Categories > Celebrities > Metallica > Ripe
1987
I stretched on the bed, tired of reading, and went to the kitchen to fix myself a cup of tea. I looked around and sighed, I still had to get adjusted to all the changes that had occurred after the Damage, Inc. Tour. The guys had decided to leave El Cerrito and Kirk had asked me to live together; he could afford to buy an house of his own, but since he wanted me to move in with him, we both chose it. We fought a bit because he wanted to pay for everything, so I could stop working and concentrate on music only, but I strongly refused because I didn’t want to be a kept woman. We eventually decided that he would pay for the house and we would split the bills and other common expenses. Luckily the guys in my band accepted to follow me, but saying goodbye to Gillian was more difficult than I had expected. I had really grown to like that crazy blondie.
Kirk decided to put his newfound money to good use, which meant raiding every comic book shop to buy comics and action figures; I tagged along with him most of the times, and sometimes we went to bookshops so I could get my beloved books too. We always had fun, since we had similar tastes; we shared our purchases, compared them and discussed relentlessly about the most abstruse speculations we could come up with; we had also reestablished the movie nights, although it felt a bit off without Cliff and Corinne.
“I still prefer ‘Star Wars’.”
“No way, ‘THX 1138’ is a better movie than ‘Star Wars’.”
“Woman, you better take that back.”
“Come on, it’s a much more challenging, compelling movie. ‘Star Wars’, as entertaining as it is, is just a space opera.”
“Just a space opera?! Listen, I like dystopias and all, but there’s a reason why ‘Star Wars’ has such a cult following, and it’s because it’s fucking epic. I agree that ‘THX 1138’ is a great movie, but ‘Star Wars’ is a Lucas’s masterpiece. You cannot even compare.”
“I fear we just have to agree to disagree.”
“Really? You are giving up this easy? Where’s the April I know, ready to jump in endless, heated arguments and overanalyze the smallest, insignificant detail?”
“She’s almost falling asleep, but she’ll be ready for the fight tomorrow, so you better prepare yourself with better arguments than “more people like it”.”
He rolled his eyes. “I should have known, when it comes to you I just can’t win.”
Since James ‘the genius’ Hetfield had managed to break his arm for a second time (that guy was so accident prone, we speculated it was Mustaine having fun with a Hoodoo doll), the band had the possibility to take a breath from work; they began to work on Lars’s garage, with Jason doing most of the job. The ‘Newkid’, as they had labeled him, was an hyperactive, enthusiastic ex-farm boy from Michigan who acted like he had won the lottery; I liked him, he was a nice, funny guy, but I sensed some resentment coming from the other Metallica members. When they told me about the tour and all the shenanigans they had pulled on him, I couldn’t help but feel a shiver running down my spine. I had the feeling they were using him as a scapegoat on whom they could vent their grief for Cliff’s death. Nevertheless, I decided to brush it off, thinking it would soon come to an end.
“Do you want to know the craziest prank my band has ever done to me on tour?” I asked Jason.
“Yeah, let’s hear it.”
“We were staying in a small hotel with a big garden, I got a single room while the other guys had a double one, all on low ground with a few steps to come down. Well, the last night I found my room to be fucking flooded.”
“Really?! How the hell did they do that?” laughed Jase.
“They used a hose, and poured so much water it reached the bed’s border.”
All the guys started to laugh their heads off. “What the fuck did you do, then? I would have mauled the shitheads.” Asked James.
“I was so tired I just waded into the water and fell asleep on the bed. I got my revenge later, though.”
˜΅˜
I adjusted my skirt for the millionth time and checked my make up once more. Is it too much? This lipstick makes me look like a whore. God, why do I have to look like a guttersnipe, no matter what? I felt a hand on my shoulder and jerked away.
“Babe, calm down, ok? She’s gonna love you, I’m sure of that.”
“Kirk, nothing you can say will make me feel relaxed. This is the first time I meet your mother and I don’t want to ruin everything.”
“There’s nothing you can ruin, my mother will see what a wonderful girl you are and how much you mean to me. And even in the remote case she doesn’t like you, it won’t change my love for you.” Kirk stated, ringing the bell.
“I hope you are right.”
I had been invited by Kirk’s mom to dinner because she wanted to know “the special girl who has stolen my boy’s heart”. Perfectly fine request, absolutely normal. Why the cold sweat then? What if I faint? What if I throw up in the middle of the meal? Oh God, I’m allergic to beans and I don’t know how to eat shellfish properly! Maybe I can run away and seek asylum in Canada, maybe… My thoughts were cut short by Kirk’s mother, who greeted us with a big smile; she was a short woman who looked as lovely as his son. When Kirk had explained his family situation to me, I felt incredibly sorry and angry, it was a manual case of parental abuse. How could a man be so cruel to his wife and children? His desertion had been almost a liberation. It made me reappraise my own father.
