~ Chapter 20 ~
Brian didn't get a chance to meet with the guys until they had arrived in Italy. He called all the guys except Kevin and told them to come to his room right away. When they got there, Brian was talking with Leighanne, Loreto, and Shae-Lyn.
"What's goin' on, B?" AJ asked.
Brian stood and faced his three friends. They could see the seriousness of what he was about to say etched across his face. "Guys, we need to sit down and talk about Kevin."
AJ nodded. "Yea, it's time."
"Do you think they should be here?" Nick asked, indicating Shae and Loreto.
"I have a funny feeling that Loreto may already be involved. Besides, they can help with my plan."
Howie frowned. "What plan? Is this about what happened yesterday? Cause Kev already apologized for that."
"That's part of it, D. But there's a whole lot more. Please sit down."
An uneasy feeling settled in Howie's stomach as he took a seat next to Shae. She threw him a wayward smile. They hadn't spoken much since their arguement in Gent weeks earlier. He wanted to ask her out, but she seemed unapproachable these days.
Brian cleared his throat. "I don't know where to start...this is very hard for me to say. What I'm about to say affects us all. We are a family. I may be blood-related to Kevin, but we all care about him. Am I right?"
A round of nods and yeses went around the room.
"Has he started drinking again?" asked AJ. "Cause he's acting like he was in Belgium."
Brian shook his head. "AJ, Kevin never had a drinking problem."
AJ's stomach started churning as he guessed what Brian was about to say. "Oh God. You don't mean....we were right all along, weren't we? Kevin's into some other shit?"
Brian nodded sadly. "I think we all knew..."
He didn't get to finish at Howie jumped up, eyes blazing. "Oh, we're back to this again, are we?"
"Howie...." Leighanne started to say, but he ignored her.
"Let me ask you something," he said angrily. "Have any of you ever seen Kevin taking drugs? Has he ever admitted it to you? Has he ever really looked stoned? The answer to all is NO! I can't believe you Brian! Accusing your own cousin of something so awful! How could you?" He whirled around. "And YOU," he said to AJ, "one of his closest friends. I can't believe you guys." He looked at Nick. "Aren't you gonna say anything? Considering the animosity between you and Kev I thought for sure you'd be jumping in this merry bandwagon with both feet."
Nick gave him a weary look. "I've suspected Kevin's been doing drugs since last year. I just never said anything. And, no, I am not enjoying this. Whatever animosity there is between Kev and I exists because of those drugs he's taking."
"Shut up Nick! You don't know what the hell you're talking about. You're the one who's always getting on Kevin's nerves. If he turned to drugs, it's because you drove him there!" He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, but it was too late. Nick's face fell instantly.
"Howie that was uncalled for," Brian said quietly. "We're here to try and come up with some solutions to help Kevin, not hurt one another."
"Why do you always gotta say mean and hurtful things to me?" Nick cried out.
Howie couldn't look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Nick. I...God, you guys have to get off this. Kevin is not on drugs."
"D, you're living in denial," AJ said. "The sooner you realize it, the better it will be. We need you to help us out here."
"I am NOT in denial!!!! I'm not gonna sit here and listen to this." He strode purposefully towards the door when Loreto's comment stopped him cold.
"I saw Kevin meet with his dealer," she blurted out.
Five pairs of eyes all swung her way in astonishment. "What did you say?" Nick asked her.
Loreto tried to swallow the butterflies that were wreacking havoc in her tummy. "I said, I saw Kevin meet with his dealer. Last week in Germany."
"You mean to tell me that you knew about this LAST WEEK and you figure NOW is a good time to tell us?" Nick yelled.
"Just how did you happen to see this?" AJ asked, sounding angry.
Loreto shrank back in her seat. "Uh...I followed him one day..."
"Oh really?" Nick said sarcastically.
"SHUT UP and let her talk!" Brian yelled out.
Loreto have him a grateful smile. "I don't know why I did it," she said, looking at Nick. "I saw him sneaking out the back door of the hotel and just followed him. He walked quite a ways and then hooked up with some guy. They went into an alley where..." she took a deep breath, "..where Kevin gave him money in exchange for drugs."
"What kind of drugs?" AJ asked.
"C...Cocaine."
