The Tour Stop
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Till the Other Side of Time
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo -- EXCERPT:
The Book of Leon Interviewer: You were on the infamous ‘Wait (Wait till I’m Home) Tour.’ Is that correct? Leon: Yes, I was. Interviewer: It was rumored that the tour was plagued with drug problems. Leon: (laughing) I never heard that rumor. Interviewer: Sebastian Roland has a reputation with issues related to drugs like heroin. Can you comment on that? Leon: Heroin? No, I’ve never seen him or anyone do smack … okay? I should’ve had the sense to decline the interview. I wasn’t expecting to be asked about drug use during a tour that happened over two years ago. I disconnected from the interviewer when I got hit with that last ignorant-ass question, which caused my mind to go back to that crazy tour and what followed after Gina and I left it. It was November 17, 1986, when I started unpacking from the move into Gina’s and my new apartment. I had just pulled the last of the kitchen nonsense out from a box when the phone rang. “Leon, hey, it’s Walter. Listen to this … you’ll never believe who I just got off the phone with,” he said with excitement. “Who?” I asked, preoccupied. “Guess who’s still lighting matches to Gina torch?” Walter said, laughing. “Are you serious?” I replied, surprised. I knew who Walter was referring to and started whispering over the phone because Gina was sitting on the other side of the room. “Sebastian tried calling you at your old number. He told me he’d made a big mistake. Can you believe that?” Walter said. “He’s a damn mess,” I replied, rolling my eyes. Walter proceeded to enlighten me on his conversation with Sebastian. I knew that man had called Bridgette’s place several times looking for Gina only because B had been bitching to me nonstop about it. Sebastian probably assumed that if he called the Christopher apartment enough times, Gina would answer the phone. Bridgette had finally had enough and had told Sebastian in a more animated way to go kick rocks and stop calling. Sebastian must have finally given up on Bridgette and figured that, since he used to hit Walter up for drugs back in the day, they were tight enough for Walter to give him info about where Gina was staying now. Walter didn’t give Sebastian the information he was digging for; instead, Walter called me and asked, “What do you want to do about it?” Thinking about his question and looking over at Gina, who was staring off into space and looking out the window, I told Walter to give me Sebastian’s number. I’m the one who decided to make the call to Sebastian. I was really mad at Sebastian for what he’d done to Gina at that video shoot, not to mention the other things I had heard about on tour that had been kept from Gina. It was fair to say that Sebastian auditioned his tool in anything that had an opening, if you get my meaning. He was a damn mess with it. I’m being real with you. I didn’t want to be part of their love shit; it was exhausting. But she was hurting and still in love with his dumb ass, so I had to do something. Gina had put on her coat and was heading over to Bridgette’s for the day. “See you later,” she said somberly. I was still on the phone with Walter. After she left, I picked up the phone and placed the call to Sebastian. I will admit, I was curious myself about what had happened with him after the tour ended. Looking at his number, which I had scribbled on the side of a moving box, I thought about what I was going to say to his ass. I dialed the operator to place a London call, collect of course. “This is the United States operator. Collect call from the makeup lady to Mr. SoBo Roland. Will you accept the charges?” the operator said when Sebastian answered. “Makeup lady? Leon? Yeah, I’ll accept,” Sebastian answered back. “Go ahead makeup lady,” the operator answered back. “Hello, Sebastian” I said after some hesitation when he was switched over. He seemed a bit surprised to hear my voice on the other end. “Where is she, Leon?” Sebastian asked impatiently, and he spent the first few minutes of our conversation pushing on me how to reach Gina and droning on about how he missed her. “She’s around … busy, but she’s around,” I replied, ignoring his tale of woe. I glanced out the window to see that heavy snow had started falling. I was personally anticipating some warmer weather in Europe, so as I watched the snow, I began thinking about whether I should pack a speedo to take to Greece. “I fucked up, Leon. I’m coming to New York for Christmas to see her,” he said. He was still going on about how sorry he was for what he did to Gina when, without thinking, I let the cat out of the bag, interrupting to let him know that Gina and I were headed to Greece for Christmas. “Really?” Sebastian said. He paused and then started to regale me with some foolishness about how he was going to meet us there and ask Gina to marry him. I thought he was crazy until he said, “Keep it a secret from her.” This fucking man. I had to keep that info tight for three weeks. He wanted me to get Gina to the Acropolis the day we landed. He knew she’d always wanted to go there, so that was where he was going to ask her to marry his dumb ass, but he needed my help. After I hung up with Sebastian, I called Walter back and told him about our little conversation and Sebastian’s plan to meet us in Greece. “That’s romantic,” he said. Of course he would think some mess like that, because he was living a straight life now. Walter was a yester-gay (yesterday gay) with a baby on the way. I rolled my eyes. Walter didn’t have to live with Gina or Sebastian’s secret. I did. I was edged off at Walter for getting me involved in this foolishness.
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