He stared out the window as the trees all went by, trying to close his eyes and save himself from the headache which was sure to come. “Why are you taking me again?”
Kevin sighed the whole time keeping his eyes on the road, “How many times have we been through this?”
“It’s just that I have never been fishing in my whole life.”
“I thought you loved the ocean, I mean how many times have I heard you say that in an interview?”
“Have I ever said I liked fishing?”
“Maybe, I usually block you out after awhile.”
“I have never been fishing before.”
“So I’ve heard,” Nick turned his head away from Kevin not wanting to look at the goofy hat he was wearing any longer and once again stared out into the countryside. Kentucky was beautiful, although he would never admit it to the man sitting next to him or his cousin for that matter; he always grew a little jealous about the kind of place they had grown up in. Not that Florida was a huge armpit of gross either, it had it’s own moments and he loved those as well, but just the country feel to this place, the smell of pine and the sounds of birds chirping all around couldn’t help but put you in a good mood.
“Was Tim busy or something?”
“Nope, I didn’t even ask him.”
“Oh, okay what about Brian?”
“What about Brian? He is in Georgia.”
“But I was in Los Angeles.”
“Yes you were…” The way Kevin’s voice drifted off, Nick knew he wasn’t really being listened to so once again he stopped talking and this time focused his attention on the headache he felt slowly pouring from his eyes. Maybe he would take this opportunity to nap. Cars always had a way of lulling him to sleep, well either lull him to sleep or make him violently ill.
When he was a kid he often got carsick which would drive his parents insane. Sometimes a simple two hour drive could turn into an all day affair just because after about thirty minutes he needed to get out of the car. Now as an adult, he used a car ride as an escape from reality. One of the few places he could be where no one could possibly bother him and if they tried well it was simple, he could just run them over. A smile crept across his face as he pictured an annoying paparazzi photographer running ahead of his car just as he rammed into him and sent him flying.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“Huh?”
“You have a huge grin on your face; you look kind of crazy actually.”
“Why are you looking at me and not the road?”
“Are you planning something? You smile like that when you are concocting one of your silly little plans.”
“Nah, just thinking about running people over.”
“Oh how nice,” Kevin smirked and shook his head. “And I haven’t concocted any great plans in a long time Kevin…unless you want me to?”
“No thanks.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah I’m good.”
It was funny how they all pictured me pulling pranks on them still after all these years Nick thought to himself tugging at his chin as if he had a beard there. The last time he did anything close to one of his childish pranks was towards the end of the Black and Blue tour. They had been through so much with AJ being in rehab and canceling tour dates, the whole demeanor of the guys had changed, so Nick felt it best to pull a nice old fashioned prank on them. He had called them all into his hotel room professing that he had something urgent to tell them and when they got in there they were greeted by four strippers dressed as teddy bears.
He had found them on the internet, funny what you can find on the internet, and while searching for porn he came across this site where they will send people dressed in bear suits and have them strip tease but only thing is underneath those suits would be a MAN holding a banana pie. He had to pay for four of them, one for each boy, minus him of course.
He told all the dancers about it and one of them grabbed Kevin’s camera and filmed the whole thing. The looks on their faces were priceless especially Brian who just had a what the hell? Look the entire time. When the pies came out and they were bombarded the place exploded with laughter, not the guys of course but the dancers who then took pleasure in watching the four banana clad guys go after the youngest one. Tackling him down to the ground and shoving banana down his shirt and pants.
That was the last prank he ever pulled.
“Kevin you remember the time when I sent the bears with the…”
“Pies? Yeah I remember that Nick, I was just thinking about that actually.”
“So was I.”
“Yeah I figured since you just brought it up.” Kevin can be such a smart ass! Nick thought as he rolled his eyes and asked, “Do you still have the video tape?”
“No, I destroyed that a long time ago.”
“You should have kept it.”
“Why is that?”
“Nostalgia.”
“Uh huh…” Once again Kevin drifted off. He did that when driving. It kind of freaked Nick out sometimes, almost like he had fallen asleep behind the wheel or something. Kevin was always the one to drive from point A to point B. He would elect himself to do that. He didn’t trust any of the other boys to drive and get him there unharmed.
“Kevin you have trust issues” Now Kevin had his own confused look on his face, “What?”
“Trust issues, you know you never let any of us drive. It always has to be you.”
“Nick where did that come from?”
“Don’t know…”
“Okay then…very random of you.”
“So…can I drive?”
“No.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about…trust issues.”
“Uh huh…” Drifting again.
Like he should talk, Nick didn’t trust anyone anymore, well there was a small circle but it grew smaller and smaller with every passing day. That’s one of the things that sucks about getting older, the loss of naivety and the new found understanding that those people that you trusted were only looking out for themselves. It used to hurt him, almost to the point of crying, but now he was just numb to it all. He was numb to a lot of things, and he knew it bothered Kevin to see it.
“You know I bet Howie would have enjoyed going fishing with you.”
“Nick…I didn’t ask Howie I asked you.”
“I know but I’ve never been fishing.”
“Oh really? I hadn’t heard that.” Kevin being a smart ass again!
“It’s just that Howie would look much better in that goofy hat, goofy hats and I don’t get along.”
“What, are you making fun of my hat now?”
