FicWad

Apparently, Kathy wanted Jim to get a gift from an antique store for a friend. Jerry had the car, so she couldn’t go anywhere. This also means that Jim had to use his own money to buy the gift because Kathy is a really cheap person. Of course, when she found out the Jim still did not rent a car, she began scolding him as if he were fifteen years old again. So, after writing the information down on a scrap paper, Jim had taken a bus down over to the shop (Sid’s at work) on a rainy day, and here he is, opening the door and breathing in the scent of cinnamon that filled the store while tying up his umbrella. It isn’t a big store, but not really small, either. There are people, even families, looking for a gift, and there’s a janitor mopping the floor at the front. The soulful music of Esthero makes the store even more comfortable to shop in.

Jim’s buying a figurine of a Rococo-style ballerina, something that Kathy wanted for a sick friend with Alzheimer’s. One of the employers points out the aisles where they store the figurines, and he sighs and walks over there. Apparently, Kathy never really specified which one she wanted him to buy. He settles for a small one (hey, it’s cheaper) of a woman with a bonnet hat.

“Oh wow!” Someone suddenly whispers, “She looks really beautiful.” Jim blinks and stares at the female voice with an accent (albeit not a heavy one), and the woman looks back at him, backing away. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was...well, I wanted to pick that one, really.”

Jim smiles faintly at the woman. And not just out of sheer politeness. She’s very stunning with dark hair and dark eyes. He clears his throat. “No, you can have it.”

“Nonono, you take it. I’ll just take another one. I’m actually buying a gift for my mother. Her birthday’s coming soon, and I want to make sure it make it to Milan before that day comes, you know?”

Jim smiles gently at that, and looks away, somewhat shyly. “Well, yeah, I hear you.”

The woman looks over at the figurines. “I just don’t know what she’d like.” The two look down at the beautiful figurines, somewhat awkwardly. While the woman smiles a little, as if she’s about to make up her mind, Jim cautiously catches a glimpse at her before he quickly turns away. “Well, I’ll take this one,” she says, pointing at a couple in a pose. She carefully takes it and grins at Jim. The smile only makes Jim even shyer.

“Uh, well, you know...I’m sure she’ll like it,” he says quietly.

The woman looks down at her mother’s gift. “I hope so.” She stares at it for quite some time, before she looks at Jim. “Well, I gotta go. It’s nice talking to you.” Jim quickly takes his as well.

“Yeah, it’s nice talking to you too.”

They both smile before the woman’s phone rings. “Oh Christ,” she mutters as she puts the gift back on the shelf and digs out her phone. “Hello?”

While she talks to whomever (Jim fears that it could be her boyfriend or something), Jim silently walks back to the front to purchase his gift. He can’t help but stare at her, though. She’s quite short. Her curly hair matches perfectly with her grey beret, and her knee-length raincoat shields her skirt. Well, Jim can’t help but stare at her stockings, either. Or were those leggings? He can’t tell because of her boots. He then stares at the way her lips move while she speaks, and she’s even smiling.

Well, his little dream-like moment is ruined like the sound of a record needle scratch, when his foot slips on a very slippery spot of the tile floor, and he yelps and falls backwards, landing on his ass. He doesn’t even realize that the gift he was going to buy is now on the floor, shattered. When he does realize it, he exclaims, “/Fuck/!”

The shopkeeper storms over to him, and he shouts at the guy, telling him that he’s going to have to pay for it. This is bad for Jim, because not only does he have to pay for the broken figurine, but buy another one.

The woman had seen the whole scene, and she walks over to the two, but not before grabbing another figurine. “How much is that broken figurine?” She asks the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper replies, “Forty dollars.”

“I’ll buy it.”

Jim blinks. “You will?”

She ignores Jim. “I’ll buy the broken one and he’ll get this new one.” She turns to the tall man and smiles at him. Jim clears his throat while the shopkeeper allows her to buy it.

