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What Really Matters
By Billy Burrew
AJ sat in his seat at the Grammy's and stewed. He knew enough
to keep the anger off his face, but anyone who knew him would
know that he was about as pissed off as he'd ever been. The
Backstreet Boys, as well as their labelmates NSYNC, had both
been snubbed at the awards show for another year in a row,
giving the awards for best pop group and best pop performance
to another band that was less in the spotlight.
The people who decided the awards had, once again, publicly
reminded the two bands that, although they sold millions of
albums and set records galore, they would never be taken seriously
by the "music industry".
AJ shook his head and got up with the rest of the band to
applaud another award winner and he thanked God that the award
show was almost over for yet another year.
After the show, AJ and the guys went back to their hotel
and got changed and ready to go out and attend the compulsory
Grammy after-parties. AJ had planned on staying just as long
as would be considered polite, and then getting the hell out
of there before he had enough to drink that he'd forget all
about being a good loser and say a few off-color things that
might damage the band's image.
As AJ walked around the party, he was underwhelmed by the
smugness of the other people in attendance, especially the
award winners. AJ walked by Eminem and heard him talking about
how great he was and how he should have walked with a few
more awards. AJ shook his head and was about to walk away
when Eminem spoke up.
"Speaking of losers…AJ McLean, how are ya, man?
Too bad about Steely Dan, huh?", Eminem said patronizingly,
causing AJ to clench his fists as he turned to face the rapper.
"They've been around forever, I guess it was time they
won one." AJ replied, using the pat answer that the bands
PR firm had coined for them in a quick meeting after the show.
"Yeah? " Eminem smiled smugly, "It's still
too bad tho, after listening to your current album, that may
have been your only shot at grabbin' an award."
AJ smiled evilly, no longer hiding the rage that had grown
in his mind.
"You should be congratulated as well, on that "stellar"
performance with Elton John. I dunno, Em…I am beginning
to think you held the hug too long after you were done with
the song. Tell me, just between us guys, was I reading too
much into it, or are you his bitch now?"
Eminem stopped smiling and sneered. "Fuck you, McLean!"
AJ smiled, "After tonight, I don't think so. God only
knows where you've been!"
AJ turned and walked away from the now red-faced rapper,
straining hard not to laugh at the outraged sputterings he
heard as he walked away. Not only was Eminem a no talent hack
as rappers go, he was basically dumb as a stone to boot. AJ
had no doubt he'd be seeing him soon on VH-1's "Where
Are They Now?"
AJ walked over to Kevin, who had watched the entire episode
play out with a mixed sense of glee and embarrassment, and
though he would never admit it, he was glad AJ's biting words
had wiped the smug smile off Eminem's face.
"Train…I am hittin' it. This party blows!"
Kevin agreed and nodded across the room to Howie, Nick and
Brian who quickly made their way to the exit as well.
Kevin suggested that the guys grab a bite to eat and then
head out to the clubs. The guys all piled into the limo and
headed out to the restaurant.
The guys got a semi-secluded table at a nice bistro and placed
their orders. AJ had a few sips of his drink and then got
up to hit the men's room before the food came. AJ had finished
his business when the door to the bathroom opened up and Eminem
walked in.
"McLean….what an unpleasant surprise."
AJ smiled as he washed his hands and dried them with a paper
towel.
"I could say the same thing, Em….there's no glory
holes in a nice restaurant like this. Try the truck stop down
the road though. I'm sure you'll feel much more at home and
you can put that award winning mouth to good use."
Eminem growled and grabbed AJ's shirt as the door opened
and a man came and a little boy came in, the older man keeping
a tight grip on the young boy's hand.
"Daddy! See…I told you it was AJ!"
AJ smiled at the youngster and pressed his fingernail tips
into the flesh of Eminem's wrists, causing the young man to
visibly wince, let go of his shirt and back up.
"Hi little man! How'd ya recognize me?"
The little boy beamed, "I saw your tattoo."
"Who's the other guy…and why was he grabbin' at
you? Was he gonna hurt you? My daddy's a policeman….he
can arrest him. Do you want him arrested?"
AJ's smile, which was already pretty wide, got even wider
as he turned to look at Eminem. At the mention of police,
Eminem had turned completely pale and had put another few
feet in between himself and AJ.
"That's Eminem. He and I were discussing the show tonight."
"Oh…I'm not allowed to listen to him. My daddy
says he's got potty mouth. My mommy says he needs to go to
jail. Mommy said he'd be really popular with the other prisoners
in jail."
The young man's father blushed slightly at his child's imitation
of his wife and then smiled nervously.
"Daniel. Don't you need to go to the bathroom? I thought
that's why you dragged me down here."
Daniel grinned. "Well….I kinda just wanted to
see AJ."
AJ laughed. "Daniel. How about you go back upstairs
and finish dinner and then let your daddy finish his dinner
and then you can come over my table and visit with all the
guys."
Daniel's eyes popped open excitedly. "They're all here!?!"
AJ smiled. "Yep. I don't leave home without them."
Eminem snorted.
Daniel's father looked up at the young man coldly. "Don't
you have to be somewhere? Like now?! It would be a shame to
land in jail on a night when the Grammy's decided, against
all better judgement, to give you an award."
