July 6th & 7th, 1970

    It was early evening when Cameron and I made our way to the bedroom. The English portion of the tour would start tomorrow, followed by our trip over the Channel to France.
    “Run it by me again,” I told Cameron as I changed into a pyjama top.
    “Well,” he accepted, “we’ve got a coach for the road, and should be in hotels most nights. I’d suppose that sometimes we’ll need to sleep on the bus, driving overnight to the next city.”
    “Doesn’t sound that bad.”
    Cameron took his shirt off and tossed it into the laundry basket. “It’s not,” he agreed. “But it will be more bearable this time, with you beside me.” 
    A smile spread across my face but before I could kiss him, the phone in the hallway rang.
    Cameron left the room and answered on the third ring. Too curious for my own good, I leaned against the bedroom door’s frame and watched him.
    “Evening, Geoff. You’ve got news?” Cameron spoke into the handset. He stretched, his waistband lowered a tad, and saw me watching him. He winked and gave me a sly smile, leaning against the wall.
    ‘I wasn’t gonna, but too bad for him,’ I joked to myself. I smiled sweetly at Cameron as he answered whatever Geoff had asked. I walked up to him and put my hand on his waist, kissing his cheek in a swift movement.
    “We’ll be ready, then, it’s no issue,” Cameron told Geoff while smiling at me.
    I lowered my lips, bringing them to his neck. My hands felt warm on his waist and I gently pulled at the belt loops on his jeans. My kisses moved to his chest and soon moved to just above his navel.
    “What are you doing?” he whispered, his hand covering the mouthpiece of the phone.
    I knelt down while looking up at him. “Nothing,” I answered in a quiet voice. Cameron put his head back against the wall as I continued to bring my kisses lower.
    “Won’t be a problem, Geoff,” he said into the phone. I could hear the slightest quiver of his voice as he spoke. My hands unbuttoned his jeans and I lowered the zipper before tugging both layers of fabric down.
    I could hear the faint murmur of Geoff’s voice on the line, but I ignored it, instead giving quick kisses as I massaged with my hand. Cameron was responding very well to my actions; I gave a long lick and put my mouth on him.
    “Oh dear God,” Cameron gasped. I chuckled but didn’t stop my motions. “What? Oh, I’ve just... stubbed my toe,” he told Geoff.
    A quick upwards glance showed me that Cameron’s hand was in his hair, and his eyes closed. I quickened my pace and heard him inhale sharply.
    “Geoff, I’ve got to go,” he said hurriedly. “Someone’s knocked at the door. Yes, we’ll be ready.” Cameron slammed the phone down and groaned loudly. “Have you lost your mind?” he cried out to me.
    “Maybe,” I answered, only stopping for a moment.
    The breath that escaped his lips was heavy and quickly turned into a moan. His hands went to my head, gently touching my hair. It didn’t take long before he was nearly begging me to stop.
    “I don’t want to finish with you on your knees,” he gasped. I wiped my mouth with my hand and he pulled me back up to my feet. “You’d better be on the bed by the time I take these off,” he warned.
    I smirked, but didn’t take my eyes off of him. He removed his jeans and boxers before taking a step towards me. With every step he took, I retreated into the bedroom, my eyes still locked on him. He tossed the discarded clothes onto the floor. I took another step backwards and felt the bed behind me.
    “You’re not on the bed,” he noted with a straight face. “How unfortunate for you.”
    “I guess I’m not,” I replied. “Your move.”


    I stopped counting after the third surge; it was clear that I had started something and Cameron was going to finish it. When we did stop, we laid beside each other holding hands.
    “You must have lost your mind,” Cameron said with a laugh.
    “Me?” I asked, mocking indignation. “I believe you were the one who said ‘oh dear God’ while on the phone with Geoff.”
    We both laughed. Cameron gave me a long kiss, pulling me on top of him. “Speaking of Geoff, he said they’ll be coming by around five to pick us up. We’re the last, then we’ll leave for Newcastle.”
    “Well, I guess we should get some sleep, then.”
    “Probably should,” he said before kissing me. “But all I want to do is eat.”
    I blushed, bringing my mouth close to his. “You’re still hungry?” I joked.
    “For you? Always.”


