Ch. 24

Trina went back to Jon’s room. It was only he and Juanita as she walked in.

Juanita smiled warmly at Trina. Jon lie on the bed writing feverishly in a spiral notebook.

Trina looked at him with a inquisitive look on her face.

He looked at her for a moment with a empty look on his face, followed by more writing in the notebook.

“What’s going on with him?” Trina asked as she pointed at him writing.

Juanita shook her head.

“Dear god. The doctor gave him a pen and a notebook.” Juanita quipped.

Jon flashed Juanita a arrogant look. Juanita laughed.

“Now, we got to deal with your crap handwriting too. The doctor should have temporarily banned you from doing anything.” She replied.
Jon tore out the sheet of paper and gave it to Juanita.

The note read: “You’d love that wouldn’t you?”

Juanita looked up at him. “Yes, I would. Just when I thought things were going to get quiet, that doctor gave you that notebook. That’s all we need!” She told him.

Jon smiled and gave her the finger.

“Aaah. The universal symbol. Careful, you might not be able to play guitar if I cut that finger off providing that you do that to me again.” Juanita told him. She then turned around to Trina and gave her a wink.

Trina was laughing at the whole thing. She admired their closeness and had come to respect and love Juanita just as much as Jon did.

Jon shook his head. He wrote something in the notebook and gave it to Juanita. She looked at him mockingly and shook her head.

“What are you asking me for? Why didn’t you give this to her? I’m not your messenger.” Juanita told him.

Jon pointed to Trina to get the note from Juanita.

“What is it?” Trina asked. She began to read the note.

It read: “What is she doing here?”

Trina looked at him. She gave him the notebook back.

“I’m here to see how you were doing. Richie will be here in a little bit.” Trina said.

Jon still was upset that Trina knew about this. But there was nothing he could do about it.

She walked over and sat on the foot of the bed.

“Richie and I are going to do the promos for the Giants shows. To replace you, I pitched a last minute slant to Heather that she and the others approve of. It’s me pretty much formally introducing myself to your fans. I’m sure that some of them are wondering who I am and why I’m around lately. I can explain why and draw new readers in while Richie promotes the hell out of the shows.” She told him.

Jon looked at her.

‘The idea isn’t bad. But how are they going to explain why I’m not there?’ He thought.

He took out his pen and wrote in the notebook. He gave it to her.

It read: “Where do I fall in?”

“We took you out of it. We’re going to use the Obie angle. The logistical problem with the catwalk. We’re going to tell everyone that you were too busy trying to fix that problem so unfortunately you couldn’t attend the interviews. We’ll also announce that the shows are postponed for a couple of weeks as soon as Obie gives us the go-ahead.” Trina said giving him back the notebook.

Jon nodded. He arched his eyebrows. He looked at her with a surprised look on his face. He wrote something else down and passed it to her.

It read: “Does Doc know?”

Trina gave him back the notebook. She nodded her head. “No.” Heather doesn’t know either, she thinks you had an emergency appointment in New Jersey but I assured her you’d be back and on time for the show.”

‘Shit they did think of everything didn’t they?’ Jon thought. ‘This ship can sail without me just fine.’ He thought, as he was thrilled that they did this. However, he also disappointed because he had set up the organization so well that they really didn’t need him if something were to go wrong.

Just as Jon was going to write something else, Richie walked in. He gave Juanita a peck on the cheek and gave Trina a friendly tap on the shoulder. Richie stood at the bottom of the bed. Jon smiled at him.

“Jesus, they gave you fuckin pen and a notebook? God help us all!” Richie teased. Juanita tapped Richie.

“I told Trina the same thing.” She quipped.

“How are you feeling?” Richie asked.

Jon wrote for a minute in the notebook and gave it to Richie.

Richie frowned and gave him a devilish grin.

The note read: “Helpless. I feel helpless. What am I going to do?”

Richie gave it back to him.

“You’re going to rest your pipes before something worse happens. I ran into Obie in the hallway. He filled me in along with Trina. After this show you are to do nothing bro. No singing, talking…nothing.” Richie told him.

Jon scribbled in his notebook and gave it to Richie.

“Easier said than done.” The note read. Richie gave him back the notebook.

“Well Jon, you don’t have a choice. All of us in this room have got your back. No one’s going to know outside of this room what’s going on.” Richie reassured him.

“I told him that.” Juanita chimed in.

Trina touched Jon’s leg.


“Richie’s right. No one’s going to know about this.” She said.

Jon took a deep breath. He scribbled a sentence down on the notebook only this time passing it to Trina.

The note read: “Prove it.”

Trina was so mad that she threw the notebook at him.

“What do I have to do? I’m proving it now! Did you see anything written about your voice from me? No! I can’t prove it to you anymore that I have been with everything I’ve done! So sick of this. ” Trina yelled.

“Jon stop! She’s right. She could have written about your problems at soundcheck and didn’t. You’ve got to relax, stop doubting and let us help you.” Richie said looking at his watch.

“Almost time to go?” Trina asked Richie.

“Yeah, we better head out.” Richie began towards the door. Trina got up and followed him out. Richie turned to him.

“Don’t worry Jonny. We got this covered. Just keep resting your voice till the show.” Richie told him.