Who knew one word could have such an impact. As Brian, AJ, and Nick's jaws hit the ground, Howie lashed out at her, "Are you out of your bloody mind?" he screamed. "Cocaine??? COCAINE? No way, no how is Kevin doing that stuff! You're a damn liar! Yea, that's what you are! Get the hell out of my face!"
"Howie, stop it!" Brian said. "Calm down before you blow a gasket." He turned to Loreto. "Are you sure it was Cocaine?"
She nodded, too afraid to speak another word. Shae-Lyn was eying them all in disgust while Leighanne stared at Loreto. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Leighanne asked her.
"I..well, I made a promise..to Kevin. That I wouldn't say anything. I thought I could help him out myself."
"Are you insane? Help him out how?" Aj asked. "You don't know the first thing about him."
"Just how long were you planning to keep this to yourself? Until he overdosed on stage one night?" Nick demanded.
"I don't know!" Loreto cried. "I'm sorry, ok?? What else do you want me to say?"
"I want you to admit that you're lying. You have no right to come into this group and try and tear it apart with your lies!" Howie shouted.
"It's not a lie! Kevin confronted me afterwards. After I got threatened by his dealer. He told me to keep quiet. Do you realize what I've done by telling you this?" She looked at each one of the guys. "If word gets out, my life, as well as Kevin's, could be in danger."
"Yea well who the fuck cares about you?" Howie said angrily. "You're the cause of all this!"
"Now wait a damn minute!" Everyone turned to look at Shae-Lyn. "You guys are assholes! Do you even understand what Loreto just told you? Ask yourselves why she would be lying to you if you stood here not five minutes ago and said you knew Kevin was on drugs?"
"I never said he was," Howie said defensively.
"No, you didn't. But you're the biggest asshole of all. How dare you talk to my friend like that? You can't believe that your precious Kevin, who you know for a fact has been acting weird for over a year now, is taking drugs, yet you can stand here and blantantly accuse my friend of lying as if you know her?"
"I don't have to listen to this," Howir said, eyes flashing, his face going red. He didn't like to be yelled at by a woman in front of his friends.
"I don't have to listen to you either! But I sat here and let you talk to my friend like she's the dirt under your shoe. Your friend, Kevin, is on Cocaine. I think the sooner you accept it, the easier it will be for you to deal with it."
"Kevin's always been the one who's watched his health," Howie said. "He was so worried about eating right on the road, getting enough vitamins. Why would he go poison his body with an illegal substance?"
"Sometimes life gets too hard to deal with," Shae-Lyn explained. "People turn to artificial stimulation to help them cope."
"Are you a doctor?" AJ asked, his sarcasm evident.
Shae-Lyn rolled her eyes. "Lose the attitude, AJ. I'm trying to explain something from an outsider's point of view. Do you know how many people turn to drugs to deal with stress, trauma, situations that they can no longer handle in a normal state of mind? Especially in this industry where the pressures mount daily. With the demands on yourselves and your time are sometimes out of control? I know it can become overwhelming. All it takes is for someone to offer you that quick escape and you're hooked. You could be the most health-conscious person alive and still be on drugs. They don't discriminate."
There was silence in the room. Howie still looked mad, AJ and Brian looked shocked. Leighanne smiled at her while Loreto squeezed her hand gratefully. Shae peeked at Nick. He was actually kind of half-smiling at her.
Finally Brian spoke. "Shae is right. Kevin turned to drugs because something happened to him. We don't know what it is because he hasn't spoken to any of us about it." He looked at Nick. "To a certain extent, he blames Nick and I. Or maybe he's jealous of the attention we got last year. At least that's what it sounds like to me. But I'm sure jealousy is not what led him to do Coke. It's gotta be something worse. Something personal that we're unaware of. So this brings me to my plan. I want to make it our mission to find out what's wrong with Kev, help him, and hopefully get him off the drugs. We all have to stick to him like glue. I know we can't be by his side 24/7, but as much as we can. One of us will be "in charge" of watching him every day."
"Rok, Kevin's gonna be suspicious if I start sticking to him. We barely talk as it is."
"Use your head, Nick. Tell him that you want to make things right again. We HAVE to do this. For Kevin. It's Kevin's life on the line."
"I won't have any part of it," was Howie's parting comment. The door slammed.
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