Live And Let Die
Chapter 3
By: Makena
Benji sat alone on top of his bunk in the semi dark room. He carefully opened his plastic bag and took out what he had purchased at the gas station - a bottle of Tequila.
"I'm going to get some sleep," is what he had told them all so he would be free of people trying to get things from their own bunks.
He crumpled the bag up and tossed it carelessly to the floor where he would pick it up later and unscrewed the top of the tequila bottle. He slowly began to drink from the bottle, letting the taste wash over his mouth.
"Hello again, friend," Benji said softly after swallowing his first sip. He took a couple more swigs before carefully wrapping the bottle in his Distillers shirt and putting it in the middle of the mess in his duffel bag.
He took out his cigarettes and lit one up, laying back on his bunk and staring at the dull white celling above. No smoking on the bus - that was a rule they all made for Billy and Paul, because they were both avid smokers. Joel didn't smoke, but Benji still did occasionally.
"Three to one," Benji muttered. "You lose, Joel."
He let a cloud of smoke escape his lips as the curtain was drawn back and Joel stepped into the bunk area. Benji made no attempt to move or make a mad dash to put out his cigarette.
"Umm, Benji?" Joel asked. "Are you smoking?"
"No," Benji replied. "I'm playing video games."
"Good," Joel said. "Because you know we're not supposed to SMOKE ON THE BUS." Benji shrugged.
"Good thing I'm not smoking, then. Don't wanna get anyone pissed or anything."
Joel sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to get Benji to stop smoking, so he gave it up. "I just came in to get something," Joel said with a sigh, digging into his own duffel bag. He paused.
Benji sighed and sat up to look at him. "What?" he asked.
"I was... never mind. It's not important."
Benji rolled his eyes. "Just tell me," he said. Joel sighed.
"Paul's friend has a friend and I guess we're doing Paul's friend a favor by meeting his friend's friend."
Benji cocked an eyebrow. "If that made complete sense to anyone, raise your hand."
Joel laughed a little and rolled his eyes. "We have to meet some one in a couple of days as a favor to Paul's friend," he said. Benji rolled his eyes and lay back down.
"Don't we do enough favors for people?"
"Well... it's a girl," Joel said.
"Let me rush right out and meet her then," Benji said sarcastically.
"She wants to meet us all," Joel continued. "But Paul said she really wants to see you."
"What a shock," Benji muttered sarcastically. He didn't understand why girls always wanted to meet him or Joel. He didn't think he looked attractive in the least, and didn't get why girls would show up and tell them they wanted to have their babies.
"No thanks," Benji always wanted to say. "I've already got one."
-----
Paul anxiously watched for her before the show, and again during, just to see if she was really there. He was so excited to see his friend again - he knew Benji would be thrilled.
"So, when are we supposed to meet this girl?" Benji asked as they finished their set and were walking back.
"Soon," Paul replied, looking at his watch. "She's supposed to be waiting for us around the merch section."
"Wonderful place to meet some one," Joel said sarcastically. "Maybe we should have Pierre go get her and bring her back here."
Paul shook his head. "I'll go get her," he volunteered. "She doesn't know Pierre."
"And she doesn't know you," Joel said, thinking that he had been pointing a fact out to him. Paul shrugged and played along.
"I'll get her anyway."
Joel shrugged as Paul turned around to retrieve the girl. He was blocked by Billy, who questioningly looked up at him. Paul grinned.
"What?" Billy asked in a low whisper. "Who is it?"
"Come on," Paul said, dragging Billy by his arm. "You're going to come with me."
-----
She was standing by the far wall from the merch tables. She could see Simple Plan at their own merch table, as well as Autopilot Off, but she didn't see any of the Good Charlotte members around anywhere. She sighed looked down as something tugged on her t-shirt.
"Can we go home now, mommy?" the little boy asked her. She sighed and shook her head.
"Not now, Gavin," she said. "We have to look for some one first, and then we can go home."
The boy nodded and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He looked like he was about to fall asleep on the spot. "Can I have some ice cream, then?"
"They don't sell ice cream here, Gavin," she told him. "I'll find you some juice."
She sighed again and looked out over the thinning crowd of people. Finally, she saw a familiar face above the crowd and grinned. She didn't want to yell his name for obvious reasons, so she decided to walk over to him when she noticed a second familiar face.
"Makena!" Paul shouted once he had seen her. Makena grinned and wrapped her arms around Paul.
"It's been so long!" she said. She looked over at Billy and gave him a hug as well. Billy grinned, surprised to see her.
"Aaron told me you'd be here," Paul said.
"I told him to keep it a secret," Makena said, not angry in the least bit.
"Well *I* kept it secret," Paul told her proudly.
"He did," Billy said. "I didn't know you were here until a couple minutes ago."
"So, what's new?" Paul asked. "How's life treating you?"
Makena sighed and looked down at her son. She looked back up at Paul and shook her head. "I'll tell you later," she said. "Paul, Billy, this is my son Gavin."
Gavin looked up at the two and waved, a little shy. He had dark brown hair and dark eyes, and Paul swore he looked exactly like Benji and Joel did when they were his age.
"Hi, Gavin," Billy said, kneeling down in front of the boy. "I'm Billy, and that guy is Paul. We're your mommy's friends."
"I know," Gavin said. "She told me in the car."
Billy smiled and stood up, facing Makena. "I suppose you wanna see Benji now?"
Makena nodded and reached down to take Gavin's hand.
-----
Benji sat back stage, muttering to himself and trying to put his guitar away.
"Who do you think it is?" Joel asked suddenly. Benji looked up at Joel.
"Who?"
"This girl we're supposed to meet," Joel continued. "Who do you think it is?"
Benji shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "I guess we'll see."
They didn't talk again for a little while as Benji continued to put his instrument. Finally, after a while, some one spoke.
"Benji?" Paul said. "We found her."
Benji sighed to himself and looked up. He noticed his brother standing in awe before he looked over at Billy and Paul. Standing between them was Makena.