___

The two are standing in the rain by the bus stop; the bus was supposed to arrive fifteen minutes ago. The two are actually shivering. Nothing like standing in the cold rain in the middle of November. In fact, there are way too many Thanksgiving decorations around. Corey told him that his boss put up Christmas decorations already at the radio station. Well, Jim is kind of glad that the woman moved over to look at the mannequins wearing fur coats that are on sale for the incoming winter. But he still can’t help but look at her, the way her reflection is clearly shown in the windows. He immediately turns away when she walks back over. She shivers. “Jesus. It’s so cold...I can even see my breath.” She looks up at Jim. “I should’ve brought a scarf like you.”

Jim chuckles a little, and he clears his throat. “I...I just want to thank you for...you know, back there in the shop. You really didn’t have to do that.”

“But I wanted to!” She grins. “That stupid janitor didn’t even put that sign to warn everyone that he was mopping the floor, you know.”

Jim nods a little. “Yeah, that’s true. He should’ve.”

The woman smiles at him, but then blinks as the bus finally arrives. “Well, it’s about damn time.” She rolls his eyes. She then turns to Jim. “Well, I guess we get to go home, then.”

Jim smiles back at her. “Yeah, I guess so.” The bus stops and opens the door. The two wait until some of the passengers get off the bus before they get in. Jim frowns, dismayed that he’ll have to stand. Of course when it’s this bad outside, more people will take the bus than walk. It’s no wonder the bus was late. The woman stands by him and holds on to one of the poles on the bus. Since Jim is tall, he can easily grab on to the top railing.

The woman smiles. “Well, since I paid for that broken figurine, we might as well introduce ourselves.”

Jim grins, wondering why his cheeks feel warm, because it isn’t just because of the cold. “I’m James Root, but you can call me Jim.”

The woman shakes his hand. “Cristina Scabbia. So, Jim Root. That has a nice ring to it.”

“Well, yeah, I guess it does.” The woman known as Cristina smiles at that remark.

____

Friday arrives, and as planned, Jim will hang out with Corey while the latter brings 104.5 DROK to a local jazz festival. Ironic, isn’t it? Well it was either that or the Flashing Lights, so as you could tell already, Corey chose the lesser of the two evils. The two already met with the assistant before heading for the festival. It’s not a big festival, because it’s a fall festival. Herbie Hancock just got off the stage, and an unknown fusion jazz band is getting ready to play. A Tribe Called Quest is making an appearance at night. Corey had to spend days at home (and not hang out at the Safari) so he could listen to an up and coming band called Quia Sofia, and he even had to research the guys. Researching is the key when it comes to interviewing anyone. Then you can be prepared to ask questions.

Well, Corey’s just a guest for the local jazz station called the 107.5 DLUV. The real story is that the co-host couldn’t make it, so the other host, Yolanda Richardson, needed someone to fill in. Now, seeing Corey made her skeptical. Why would some guy that represents heavy metal want to have anything to do with this? The fact that his boss made him do it is not enough for her. But no one else could come, so here he is.

Yolanda is sitting here under the tent with Corey, and she says to the mic, “And welcome back to 107.5 DLUV! I’m sitting here at the fifth annual jazz festival for the fall, and it actually warmed up today—up to fifty-four degrees! It’s sunny, thank God we get to have a little more fun before the cold sets in.” She glances at Corey, who looks over at Jim, smiling for a moment. “Well, Michael, as I’ve said before couldn’t make it, but I’m sitting here with Corey Taylor from 104.5 DROK. And it’s interesting, because he shows up in the evenings playing heavy metal. So, Corey, what made you want to be at this festival with us?”

Corey shrugs. “How are you doing, Yolanda? Well, I’m just here because,” he pauses, “I like expanding my horizons.”

“I see.”

Kind of a lie. Corey has already been expanding his horizons for years; hell, he’ll listen to any kind of music, as long as it’s good. Besides, he couldn’t tell the public that his boss made him come to this festival. “I’m also here for the beer.”

Yolands chuckles. “Yep, the beer is nice. So you represent heavy metal?” she asks, pretending to be curious.”

“Yeah. I realize that around here, the genre still is underrepresented. I mean, it’s a hell of a lot more represented nowadays than a decade earlier.”

“Well, the way I see is, jazz is pretty underrepresented itself,” she says in all seriousness. “In fact it’s even worse.”

Jim watches them for a moment before looking over at the booth that sells beer (they’ll had out coffee at night). He gets up and walks over to it. A man looks up at the guy and grins. “Hey, man. How many?”

