I really didn’t either, but I felt a familiar feeling come over me, and it was almost comforting. My eyes locked to Jerry as he paused in the doorway, obviously to see if there were any more takers. He made eye contact with me, and I immediately smiled at him. His eyes narrowed lasciviously. He figured he could take advantage of us. I imagined my fist pounding into the soft folds of his fat face, his snotty nose exploding into blood. He would pay for misjudging us.
“Nobody’s going to blow anybody, and we’re going to meet the band,” I said to Fern through my smile, never taking my eyes away from Jerry’s, linking my arm through hers and stepping towards him.
I felt her hesitation, but she fell into step beside me and we approached the door.
“Can I help you?” Jerry asked us, grinning.
“We’d like to meet the band,” I said, continuing to smile.
“Oh, would you?” he teased. “Well, there’s a toll.”
“We aren’t going to pay any toll,” I said. “See, we’re in a band ourselves.”
“Are you?” he replied, widening his eyes in mock surprise.
“Yes. We’d like to ask the guys some questions.”
Jerry’s eyes moved past me, losing interest, obviously seeing if there were any other girls behind us that he could hit up. Apparently there weren’t. “Well, you may as well come on back,” he said, settling his gaze on us once again. “I need a few more back here anyway.”
He stepped back, and Fern followed me through the door. It closed behind us, swallowing us inside. We were directly next to the two girls who Jerry had allowed in before us. They still had their arms around each other and were giggling frantically. They sounded like a damn aviary, so fluttery, light, and brainless. Thankfully the two of them still had the presence of mind to give Fern and I dirty looks. Of course.
“Follow me,” Jerry said and headed up a flight of stairs. The four of us proceeded up behind him. It was dark, and Fern took my hand as we climbed. “This is pretty weird,” she whispered.
I squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Once we meet the band it’ll be okay. Fuck this Jerry guy.”
At the top of the stairs, we turned down a hallway and Jerry knocked on a closed door. He paused, and then opened it. Then he stepped backwards and swept into a low bow, obnoxiously motioning for us to walk past him.
Fern and I followed the two twittering girls into the room.
“Guys, I’ve brought some ladies to hang out,” Jerry said.
“This ain’t no place for a lady!” came the reply, followed by a chorus of laughter.
The room was small, with two leather couches. Between them was a table covered with wine and beer bottles, as well as a half eaten vegetable tray and a messy ashtray. Sitting on the couches were the members of DED. I scanned all their faces, seeing Ed, Sid, Victor, and Chaos, but there was no sign of Balthazar. Chaos and Sid had their shirts off and towels around their necks. The room stank of cigarette smoke and sweat, with the constant club reek of old booze, and a touch of urine. I wrinkled my nose.
The guys all grinned at us, raising their hands in greeting, which set the two girls off into more gales of laughter.
“Hi,” I said assertively, stepping around them. “I’m Rachel, this is Fern.”
“What’s up, girls?” Ed said, grinning at us. “Come sit down, have a drink.”
There wasn’t any room on the couches to sit, so I hesitated, unsure of where to go. The other two girls moved forward immediately and made as if to sit down on two of the guys’ laps.
“Not so fast,” Jerry said. “You two have some unfinished business to take care of. Don’t worry, I’ll have them back here in no time.”
The guys started hooting. “Of course you will, man. Two minutes? Thirty seconds?” Everyone laughed. The girls followed Jerry back out into the hallway, and the door closed behind them. Fern and I stood facing the four of them.
“Sit down,” Ed said to us again.
“I’m okay,” Fern said. I didn’t reply. There was no way we were going to sit on their laps for god’s sake.
“Want some wine?” Victor gestured at the bottles on the table.
“No thanks.” I cleared my throat and smiled at them. “We’re really excited to meet you guys.”