Categories > Celebrities > Metallica > Ripe
It came the time to go back on tour. Kirk and I spoke very little during the travel but I stayed next to him the whole time; I tried to make him feel that I wanted to be there for him, to support and love him. He was calm and relaxed. Before we landed, he held my hand and smiled. I smiled back at him and hoped that my worries were misplaced.
New Zealand offered us one of the best moments of the whole tour: after the concert, the guys were greeted by a flock of six sheep, presented as the finest female specimens of the whole country; Lars initially took the invitation seriously and freaked out, saying that they all were a bunch of sick fucks.
“Aw, come on, Larsie, you don’t want to disappoint an eager groupie, don’t you?” I mocked him; we burst out laughing as one sheep bleated and brushed her head against Lars’s thigh, who shoved her away in disgust.
Australia was good too, mostly because we didn’t die; it was also a beautiful country, but that was a plus. The last day of our staying, Jason and I looked for an ‘I Survived Australia’ t-shirt, but couldn’t find any; the salesmen even seemed offended when we asked.
Japan was an incredible country, and since the guys had already been there, I could rely on them for the basic information, and some more smart tips.
“Lesson number one: wasabi is deceitful and treacherous, don’t trust it.”
“Jeez, Newkid, will you ever let that one go?”
“I would, but my eyes still water whenever I see it. It’s a pavlovian response.”
“Beware of the unknown food, ok. Will we have the time to properly visit the cities?”
“We are not here on vacation, remember that? You are not just Kirk’s chick, you are also a paid roadie, with a lot of work to do.” Lars told me amiably.
“You don’t say?! I just wanted to know if we could have some free time to enjoy.”
“We’ll see.” He grumbled.
When James asked Jason to come with him to watch a sumo match, the bass player agreed enthusiastically. Despite his rude behavior and general lack of respect, James was still held in the highest regard by Jason, who was more than happy whenever the singer showed him some positive attention . The adoring fan in him still hadn’t succumbed from all the blows he kept receiving.
Lars, Kirk and I decided to visit the city, or better, I pushed them to come with me, if anything, just to distract them; they had been a little out of their minds in the last few days.
I was kind of nervous at the beginning, considering that I wasn’t on the best terms with Lars ultimately –he didn’t seem to appreciate my constant presence when he and Kirk went partying, because I tried to contain them– but we ended up having a nice time.
When Lars noticed it was time to catch up with the others at the hotel, we decided to take a taxi; Lars and I took the backseats and Kirk sat next to the driver, who didn’t exactly have the brightest look on his face. We showed him the address, but he just stared at it for a few seconds like he was in trance.
“Is he ok? He looks puzzled.” I whispered to Lars.
“Obviously.” He grumbled. “Give it to us to find the most retarded taxi driver of the city.”
“Um, I don’t know where it is.” the driver finally said.
“The fuck does it mean you don’t know? You are the fucking taxi driver!”
The man took out a map and started to look for the place, until a very irritated Lars pointed it for him. “You got it now? Start this old wreck and let’s go.”
“Hold the map for me, kid?” the driver asked Kirk, then he pushed the accelerator and jumped into the traffic.
We are going to fucking die. I thought in the first few seconds, when our driver almost run over two bikers and cut off a pick-up truck.
“We are going to fucking die.” whispered Lars, as the driver studied the map that Kirk was holding while running a red light.
A rally driver on crack would have been a safer option. That dude seemed completely unconcerned about the basic driving rules and looked more at the map then at the road. I glanced at Kirk, who was as still as a salt statue, staring in front of him and gripping the map. I glanced at Lars, who mumbled incoherently, probably something about his last will and testament and whose eyes were just about to pop out of their sockets.
“Ok, we can go for here, but it’s always full of traffic, or…” he said, dodging an old lady, “but I’m not sure, we could…”
I ripped the map off Kirk’s hands and looked at it. “You keep your eyes on the road!” I told the driver. “I’ll tell you where to go. And slow the fuck down!” It was like talking to the wall, his foot was glued to the gas pedal, he just drove like a maniac where I told him to.
Only after the ride we realized that we simply could have asked him to stop and get out of the taxi to avoid all that madness, but the shock didn’t make us think rationally. Luckily, I was cold blooded enough to take the lead and find the way to the hotel.
“No, you missed the right turn, go back!” After a U-turn that gained us a stream of curses from every car in sight, we took the right direction and arrived at the hotel.