“Just one,” Jim smiles.

“A dollar-fifty.”

“Wow, that’s it?”

“Yep.”

Jim pays for his can of beer and thanks the man before taking a sip. Suddenly, someone calls out, “Jim?” The tall man looks over at a bald guy with a red beard and sunglasses. He blinks and slowly smiles, recognizing the man immediately. After all, he was in the same band with him and Corey.

“Oh my god...Shawn?”

The other guy grins. “You know my last name.”

“Economaki.”

“There you go,” after the two hug and pull away, Shawn Economaki shakes his head. “So you finally come back. Where did you come from, anyway?”

“Florida.”

“Oh man, that far?”

“Yeah, but I got homesick, so I came back here. So how is everything? What are you doing now?”

“I’m a guitar tech.”

Jim grins at that. “So you pretty much get to travel around. For who?”

“Okay, that I’m not telling you. So what are you doing in this festival?”

“Corey asked me to come and—”

Shawn blinks. “Oh, Corey’s here?” He looks around, trying to find the guy.

“He has to fill in for this guy from the jazz radio station.”

Shawn immediately remembers. “Oh, right, I remember him telling me that the other day. Yeah, I was gonna meet him, as soon as I can get away from my wife. They don’t like each other.” Jim smiles sadly at that, wondering if the two had kept in contact ever since their band broke up or not. And what of the drummer Joel? “But I’m glad you got to meet up with Corey again. You still have your guitar?”

The sadness fades from Jim’s smile as he answers, “Nah, I left it back in Florida.”

“Aw, man...” Shawn looks to his left and he sees a bored Corey talking to Yolanda. “Oh, there he is.”

Back at the tint, Yolanda then says, “Well, we’ll be back after these—”

A drunk festival-goer walks up to Corey and stills his mic, and she shouts, “HEY, Y’ALL! I just wanna say hello to my mama, my sister Joelina, and my boyfriend Jason! And I love Zapp and Roger! Rest in Peace, Roger and Larry Troutman! Whoooo!” At that, the girl left, leaving Corey to mouth something a long the lines of What the fuck?

Yolanda laughs. “Oh I forgot that group is coming. And guess what? Tomorrow it’s Zapp Saturday, so we’ll be playing the classics from that electric band. And on that note, we’ll be back after these commercials.” When the commercials start playing, the woman immediately leaves, leaving Corey alone.

He sighs, but smiles a little when he sees Jim and Shawn sitting by him. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Nothing. How long are you gonna be here?” Shawn asks.

“For awhile,” Corey mutters. “I don’t even know if I’ll go to the Safari tonight. I think more sleep is what I need.”

Jim smiles sadly at that. “Why does your boss want you to do this stuff?”

“He wants more listeners. That means more revenue.”

“That shouldn’t be right. You got a cult following, it should remain that way if this is what you’re doing now.” Corey just shakes his head at that. He stands up and tries to look a little more optimistic.

“I’m getting more beer.” And at that, he leaves.

Shawn sighs. “I feel bad for him. I don’t know how long he can takes this job.” He looks at Jim. “He tells you he loves it, but his boss is really getting to him a lot lately.”

Jim frowns and nods. “I see.”

“The guy even wanted him to promote that new club called Flashing Lights. Have you heard of it?”

“At this point, everyone’s heard of it.”

“Yeah.” Shawn then looks over at the stage. “Well, I’m afraid of what that guy will have Corey do, next.”

Corey then comes back, grinning again. “All right, I got my beer, and I’m happy again.” Jim smiles at the radio deejay, but then he sees Yolanda coming back.

“I...I think we better let you go.”

Corey looks over at Yolanda as she sits back down, and he frowns as Jim and Shawn move back over to the table. “Oh right.”

_____

A week has passed since the jazz festival, and Shawn’s wife Chantal convinced him to put up Thanksgiving decorations while a band called Cocks perform. It will be Thanksgiving next Thursday, as a matter of fact. Joey sighs on the phone, over at the bathroom. The place is pretty loud, so he had to go to the only place where he can talk. He isn’t happy at what the person’s telling him. “Look, you can’t just stay in your sister’s house.” He pauses. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just...we all would love to see you. Everyone’s here—the guys are, and Chris brought his girlfriend.” He then sighs. “All right, I’ll check up on you and the girl tomorrow. Bye.” At that, he hangs up. Just then, Shawn enters the bathroom and blinks at Joey.

