Not me.” I say, watching the disappointed guy out the window.
“What?” Zack asks, looking over at me.
“I’m not like them!” I pause, “I don’t treat people like they don’t matter, especially in my hometown!”
Zack rolls his eyes again, and says, “Whatever man.”
Zack pours a glass of the Jameson whiskey that was sitting on the counter next to him. I look away from the window to see him taking a sip and I smack the glass out of his hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you!” He yells, pissed off.
“You’re done.” I say, as the limo pulls onto the main road of my hometown.
“Geez man, I’m sorry!” Zack says.
The rest of the ride, everyone is silent. Well, they could have been talking but I wouldn’t have noticed because I was lost in thought. Thinking about the guy’s face, and how I wish I would have stopped the limo.
My finger had finally stopped bleeding, but it still throbbed and was hard to move. Suddenly, through the anger, a smile came to my face. I began to think about Kerra, excited that I could spend an entire weekend with her uninterrupted. No shows. No work. Just her and I, being able to relax together, in peace. Being able to sleep in, in my house.
My thoughts of the weekend are brought to a halt when the limo stops, and the door swings open in front of me. All of my boys jump out, except Donnie. “You coming, Ike?” Victor asks
I don’t answer, because I recognize the face walking toward me in the crowd. “Ike?” Zack says, trying to get my attention.
“Sorry, no.” I say, pointing to my wedding ring. “Got to get home, and be with my queen.”
“Ewe.” Zack says, acting like he’s going to throw up.
“She’s got you whipped, man.” Victor says, patting me on the shoulder.
“Yeah bu-”
“-Mr. Jeckle, can I have your autograph?” the same older gentleman from before asks, interrupting my response to Victor.
“Did you really follow us here?” Victor asks, looking at me for a reaction.
“Mr. Jeckle, can I have your autograph?” the guy repeats, ignoring Vic, this time a bit harsher.
“Of course,” I say, a little uneasy that he followed us here, but I’d do anything to make up for Zack’s idiocy.
I guess my voice expressed my uneasiness, because Donnie, who has always been my best body guard, moved from the far bench seat on the left of the limo to the seat Zack was sitting on. “Do you have something for me to sign?” I ask, looking at Donnie, who didn’t take his eyes off the guy.
“No, bu-”
“Sorry, you have to have something for him to sign.” Victor says calmly, sharing Donnie’s worry.
“I did but he ripped it up!” The guy says, pointing at Zack.
“I don’t have any of my pictures here, my merchandise guys have them, but I can sign your shirt?” I offer, trying to find a way.
“No I want a signed picture!” The guy demands, locking eyes with me.
“I don’t have any, I’m sorry.” I say, feeling guilty.
“Yes you do!” The guy says, getting a bit agitated.
“Not with me, they are back at the concert venue, but if you-”
“No I’m not going to wait, I want it now!” The man says, aggressively and angrily.
I look at Donnie, who shifts closer to the door, not comfortable with this situation at all. Victor moves to behind the limo door, getting ready to close it just in case he needs to. “He can always mail you one.” Donnie says, trying to diffuse the guy’s anger.
“No!” The guy says, pissed off. “That’s not acceptable, your guy ripped my picture up.”
People who are outside of the club start looking over at the guy, as he gets even more angry. Donnie nods at Victor who pushes the door trying to close it. The man slams his hand into the door, causing it to slam open, hitting Victor in the face. I jerk backwards away from the door, and Donnie leans in toward where I was sitting, getting ready to jump on the guy if he needs to. “You need to go!” Donnie says, firmly.
“Please, Mr. Jeckle!” The guy says, coldly, his eyes piercing into mine with anger.
Victor walks up behind the guy, and gently but firmly, grabs the guy’s shoulder. The guy swings a punch at Victor, and Donnie jumps out of the limo, taking the guy to the ground. Donnie rolls on the ground with the guy, trying to get him to calm down. The guy swings several punches connecting with Donnie head, but Donnie doesn’t seem phased. Donnie wrestles, and gains control of the guy’s arms as a crowd begins to swarm the limo. Donnie sits up on the guy, and holds his hands down on the ground. Donnie looks quickly behind him to see Victor standing next to the back door of the limo. “Shut the door.” Donnie says, and Victor pushes the door closed.