Kirk was the first one to get out the car, quickly followed by Lars and me; we looked at each other and took a deep breath simultaneously.
“Ok, you pay me…” the driver’s voice trailed off, as Lars gave him the deadliest of all his glares. “This one is on me.” He said, hurtling down the road.
“Who… what… how…” Blabbered Kirk incoherently.
“Listen, I don’t know if he just escaped from a kennel and stole a taxi or what, but we’re all alive and that’s what matters.” I declared.
“Hey fuckers!” exclaimed James, walking toward us followed by Jason. “Finally you are here. What the fuck have you done? You look like shit! And why is he hugging a light pole?” he asked, indicating Kirk.
“What the fuck have we done? We’ve seen the fucking face of death, that’s what we fucking have done!” yelled Lars.
“Yeah, and it holds an uncanny resemblance to un unlicensed taxi driver.” I said, while James and Jason shared a confused look.
I knocked on Jason’s door to see if he was ready; the rest of us was gathered in the hall, ready to leave.
“Jase, are you here? Hurry up, we are leaving in a few minutes!” I realized that the door was open and entered. Jason was rummaging through the room, which was in a total mess.
“Jason, what the fuck are you doing?!” He stared at me for a moment, then went to his suitcase and signaled me to come closer. As I did, I noticed that it was open and filled with water and five goldfish were swimming in it.
“Everything was normal before breakfast, but when I came back to pick up my suitcase, I heard a squishy noise. When I opened it, I found this. I have no idea how they did it.”
“Uh, well, at least it’s nothing humiliating.”
“Yeah, but now I’ll have to re-buy everything there was inside. I was checking if they had hidden my stuff somewhere else in the room. Apparently not.” He sighed.
The guys still played a few pranks on Jason, he was the butt of most of their jokes, and though the harsh hazing had almost disappeared, that didn’t mean they had much more respect for him; Jason had slowly started to get more vocal and less afraid, but his opinions and ideas were constantly overlooked. The others could be friendly and have fun together with him, but they always said or did something to drop a hint or even make loud clear that he wasn’t truly one of them. They weren’t the Four Horsemen but three plus one.
Author’s note: My dear reader(s), I regret to inform you that I have to put this story on hiatus until October, because I'm not going to have the time to write it until then. Don't worry, I have every intention to finish the story and I already have the ending in my mind, I just have to find the way to get there.
New Zealand offered us one of the best moments of the whole tour: after the concert, the guys were greeted by a flock of six sheep, presented as the finest female specimens of the whole country; Lars initially took the invitation seriously and freaked out, saying that they all were a bunch of sick fucks.
“Aw, come on, Larsie, you don’t want to disappoint an eager groupie, don’t you?” I mocked him; we burst out laughing as one sheep bleated and brushed her head against Lars’s thigh, who shoved her away in disgust.
Australia was good too, mostly because we didn’t die; it was also a beautiful country, but that was a plus. The last day of our staying, Jason and I looked for an ‘I Survived Australia’ t-shirt, but couldn’t find any; the salesmen even seemed offended when we asked.
Japan was an incredible country, and since the guys had already been there, I could rely on them for the basic information, and some more smart tips.
“Lesson number one: wasabi is deceitful and treacherous, don’t trust it.”
“Jeez, Newkid, will you ever let that one go?”
“I would, but my eyes still water whenever I see it. It’s a pavlovian response.”
“Beware of the unknown food, ok. Will we have the time to properly visit the cities?”
“We are not here on vacation, remember that? You are not just Kirk’s chick, you are also a paid roadie, with a lot of work to do.” Lars told me amiably.
“You don’t say?! I just wanted to know if we could have some free time to enjoy.”
“We’ll see.” He grumbled.
When James asked Jason to come with him to watch a sumo match, the bass player agreed enthusiastically. Despite his rude behavior and general lack of respect, James was still held in the highest regard by Jason, who was more than happy whenever the singer showed him some positive attention . The adoring fan in him still hadn’t succumbed from all the blows he kept receiving.
Lars, Kirk and I decided to visit the city, or better, I pushed them to come with me, if anything, just to distract them; they had been a little out of their minds in the last few days.
I was kind of nervous at the beginning, considering that I wasn’t on the best terms with Lars ultimately –he didn’t seem to appreciate my constant presence when he and Kirk went partying, because I tried to contain them– but we ended up having a nice time.