“What are you doing back here?” he asks.

“Sorry...I was just worried about Brenna, you know. She won’t come.”

Shawn sighs at that and leans against the doorframe. “Well, we all have to give her time, you know.”

“She hasn’t been out that much since, you know,” Joey sighs, looking up at the older man. “I mean, she lets us visit and see the baby, but that’s it.”

Shawn sighs. “Well, she’s still grieving. All of us are. It’ll be a long time before we’ll all get over it.” Joey simply nods, feeling a bit depressed about it.

“Well, I’ll see her and the girl, tomorrow,” he says. He smiles sadly. “She’s so fucking tiny, but already she looks just like Paul, man.” His voice breaks a little at the last bit.

“I know...” Shawn lets out a heavy sigh. “I know. Brenna will hang out with us when she’s ready. And I know that she misses you guys a lot. I just think she isn’t used to being with us without Paul around, now. It’s been months, but you know...that happens. So, we’ll be patient.”

Joey sighs. “Yeah.”

“Let’s get out and enjoy the music.”

“All right.”

_____

Jim and Corey arrive at the Safari, and the latter already grins at the sight of the people at the front jumping and screaming over the band playing. Now that Corey was done with the jazz festival, he and Jim hung out almost everyday whenever they could, laughing about memories and whatnot. Corey even wants Jim to come over at the radio station one day, if the tall man is free. “I know the other guys are around somewhere!” He calls out over the noise. He figures that Jim will be able to find them easier due to his height. “You see ‘em?!”

Jim tries to look for any familiar face. “I see Mick!” he calls out.

“Well, we’ll go to him then!” As the two walk over, Lorraine blinks at the sight of the two and grins.

“Oh, well look who’s here!” Jim smiles warmly at that as he and Corey sit down. Mick smiles for a moment, before he faces the show again. “Well, we got a full house tonight!” Lorraine calls out.

Corey can’t hear her. “What?!”

“I said we got a full house tonight!”

“I still can’t hear you!”

Mick then shouts, “She said we got a full house tonight!”

“Oh!”

“Yeah.”

“Where the fuck is everybody?!”

“The others are at the front!” Though Chris’s girlfriend is in the bathroom.

“Oh!” Joey and Shawn arrive then, and while Joey sits next to Mick, Shawn gets behind the bar with Lorraine. Corey grins at the older man, then. “Hey, have you met this guy yet?” he asks, placing a hand on Jim’s shoulders. Jim tries to answer, but Shawn does it for him.

“I met him not too long ago,” he answers. “Saw him and Sid at a store.”

“Oh. Well, Jim never comes around here, man!”

Jim smiles and shrugs at the two. “I gotta work,” he can only say.

“Yeah, and now he doesn’t have to!” Corey grins.

Mick turns to Joey. “I haven’t seen him this happy in awhile.” Joey can only shrug. He isn’t concerned about Corey being happy or Jim showing up at all.

“Brenna isn’t coming,” he simply speaks. Mick sighs at that.

“Oh.”

Lorraine then looks over at everyone. “So what do you guys want?” She means what drinks do any of them want.

Corey grins sheepishly. “Is it free?”

Lorraine simply stares at the radio deejay. “Yeah, no.”

“Fuck.” The band finishes their set then, and the crowd cheers; some of the audience even asks for an encore, but the singer of the band thanks everyone and the Safari, walking out with the band afterwards. Corey himself cheers at the band and turns to the others. “Those guys were fucking awesome man! Shame I missed most of their setlist.”

Shawn agrees to that statement as someone (probably Sid) plays some classics again. “Yeah.”

“So are you opening The Safari on Thanksgiving?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Charlie, Craig, and Chris (who’s holding his girlfriend Melissa’s hand) walk up to the bar, and Charlie grins at Corey. “Where the fuck have you been?” Corey rolls his eyes and ignores him. Chris chuckles and greets the guys, and he grins at Jim.

