Category: Book

Naturally, Jodie warranted two celebrations for her birthday. The first was held at her new brewery, Fighting Spirit, which was treated as a soft launch. All of the Monster Mash family was in attendance for a night of sampling beer (in the case of anyone under 21 years of age -or Mitch- a selection of…

Mitch was wrapping up his cooldown on a treadmill when a text from Toby came through.  What are you doing on October 30th? He continued to run in place, fighting off the urge to end it sooner and indulge his curiosity. Every second that passed may as well be an eternity, and he still had…

After the conclusion of Liner Notes’ second and final set for the evening, they were met with an uproar of applause. Mitch found himself torn between melancholy and relief when it was over at last. He went outside for a cigarette to clear his head, and was briefly joined by Nate who praised him and…

Mitch and Avi watched the pair leave. When they were out of earshot, Avi turned to Mitch with his brows knit. “You’re seriously OK, right? I knew we were keeping things on the down-low, but I thought Jodie would let you in on it at the last second.” “I’m good, honest,” Mitch laughed. “And I…

“What’s that guy doing to your boy?” Basil nudged Mitch. In a panic, Mitch scanned the room for Jodie, needing a sign about what to do and whether he could run in and assist. Lately, there’d been a few events where enthusiastic fans tried to get a little too involved with shows, from indies to…

Liner Notes’ first reunion show started at 6:00pm sharp, just as the sun set. To Mitch’s surprise and utter delight, Darius and Basil agreed beforehand to get their faces painted like Zevon; he had to hustle to get himself done up after he saw them, and almost missed curtain call. Later, he learned that Jodie…

Mitch’s mood brightened when Basil’s firey hair came into view, and behind him trailed Darius with an armload of drumming equipment. “Hey there, champ,” Basil greeted, and Mitch leapt onto his feet. Finally, people that weren’t potential witnesses to his shame. He went to offer a hug, but was admonished before he could get so…

When morning arrived and Mitch was alone in his bunk with a splitting headache, he welcomed it. Being dumb the night before earned him this, and although Louis’ bedside manner was pleasant, he lacked caretaker experience. Neither water nor asprin were provided, and it left Mitch with a nice cross to carry. At the very…

Mitch reached the safety of the restroom and hid away in one of the stalls. If he had his phone, he would have called Toby and begged to be picked up, offering whatever he desired as compensation; instead he sat alone with his thoughts, the only other company being a dripping faucet and weird chemical…

Going on a year sober made Mitch a certifiable lightweight. He didn’t hate that two glasses of whatever he sucked down -some take on a Long Island- already had him warm and fuzzy. The world felt a little softer, like a vintage Polaroid photograph or an old vinyl that occasionally popped. Memories resurfaced of conversations…