i live to let you shine, three

Photo by David Christoffersson

CHAPTER THREE – THE BLIND COLOR COLLECTIVE

The clock had rang and made a loud noise. It alarmed us, but mostly the two that were sleeping – Jonah and Adam. They woke up suddenly but their motions were slow.

“Rise and shine, beauty and beast.” Tristan greeted them, jokingly.
“You know,” Adam stretched and yawned, “I’m the beauty.” He chuckled lightly and sat up.
Jonah threw his pillow at Adam and hit him right in the face. He sat up and laughed at Adam lightly, as did the rest of the group.
“Beast.” Adam said groggily.
“What time is it?”
“Six in the evening.” I answered.

“Well, give us a minute and we’ll be ready to go.” Adam said, standing up and heading for the washroom. Jonah followed, except he went to a small isolated area in the room where there was just a mirror. Jonah was never high-maintenance, so he was a pleasure to travel around with. We travel a lot as a band, and it gets quite crazy. We mainly travel in North America and Europe, but it still is intense and insane.

Adam came out of the washroom, looking better and groomed. “Let’s go, kids.” He said with a big grin on his face. Jonah took one quick glance in the mirror before turning around and following the rest of the group as we headed out into the night, ready for some fun.

There were bars all over New York City. It was full of madness. We decided to enter one bar that looked as if it was selling and popular. The bartenders weren’t outstanding, but nevertheless, the beer was awesome. Adam was already hitting on the prettiest bartender in the joint, and Tristan was following closely behind. Jonah was just drinking and gulping, soaking down all his beer before getting another glass. If I had to guess, he must have already had three, maybe four. I decided to sit beside Jonah, ordering a shot and gulping it down quickly. I was ready to have a fun night, but I was never the kind to get really drunk – especially since we had a show tomorrow.

“Hey kid, don’t shoot them all down so quickly.” I said to Jonah as I set my shot glass down.
“One night only.” He simply replied.
I gave him a look as if he were already drunk. “We’re here for at least two weeks.”
“What?” He took another sip of his drink. “Oh, right. Sorry mate, I’m just so out of it right now.”
“It’s not just the drinks, is it?” I asked, patting him on the back. He just shook his head lightly. “Definitely not.”

Jonah and his girlfriend are relying on each other to keep their long distance relationship working. Up until about a week ago, it was going great. I was really proud of Jonah. We, as a band, travel all across Europe and North America, meeting new people and playing new shows. We experience new things, and sometimes the idea of having a significant other doesn’t always excite us; it’s different for Jonah.

Having his girlfriend, Kayla, means the world to him. The whole band knows this; heck, the whole world knows this. Jonah’s had relationships before, but nothing this serious. And he’s never been this serious about any of them. It’s been about a year and a half already, and we all thought they were going to be steady and strong for a long time.

When Jonah had told Kayla that we were heading off to New York City, where she currently resides, a small argument resulted which then turned into a fight. Kayla didn’t have a kind, positive or excited reaction. It did not smoothly go along the lines of, “Oh hooray! I get to see you!” Not one bit. She reacted in a way that no one expected, especially not Jonah. He had explained the conversation clearly to us, and it wasn’t pleasant at all.

I couldn’t exactly relate to Jonah, but I felt his pain. I felt how deep his girlfriend’s words had cut him. I felt the scars that would last until her hands decide to heal them. He was never the emotional type, but Jonah was sincere.

I gave him another pat on the back. “It’ll last, bro.” I assured him, but he just continued to sink down his drinks like anchors.


The time passed by fast like cars, and before I knew it, Jonah was spread out on the bed and Adam, along with Tristan, was hanging outside with a couple of girls. I was lying down on the couch, resting my eyes. It was a long night, and when I looked at the clock, I noticed it was half past two in the morning. “Beautiful,” I whispered to myself and I let my eyes close and my mind wander off to sleep.

I woke up, dreary, at around eleven in the morning. I woke the rest of the band – they were scattered all over the room. Jonah on the bed, Tristan on the ground, Adam in the bath tub for some odd reason. Our show was at one thirty and we had to be at the venue before that, obviously.

I had the weirdest dream about that girl that had bumped into me. Definitely not the kind of dream I was expecting, but I dreamed that she was at our venue, watching our show. As I pondered my dream, I got dressed and so did the guys. We decided to head out for lunch before going to the venue.

We ended up getting some sandwiches and coffees at this café, and it tasted pretty good. Café Beret was the name - I read it on our way out. It was only a block away from the motel, and a block away from the venue so we walked. The venue was still empty, of course, but two or three people were there, helping us set up. I anticipated a great show.