    True to Geoff’s word, the coach pulled up to the driveway at five the next morning. Cameron and I had been ready since four-thirty, waiting on the steps. We had filled my large suitcase and two smaller ones with our clothes and toiletries, which Cameron put in the bus’ luggage compartment.
    We were greeted happily when we stepped onto the bus, even Willie didn’t seem so sour today. I put my purse on the seat beside Cameron, but before I could sit I was hastily motioned over by Sylvia, who clearly wanted to chat.
    The drive to Newcastle-upon-Tyne took a little less than five hours, during which I had spoken with Sylvia and Lee, and snuck in a nap with Cameron. We arrived at the venue just before ten o’clock, the road crew with their equipment-loaded bus having arrived an hour earlier.
    They were already hauling equipment into the club when our coach parked beside theirs. Lee and Clyde, with Sylvia in tow, had immediately gone to a nearby pub to meet with an old friend of theirs from a band they’d been in a few years previously. Geoff called Cameron and Willie to a mini-meeting by the stage, which left me with Dale.
    We sat at one of the club’s few tables and began to talk. I was surprised when one of the staff came up to us and asked if we wanted a hot drink; Dale asked for tea and I ordered a coffee.
    “So, Dale,” I began, “what made you get into singing?”
    “My sister,” he chuckled. “We were born in Bristol, but moved to Scotland when I was ten. She was five at the time, and so frightened most nights that I’d sing her to sleep. Once I realized I had a good voice, it was all over.” He punctuated his story with a laugh and I smiled.
    “That’s a beautiful thing you did for her,” I told him, thinking of my own sister.
    “It helped her, at least. She’s gone now, got married two years ago and moved to France.”
    “She got married young,” I noted. “How old are you?”
    “Twenty-five. And you?”
    I took a sip of my drink and answered. “Twenty-nine next month.”
    “You old broad,” he joked, clinking glasses with me.


    After the conclusion of the mini-meeting with Geoff and Willie, Cameron had taken me to a few of the sights in Newcastle as I’d never seen England before. By the time we got back to the club in the early evening, soundcheck was just around the corner and both opening bands were in the backstage area.
    The club opened its doors at nine, with the lineup outside beginning nearly an hour earlier. The local act, Gun It, began their set at ten and didn’t sound too bad for a band that had just started out. While they played their thirty minute set, we mingled with the members of Riot Men, who would accompany us on the English tour this month and the Scottish dates in October.
    I was standing at the table covered in bottles at the far end of the room when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around with the whiskey bottle still in my hand.
    “Hi, are you Emily?” The man asking looked to be in his early twenties and had a jovial look on his face.
    “Yes,” I answered. “You’re in Riot Men?”
    “Yes,” he announced proudly. “Reggie, the loyal drummer.” He extended his arm and I put down the bottle to shake his hand.
    “Nice to meet you, Reggie. It’s a good thing, too, because I really didn’t want to smash this fifteen year over your head,” I laughed.
    “Fifteen year whiskey?” Reggie picked the bottle up from the table and took two glasses from a stack. “A dram for the lady?”
    “Thank you,” I said, accepting the glass. “Where in Wales are you from?”
    Reggie took a large sip from his glass, which had more whiskey than mine did, and chuckled. “Anglesey. And you? What part of Britain gives an accent like yours?” he quipped.
    “I’m from eastern Canada,” I explained.
    Reggie nodded. “Not in Nova Scotia, by any chance? My grandmother’s brother started his family there.”
    “A little more west than Nova Scotia, I used to live near Montreal.”
    He ran a hand through his hair and took another sip. “Where do you live now?”
    I mimicked him and took a sip of my drink as well. “With Cameron.”
    “Lucky man,” he said. Something caught his eye and he turned towards his bandmates. “We’re on shortly.” Reggie finished off his drink in one gulp and put the glass down on the table. “Very nice chatting with you, Emily.”
    “Same here,” I answered. Reggie took off towards the other end of the room and rejoined his bandmates, who were discussing something among themselves.
    I only had time to take a few more sips of my drink before Cameron strode over, announcing his arrival with his arm around my waist.
    “Hello,” I giggled happily.
    Cameron gave me a quick kiss in response. “I see you’ve met the Welshman.”
    “I did. He’s nice.”
    “He is,” Cameron agreed. “Their bass player, not so much. But Reggie’s a cool guy.”
    “Have they played with you before?” I asked curiously, leading us to a small table nearby.
    Cameron nodded. “They were with us for part of the tour last year. February and March, if I remember.”


    Amoeba's set started at midnight, half an hour after Riot Men left the stage. I took my spot beside the stage, just as excited as everyone else for the first show of the tour.
    “Hey! How are you tonight?” Dale shouted excitedly once he was on stage. “Happy to be here, let’s get something going for you all…”
    The performance was a definite crowd-pleaser, though perhaps that is too mild of a term. The show ended with tables overturned and chairs everywhere, people everywhere. If this was a taste of what was to come, I was in for quite the experience.
    The band got off the stage and entered the dressing room, but not before Dale was groped and Lee was forcefully given a woman’s bra. He held it by the strap and stared at it, mouth gaping.
    “Your mouth’s only supposed to do that with tits, not just the bra,” Dale sneered. He took the bra from Lee and put it against his chest, parading around for a moment in full confidence.
    “Fuck. Off.” Willie had a look like glass shards when Dale pranced up to him and flirted. I cackled without restraint, making everyone else laugh with me.
    Cameron approached me and gave me a kiss, his hands framing my face.
    “A fantastic show, my love,” I assured him with a smile. “You nearly started a furor!”