“Hey, Jim! I’m glad you could make it,” Chris says, and Melissa simply blinks at the tall man. Chris smiles. “Oh, I should introduce you to him,” he says to her, and Melissa giggles. The man then says, “Well, this is Sid’s new roommate Jim Root. Jim, this is my lovely girl Melissa.”

Melissa shakes Jim’s hand and Corey frowns. “Hi, Jim, it’s nice to meet you,” she says.

“Nice to meet you too,” Jim replies, returning the handshake.

Corey rolls his eyes. “If you shake her hand too long Jim, she might bite you,” he mutters. Melissa obviously takes offense to that and releases Jim’s hand. She mutters something to Chris, but her boyfriend holds her back before she can walk away.

“Now now...he’s just joking around, baby,” he says, chuckling nervously. “You know he doesn’t mean that.” He looks over at Corey with an expression that’s half-firm and half-worried. “Right, Corey? That joke you made about her biting anyone is a joke.”

Corey replies with great sarcasm in his voice, while Jim looks on between the two, “Right, dude. It’s just a joke. She’s such a gentlewoman.” Thankfully, neither Chris nor Melissa is able to detect such sarcasm, and the woman sighs.

Charlie opens up his laptop, and Mick and Joey simply stare at the guy. “What the fuck are you doing?” Mick asks.

The man gives Mick a look before he answers, “For your information, I’m trying to win the lottery.” Lorraine sighs.

“You’re not gonna win the lottery.”

“Yes I /am/! I just have ten more questions to go!” He looks over at the screen, reading the question, and he blinks. “Oh, this is a question about porn.” He turns to Mick. “C’mon, man. You masturbate to porn all the time, can you help me with this.”

Mick blinks and snorts. “Hahaha—no. Go answer your own questions.”

Charlie glares at Mick. “Well, at least I’m trying to earn money.”

“Winning a lottery is not earning money,” Joey mutters. “Having a job is earning money.”

“Which Mick does not have.”

“Okay, you know what? Stop bitching about me not having a job,” Mick retorts.

Corey overhears the conversation. “Actually, Charlie has a point, Thomson.”

“And fuck you, Corey!”

“Fuck /you/, bitch!”

“God...I can’t figure out the answer to this one,” Charlie whispers and sighs. He turns to Craig. “You know the question?”

Craig simply raises an eyebrow. “What question?”

“Okay, the person who was able to bring down Nixon during the Watergate scandal thingy had an alias, right? And this name comes from a famous porno.”

Craig simply answers that one. He replies smugly, “That’s easy, but I’m not gonna tell you.”

Charlie scoffs and responds, “Oh screw you, Craig! I thought you were my friend.”

“Not really.” Craig looks away from him and waits for Sid. Sure enough, the younger man does come soon after, and he sits next to Craig. He catches Jim and calls out to him, surprised and happy that. Jim turns around and grins back. Charlie decides to skip to the next question. He’ll go back to the porn question later.

Well, while everyone’s chattering, Geraldo walks inside, not looking very happy. In fact, if you take a closer look at his face, you can see that he’s pretty pissed off. And when he’s pissed off, something bad happens. I won’t go into detail about an incident with a rival club back in LA. Anyway, his two bodyguards are with him, and he’s looking for Shawn or any of his friends. Not only does he soon spot him, but he spots everyone else. He growls and gives one of his bodyguards an order to carry out, and the guy disappears. Geraldo then blinks when he sees that there’s a microphone still at the stage, and he decides to go over to it, having the other bodyguard follow him.

Soon, the music is turned off, and people blink and starts going off about what the fuck just happened. Geraldo then gets up onstage and takes the microphone, testing it first. “Uh, may I have your attention, please?”

The crowd looks up at him. Jim blinks, having never seen the guy before. He turns to Sid and mouths, “Who is that?” pointing at the short man on the stage.

Sid is surprised as well, and he mouths back, “Geraldo? Flashing Lights?”

Geraldo clears his throat. “Okay, I just wanna turn my attention on a Joey Jordison? I know I saw him at the bar. Can you hit the spotlight on him?” When the spotlight hits the short guy, Geraldo says, “All right, stop. There his is.” Joey blinks, confused as to what’s going on. The club owner then glares at him. “I just wanna know one thing. Where the fuck do you come off, huh?”