When Lars noticed it was time to catch up with the others at the hotel, we decided to take a taxi; Lars and I took the backseats and Kirk sat next to the driver, who didn’t exactly have the brightest look on his face. We showed him the address, but he just stared at it for a few seconds like he was in trance.
“Is he ok? He looks puzzled.” I whispered to Lars.
“Obviously.” He grumbled. “Give it to us to find the most retarded taxi driver of the city.”
“Um, I don’t know where it is.” the driver finally said.
“The fuck does it mean you don’t know? You are the fucking taxi driver!”
The man took out a map and started to look for the place, until a very irritated Lars pointed it for him. “You got it now? Start this old wreck and let’s go.”
“Hold the map for me, kid?” the driver asked Kirk, then he pushed the accelerator and jumped into the traffic.
We are going to fucking die. I thought in the first few seconds, when our driver almost run over two bikers and cut off a pick-up truck.
“We are going to fucking die.” whispered Lars, as the driver studied the map that Kirk was holding while running a red light.
A rally driver on crack would have been a safer option. That dude seemed completely unconcerned about the basic driving rules and looked more at the map then at the road. I glanced at Kirk, who was as still as a salt statue, staring in front of him and gripping the map. I glanced at Lars, who mumbled incoherently, probably something about his last will and testament and whose eyes were just about to pop out of their sockets.
“Ok, we can go for here, but it’s always full of traffic, or…” he said, dodging an old lady, “but I’m not sure, we could…”
I ripped the map off Kirk’s hands and looked at it. “You keep your eyes on the road!” I told the driver. “I’ll tell you where to go. And slow the fuck down!” It was like talking to the wall, his foot was glued to the gas pedal, he just drove like a maniac where I told him to.
Only after the ride we realized that we simply could have asked him to stop and get out of the taxi to avoid all that madness, but the shock didn’t make us think rationally. Luckily, I was cold blooded enough to take the lead and find the way to the hotel.
“No, you missed the right turn, go back!” After a U-turn that gained us a stream of curses from every car in sight, we took the right direction and arrived at the hotel.
Kirk was the first one to get out the car, quickly followed by Lars and me; we looked at each other and took a deep breath simultaneously.
“Ok, you pay me…” the driver’s voice trailed off, as Lars gave him the deadliest of all his glares. “This one is on me.” He said, hurtling down the road.
“Who… what… how…” Blabbered Kirk incoherently.
“Listen, I don’t know if he just escaped from a kennel and stole a taxi or what, but we’re all alive and that’s what matters.” I declared.
“Hey fuckers!” exclaimed James, walking toward us followed by Jason. “Finally you are here. What the fuck have you done? You look like shit! And why is he hugging a light pole?” he asked, indicating Kirk.
“What the fuck have we done? We’ve seen the fucking face of death, that’s what we fucking have done!” yelled Lars.
“Yeah, and it holds an uncanny resemblance to un unlicensed taxi driver.” I said, while James and Jason shared a confused look.
I knocked on Jason’s door to see if he was ready; the rest of us was gathered in the hall, ready to leave.
“Jase, are you here? Hurry up, we are leaving in a few minutes!” I realized that the door was open and entered. Jason was rummaging through the room, which was in a total mess.
“Jason, what the fuck are you doing?!” He stared at me for a moment, then went to his suitcase and signaled me to come closer. As I did, I noticed that it was open and filled with water and five goldfish were swimming in it.
“Everything was normal before breakfast, but when I came back to pick up my suitcase, I heard a squishy noise. When I opened it, I found this. I have no idea how they did it.”
“Uh, well, at least it’s nothing humiliating.”
“Yeah, but now I’ll have to re-buy everything there was inside. I was checking if they had hidden my stuff somewhere else in the room. Apparently not.” He sighed.
The guys still played a few pranks on Jason, he was the butt of most of their jokes, and though the harsh hazing had almost disappeared, that didn’t mean they had much more respect for him; Jason had slowly started to get more vocal and less afraid, but his opinions and ideas were constantly overlooked. The others could be friendly and have fun together with him, but they always said or did something to drop a hint or even make loud clear that he wasn’t truly one of them. They weren’t the Four Horsemen but three plus one.
Author’s note: My dear reader(s), I regret to inform you that I have to put this story on hiatus until October, because I'm not going to have the time to write it until then. Don't worry, I have every intention to finish the story and I already have the ending in my mind, I just have to find the way to get there.
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