“Oh my god! It’s 5:36! How the hell are we runnin’ this late! John! Lay on the damn horn!” Freddie practically yelled leaning over our set.

 “Fred, relax. We can’t do anything about the traffic. We’ll get there.” John tried to calm him. It was true that we had hit a major traffic backup as we entered the city and were runnin’ over an hour behind schedule. Thus far, it looked like a typical college town. We had already passed seven bars and Roger was takin’ the liberty to read every sign on almost every business to us all. I kept laughin’ at him. I couldn’t help it. I tried so hard to make it seem that I wasn’t completely enamored with him…but I was. Just didn’t want to admit it out loud.

 “Wilson’s Shoe Repair!” Roger announced. “Second Chance Clothing!” We had been sittin’ at a near standstill for 45 minutes due to an auto accident. At least we were now comin’ into the town.

 “Okay, here’s what needs to happen. We have to be set up and have a sound check at 7:30. The show starts at 8:00. We gotta’ be off the stage for the next band by 10:00. Freddie, here’s a pen and this tablet I brought. You and Roger work on the set list. Limit it to about twelve songs. Now, John…we should go to your cousin’s place first to unload the luggage and get changed. You said the place is twenty minutes out of town, right?” Brian said layin’ down the game plan.

 “Yes, twenty minutes give or take.” John answered.

 “Alright, we get to the house, we get unloaded. Now, Veronica and Lydia…this is where you come in. You’re gonna have to drive us to the bar and drop us off so we can unload everything and get setup. We need to make a list of everything we need for tonight. Veronica and Lydia…if you don’t mind, you two are in charge of getting everything on the list. Whenever you get it all, just take it back to the house and come back to the bar and park in the alley so we can load later. Don’t worry, you will have precise directions to the bar.” Brian explained.

 “Okay, sounds great.” Veronica assured him.

 “Roger and I can pretty much make the list of stuff to get for tonight.” Freddie assured Brian.

 “Finally! We’re free! It won’t be long now.” John said as we had finally made it into the area that was truly downtown adjacent to the college. This was where the real action was.

 “Brian, look this over.” Roger said, leaning over the seat and holding out the set list for Brian to see. Now that we were rolling, we were easing through town, catching nearly every light green.

 “List is done. Here, read it over and see if we left anything out.” Freddie said handing the list over to me.

 “Alright, three bottles Moet de Chandon, three bottles of vodka, two bottles of Southern Comfort…” Roger interrupted me.

 “Change that to three, babe.” His words sent a chill down my spine. I scribbled out the two and turned it into a three and then continued reading.

 “…a case of Guiness…my god, how many people are you bringing home with us?” I asked.

 “It’s a grand time for the six of us, Lydia! You gotta’ be prepared!” Freddie insisted.

 “…okay…a carton of cigarettes, six bottles of cola, lemonade…”Roger interrupted me again.

 “Lyd…get the 100 proof again!” Roger said referring to the Southern Comfort.

 “Alight.” I said.

 “My god, are you alcoholics?” Freddie interjected.

 “By the sound of this list, we’re all alcoholics!” I said laughing. I continued reading. “…orange juice, tea, six pack of orange soda, and Clairol honey wheat blonde hair color…” I paused a minute. “…wait…what the hell? Hair color? What the…”

 “Lydia, I have a bit of a project for you tonight that I’ve been discussing with Roger.” Freddie said to me.

 “Oh my god…I know where this is going…” Brian’s head hit the back of his seat.

 “We have decided that he’s ready to be more blonde. He’s like a blank canvas! ” Freddie insisted. Roger leaned over the seat excitedly…absolutely beaming all over.

 “I told Fred, I wanted you to do it. I’d have no damn clue what I’m doin’. What do ya’ think? I reached up and ran my fingers through whatever part of Roger’s hair I could get ahold of. Well, I’m not a salon, you know, but I can do it. But, let’s not just dump a box of color on here. I think maybe just….” I shook my head. “…I got this. Alright… we’ll get this…box of hair color but I have an idea.”

 “So does that mean you’re goin’ do it?” Roger asked me.

 “Yes, I’ll do it…not sure how you two dreamed that up but I’ll do it.” I assured him. We had made our way across town and were headed to the outskirts of the city now.

 “Why do I have this feelin’ that tonight is gonna’ be…very interesting.” John said.

 “Oh, when is it not, darling?” Freddie asked him.

 “You know the way to the house, right?” Brian asked John.

 “Yeah, I can get us there from here.” John assured him.  We were staying the next two nights in John’s cousins’ country home. It was actually more of an oversized cottage according to John’s description. It was set out away from the city center on some farmland. It seemed like it would be a divine retreat for our long weekend. I thought it very kind that his cousin was going to let us crash for the next two days. According to John, the place was modest but equipped. At this point, we were on a country road and the city limits could be seen in the distance. As we drove through the countryside, the sights looked quite comforting.  We were getting very close. Roger glanced at his watch.

 “How far, John? It’s 6:15.”

 “Fuck…that’s not enough time!” Freddie panicked.

 “It’s fine, Freddie. Relax.” Brian assured him. We turned onto a gravel road.

 “This is the road. It’s pretty long back to the house but basically we’re here. Veronica, will you get the keys out of your purse?” John asked of her.

 “Yeah, let me find them.” She began searching around in her bag. John wasn’t kidding about how long this road was and it was lined in fences.

