Page 110

He turned and put the call on speaker and held it between us.

Ernie picked up on the second ring. “Good morning, kids. Calling me from Graceland?” he said groggily.

“Are they putting me on another tour?” Jason asked.

There was a pregnant pause.

“Eh, fuck,” Ernie mumbled. “Give me a second.”

Ernie muttered something muffled to his wife. A few moments passed and then a door shut in the background. “Who told you?”

“Is it true?” Jason asked.

“Look at it this way, you have job security.”

I shut my eyes for a long second and when I opened them, Jason’s face looked like an apology.

“Technically it’s not a new one,” Ernie said. “It’s the same tour, extended. It’s a good thing. Means you’re in demand. I was fighting for another soundtrack for you to keep you in LA, Patty Jenkins fell through, though, and the deal got fucked. You’re not writing and you’re not recording. They’re not gonna let you sit pretty and do nothing, my friend. And you’re hot in Tokyo right now.”

Jason and I looked at each other, having a silent exchange. He dragged a hand down his beard. “Ernie, I can’t do another one of these. This schedule’s fucking ridiculous. I haven’t been able to rest my voice in months, we’re exhausted.”

I stared at him. He wasn’t exhausted at all—this was 100 percent for me. And it was the first time he’d really admitted that he wasn’t happy with what was going on.

“Yup, well, it’s bullshit,” Ernie said. “But unfortunately it’s what you signed up for. If you give them an album, I can get you six months off the road instead of three to produce it. They’re only giving you the three in hopes that you actually write something, otherwise they’d just keep you going.”

Jason’s eyes went sorrier still, and he sat heavily on the edge of the bed.

He couldn’t write. It was bad before we went on the road, and now it was the worst it had ever been. I don’t know how they expected him to summon creativity under these conditions.

“And since I have you two on the phone, I gotta tell you something else,” Ernie said. “And I’m gonna warn you, you’re not gonna like it.”

Jason looked up at me and we waited.

“They booked you in Amsterdam for Thanksgiving. And you’re going to Paris for Christmas.”

What little was left in my tank bled out.