Shawn immediately calls out, not happy at the interruption, “What the fuck did he do to you, Geraldo?”

“You wanna know what he did? He...oh god, he fucks my brother in my house, and now my brother all of a sudden thinks that he’s gay, now!”

Joey blinks at that as the others stare at the two. “Now wait a minute! Nathan fucking started it!” Jim and Sid simply exchange looks at each other. “And besides, he was already gay when he fucked me. So what? Are you disgusted now because he doesn’t like fucking girls? I really didn’t think you were some homophobic asshole.” Of course Joey didn’t think Nathan would confess to Geraldo that it was him he slept with. At all.

Chris whispers, “C’mon, Joey, don’t rile him up like that!”

But it’s too late. Geraldo lets out a dry laugh. “Oh, so you wanna get smart with me? You know I got Maurice right here,” his bodyguard, “that can break your faggy little girly ass into two.”

Mick gives him a look and grins. “Oh, now he’s threatening you, Joe.” He sips his beer, then. He loves this. Lorraine gives the large man the look, and he responds, “What?”

Joey growls at the club owner, and Corey sighs. The radio deejay calls out, “You know what, Geraldo. Shut the fuck up and suck it up! So he fucked your brother! Why are you getting you little panties wet about it?!”

Shawn glares at the club owner and steps over to the stage, leading some of the crowd to cheer. “Okay, you know what? I think you better get the fuck out of this club, Geraldo. No one threatens my friends, especially in front of me, motherfucker. You’re lucky you’re in this club with all these people”

Geraldo has an incredulous look on his face. He snorts. “I know you’re not threatening me, old man!”

Shawn blinks at the insult. “I’m thirty-eight!”

“Yeah, he threatened you, little boy!” Lorraine calls out. “Go home to your mommy!”

Corey stands up and shouts, “Yeah he threatened you. What are you gonna do about it, huh? You got two bodyguards, but all of us can beat the fucking shit out of you and your guards, fucking bitch!” One can hear some of the audience booing at Geraldo.

“I have a Taser!”

“Lorraine has a Taser.”

Sid sighs, rubbing his temples. Jim is still confused as to what just happened. Geraldo snorts. “Oh...okay, you know what?” He turns to Shawn. “Your ass is /done/, okay? Your done! I’m gonna destroy your little club, old man. You and your stupid friends? It’s /on/!” Shawn simply glares at him while the audience boos at Geraldo.

“Well, bring it, Geraldo!” Corey shouts. Melissa looks at Chris, very worried.

“Oh it’s already /broughten/!”

“That’s not a word, dumbass!”

“It is, now! And if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m gonna get Maurice on you right now, whatever your name is.” Maurice indeed cracks his knuckles.

Corey snorts and shrugs. “Well, then he better bring his little pussy ass on down here.”

“Corey, shut up!” Sid exclaims.

“You better listen to your friend, /Corey/!” Geraldo taunts.

Shawn glares at the club owner. “Get the fuck out of my club, Geraldo!” he barks.

Geraldo smirks smugly and steps back. “All right. But just remember, Shawn Crahan. It’s /on/. You can blame your little girly friend.”

“Fuck you,” Joey mutters. At that, Geraldo and the two bodyguards leave the club, and the crowd boos them out, before they applaud at Shawn for standing up to him.

The music starts again, and everything goes back to normal. Well, not quite. The gang realizes that they’ve gotten themselves in a jam.

_____

They all decide to stick around with Shawn after the customers leave. Lorraine just closed the bar up and she sighs at everybody. Mick and Charlie are sitting together, and the latter is still trying to figure out the answer to the porn question. Mick still will not help him out. Corey is pacing around the area and smoking, not looking happy at all. And why would he? Why would anyone be happy at this point? The Safari is in danger of being put out of business by an obviously more successful club. Charlie sighs. “Maybe I should just skip to the next question.”

“Great idea,” Mick mutters.

