Little Drummer Dog. (9)

By Wolfie Steel.

The following morning I wake at five am to the sound of my alarm, I quickly shut my alarm off and jump out of bed. I rush to the bathroom to get my daily start up routine out of the way, why am I rushing so much and so early on a Sunday morning I hear you ask? Well that is quite simple in an hour there will be a taxi waiting outside the flat for me and AJ; it will be the Taxi that takes us to the studios of Jacks Records, and the tour bus that will take the band of Jacks and Aces wild to the hotel that is acting as the resting place for the contenders of the Battle Of The Bands.

With just five minutes to spare AJ and I are standing outside the now locked up flat with our suitcases waiting at our feet. I can see that AJ is shivering, and while I know that the early morning air is a little on the chilly side, I know exactly why he is shivering.

"S...Sam, is it just me or are you feeling the same thing that I am feeling, in other words are you feeling so nervous that you could puke?"

I have to let out my own nervous chuckle.

"AJ, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous, I mean think about it, this is the first time for us as a band to enter any competition, let alone one as big as The Battle Of The Bands, oh sure last year I went to watch the competition, but watching the competition and performing in the competition are two completely different things my friend, it's almost time for us to find our A game"

As I finish my little speech the cab pulls up in front of us, the cabbie climbs from the driver's seat and helps us to load our cases into the trunk of the taxi. With the luggage loaded AJ and I climb into the back of the taxi and then we are whisked off towards the studio.

As we enter the parking area of the studio, AJ and I notice the new tour bus that is waiting, the sides are decorated with two playing cards, the Jack of Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts, through the centre of the cards is written the band's name, Jacks and Aces Wild, all the windows except for the driver's windows are blacked out.

"Damn AJ, when Steve does something, he does it right, the fucker doesn't go with half measures and that is for sure"

AJ giggles at my choice of words. The taxi comes to a stop and I pay the driver his fare, AJ and I get out from the taxi and retrieve our suitcases from the trunk, with our luggage removed I close down the trunk lid and the cab drives away. A huge white furred Stallion is now heading towards us wearing a pair of jeans and a Jacks and Aces wild t-shirt that has his name emblazoned on it just above his left nipple; he is holding a package in both of his hoofed hands.

"Hi guys, my name is Eldon Kanes and I am the bus driver, Mr. Jacks and the rest of the band are inside the lobby of the studio waiting for you, he asked me to introduce myself to you and also to give you both these cool t-shirts"

Both AJ and I take the packages from Eldon's hands and then we take it in urn to introduce ourselves to the Horse. With the introductions complete both AJ and I begin to pick up our cases so that we can join the guys in the lobby, only we are stopped by Eldon.

"Nah ah guys, no lifting cases for you now, I will load them into the hold of the bus, you two guys go and meet up with the rest"

Eldon picks the two suitcases up with no more effort than would be needed to pick up a piece of paper, he hefts the luggage over to the bus while AJ and I head into the foyer of the studio, a smiling Steve is waiting for us at the door.

"AH finally, you are here, I take it that you have met Eldon?"

I laugh a little as I hold up the t-shirt.

"Yup we met him and we got the t-shirt too, all we need now is the DVD and we are good to go"

Trigger is the first one to spot the joke.

"Oh for the love of all that is holy, that joke was so lame, normally I would kick your ass for saying something like that, but given the situation, I will let it slide for now"

Steve chuckles as his brain finally registers what Trigger is talking about.

"Okay guys, get those t-shirts on and then we will get on board the bus and begin our journey to the hotel"

I open my package and find that I have a shirt with AJ written on it, I let out a slight snigger as I hand it to AJ, he in turn hands me his now opened package. I finish removing the shirt from the packaging, Fiona is on stand-by to take the packaging from our paws and dispose of it, she also waits so that she can take our normal shirts from us so that she can fold them up and put them behind the counter for when we return.

With our new shirts now in place Steve leads the band out towards the waiting bus. Steve now stands beside the door of the bus and allows the rest of the band to get on board first, he then clambers aboard and Eldon closes the door.

Steve stands in at the front of the bus and addresses us all.

"Okay guys, you have all poured your heart and soul into rehearsals, and you have given everything that you have got and so much more, I want you all to know that despite whatever the outcome of this next week, I am so very proud of each and every one of you and it has been a pleasure to be able to call you all my friends and in Sam's case, my lover"

Steve now turns to Eldon.

