Swinging Tire

8

I laugh when people ask me about romance. What the fuck do I know about romance?

Are they talking about boy meets girl, cannot meet her needs because he's an adaptive product, a bypass, an asshole or whatever he is?

"We are not talking about damaged goods here, Axl." Izzy says, scoffing. "We are talking about what normal people would do if they fell in love."

Damaged goods. That seems to sum me up pretty accurately.

"I wanna marry one day." Says Duff, playing with his black fingernails absent minded.

"Fuck marriage, man! All I wanna do is to rock and roll. I don't care who's with me for the ride." Tracii chips in.

"That's one of the reasons I dislike you so much, Tracii, thanks for reminding me that I need a new lead guitarist on my band." I say, lightening a cigarette.

"Because it's -your band-, it's -your lead guitarist-, everything is yours, isn't Axl?" Tracii says, swivelling Night Train.

We are on his living room. Tracii is a rich kid, with working parents, an empty, big and comfortable home always waiting for him now that he is back living with his them.

"Somebody has to call the shots." I say, grabbing the bottle he's offering me.

I can feel Izzy's eyes on me. I've got his back on this, and I know that, if Izzy is with me, Duff would follow, because the ideal for the band, it's very core, how it has to look, how it has to sound,  it all comes from Izzy's mind.

And I got Izzy to agree with me that Tracii has to go. He and I cannot possibly work together. He pisses me off no end, just like fuck face had. Plus his sound wasn't what I wanted, he was a good guitarist, yes, but his playing was too agressive, too sharp, too metal for the music I want to make. I need more soul, we need a more bluesy approach to the solos, someone who played with the heart.

"You think too highly of yourself, Axl." Tracii chips again. He's getting pissed, and that's just fine with me.

"Duff says he's got some contacts in Seattle, he can pulls us some shows." Izzy said, pulling a pipe out.

"Yeah, I have quite a few bars I used to play with my old band, I think I can book us something. You know, change air a bit. Look for greener grass, man." Duff said, pushing his hair up his face.

"How long will it take for you to organise it? "

"Dunno. I'll start calling tomorrow. "

"A tour? In Seattle? What about our jobs?" Tracii asked.

"I can take a few days off." Duff said.

"I was fired a couple days ago, so I'm ready to ramble. " I say, lighting the pipe. The rock starts smoking and bubbling and I take a hit before passing it back to Izzy.

"Fired? " Izzy asked, his brow cocked.

I wave at him, I don't really wanna give much away. A month or so ago the store had an opening, and I called Slash to see if he wanted the position. I guess I missed him more than I care to admit. But the other night somebody called him a niger and I lost it. Security cam got it. Next day I was fired, end of story.

"Long story, don't wanna talk about it."

We wrap up and head for tonight's gig. A shit hole, with drunks and sluts cramping the place.

Tracii keeps stage diving, and gets my foot trapped on his rig, making me fall flat on my face before I can finish the song. I get up and punch him square on the face. Duff and Izzy pry us apart and I scream myself hoarse at them.