I've Got A Tiger By The Tail
By Tiger

                       I

Tiger watched from the audience as Eric Singer began 
his drum clinic. It was full of fire and energy. After 
the clinic, both sisters sat down and were talking 
about drums and drumming in general. A male voice 
interupted their play argument. "Interesting ring you 
have there.. What is it?" "A Tiger's head, given to me 
by my nephew" Tiger replied then froze....It was Eric 
she was talking to. "You're Tiger aren't you?" he 
asked. Tiger nodded, not quite sure what to say. He 
just chuckled at the look she gave him. She quickly 
recovered though. "How did you know?" she grinned a 
little..."the Girl Talk group...You look just like 
your picture." She smiled "thanks!". Another fan got 
his attention. Tiger and Amy split for the outside. 
talking and chattering. Later, after the crowd 
dispersed a little, both girls went back inside. 
"Whew" Amy laughed elbowing her sister in the ribs. 
Tiger cracked up laughing. Both were checking out a 
few things, not paying attention. Amy bought a 
videotape, while Tiger was trying to decipher Amy's 
handwriting. "Sis, your writing is just as bad as 
mine... what do you mean by this?!" Tiger laughed as 
she gave the list back to Amy. "Damn, I can't read it 
either." her sister laughed... "Ah well." Tiger 
grinned at Amy... suddenly a boom of thunder cracked 
through the outside. "The car windows!" both said at 
the same time. Amy raced out the door to roll up the 
windows. Tiger heard Eric's amused voice behind her... 
"well Tiger - Girl.. cat got your tongue?".."Not 
likely! In fact I would say that you possibly have a 
Tiger by the tail!" "Really?!" he laughed "Prove it!" 

                      II

"You have me intrigued, Tiger Girl..." he continued. 
"I'm willing to make a bet with you, IF you're brave 
enough. Spend two months with me and see the real side 
of things. Loser of this bet had to yield to the 
winner!" "And what does the winner get?" Tiger asked. 
His grin was proof enough. "You're on!" Tiger grinned 
wickedly. No way was he going to beat her. The next 
day, packed and ready, she took off for parts unknown. 
As time passed she and Eric became friends. Little did 
they know what lay in store for them. Tiger made 
friends quickly, and he became more interested, the 
more he got to know her. One night, however, things 
changed just a little. Tiger was talking to Eric about 
something, the next thing she knew she was in the 
middle of a fight. Mind working, her hand slid 
stealthily to a cymbal that was loose on the rack. 
Quietly, she worked it loose, knowing one wrong move 
and she would get hurt. Eric held his ground, though. 
"Eric! Watch your back!" she yelled. Reacting, she 
turned the heavy cymbal bell side down and cracked the 
guy behind him on the head, hard! That one went down, 
and out! She was amazed that she hadn't cracked the 
cymbal. She didnt have time to think however, she was 
still in the line of fire. She fought back and knew 
she had better retreat while she still could. Alice 
just watched, amazed.. Who in the hell had Singer 
gotten involved with now? Using the cymbal as a 
shield, she managed to hold her attacker off, until 
the police came and broke it up. Tiger went and calmly 
paid for the cymbal, although she shook like hell, 
inside. she looked around for Eric. He was all right. 
Alice asked the both of them "You two like fighting?!" 
He knew the answer to that one. Both looked at one 
another and told him flatly "NO!". "Interesting weapon 
you have there.. How in the hell did you manage that?" 
Eric saw the cymbal in her hand and chewed her out 
royally. She took it though. She answered Alice 
quietly. "You learn to use whatever comes to hand to 
protect yourself." she said quietly. She was quiet for 
a long time afterwards. She looked out the 
window...then she apologized to Eric, who by then was 
told the full story. She moved away from him quietly. 
He couldn't figure her out... she barely knew him, but 
jumped in to try and keep him from being hurt. She 
fell asleep by the window, as he and Alice talked 
about what had happened. Silently for a long time 
afterwards, he watched her, as she slept.


                     III

After that particular incident, Eric and Tiger were 
really taking time out and becoming closer friends. 
His teaching her to hang-glide made her day! He heard 
her rich laughter as she landed. He gave her a bear 
hug, noting that her eyes were shining. This was a 
very vibrant young woman. Knowing of some of her 
background, he decided that he liked this particular 
Tiger. She liked him back, he knew that much and was 
satisfied as being friends. They had quite a few 
adventures together. One interesting adventure made 
his protective instincts take over. He and Tiger were 
walking when they both got mobbed. Tiger was swept 
away in the mob. She tried making it back to where he 
was. No dice on that idea. He finally pushed his way 
to her, and pulled her close to him, protecting her as 
the mobbing was getting dangerous. He finally felt an 
opening that would allow both to escape. "You ok?" He 
asked. She nodded breathless. He insisted on checking 
her ribs... He knew that she had been nearly killed in 
a mob scene back in 83, during a concert. Neither 
wanted a repeat of THAT situation. The two months were 
almost at an end. He reluctantly walked her to her 
gate, then giving a kiss to her, reluctantly let her 
go back into her world which she came from. "Gonna 
miss that one?!" Alice asked him. "Hell, yes!" was his 
reply. "She isnt a drama queen and once you get to 
know her..." He watched until her plane departed... 
"Let's go!" he growled. Tiger had gotten under his 
skin.