Page 10 of Not the Punk

“Well, that was fun.” Matty sighed, then tacked on, “Not.” It was enough to break the tension.

Randy busted out laughing with a snort, and Matty followed him. Pretty quickly, all the members were laughing, including Kay and Joe, as well as Saxon, Don, and me, of course.

It got quiet after that, with the bottle passed around until it was empty and someone opened a new one. Joe took a few more drinks, and he was obviously feeling it when he climbed up on my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck. “I feel good. Cozy and warm.”

“I see that.”

“I asked you here for a reason, you know. We keep dancing around this thing between us.” His inhibition may have been lowered, but he didn’t slur any words, making me think he wasn’t all that drunk. Maybe he was feeling a good buzz, and I wasn’t feeling anything. I hadn’t drunk half as much as him. Which was all my way of justifying why I gave in so quickly.

“Let’s go back to your bus.”

“You know I share with Matty.”

I shrugged. “We’ll make it work.”

He responded by getting up, taking my hand, and leading me to the bus. He opened the door and took a step in. “Oh shit.”

“What? Joe?”

“S-Snake...”

“You sure?” I looked around him and clearly saw a rattlesnake coiled up and shaking that legendary and highly recognizable tail. It was between the door and the driver’s area. I didn’t think past that. I grabbed Joe and pulled him off the bus and out of the way.

The snake moved but didn’t strike. I pulled off my shirt and tossed it on top of it. I heard Joe in the background telling the others about the snake and Matty cursing.

“Hey. Hey. I need something to drag it off the bus.” If we didn’t pull it out fast enough, it could get lost inside and become too dangerous to do anything about.

“Fuck. Here.” Kay handed me a guitar. “It’s all I have out here.” He cursed under his breath, and I knew it was not something he wanted to do. Saxon had mentioned several times how his guitars were his babies.

It couldn’t be helped. “Get back, everyone.” I held the body of the instrument, using the end with the pegs to hook on and then I pulled the snake off the bus.

One of the bodyguards ran forward and took the guitar, using it to pull my shirt off the snake. I jumped back, but he used a Bowie knife that had to be twenty inches long to cut its head off. He moved so fast, I didn’t even have time to think about it. I hated seeing that but understood it had to be done. I was simply glad no one was hurt.

Joe slid up under my arm. “Damn, you’re my hero.”

“Eh…I did what had to be done.”

The bodyguard grunted and held the snake up. “It’s yours. Want it?”

“No. No way.”

“Suit yourself. Good job staying calm. I’m Brax.”

“Colten.”

After shared nods, Brax walked away with the snake.

“I’m going to make sure the bus is safe.” I went up and looked around, but it seemed pretty clear of snakes or anything else.

Joe stuck his head in. “All good?”

“Yeah. I’m sure that was a fluke.”

He climbed the stairs, joining me in the living area. “Sit.” He pushed my shoulders, but I could tell he wouldn’t be able to force me, so I sat for him. “Wait. Just a second.” He dashed farther into the bus and returned with a guitar in hand. I didn’t know a lot about the instruments, but I could work out this was an acoustic, and it was old and a bit beat up.

“My girl goes everywhere with me.” He sat beside me, wiggling the guitar on his lap. Then he started strumming, and as I waited, swaying slightly to the music, his soft voice sang out in a clear but sultry tone.

Steering through the curve