How Not To Be A Groupie

Chapter Fifty Four: Three's Company

"Hm. Perfect," Bon smiled. "An' I was thinkin' we could find a milk bar an' get a few-" Bon stopped suddenly and sat up in his seat, pulling the curtain back.

"What is it?" My heart began to race again. I hated getting in trouble by authority figures. In a flash Bon was up and out of the seat. 

"Shit," he muttered, taking my hand. "Someone's comin'."

"But they can't get in, can they?" I asked as Bon led me back to the bathroom. I stepped inside with a whimper; the smell hadn't improved. Bon slid in after me and closed the door again, listening close. He didn't bother turning the light on this time and we were left in the dark. Who would be coming to the bus anyway? Unless someone planned to rob it, or sleep in it for the night. 

"We'll see, won't we?" Bon whispered. Both of us kept very still, ignoring the low humming noise of cars driving around outside. I hadn't gotten a good look of where we were parked but I assumed the hotel parking lot. These buses should have been kept in a depot; someone would recognize them as the AC/DC tour buses and break in, ransacking them. Collecting whatever memorabilia they could find to show off to their friends or pawn for money. Imagine finding a lock of Bon's hair or something. People in 2024 might pay good money for that. 

I shuddered at the thought.

After a quick series of knocks and groaning metal, a set of footsteps mounted the stairs and wandered on the bus. I looked at Bon and could hardly see his eyes in the dark. Even he looked a bit concerned. The footsteps got closer and closer. Who could be out there? What did they want? And how did they manage to get in? Maybe they knocked on the door just in case someone could let them in from the inside. After getting no response from us, they must have wrenched the door open.

I could imagine it was someone from the team who knew Bon was missing or perhaps it was a cop who saw us in the window. Would this count as loitering if it was our own bus? Or someone from the team could have seen activity in the window and thought we were troublemakers and called the police. Anything was possible and my heart was leaping out of my chest in anticipation. 

Whoever got onto the bus cleared their throat. It sounded like a man. It sounded....familiar somehow.... They tried to turn the bathroom knob and Bon held it steady. Once again putting a finger to his lips, he let go of the doorknob and our guest on the other side tried turning it again with a huff. As soon as the door opened wide enough, Bon jumped out to take on the intruder. 

"Jesus Christ!" Bon lunged at the man, grabbing him under his arms and lifting him into the air. I stumbled out of the bathroom, squinting from the dim light to see Angus McKinnon dangling in Bon's grasp. "What the fuck are you doin'?" he yelled.

Bon set him down on the floor of the bus and Angus straightened himself out. His eyes darted back and forth between me and Bon like we were psychotic. "Thought you were a scavenger," Bon said. "Sorry, Ang."

"We didn't know it was you," I said, bowing my head slightly. I felt awful that we had almost given Angus a heart attack and tried to attack him. His eyes softened toward me but quickly grew cold when he looked at Bon.

"What brings you back, like?" Bon asked casually, like he hadn't just charged at Angus with a sharp war cry. 

Angus, out of breath, pointed at the bathroom behind us. "Left my cigarettes in there," he said. I remembered the pack of cigarettes I found earlier on the shelf when Bon and I were hiding. "Came back to get 'em an' I'm punished for it."

"Who takes their cigarettes out to use the dunny?" Bon asked. "Lightin' one up to lessen the smell?"

Angus didn't find this very funny. "I didn't know you liked havin' all your shit fall in the toilet when you go, Bon," he said. My guilt gave way to humor. I snickered and Bon looked at us with his charming smile.