 “Oh…this is a horse farm?” I asked.

 “Kind of. It’s a dairy farm and some people rent the barn out here for their horses. Kind of hard to believe there’s a farm like this so close to the city limits. It’s like bein’ another world away.” John explained. I didn’t say anything. I just started out the window of the van at the few horses that were standin’ in the field.

 “That’s it up there.” John pointed well ahead of him. Our luggage and the equipment rattled and rocked as we traveled along the bumpy, gravel road. It was a white, sided cottage with a deck built out around it. John was right, it was modest but it would suit us all just fine. It had black shutters and a fence that ran along the back of the property line. John pulled the van up to the front steps and backed up so that the back doors of the van were toward the door. “Okay, let’s go.” John said, putting the van in park. He jumped out and I opened the sliding door to let Veronica out unlock the cottage.

 “Here.” She threw the keys at John, who caught them and went up the steps to unlock the door. The wind blew threw the farm as day was turning to evening. John opened the door and Roger, Freddie and Brian filed out of the van. Brian got to the back of the van first and so he opened up the back doors…at least nine things fell out…one of those things being an unzipped bag of cymbals. Freddie crossed his arms again.

 “You know, I really think it’s the luggage causin’ this problem. Oh look Brian, there’s your stuff. Now you don’t have to unload it.” Freddie patted his back as Brian got his suitcase off the ground.

 "Your stuff kinda’ fell out. You really should zip that bag.” Freddie told Roger. He shook his head.

 “I’ll get that in a minute. We gotta’ get this luggage out. Here, just pass it along.” Roger grabbed Brian’s suitcase and handed it over to John. It did make sense to get things unloaded faster. Brian and Roger managed to fight everything in the van and wrestle all of our luggage free from everything else. Myself, Veronica, John and Freddie took everything inside and put it haphazardly inside the door.

 The place smelled a bit musty but a few open windows would fix that. The house opened up to a large livin’ room with the kitchen in the back and a utility room off to the right of it. There was a stove and oven with some dark brown cabinets above and below it. The refrigerator was situated on the back paneled wall. There was a small bar with three barstools underneath it. The kitchen had a pale yellow linoleum and the livin’ room had brown carpet. There was a large couch sitting with it’s back to the small kitchen bar. There were two other chairs situated in here with a round table in the center of all this furniture. There were two end table near the chairs with lamps on each one. To the left in the livin’ room there was a wall with several sets of windows and a sliding glass door that opened up to the deck. A paneled wall divided the livin’ room from the rest of the house, obviously of which I hadn’t yet seen.

 Freddie had been walking around the place, likely determining which bedroom he wanted. They were in fairly close proximity so it wasn’t like it mattered too much. “Alright, I’m making a decision now…” Freddie paused to make sure he had our attention. “…you two and you two have to take the rooms that have that adjoining bathroom in the middle. It makes the most sense, really. Brian gets the room at the end of the hall and I get that room to the left of Brian’s.” Freddie seemed quite proud of himself. No one seemed to have a problem with it and I surely didn’t. What he had been referring to apparently was the fact that two rooms were fashioned in a “Jack and Jill” style…meaning there was bath in between that connected them, with a door on each side.

 “We gotta’ get changed! We gotta’ change and get back downtown.” John said noticing the time.

 “Alright, let’s go!” Freddie grabbed his suitcase and disappeared. I stayed with Veronica in the livin’ room so we could discuss how we were gonna’ make things happen and get back for the show.

 “Um…Veronica…there’s absolutely no food on this list.” I brought to her attention.

 “You’re right…we should probably add that. Do you cook?” she asked me.

 “Yes. Roger likes spicy stuff so I’ll put some pad thai noodles on this list. It’s those kind you heat up on the stove top but he loves them.” I said. Veronica’s eyes sparkled at me.

 “Oh, you’re so sweet. Put um…potatoes…sausage…cheese and bread. I’ll make bangers and mash with cheese on toast for John.” Veronica told me.

 “What does Brian and Freddie eat?” I wondered out loud.

 “Anythin’. I’ll make extra for them.” Veronica said.

 “Ya’ know…we’re gonna’ need somethin’ for breakfast tomorrow. Blueberry pancakes? Bacon? Eggs?” I questioned.

 “Oh god, yes! Now I’m very hungry.” Veronica answered me.

 “Very well.” I jotted down the extra items on our list knowing good and well there wouldn’t be a thing in here to eat.

 “Hey, there’s just a mattress on the floor in that room.” Roger commented, returning from changing clothes. He was pulling his blank tank over his head and he had yet to buckle his belt. I think right then, my heart stopped.

 “Oh yeah…forgot about that. John’s cousin hasn’t ever purchased a bed frame for it.” Veronica explained. I watched him pull his pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket and light one. Yes, now I was certain my heart had exploded. Brian soon followed behind Roger, getting dressed almost as quickly.

 “This is yours.” Brian said handing a necklace over to Roger.  “I have no idea how long I’ve had it.

“Oh. Yeah, I’ve been lookin’ for this.” Roger told him. “There’s not an ashtray in here….we’re gonna’ have to make one.” He walked over to the kitchen to search for a bowl. John was the next on ready to go. I had to hand it to them, they could change clothes faster than I could.

 “And what about his majesty?” I asked.

 “Believe me, he’s always the last one ready.” John said laughing.