Chapter Twelve
About a month later, I was in Greensboro, North Carolina. I was going to the concert that night, because Brian wanted me to be there. It was our birthday after all. He was turning twenty-five; I was turning twenty-four. Before I left the hotel to attend the concert, the pain had been so bad that even tough I had already injected myself four times that day, I went for another. I couldn't understand it. I hadn't really been doing anything all day to put myself in pain. I slipped a needle into my pocket and just prayed that I wasn't frisked at the concert venue.
That night, everything went super well. At one point, a huge cake was brought out with twenty-five candles and we all sung "Happy Birthday" to Brian. After he blew out the candles, he turned to address the crowd. "I know there's at least one other person out there whose birthday it is, my best friend from school, Briann Little. This one's for you Lil' B-Rok." I laughed as he cut a piece of cake and put it on a paper plate. It was set aside for me, I knew. Later that night, when I slipped backstage, there was that piece of cake sitting on a table with a note: "Happy B-day, Lil' B-Rok. Glad you could make it." I was standing there with the fork raised ready to dig in, when there appeared a box in front of me. I glanced behind me and there was Brian. "Happy Birthday, Bre," he said, handing me the box as I turned around to face him. I grinned, and took it from him. Inside was a felt jewelry box and inside that was a gold pendant. The pendant said "Lil' B-Rok" and was on a gold chain.
"Bri, you shouldn't have," I said. "Now I feel guilty. I didn't get you anything."
"You don't have to. I know money's tight with you."
"No, wait, I have something for you." I stood on my toes, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. At first he was a little shocked and then his arms wrapped around my waist and we stood there for a while kissing. Then I heard whistles and catcalls. Brian and I broke away and saw the rest of the guys standing around us, along with members of their dance troupe and the band. I blushed. "Could you guys excuse me for a second?" I asked and walked away from them. For some strange reason I was in pain again, so for the sixth time that day, I injected myself full of morphine. Not only did it make the pain go away, but it also made me feel good.
I sighed and walked back over to my friends. "I wish we could go out and party tonight," I heard Brian say.
"Well, we'll make up for it later," Nick said.
"Make up for what later?" I asked, coming up beside Nick.
"Oh, well, we wanted to take you out and party tonight, but we can't," Brian told me. "We've got another city to hit tomorrow."
"It's okay, Brian," I said. "I'm not really feeling well, anyway."
"You're not?" Kevin asked.
"No." I looked at them. "I've been feeling a little off all day. I'd really just like to go home and get into bed."
"You poor thing," Howie said, wrapping his arm around me.
"But it's your birthday," Nick said.
"Yeah, and I already missed the big one," Brian told me.
"Don't worry, Bri, you can make up for it later. There's plenty of time to party. How 'bout when you guys get off tour?" I said to them.
AJ came around the other side of me and draped his arm over me. "That'll be mid-March. Will you be up to it then?"
"You bet! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with the bed in my hotel room."
"You mean you're stayin' the night?" Brian asked.
"Yeah, I used a sick day. I haven't had to take one all year, so they were more than happy to get a sub for me."
"Well, let me walk you back at least."
"Sure," I said. "What time are you leaving?"
"Early tomorrow. Why?"
"Just curious."
The rest of the guys started hooting and hollering when they heard that. "Ooohh, is Brian gonna get a little action tonight?" AJ teased.
I blushed bright red. "She never said that," Brian said to the guys. He then winked at me, which made them start all over again. "Come on, let's get outta here." Brian put his hand on my back and led me back to my hotel.