“Don’t Tell Me Twice”: Chapter Twenty

“It’s about time for the show to start,” Buck said, wondering why the group was sitting down on the couch on the bus, watching television.

“Didn’t you hear? Olive managed to get tonight’s show postponed,” Spike replied, turning around.

“Are you kidding me?” Buck replied, annoyed. “I can’t believe Ralph agreed to that. I mean, I knew that she had him wrapped around her finger, but this is not the time.”

“You know Olive,” Spike said. “She can get Ralph to do just about anything.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know how bad it was,” Buck said. “We’re going to get major criticism from our fans.”

“No kidding,” Jemma chimed in. “We’re losing popularity with all of these delays.”

“Well, where is she?” Buck asked, noticing that Olive was nowhere in sight.

“She said that she had errands to run,” Ziggy said, giving Buck a look of disbelief.

“She didn’t say what they were?” Buck pressed.

“No,” Ziggy said.

Buck picked up her phone to call the other woman, and as she did, it rang. “Hello,” Buck said into the receiver.

“Hello, Buck,” Ralph grumbled. “Did you talk to Olive this morning?”

“Briefly,” Buck answered honestly. “But I just found out that our performance was rescheduled, so if you called to talk about that, let’s talk.”

“That’s the thing,” Ralph said. “I didn’t talk to Olive about rescheduling anything, and I just got a call from the venue manager asking what is going on. Apparently, while the fans were waiting for Jems and Jamz to take the stage, Olive decided to take it upon herself to take the band’s time slot and play her own music. You guys need to get in there.”

“It’s only been about ten minutes since the set was supposed to start,” Buck replied. “She did all that in that small frame of time.”

“I guess,” Ralph sighed. “The venue manager thinks that she is on something. She’s acting erratically, and she’s making a mockery of our band by pulling this stunt. Just get in there and take back your spot.”

“Will do,” Buck said, hanging up. “Ladies,” Buck called to the other women, still piled on the couch. “There has been a big misunderstanding. Olive didn’t reschedule our performance tonight with Ralph. In fact, he knew nothing about it. She took the time slot over and is on stage now playing her own music and acting a fool.”

“Seriously,” Spike replied, getting up quickly. “You said that she rescheduled the set,” she said, looking at Jemma.

“I thought that she had,” Jemma replied. “Why would she lie to me?”

“Because she’s not the same person that she used to be,” Buck said calmly. “I’m going to call the venue manager and get security out her so that they can escort us on stage.”

“Good thing that we didn’t move the bus,” Ziggy commented as Buck dialed the number on her phone.

“Right,” Buck said, knowing that if they had, there would have been no way that they would have made it to the concert.

The venue manager picked up the phone, and Buck explained the situation and requested an escort from security to the stage. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into Olive, but she knew that she needed to get her off the stage, and it was likely that she would be removed once again from the band.

It wasn’t long before security arrived, leading the band through the crowd and backstage. Buck could hear Olive singing from behind the curtain, and just by listening to her, she knew that the other woman was somewhat inebriated. Buck knew that it would be better for her to try to get Olive off the stage first, instead of requesting for security to do it. She braced herself, and moved towards the curtain, moving it back as she walked towards the other woman.

Fans cheered as Buck walked on stage, obviously thinking that the whole situation was planned, and Buck kept a smile as she neared Olive. She waited for the other woman to finish her song. Then, she firmly put her arm around the other woman’s back and whispered in her ear that she needed to exit the stage. Olive protested, freeing herself from Buck’s embrace and started to sing another song. Buck regretfully beckoned to security to escort her off stage, and two bulky men carried her off, kicking and screaming. The other members of the band immediately took their rightful places and started their set before the fans had any time to process the embarrassing situation with Olive, but Buck didn’t join them. Instead, she let Ziggy take over both vocals and first guitar and used the time to follow the security guards that held Olive.

When they were finally backstage and out of ear shot, the security guards set Olive down, and Buck waved them away so that they could talk in private. “What were you doing? Buck asked the other woman. She tried to keep her voice low, but it shook with anger as she spoke.

“I wanted a chance to sing my own music and do my own thing without anyone telling me what I can and can’t do,” Olive replied.

“Then, you should have set up your own promotions and booked your own venue. What you did was screwed up. You made everyone trust you again. We even gave you your spot back. I can’t believe that you used us like this.”

“I’m sorry,” Olive replied, crumpling before her. “I just wanted a new start.”

“Well, this isn’t how you go about it,” Buck stated. She watched as tears began forming in the other woman’s eyes and instantly felt compassion. Olive was frail and broken. She looked nothing like she used to, and Buck could see the pain in the other woman’s eyes as she cried. Buck no longer harbored feelings of intimacy for the other woman, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as her tears smeared her heavy make-up.

“Don’t cry,” Buck said softly.

“I can’t help it,” Olive replied. “My life is falling apart in front of my eyes.”

“You have just had a rough period,” Buck told her, patting her on the back.

“It’s more than a rough period,” Olive retorted. “In the last few months, my life has completely changed. I have done things that I never thought that I would have, and I need help.”

“I can help you,” Buck replied.

“I don’t know about that,” Olive said. “I can’t even help myself. I’ve tried to turn my life around. I’ve tried to stop using, but every time things get touch, I relapse.”

“So, you admit that you have been doing drugs?” Buck asked, wanting to ask when she began the habit and what triggered it.

“Buck, don’t make this any harder than it already is,” Olive cried. “I know how obvious it is. I just need help.”

“Alright,” Buck replied. “Let’s get you back to the bus, and we will figure something out. It takes a lot of guts to admit that you have a problem.”