“Kirk, it’s so good to see you again! And you must be April, I got to meet you, at last. Kirk has praised you so much I just had to know you.”
Dinner went incredibly well, not only I didn’t embarrass myself, I also gained Chefela’s approval; she was very curious and asked me lots of questions, but without making me feel pressured or judged. She was very sympathetic about my family and told me lots of anecdotes about Kirk when he was a child, making him redden in embarrassment more than once.
“Aww, you must have been the cutest of the babies.” I teased him.
“Mom, you don’t need to share absolutely everything about me, you know?”
“But Kirk, April is your girlfriend, you shouldn’t feel ashamed around her.” She smiled.
Before Kirk and I retired to our bedrooms –I stayed in Kirk’s sister’s bedroom– Chefela called me aside and asked me to see the Claddagh ring again.
“He was so sweet when he gave it to me, you know? It was the first time he declared me his love.”
She stayed silent, looking at the ring with a serious expression. I started to feel uncomfortable. Then, she raised her head and looked at me.
“He’s serious, you know?”
I was a little taken aback. “Of course, I know he really means it, I have no doubts that his feelings for me are true. And I love him too, I have no intention to hurt him.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I know that you are both really in love, I can see it, I can see it in the way you interact and look at each other. What I meant is that he’s looking at this relationship in long terms.”
Now I was really speechless. I hadn’t considered the possibility of marriage, we had never talked about engagement. Am I ready for this? With Kirk? I loved Kirk, I really did, but the possibility to settle down hadn’t crossed my mind.
“Mind you, I’m not talking about marriage, he probably has only a vague idea of that in his mind, but this is commitment.”
Commitment. That’s something I can do. I set my eyes on Kirk, who was turning off the T.V., smiling and felt my heart getting warmer.
Author’s note: I read somewhere that Jon Paul Jones had a very similar prank played on him by the other Zeppelin guys once. How did he react? With all his English aplomb, he just sighed and went to sleep. Classy Jonesy.
I stretched on the bed, tired of reading, and went to the kitchen to fix myself a cup of tea. I looked around and sighed, I still had to get adjusted to all the changes that had occurred after the Damage, Inc. Tour. The guys had decided to leave El Cerrito and Kirk had asked me to live together; he could afford to buy an house of his own, but since he wanted me to move in with him, we both chose it. We fought a bit because he wanted to pay for everything, so I could stop working and concentrate on music only, but I strongly refused because I didn’t want to be a kept woman. We eventually decided that he would pay for the house and we would split the bills and other common expenses. Luckily the guys in my band accepted to follow me, but saying goodbye to Gillian was more difficult than I had expected. I had really grown to like that crazy blondie.
Kirk decided to put his newfound money to good use, which meant raiding every comic book shop to buy comics and action figures; I tagged along with him most of the times, and sometimes we went to bookshops so I could get my beloved books too. We always had fun, since we had similar tastes; we shared our purchases, compared them and discussed relentlessly about the most abstruse speculations we could come up with; we had also reestablished the movie nights, although it felt a bit off without Cliff and Corinne.
“I still prefer ‘Star Wars’.”
“No way, ‘THX 1138’ is a better movie than ‘Star Wars’.”
“Woman, you better take that back.”
“Come on, it’s a much more challenging, compelling movie. ‘Star Wars’, as entertaining as it is, is just a space opera.”
“Just a space opera?! Listen, I like dystopias and all, but there’s a reason why ‘Star Wars’ has such a cult following, and it’s because it’s fucking epic. I agree that ‘THX 1138’ is a great movie, but ‘Star Wars’ is a Lucas’s masterpiece. You cannot even compare.”
“I fear we just have to agree to disagree.”
“Really? You are giving up this easy? Where’s the April I know, ready to jump in endless, heated arguments and overanalyze the smallest, insignificant detail?”
“She’s almost falling asleep, but she’ll be ready for the fight tomorrow, so you better prepare yourself with better arguments than “more people like it”.”
He rolled his eyes. “I should have known, when it comes to you I just can’t win.”
