1969 - The Rolling Stones

Chapter Twelve

The cab ride was agonizingly long and made me extremely anxious with only two hours until the concert. Not to mention, the cab driver was giving us peculiar looks as if he knew something we didn't.
"Perhaps you could speed up a little?" Mick raised one eyebrow as he looked into the rear view mirror.
"I'm going as fast as I can, man." The driver spurted out nonchalantly. Thankfully, we arrived at the train station, looking around frantically. I held Mick's hand in mine, as we ran madly around the station.
"Excuse me, have you seen a ma-" I began to speak to the man at the ticket booth, but Mick gave me a glare as he cut me off.
"Have you seen a man with long black hair, really messy, and some old unwashed clothes on around here?" Mick spoke for me. I smirked slightly as he described Keith.
"I don't think so, but I'll let you know if I do." The man smiled politely. We dashed into the restrooms, thinking he might be wobbling around in there but we had no luck. We asked the people boarding trains if they'd seen him, but no luck there either. After about an hour, Mick and I had searched nearly everywhere. Mick threw his big floppy hat down on the ground in frustration, while I held my face in my palms.
"Fucking hell." Mick whispered under his breath. We headed towards the telephones to catch another cab. Our wallets were nearly empty from cab fare. Suddenly, I jumped as the sound of a glass bottle shattering filled the station. We both rapidly turned our heads at the noise.
There he was, in all his drunken glory with shards of glass beneath his feet. He had just gotten off a train, and looked like he'd fallen on his face a few times. I chuckled to myself, thinking how in the world did we not expect this from Keith Richards. Thank god he was so torn up that his face was almost unrecognizable. He glanced around aimlessly for a minute, until we decided to approach him. His back was facing towards me, so I dashed to him and hugged his body from behind. Mick shifted uncomfortably while I clung to Keith. It took him a second to realize who I was, and he slowly turned around to face me. I released my tight grip, but he pulled me back into him.
"Why would you do that, Keith?" I stared up at him, one of my closest friends.
"Because I do whatever I goddamn please." Keith laughed with sleepy eyes while holding onto my hands. Mick gave me a glare, and I scurried back over to him. Keith followed behind slowly, unsure of what to do next. We didn't speak much of why he decided to come back, or why he boarded that train in the first place. It didn't matter anymore, because everyone's worry diminished and we could try to live in harmony once again.

-

We took a cab back to the Laurel Canyon house hoping the boys would be there waiting. Instead, we were greeted by a half empty house. Lulu leaned back on the brown sofa with over stuffed suitcases surrounding her. Rich waltzed out from the back room with a creepy wide grin on his face. He came towards us at an alarming speed.
"Oh, hey Mick! What's up man?" Rich exclaimed, going in for a hug. He never seemed to notice me as he was too mesmerized by Mick Jagger, but I mean, who wouldn't be? Mick embraced him back, even though Rich smelt like he'd put too much cologne on trying to hide his overwhelming body odor. I could see Keith grimace at the stench, although he didn't smell too great himself.
"What's all this?" I questioned with an odd feeling in my stomach.
"I wanted to tell you Liv." Lulu stood from the couch and walked up to me.
"Tell me what?" My expression showed the concern I felt deep in my chest. Mick put his hand on my shoulder, while Keith waltzed over to the red loveseat to sit back and watch it all happen.
"Rich and I are leaving. We're going to live with his mom for a while." Lulu held my hand in hers sweetly. "She's sick, so I'm not sure when we will be back. But, the good news is that I'm leaving you the house! So cheer up!" She smiled softly at me, rubbing my shoulders. I accepted that she was leaving very quickly, but I wasn't sure I fully comprehended what was happening. Everything was happening so quickly right in front of my eyes, my whole world was changing. Suddenly, we heard a loud honk coming from outside, and Lulu's face lit up with new excitement.
"That's our ride!" Rich rushed to the couch, flinging suitcases over his shoulders. Lu kissed me on the cheek and we said our goodbyes.
"Don't get into too much trouble with these boys." Lulu winked at me with a grin. I smiled back, trying to fight my melancholy. "And I'm counting on you guys to watch after my girls!" She yelled while running out of the door behind her lover.
"Don't you worry about that at all!" Mick waved politely, while Keith just leaned his head back in laughter. We all watched them hop into this ginormous rusty blue Volkswagen bus with love in their eyes. I was happy she was going to start a new adventure somewhere else. Knowing her, she could never stay in one place for too long. After the bus rumbled down the driveway, four familiar faces appeared racing up to the door. Brian, Haley, Charlie, and Bill all sprinted inside, out of breath. Haley began to speak, but her facial expression changed when she realized half of the house was packed up.
"Where is everything?" She looked at me confusingly. No one seemed to notice Keith relaxing in the loveseat.
"I'll explain later, we've got a concert to get to." I turned Haley's body around so she could see Keith in the corner.
"Oh, hey Keith!" They all smiled, with an undeniable glimmer in their eyes. Mick raced towards the phone and called the limousine chauffeur with less than 30 minutes left before the big show. We all looked a mess, but we had no time to freshen up.
Soon, the limo arrived ready to take us to our destination- the big arena. Ah, the memories we'd shared in that vehicle.