“Like you?”
“No, not like me. I’m not going into the business. I know what it does to people.”
He gave me strange look. “How do you know?”
Sighing, I decided he’d shared so much it was only fair to tell him the truth about me. “Have you ever heard of Preston Mitchell or The Hurricanes?”
“Yeah. Oh damn, I knew you looked familiar. You’re his daughter aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Yup, his bastard daughter. He never married my mother and he was never around. We got checks once a month. Hell, I still get them. I don’t think he even knows she died.”
“I had no idea.”
“How could you?”
“I knew him, well, his manager, and I bet your father didn’t even know about you. Not really. His manager was a real dirt bag and one of the reasons I left the record company. He passed himself off as a manager for the talent but he would do whatever the record company wanted instead of what was in the best interest of the band.”
“Really? The checks are always signed by my father. I figured he knew about us. My mother told me a long time ago who he was and she even took me to a couple of his shows but I’ve never met him. I figured he just didn’t give a shit about us.”
“Honey, I bet he doesn’t even know about you.”
Dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed I didn’t know what to think. It’s like all the air drained out of me like a deflatedballoon, all flattened out. If what Joe said was true then everything I believed about my father was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t the asshole I’d always thought. Nah, he had to know about us, didn’t he?
Joe lifted my chin and looked into my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, no, maybe, oh hell. I don’t know. If what you say is true then everything I believed is a lie. How is it possible he wouldn’t know about us?”
“Because Rod Dixon is the biggest asshole known to man.”
“Wait? Did you say Rod Dixon?”
“Yeah, do you know him?”
Nodding, I was so pissed off I swear I saw red. What a fucking cocksucker, dickman wasn’t good enough anymore. He screwed over my mother and now he was trying to screw over Chaos and his band? No fucking way, not with me he wasn’t.
“Cynda?”
“Rod Dixon is the manager for Raining Chaos too.”
“Fucking hell.” He ran his hand over his bald head. “I had no idea. I thought they’d gotten rid of him by now.”
“So you worked for Symmetry Records?”
“Yup. I knew Chaos signed with them but I didn’t realize they’d gotten stuck with Rod too.”
“Oh yeah they did, and it’s because of him I’m here. Chaos accused him of working with Symmetry and screwing them over and I guess he’s right, huh?”
Joe nodded. “It sure looks like it. I wish there was something I could do.”
“Me too. Shit. I don’t know what to do now. I’m here because of him, well because he and Symmetry decided Chaos’ songs weren’t good enough. I thought it was strange they’d assign me to Raining Chaos. Their first album was amazing. I never figured he’d need help writing.”
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. If you can write lyrics like those to go with his music, they’d be unstoppable.”
Shaking my head, I knew it wasn’t possible. They didn’t need me, but I still hada promise to fulfill. Could I do it if I left now? Or should I see it through and just forget all this stuff Joe told me? It’s not like it was any of my business. Besides a contract was a contract right?
Joe and I talked about a few possible options, but I had a lot more to think about. He went to get something to eat and told me he’d be back in a while if I wanted to talk more.
I didn’t know what to think, and I couldn’t shake the cold hollowness in my insides. Everything I’d believed about my fathermightbe wrong. If I didn’t have my hate to hold on to, what did I have? Not a father. And the fucking cocksucker who’d ruined my mother’s life was working on ruining Raining Chaos.