Since James ‘the genius’ Hetfield had managed to break his arm for a second time (that guy was so accident prone, we speculated it was Mustaine having fun with a Hoodoo doll), the band had the possibility to take a breath from work; they began to work on Lars’s garage, with Jason doing most of the job. The ‘Newkid’, as they had labeled him, was an hyperactive, enthusiastic ex-farm boy from Michigan who acted like he had won the lottery; I liked him, he was a nice, funny guy, but I sensed some resentment coming from the other Metallica members. When they told me about the tour and all the shenanigans they had pulled on him, I couldn’t help but feel a shiver running down my spine. I had the feeling they were using him as a scapegoat on whom they could vent their grief for Cliff’s death. Nevertheless, I decided to brush it off, thinking it would soon come to an end.
“Do you want to know the craziest prank my band has ever done to me on tour?” I asked Jason.
“Yeah, let’s hear it.”
“We were staying in a small hotel with a big garden, I got a single room while the other guys had a double one, all on low ground with a few steps to come down. Well, the last night I found my room to be fucking flooded.”
“Really?! How the hell did they do that?” laughed Jase.
“They used a hose, and poured so much water it reached the bed’s border.”
All the guys started to laugh their heads off. “What the fuck did you do, then? I would have mauled the shitheads.” Asked James.
“I was so tired I just waded into the water and fell asleep on the bed. I got my revenge later, though.”
˜΅˜
I adjusted my skirt for the millionth time and checked my make up once more. Is it too much? This lipstick makes me look like a whore. God, why do I have to look like a guttersnipe, no matter what? I felt a hand on my shoulder and jerked away.
“Babe, calm down, ok? She’s gonna love you, I’m sure of that.”
“Kirk, nothing you can say will make me feel relaxed. This is the first time I meet your mother and I don’t want to ruin everything.”
“There’s nothing you can ruin, my mother will see what a wonderful girl you are and how much you mean to me. And even in the remote case she doesn’t like you, it won’t change my love for you.” Kirk stated, ringing the bell.
“I hope you are right.”
I had been invited by Kirk’s mom to dinner because she wanted to know “the special girl who has stolen my boy’s heart”. Perfectly fine request, absolutely normal. Why the cold sweat then? What if I faint? What if I throw up in the middle of the meal? Oh God, I’m allergic to beans and I don’t know how to eat shellfish properly! Maybe I can run away and seek asylum in Canada, maybe… My thoughts were cut short by Kirk’s mother, who greeted us with a big smile; she was a short woman who looked as lovely as his son. When Kirk had explained his family situation to me, I felt incredibly sorry and angry, it was a manual case of parental abuse. How could a man be so cruel to his wife and children? His desertion had been almost a liberation. It made me reappraise my own father.
“Kirk, it’s so good to see you again! And you must be April, I got to meet you, at last. Kirk has praised you so much I just had to know you.”
Dinner went incredibly well, not only I didn’t embarrass myself, I also gained Chefela’s approval; she was very curious and asked me lots of questions, but without making me feel pressured or judged. She was very sympathetic about my family and told me lots of anecdotes about Kirk when he was a child, making him redden in embarrassment more than once.
“Aww, you must have been the cutest of the babies.” I teased him.
“Mom, you don’t need to share absolutely everything about me, you know?”
“But Kirk, April is your girlfriend, you shouldn’t feel ashamed around her.” She smiled.
Before Kirk and I retired to our bedrooms –I stayed in Kirk’s sister’s bedroom– Chefela called me aside and asked me to see the Claddagh ring again.
“He was so sweet when he gave it to me, you know? It was the first time he declared me his love.”
She stayed silent, looking at the ring with a serious expression. I started to feel uncomfortable. Then, she raised her head and looked at me.
“He’s serious, you know?”
I was a little taken aback. “Of course, I know he really means it, I have no doubts that his feelings for me are true. And I love him too, I have no intention to hurt him.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I know that you are both really in love, I can see it, I can see it in the way you interact and look at each other. What I meant is that he’s looking at this relationship in long terms.”
Now I was really speechless. I hadn’t considered the possibility of marriage, we had never talked about engagement. Am I ready for this? With Kirk? I loved Kirk, I really did, but the possibility to settle down hadn’t crossed my mind.
“Mind you, I’m not talking about marriage, he probably has only a vague idea of that in his mind, but this is commitment.”
Commitment. That’s something I can do. I set my eyes on Kirk, who was turning off the T.V., smiling and felt my heart getting warmer.
Author’s note: I read somewhere that Jon Paul Jones had a very similar prank played on him by the other Zeppelin guys once. How did he react? With all his English aplomb, he just sighed and went to sleep. Classy Jonesy.
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