“Kevin have you SEEN your hat?”
“Oh well sorry next time I’ll just consult with you oh Mr. Guru of fashion…by the way nice boots.”
“Hey! I love these boots,” Nick looked down at his black boots with the chains on them. They were the most comfortable things on the planet. “They aren’t the best thing to fish in you know.”
“No I don’t know and do you know why?”
“Let me guess…because you’ve never been fishing?” Kevin said glancing over at Nick with eyebrow raised and smile on his face.
“Because I’ve never been fishing.” Nick said trying not to laugh.
“Well let’s just hope those chains don’t make you sink to the bottom of the lake.”
Nick sighed and once again looked away from Kevin. He felt like there was a reason he was with his friend. He used to bond with the guys like this all the time but nowadays things were different. It just felt so odd and way out of the blue when Kevin called Nick during one of their small breaks and said, “You want to go fishing with me this weekend?”
He said yes more of out shock than anything else. He had planned on going out to the clubs and getting wasted with some new found friends of his but those plans were changed when he found out that fishing meant Kentucky and not Los Angeles. He tried backing out but Kevin would have no part in that. Once you committed to something with Kevin you pretty much had to die to get out of it. Besides part of him was excited about it as well. It had been so long since Kevin had truly wanted to hang out with him. Nick went out with AJ and Howie all the time but the Kentucky cousins seemed to want nothing to do with him anymore. They outgrew me He had admitted to himself one day when he saw Brian and AJ talking much the same way he and Brian used to talk. He missed that, but he also knew that sometimes it happens, through no ones fault. Sometimes people just drift apart.
So he found himself on a plane heading towards Kentucky the whole time thinking “Why the hell am I doing this again?”
“So did you just suddenly get the urge to fish or something?” Nick was staring at his friend, the one wearing the goofy hat with lures hanging off the sides, patiently waiting for an answer.
“I enjoy fishing.”
“I enjoy sleeping; I mean why is it that people have to fish so early in the morning? I mean it’s barely light out.”
“It’s just what you do.”
“I think it’s stupid.”
“Getting up early is good for you every once in a while. You should do it more often Nick.”
“I do it all the time when we work but not on my breaks.”
“So take a nap, it’ll do you some good.” Nick sighed knowing that now he couldn’t possibly take a nap because Kevin wanted him too. It was one of those unspoken rules the two of them had. Never do what Kevin wants you to do. If he wants you to sleep you stay awake. If he wants you to be early, show up five minutes late.
“Nah I’m good.”
“Okay then stop complaining.”
“I wasn’t complaining I was just stating facts that’s all.”
“You were complaining.”
Nick shifted in his seat, his feet falling asleep because of the way he had them crossed. Now he wanted nothing more than to get out the car and walk around a little bit. He knew better than to ask Kevin to stop though, because the rule above worked both ways. If he asked Kevin to stop the car, Kevin would purposely drive for an extra hour. So to take his mind off his feet he asked, “Are there bears out there?”
“Yup.”
“Great, I hope they aren’t hungry.”
“Me too, I’d hate it if after they ate you they were to choke on your boots.”
“Oh that’s really nice Kevin. You know if you were attacked by a bear I would try to save you.”
“Uh huh…” Drifting off again “Hey do me a favor and reach into my glove compartment and take out the map.”
“Map? Oh great are we lost?”
“Did I say we are lost? No we aren’t lost I just want to check something out.”
Nick leaned over and opened the glove compartment and laughed when he saw some of the things in there, “Why do you have a can opener in there?”
“Because you never know.”
“You never know? You never know what?”
“Map Nick…” Kevin said lightly tapping the map, gesturing for Nick to help him out.
“What am I looking for?”
“Look for Guppy Lake.”
“Guppy Lake?”
“Yes that’s where we are going.”
“We are going to a place called Guppy Lake?”
“Yes.”
“I see it…what do you want to know?”
“Do I have to go on rural route 9 North or South?”
“Uh…” Nick started biting his lip knowing that if he were to get this question wrong he would never here the end of it.
“Well? I need to know we are coming up on 9 now.”
“South?”
“Why are you saying it like it’s a question?”
“It’s South.” He said with more authority which made Kevin nod, “You sure?”
“Yup South.”
“Okay…thanks.”
As they turned South onto Rural route 9 Nick put the map back into the glove compartment and yawned. “How much longer you think?”
“You’re the one who just had the map you tell me.”
“Um it’s about…oh how the hell am I supposed to know? Let’s say an hour and be done with it.”
“Okay then we’ll be there in an hour. Did that answer your question?”
“That one yes but you still haven’t told me why you wanted me to go fishing with you.” Kevin ignored him.
Once again Nick sighed as he looked out and watched the blurry trees go by, “You have any aspirin?”
“No, sorry.”
“You have a can opener but no aspirin?”
“Nick?”
“Yeah?”
“If you take a nap I bet it’ll make your head feel better.”
“You just want me to shut up.”
“Yeah kind of.” Smartass once again!
This time Nick didn’t fight, he decided to close his eyes and take a quick nap, dreaming of bears stripping then eating him but not before laughing at the silly ass hat Kevin was wearing.
Hey guys hope you enjoy this new one. It's the first story I am writing that only features two of the boys.