Lorraine looks over at Shawn, completely worried. “Oh what are we gonna do, Shawn?” she asks. “I mean, I can’t stand to see this place die because of some spoiled boy.” Shawn simply shrugs. This isn’t happening. First he was unable to be successful in music (not for money, either), and now this.

Melissa looks over at Chris. “You don’t think that guy’s going to do anything, is he?” She gently touches his arm. “I’m sure he’s just bluffing.”

Chris can only shake his head. “I don’t think he’s bluffing,” he whispers.

Sid rests his head on Craig’s shoulder and speaks up, “Can I say something?”

Shawn raises an eyebrow at Sid. “Yeah, sure, what do you wanna say?”

Then, Sid glares at Joey and mutters in a low tonw, “You are so fucking retarded, I can just kill you.” Joey blinks and glares at that comment.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asks.

Sid stands up and shouts, “/Why/ would you go and sleep with a rival club owner’s brother?!”

Craig shakes his head. “Yelling is not gonna solve anything, Sid.”

“Yeah, well I’m very angry right now.”

Corey stops and takes a drag of his cigarette. “You know what?” he begins quietly. “Sid’s right.” He glares at Joey. “What possessed to go and do something as stupid as that?!”

“Don’t talk to me, Corey,” Joey mutters.

“Oh no! I will not stop talking to you!”

“Corey, you were the one that kept riling the guy up!”

Corey laughs incredulously. “I...oh god...” he turns to the others. “Did you guys hear that? He’s actually blaming me for starting this shit.”

Jim sighs. “You were challenging the guy.”

Corey immediately glares at Jim. “Yeah, well who fucking asked you?” The latter blinks at such a remark, saying nothing else. Corey turns back to Joey. “No, bitch, it’s you/. /You are the reason that guy came here in the fucking first place, because you can’t seem to stop spreading your legs for anyone! I mean, do everyone a favor and stop sticking men’s dicks in you!”

“Fuck you,” Joey mutters.

Chris immediately stands up. “I’m leaving,” he mutters, grabbing his jacket. “I’m not sitting here listening to you guys fucking yell at each other. C’mon, Melissa.” Melissa sighs sadly, taking her coat as she follows.

Mick calls out, “See you guys later.” Chris smiles a little before the couple heads out.

Sid sighs. “You know what? Joey can’t stop sticking men’s dicks in his ass because he’s incapable of doing anything other than /sex/!”

“Go fuck yourself, Sid,” Joey mutters.

“That’s why he cheats and leaves every guy crying! That’s what he did to me, after all. You know what? That Robert guy? You really fucked that poor guy over.”

“Oh, boo-hoo,” the short man responds, rolling his eyes. “So fucking what about Roger?! And I thought you were over us by now.”

Sid snorts. “Oh I’m over it, baby.” He steps back and wraps an arm around Craig, who in turn wraps an arm around the younger man’s waist. “I found a sweet loving man right here who is capable of, well, loving. You on the other hand can’t stand to be with a man for more than a fucking night. You fuck ‘em and leave ‘em.”

Corey smokes his cigarette and shrugs. “Well, that’s because Joey’s a slut, Sid. You should’ve known that by now.”

Lorraine gasps and glances at everyone else. Because they all have heard that. Mick whispers to Charlie, “You know what? I’m gonna go.”

“Okay,” the guy replies, honestly a little concerned.

Joey blinks and slowly asks, “Did you just call me a slut?”

Corey shrugs. “No, Joey. I called you a /slut/. A heartless little slut who is probably carrying some disease right now. Do you even use a condom?”

Shawn sighs, rubbing his temples. “Paul, give me strength,” he whispers.

Joey shakes his head and storms up to Corey, but Mick pulls the guy back. “Joey, don’t even! He’s not worth it...” Joey sighs and looks away, folding his arms.

Corey laughs. “Oh don’t even, Mick! Why bother protecting a slut anyways?”

Mick sighs. “You are taking this a little too far, man,” he says, glaring.

Joey suddenly speaks in a low voice. “Corey, you’re no different.” He shrugs. “You’re no different. You cheated on your wife, Corey. You fuck girls and then you kick them to the curb the next fucking day.” Jim looks over at the two at this comment.

Corey gives Joey a death glare. “Don’t you fucking dare compare me to you.”