"Eldon, in the words of Ty Pennington, driver, move this bus"

The Horse lets out a whinny as he fires up the bus; Steve makes his way down the bus to where I am sitting, he then sits next to me and takes my paw in his.

"Sam I want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always love you and I will never leave you, if the band loses and I have to end it then I will but I will still have you, Shaun will never be able to separate us, no matter how hard he tries"

A stray tear comes to my right eye and I sniff a little, but this tear is not a tear of sadness, it is a tear of joy and of love.

Two hours later and the bus is just pulling into its allotted parking space at the front of the hotel, we all stand from our luxurious seating and head for the door of the bus. I'm the first one at the door and even before Eldon opens the door I see our main rival for the week, Shaun.

I sigh a little as Eldon opens the door; I then slowly walk down the steps of the bus closely followed by Steve and the rest of the band. Once I am clear of the steps I stand face to face with Shaun, a menacing growl building up in my throat, Steve places a firm but gentle paw on my shoulder.

"Sam, save it for the competition hon, he ain't worth being disqualified from the Battle Of The Bands, don't give the fucker the satisfaction"

I allow Steve to lead me passed Shaun and into the foyer of the hotel, once inside the hotel lobby we are faced with hundreds of band members, I scan around the lobby and my eyes lock on to the lead singer of a truly fantastic rock band, the Pit Bull that is Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.

Man he was one guy that I had hoped we wouldn't have to go up against, now I know that we won't last until the end of the competition. The Pit Bull notices me and then heads towards me, suddenly he is standing before me and I am expecting to get some verbal taunts about us not being worthy enough to be in the contest, instead of that however he holds out his paw.

I shake his paw gently and then he smiles and speaks.

"So you are Sam 'Beats' Vine huh? You and your band have caused quite a stir on the music circuit, me and the guys are looking forward to going head to head with you guys, I don't say this about many new bands, but Jacks and Aces wild are a band that will go places, maybe after the competition we can all get together for a drink?"

I am so star struck that I can't even form coherent sentences, and so Steve takes over.

"As you can tell Mister Tyler, Sam is a little overwhelmed at being here in the presence of such great musicians"

The Pit Bull just chuckles lightly.

"Jacks and Aces wild has earned the right to be here Mister Jacks, who knows, maybe me and the guys will allow you to cover one of our tracks at some point in time, anyway I gotta get to my room, still suffering a little from jet lag, so I will just simply say this, see you guys on the stage"

With that the Pit Bull vanishes into the crowd, seconds later my feet finally come back down to earth again, Steve giggles a little at me and then leads us to the check-in desk where we are greeted by a middle aged female Labrador.

"Hi there, my name is Steve Jacks and I am here with the band Jacks and Aces wild"

The Labrador scans her computer screen.

"Ah yes, here you are, rooms 1123, 1124, and 1125, now these rooms have inter connecting doors, so if you would like me to I can arrange to have the connecting doors unlocked?"

Steve looks at me and then back to the Labrador.

"Sure why not, I have no problem with that, besides it will mean that we can talk as a band and not disturb any of the other bands while we move between rooms"

The Labrador picks up her walkie talkie.

"Housekeeping, can someone unlock the inter connecting doors between 1123 and 1125 please?"

A slightly garbled confirmation message is given in reply as the Labrador hands over the computerised room keys to us.

"Okay guys, here we go, Steve Jacks and Sam Vine, room 1123, Richard Dawson and Leonard Wilson, room 1124, and finally, Maxwell Landers and Ace Saunders, room 1125"

We take our luggage and collect our keys and then head towards the elevators that will take us to our floor. Just as we set foot out from the elevators, the housekeeping guy is just leaving room 1124.

"Hi guys, are you from 1123 - 1125?"

Steve nods towards the guy.

"Okay sirs, I will open the doors for you seeing as how I am here, enjoy your stay, and I hope that you do well at the competition"

Steve thanks the housekeeping guy and gives him a twenty pound note as a tip.

"Thanks my friend, we are gonna need all the help and prayers that we can get"

With that the six of us head into our respective rooms so that we can unpack our gear and rest until we need to be back on the bus and heading for the venue so that we can register our entry into the Battle Of The Bands.