Daniel looked up at his dad and then over to AJ. "Did
you guys win an award, too? Did you?!?"
AJ shook his head, "Not this time…."
Eminem smiled and walked past the three. "Yeah….and
probably not ever. Don't get your hopes up for seeing the
Backstreet Boys win anything, kid. They seem to excel at coming
in second."
AJ was about to respond with his fists when Daniel began
to cry. Daniel's father looked down at his son and then over
to the rapper and snarled. "That's it. You'd better just
get the hell out of here before I call you in for attempted
assault. I know what I saw when I walked in here and I know
what Daniel will say he saw….and I KNOW you don't want
to get arrested again…not with your record."
Eminem rolled his eyes at the cop and smiled smugly at AJ
and then walked out of the bathroom.
Daniel's crying had turned to sniffling as AJ grabbed a
paper towel from the sink and knelt down and began to calm
the child down.
"You didn't win an award tonight? Why? You guys are
way better than him."
AJ smiled and shrugged, "Well…you can't win them
all."
Daniel's father leaned down and picked up Daniel and told
him that he'd see AJ soon enough after dinner and then the
three went back out into the restaurant.
AJ sat down and told the guys about the young boy and his
father and the bathroom incident so that they'd be ready to
meet Daniel when he came over.
The guys made short work of dinner and were drinking some
coffee when they heard the young boy approaching the table.
AJ smiled as Daniel peered up at the guys, half overjoyed
and half nervous about meeting them.
"Hi Daniel. How was dinner?"
Daniel smiled at AJ and replied. "It was REAL good.
Daddy said it better be great for what this place is charging."
The guys all laughed at Daniel's imitation of his father.
"So Daniel, I heard you're a fan of ours." Kevin
smiled.
Daniel nodded his head vigorously.
"Yep. You guys are the greatest! My parents even like
listening to your songs."
This response brought another round of chuckles from the
guys and they all began to talk with Daniel, asking him questions
and giving him their autographs on a promo CD that Kevin had
somehow picked up and brought with him.
Daniel was talking with AJ when he realized that the young
man was no longer looking at him, but scowling at something
behind him.
"Hey McLean. I thought I'd bring this over and show
you guys what a Grammy looks like since you pansies will prolly
never see one of your own."
Daniel turned around, his eyes filling with tears and his
bottom lip thrust out determinedly, and moved forward and
kicked Eminem hard in the shins, causing the rapper to yelp
and drop his precious award.
"My daddy is going to arrest you if you don't get out
of here! Leave the Backstreet Boys alone. They'll be making
great music long after people have forgotten you and your
potty mouth."
Eminem looked down at the kid and snarled. Kevin reached
over Daniel and grabbed Eminem by the neck.
"Touch the kid, and you'll lose a limb. Hear?"
Eminem's eyes widened as he saw all five guys stand up and
begin to advance on him.
"Fuck this. It ain't worth it." Eminem turned
around quickly to leave and ran into the business end of the
gun that Daniel's father had pointed at his chest.
"Just go. Get the hell out of here! If you'd have hit
my son, I'd have filled you so full of lead we could have
sharpened your head and used you as a pencil."
Daniel grabbed the award from where it lay on the floor
and threw it at the rapper, hitting him squarely in the back
with it.
"And don't forget to take your stupid award with you."
Eminem picked up his award and stormed out of the restaurant.
Daniel turned and faced the guys, his eyes still slightly
red from crying, and reached into his back pocket and pulled
out a folded up paper placemat and carefully unfolded it.
Daniel placed it on the table and smiled.
"I think you guys should have won an award, so I made
one up with my crayons at dinner. It's not a Grammy...."
AJ looked down at the crayon award and smiled, holding back
his emotions at the thoughtfulness of the small boy.
"Well this is the best award we've ever won, no doubt!
Right fellas?"
The guys all nodded in agreement.
Daniel's eyes lit up. "REALLY?!?"
AJ and the guys nodded. "Yep. This means more to us
than all the Grammy's in the world, cause you made it and
gave it to us."
The next morning, as the guys sat around the room eating
breakfast, the room phone rang and AJ smiled and answered
it. He mumbled a few words into the receiver and then hung
up. A few minutes later came a knock on the door and AJ got
up and answered it, tipping the hotel bellboy and taking the
package that the young man had been delivering.
"What's that, Bone?" Kevin asked curiously.
"C'mon over here and check it out." AJ smiled.
He pulled the brown paper off the box and opened it, and laying
inside was the crayon award, mounted and framed beautifully.
Kevin laughed and slapped AJ on the back. "Hey....Daniel's
award. That's so awesome man!"
AJ smiled. "Yeah. Last night reminded me that all this...It's
not about any Grammy Award, not about the parties we go to,
and not about the records we break…None of that kinda
stuff really matters. It's stuff like this…it's the love
and adoration of a little kid like Daniel and all our other
fans that really makes what we do worthwhile. I wasn't kidding
when I said that this award was the best we've ever won. It
really is."
It's more than just an award to me," AJ smiled as he
looked down at the award and touched the frame, "I had
it framed so that I can hang it up and it will always be my
reminder of what really matters."
-The End
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