Axe To Grind: The Road to Rocktoberfest 2023 by Gabbi Grey

Author:Gabbi Grey [Grey, Gabbi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-10-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Thornton

Ed’s honesty about his mother nearly slayed me.

His unwillingness to admit to the mistake he made with my sister enraged me.

Axel’d been no better.

I’d read in an article from a few years ago that he came from an abusive household. I’d given him every opportunity to open up about that, but he’d dodged, weaved, and made jokes. And he’d been far less forthcoming about the substance-abuse problem. He’d downplayed it, even when I pointed out he didn’t drink. He quipped that he didn’t even smoke pot—which was a shame since it’d been legal in Canada for almost five years.

Axel kept me on my toes. His effervescence hid his more-serious side, and I just couldn’t get him to talk about anything without making a joke. I shouldn’t care, but I worried he might come off as inauthentic. As uncaring.

Why do you give a fuck what people think of him?

I shouldn’t. In fact, if he came across as someone who didn’t take things seriously, then his role in my sister’s death would make him seem callous and unfeeling.

All the better to nail him with.

Yes. A nail in his coffin.

And Ed’s too.

Except…Ed didn’t come across as the uncaring type. He seemed sincere. The praise from all his bandmates—even Axel, who didn’t seem to take anything seriously—came across as genuine. I intended to try to drill down on this with Pauletta.

Mickey had prepared a series of questions for me to ask Pauletta.

With the others, I’d let things meander. I’d gone in with a list of questions, but hadn’t felt obliged to stick to the script.

With Pauletta, it’d be different.

Meg, Big Mac, and Songbird were all much-newer to the party—picked up well after the period of sobriety had begun.

Pauletta, however, had clearly been part of forcing the guys to sober up.

Or at least that was the impression Ed left me with.

Axel hadn’t been clear on any details. Made me wonder how much he actually remembered about that point in his life.

“Thornton.”

“Yeah?” I gazed up from the notes I hadn’t been reading to meet Mickey’s gaze. “What?”

“I asked if you were ready for your interview with Pauletta.”

“Uh—”

“Three times.” They snapped their fingers in front of my face. “What gives? You’ve been off since the interview with Markham. I thought you did a good job.”

“Ed…yeah…”

They arched an eyebrow. “Oh, like that, is it? Something you want to tell me?”

“No.”

“If that’s how you want to play it. I wasn’t sure about you staying with the band—”

“You saw the footage I shot.”

“Didn’t say you didn’t do a passable job.”

“And I used some of what I learned in those interviews. I’ll use more when I interview the entire band.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Right, tomorrow.”

They continued to stare.

“Look, you know I have an excellent memory.” I pointed to their questions. “I’ve got this nailed.” I winced at the word as I thought about the nail I was planning to put in Ed and Axel’s coffins. No need to think that way with Pauletta.

“Right. Whatever. Kato’s got the fire going, and Lydia’s set up the camera.

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