Donnie gets off the guy and gets him to his feet. I see Geoff say something to the guy, who brushes him pants off. The guy looks at me through the window, and spits at Donnie, before walking away, pissed off. Donnie and the other guys stand guard, as we watch the guy get into his pick-up truck and drive off, squealing his tires. Donnie walks back toward the limo, and high fives Victor before opening the door. “You alright man?” I ask, as Donnie, gets into the limo.
“Oh yeah, I’m great!” Donnie says, sitting down and leaning his head back against the side of the limo. “I could use a drink though!”
Donnie leans over toward the bar. “We’ll catch you guys later!” Zack says, as Victor shuts the door.
I flash a peace sign to the guys, as Donnie sets two cups on the counter. He pours both of us a drink, before leaning over to the left and tapping on the back window to let the driver know it’s time to go. Donnie hands me my drink before sitting back in the seat. Donnie leans his head back against the darkly tinted window behind him, and lets out a sigh. “That guy is crazy!” I say, with a laugh.
Donnie lets out a quick chuckle and a smile, shaking his head. “You are telling me!” He replies, taking a sip of his drink. “Luckily he hits like a girl!”
I shake my head laughing, and reply with, “I’m pretty sure everyone hits like a girl compared to you!”
Donnie looks at his large arms, and smirks. “Well I can’t help it.”
He winks, and both of us laugh. I shake my head, as the driver rolls down the back window. “Are we just going back to your house, sir?” The driver asks, looking at me through the rearview mirror.
“Yes, my car is parked there.” Donnie answers for me.
“Yes sir, we will arrive in approximately-”
The driver’s words were stopped suddenly by the sound of metal crushing. The limo jerks to the right of the road, and I see Donnie launch forward out of his seat, slamming his head into the wooden bar counter in front of him, as I feel myself slam into the door frame. There is a loud screeching sound, as the limo is pushed down the street. Dazed, I look out my window, trying to see what is going on and I watch as the limo is pushed into the side of the small, metal lined bridge. I try to slide away from the limo, as the limo breaks through the metal, and begins to fall down the hill below.
Over and over. Over and over. My body flops like a doll, as the limo tumbles down the hill. I slam my head on everything, as I fly around the back seat of the limo. The bottles on the counter shatter, sending shards of glass all over Donnie, who was knocked out in the first impact, and I. Six, Seven, eight. I try to count how many times the limo flips but every flip brings me closer to unconsciousness. On the ninth flip, I come down on top of the corner of the bar counter, which knocks the air out of my lungs. As the momentum continues to go down, I slam my head into the elevated part of the bar, and I am knocked senseless. After that point, I remember the limo flipping a few more times, and seeing lights as I rose and fell, but I was extremely dazed and my eyes were out of focus.
Suddenly the limo stops, and my body slams down on, what I am guessing is one of the bench seats, before falling to the ground. I lay there trying to regain my focus, but I can’t keep my eyes open. I try to move but my body is frozen in pain. Slowly I fall closer to unconsciousness. I lose all of my focus and I see lights flash around me. My head lies down sideways, and I see a black mass move block out the flashing lights above me. “Geoff?” I try to ask, but I don’t feel my lips move.
Is that someone’s hand on my leg? Is that Geoff laying next to me? My head feels like it is rocking back and forth and my eyelids feel like there is hundreds of pounds of weight on them. I try to lift my eyelids, but they get heavier and heavier. I feel something or someone grab my other leg. Was that a pull? Am I sliding across the floor? Geoff? What’s going on? What’s that smell? It smells like something is burning, probably the engine. I see a bright flashing light pass by me. I think it was orange, but it could have been red. Is that a fire?
Where’s my phone? I need to call Kerra. My body slides again, I think, as I try to look for my phone. My body doesn’t move, except the sliding down the limo. The black mass appears in front of me again, and I feel like I am sliding. “Hello?” I try to call, but my body is too weak to move.
Suddenly I get the quick feeling I am falling, before my body hits something hard. My head rocks back violently and the lights turn to black…………
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