Joey looks at him smugly, realizing that he’s pissed the radio deejay now. He pretends to feel sorry for him. “Aww, are you offended by what I just said? Did I make poor Corey sad?” He then mutters, “Because you know it’s true, my friend. You bring some girl over to your apartment and the moment she tells you she’s in over with you, you kick her out. You’re always like that. I bet you were always like this.”

Jim sighs at that comment, and he pulls out a cigarette. Corey steps forward. “Mick, you better take the slut with you before I do something I might regret,” he says darkly.

Joey smirks. “You’re a slut too, Corey. You’re actually worse than me.” He steps back, knowing that Corey won’t attack him. He grabs his jacket. “C’mon, Mick.” At that, he steps out of the club, Mick following.

“So, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Mick simply says as he takes his jacket and leaves.

Corey shakes his head, wanting to strangle somebody, and he storms into the restroom. Jim chews the insides of his bottom lip, and he takes a deep breath, unsure of what he should do. He finally decides to go into the restroom.

Sid and Craig sigh. The latter whispers, “I’m gonna go. You coming with me?”

“Yeah,” the younger man replies.

Lorraine looks over at Shawn. “This ended badly.”

“Yeah it did,” the club owner replies, sighing. “I can’t have this go out of business. I have four kids and a sick wife to take care of and—”

“DEEP THROAT!” Charlie suddenly shouts. “That was the name of the porno! Why didn’t I figure it out, sooner?!”

The four remaining people simply stare at the guy, raising eyebrows at the sudden outburst.

“....What?”

____

Jim quietly steps inside the restroom, and he sees Corey sitting on the counter and smoking. He sighs and slowly walks over to him, wanting to know what’s on his mind. He can’t blame the shorter man to be offended that Joey lumped the radio deejay with him. Still that’s an old friend. He wants to help him out. Maybe he wants to get the guy to understand some things. Corey looks over at Jim, and he stares down at the tile floor. He shakes his head and snorts. “I’m glad Shawn is letting me smoke here tonight.”

“Are you okay?” Jim whispers.

Corey shakes his head. “I’ll get over it. I’m just....I’m just so fucking pissed off a Joey right now. I mean, how fucking dare he lump me with him? I’m nothing like him! I don’t go fucking breaking girls’ hearts.” He takes another drag of his cigarette. Jim sighs as that, lighting his cigarette as well. As much as he wants to help the guy out, Jim knows better. Because he knows the guy more than anyone else. Well, at least he thought he did.

“Corey...I just don’t know how to say it...but you did the same thing Joey is doing.” He looks at the guy. “And hearing about what’s been going on just a couple minutes ago? You really haven’t changed at all.”

Corey blinks at Jim. “The fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that Joey’s probably right, Corey.”

Corey glares at the tall man. “Fuck you, Jim,” he mutters. “You don’t know anything about me. Where the hell were you all these years?”

Jim is taken aback by this comment. He snorts, not able to believe that this guy just said that. “Excuse me, I don’t know anything about you?” He frowns, not happy at all. “I may not have been around for a decade, but what Joey said is exactly what you were doing while I was still around, sticking by you.” He glares at the guy. “Don’t...” he sighs, “Don’t fucking tell me that I don’t know anything about you.”

Now it’s Corey who’s taken aback by those words. He gets off the counter and faces the tall man directly. “What’s your problem, James? No really, what the fuck crawled up your ass?”

But Jim simply shakes his head, turning away. “You know what? Forget it.”

This angers Corey. “No, dammit, spill it out!”

Jim suddenly whirls around and snaps, “I’m not spilling it out, goddammit!” Corey almost jumps at the sudden outburst. “You fucking figure it out by yourself! You’re smart. I know you can figure it out, eventually. I just can’t believe you don’t even...” he sighs, not saying anymore, and he turns away, running his fingers through his hair and feeling troubled at what’s happening. Corey slowly calms down at the way the guy is acting now.

“Are you okay, man?” he asks quietly. Jim shakes his head, not even looking at the radio deejay, and he begins to walk out, but he stops and he slowly looks up at the guy.

“After all that happened, why the fuck would I be all right?” He almost chuckles dryly before he leaves, leaving the angry Corey by himself.