Hailstorms of truth
Outside it was storming. Brilliant streaks of lightning raced across the sky. As far as Zakk was concerned, they had the perfect view from where they floated in the lazy river. A shimmer of silver-gray twinkled at the corner of his vision and he turned his head to see Riley and Dez on a flotation device that looked more like an air mattress than a raft, but it seemed to be working for them. In fact, Dez looked to be sleeping while Riley lightly stroked his back.
It was good seeing Riley be so attentive. The black circles beneath Dez’s eyes had become worrying to the point where even Tripp had commented on them, earning a snarl from Dez and adding a fresh layer of tension to their somewhat rocky relationship. At least they could be in the same room together without sniping at one another, though the iciness at times, from both of them, was starting to grate on Zakk’s nerves.
If they didn’t find a way to squash it soon, he was fixing to say something neither one of them would like.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Zakk remarked as he glanced over to see Tripp sprawled in an inner tube, arms and legs spread in every direction. He reminded Zakk of a starfish without a couple of limbs.
“You’re usually mellow as fuck when it storms,” Tripp remarked, brushing his fingertips down Zakk’s arm as he floated along beside him.
“Not tonight.”
“No shit. So…”
Throwing up his hands and sending droplets into the air between them, Zakk cut him a look that he hoped conveyed how much he didn’t want to have this conversation here and now.
“Did I fuck up again?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay. Can we talk about it?”
“I’m floating.”
“I can see that. Floating is supposed to be relaxing and you’re practically vibrating with pissed off energy.”
“You want us to be long-term right?”
He caught the frown and puzzled look Tripp shot him before he answered. “I thought I made that perfectly clear the other night.”
“If that’s the case, then when are you going to bury the hatchet with Dez so we can all start discussing the tour? Or does your plan for long term include long distance, ‘cause I don’t think I can deal with another year of only seeing you five times in twelve months.”
“It’s not gonna be that way!” Tripp snapped, loud enough that his echoed words drew looks from Riley and Tavis who was halfway across the lazy river. “And for the record, I wasn’t aware that Dez and I were still having issues.”
“What else would you call the sidestep and avoid you both do whenever the other is in the room?”
Zakk could feel himself growing more annoyed when Tripp huffed and sat up in his flotation ring. “I don’t know, it’s not like we have to be friends for us to tour together. We won’t be fighting, or at least, I won’t be, that’s all I that I can promise.”
“I don’t get why you hate him.”
“Hate…no. That’s…no. Hate is too strong a word. I have reservations and concerns I wish you’d be willing to listen to but….”
“Fine, what are they? Let’s just get it out in the open now and be done with it.”
Nodding, Tripp cut him a look like he knew Zakk wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “I don’t like the way he treats his former bandmates. I would think that would matter to you after what happened last year with Wade.”
“Why? I’ve already heard all about what went on with both bands and why he was cut loose from them,” Zakk said. “I called around and spoke to members of both. Carrion basically let him go for being too shy and not ‘wild’ enough for the image they were trying to portray. Forget that he was better than the guy he was replacing and the guy that replaced him. Forget that he had never been exposed to that level of fame before and was younger than all of them by at least ten years. He tried and it wasn’t a good fit. They isolated him, humiliated him, then cut him loose without so much as a thank you. Hell, the magazines knew he was getting fired before he did. That right there is some cowardly shit, so what makes you think he should be all buddy-buddy with them? Huh? It’s not like he’s ever gone around trashing them.”
“I didn’t say he trashed them.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“That Saint’s Seduction wasn’t Carrion and they weren’t shitty to him. They agonized over letting him go; not just because he was good, but because he’d become their friend. There was no reason for him to shit all over that when they let their old front man come back. It was a bad situation all the way around and they felt like crap for being in that position in the first place. None of them ever expected him to just drop out of their lives and ghost them the moment he hit the road.”
“Which is between him and them, not you, so why don’t you mind your own business?”