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“Because that’s what you always did,” Zakk finished for him. “Now I’m curious to hear the rest of the story about Carrion and the friend that dared you to audition.”
“What more is there to tell? They hired me and I went on tour with them.”
“What about your friend, the guy who actually wanted that spot and who you claimed to have traveled all that way to support? You guys were in a band together, right? What happened to the band? Zakk asked.
“They’re still around,” Dez replied. “My cousin left shortly after I did. He wanted to focus more on community theater. The three other members found a new drummer to replace him, and they play a lot of local gigs.”
“And who did they find to replace you?”
Dez straddled a chair and wrapped his arms around the back of it. “My ex-buddy took over vocals and leads, then found another guitarist to back him up. They sounded descent enough the last time I heard them.”
“And whenwasthe last time you saw them play?” Zakk asked. “When was the last time you talked to any of them?”
“Frankie and I had some words after we got back from Chicago. Nothing else needed to be said after that.”
“And the others?”
Dez shrugged. “Wasn’t like I was in the mood or the mindset to seek out anyone when I came back off the road after Carrion, and I…I’d failed.”
“So rather than face them, you’ve just kept your distance all these years?”
“I didn’t want to answer questions about what happened. Figured anything they wanted to know they could read about on the dirt sheets.”
“And if it didn’t paint you in the best light?” Damien asked, to which Dez just shrugged.
“Every time I played, no matter where I played or who I played with, I poured my soul into it. Small crowd, huge crowd, one fuckin’ person sitting at the bar. I played my ass off. If they didn’t know that and chose to believe anything else anyone said about me, that’s on them.”
“I happen to agree,” Damien said. “Only, you didn’t give them the chance to show you what they believed. That is what has all of us feeling cautious about you right now. You take it upon yourself to determine for others what they think, feel, or believe. You say you belong with us, if that’s the truth, then act like it. Trust us the way you want us to trust you, because that’s what your running away from everyone has amounted to. Trust. You let people who never deserved it in the first place, take it from those who have proved we do.”
Dez opened his mouth like he wanted to disagree, closed it, and shook his head.
“None of us have ever doubted your dedication to the music, it’s your loyalty to those you’ve played it with that’s in question here,” Damien said. “As you’ve said, the only way for you to prove it shouldn’t be is to wait and see. “The question is, do we want to do that? Do we want to trust you, or do we want to declare that we’ve done enough, that there is nothing left to accomplish, and end the band, along with any opportunity for you to prove anything?”
When Dez turned to look at Riley, Zakk was pleased to see that Riley was nodding in agreement with Damien’s words. In the past, Riley had let the fact that he was with someone blind him from seeing the things that weren’t quite right with them. It was good to see him finally opening his eyes.
Dez’s hands were beginning to tremble, his face having paled a little as he looked around the room.
“You can’t ask for something you aren’t willing to give,” Damien said. “You should consider this a second chance to learn that.”
“Huh?” Dez muttered, as Damien stepped up beside him and settled a hand on Dez’s shoulder, squeezing it and spinning him into a hug.
“We always settle things with a vote. My vote is we keep playing after Rocktoberfestanduse the new music. I do agree that we should have paperwork drawn up so that whatever music is created with Tattered Angel stays with the band. None of us saw it coming when Wade left. Any of us could fall into the mindset of thinking we are bigger than the band, so we should all sign.”
Logical. Trust Damien to always be looking ahead. “I don’t have a problem with that.” Dez said.
“I’ll sign whatever it takes for us to get the music out there,” Riley said. “I stand by what I said. I think it’s the best collection we’ve pulled together in a long time. Would be a shame to lock it in a safe somewhere like…”
Zakk stroked his chin as he looked from the light blush creeping up Riley’s cheeks, to Dez’s hard-fought efforts to look everywhere but at his former boyfriend. “I’m already outvoted, so I guess we’re making music.”
“I know you don’t want to give me another chance,” Dez said as Zakk moved to go past him.
“You don’t know shit,” Zakk growled, watching the way Dez’s eyes widened as he took a step back. “What I wanted was for none of that to be necessary. Just tell me we aren’t going to discover anymore half-truths floating around out there.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Zakk headed for the door, thoughts already on what to have for lunch when he was reminded of one particularly distasteful bit of information he’d discovered from his conversations with Sky. “One last thing you might want to know.”
