Different Circles

And he did have it. He stepped out onto the stage with his band and he played and he sang his songs. His hand throbbed the entire show, the pain growing worse with each song that he played, but his fingers kept doing what he told them to do and he put on another flawless performance. The crowd was just as enthusiastic as they had been last night and they were once more given a standing ovation after finishing up I Am High and another after the final number itself.

“Thank you, and good night!” Jake told them after flipping his final guitar pick into the crowd. A sharp stab of pain shot up his forearm to his elbow when he did it. He looked down and saw that the entire back of his right hand was quite swollen and purple now. By the time they finished their final bow and walked off the stage, he could barely move his fingers at all and could not grasp anything with his right hand.

“Good heavens!” Laura exclaimed when she saw the condition of his hand. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“I think I might need to go see a doc about this,” he said.

“Absolutely,” she said. “We’ll go right now.”

“Not just yet,” Jake said. “I am drenched in sweat and need to take a shower first.”

“Well ... I guess you can do that,” she said.

“And you and I have a little business to take care of before I shower,” he said slyly.

She shook her head. “I don’t expect you to do that in this condition,” she said. “There will be other times.”

“I can’t think of when that might be,” he said. “We’re doing it. The show must go on.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

He smiled. “I’m sure. I even scoped out the perfect spot.”

“Really?” she asked, that lustful look coming back into her eyes now.

“Really,” he assured her.

“Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure it’s safe.”

“It’s safe,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

They broke away from the others and Jake led her to another section of band city. They went to the trailer that had been assigned to Seavey Circle. The band itself had cut out long before Pantera had even taken the stage, leaving the trailer empty. Jake had slipped one of the venue’s security guys a picture of Ben Franklin to provide him with the access code and not ask any questions. The security guy—who was a hard-core Intemperance fan, hated Pantera, and had heard a firsthand report of what had gone down earlier—thought this an acceptable business deal.

“I want you to leave your sweaty shirt on while we fuck,” Laura told him, her face now flushed with sexual excitement.

“You got it,” Jake said, feeling himself starting to stiffen despite the pain in his hand. “As long as you leave that dress on.”

She smiled. “Great minds think alike,” she said.

They coupled lustily and frantically. Laura pulled her panties off and then sat on the table with her legs spread. Jake embraced her, his feet still on the floor, his pants and underwear down around his ankles, his sweaty shirt and his shoes still on. They kissed passionately, without the least bit of tenderness or affection, tongues driving deeply into each other’s mouths, Laura’s hands running over his sweaty skin, beneath his sweaty shirt, Jake’s good hand touching her inner thighs and her bare ass. He slid himself inside of her. She was extremely wet and ready. As he began to thrust in and out, she alternated between kissing his neck and rubbing her face into the sweat stains on his shirt, particularly around his armpits, inhaling deeply through her nose while her hands squeezed his ass and pulled him deeper inside of her body. She came quickly and he was right behind her.

“Oh my God, that was fucking hot!” she breathed as they finally broke their embrace.

“Yeah,” Jake commented insouciantly, “it was all right.”

They made their way back to their own trailer where, once again, the party was in progress. No one commented on where they had been, but they got quite a few knowing looks, particularly among those they passed close enough to to catch a whiff of them.

“I’m going to need to be in the shower rotation tonight, Paulie,” Laura told her, blushing furiously.

“Understood,” Pauline said. She was, after all, close enough to catch their aroma.

“And I’m going to need to get out of here as soon as possible and get to an emergency room,” Jake told her.

“An emergency room?” Pauline asked, alarmed. “What is it?”

Jake smiled. “It’s a part of the hospital where they see emergent patients who need immediate care,” he said, “but that’s not important now.”

Pauline shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I guess I walked into that one,” she said. “Is it your hand?”

“Yeah,” he said, showing it to her.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Jake!” she exclaimed. “That looks like a cartoon hand!”

“It kind of does, doesn’t it?” Jake replied.

“Okay,” she said. “Ted’s in there right now. You go next, Jake, and then you after him, Teach. While you’re showering, I’ll get the security guy to break loose a car of some kind to get you back.”

“Sounds good,” Jake said. “Let me go dig out some clothes.”