Jon threw up his hands as the two of them left. He looked at Juanita.

“What?” She asked. He was baffled. “Lay back and relax. There’s nothing you can do. Wanna watch some TV?” She continued.

Jon shook his head. He mouthed the word. “No.” Juanita sighed. “I don’t know Jonny. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long two weeks.” She said getting up from her chair next to his bed.

She started to leave when she heard a whisper.

“Aunt Juanita?” Jon said. She turned around to look at him. He held up the notebook. In big letters were the words. “Thank you.” Juanita smiled and walked out the door.

~
Richie and Trina were on their way to the local news station where the promos and interviews were going to be held.
The feed after taping, would go national and start off the Giants publicity machine.
Richie and Trina got the go-ahead from Obie to announce the postponement of the Giants shows.
It was official. The shows were going to be delayed until the catwalk could be deemed safe for Jon to walk on and perform.

If the catwalk was unsafe after 10 days, the band would have to find another method for Jon to get around the stadium for those two nights.

As the two read the ‘official paperwork’ that Obie put through with some help from some old friends at the safety inspectors office in New Jersey, Richie and Trina couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh shit, Jon’s going to be pissed! This is brilliant. Hat’s off to Obie. He’s got a job here for life.” Richie said.

Trina’s smiled widened.

“Wow! I knew he was going to make this in writing but he can stall this if he wanted to for a month.” Trina said.

Richie shook his head. “Damn straight. Jon’s going to go stir crazy.”

Trina looked at Richie strangely “Yeah?” She asked.

Richie nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t know anything else Trina. Imagine someone taking away your ability to write. Same thing.”

“He needs us more now than ever.” She said to him.

“More than you know. This is going to be interesting for the next couple of weeks.” Richie lamented.

“You’re not kidding.” Trina said.

When entering the news station, the two initially received a mixed reaction from news staff who were hoping to meet Jon.

Richie apologized for the short notice and announced Jon had a last-minute meeting to attend and was unable to do the interview.

Trina chimed in and introduced herself. Within minutes the news staff felt a camaraderie and comfort with her that they weren’t expecting to have.

She was charming, intelligent and sweet.

‘She knew how to wow a crowd if she had to.’
Richie thought as he continued to watch her win over the journalists. ‘She was definitely the right person to help pull this off.’

“Didn’t Heather call and brief you about the last-decisions today?” Trina asked the entertainment editors.

As she asked, an intern came running into the room with a stack of papers.
“Oh no, they’re here!” The intern yelled giving the stack of paper to the entertainment editors.

“I’m so sorry everyone. Heather from Polygram said that a lot of stuff had come up at the last minute and I was jotting everything down so that you had them before they got here. I went as far as to even get the safety report that the safety inspectors filed because the catwalk Jon Bon Jovi uses is apparently unsafe. So they’re delaying the shows.” The intern nervously rambled.

Everyone looked at the intern blankly. The small group went into the interview room. Trina’s editorial assistant instincts kicked into high gear.
“What is this?” One of the entertainment editors asked Trina.

Trina explained to the editors what the intern was talking about. Richie continued to be impressed with how Trina was handling the situation. It was seamless. Never once did she say anything about Jon’s voice and recent problems. She gently persuaded the editors that it was due to the safety reports, the Giants shows were being delayed and that Jon went into a last-minute meeting to straighten things out.

The editors bought it. Hook, line and stinker. The intern apologized once more for not getting the info to them sooner, but the editors understood.

After they had sifted through all the paperwork and had the routine fact-check team go over everything with a fine tooth comb, they proceeded with the promos and interviews.

The interviews went off without a hitch. As planned, Trina introduced herself to a national audience and hoped that her experiences would bring more attention to the band her and stories. She encouraged fans to come up to her and share their experiences with her so that she could put them in her upcoming journal entry for the Post and Rolling Stone.

Richie was jovial and charming. He not only promoted the shows, but apologized on behalf of the band for Jon’s last-minute absence.

He also broke the news about the delay of the Giants shows but told the audience.

“The journey getting there is a little harder than we thought, but the ride will I guarantee you will be sweet. Got some great stuff planned for the shows and as soon as the city of New Jersey gives us the go-ahead, we’ll announce the new dates and promptly kick your asses for two nights.”

Trina smile widened.

‘He’ll never let Jon down.’ She thought as she watched him talk to the editors. Richie truly adored Jon. It was evident as she watched him finish up with cover up. ‘Does Jon even realize how many people care about him?.’

The two went back to the hotel with a raw tape for Jon and Heather to review of the promos and interview. Heather approved and moved on with her duties to publicize the upcoming Giants shows.

As they walked into Jon’s room. Juanita was waiting for them at the door. She stopped them before they went any further.

“How did it go?” She whispered.

“It went fine Juanita. What’s going on?” Richie asked.

“His voice…albeit it temporary is back. I guess that cortisone shot worked. The minute he knew his voice was back, he began cussing like a champ.” She told them.

“What the hell for? He’s on borrowed time with that. He better not keep on talking.” Richie said.

Juanita rolled her eyes. “Richie, he’s out of control. Now, he’s in the bathroom puking his guts out. I’ve never seen him like this before.” She told him appearing concerned.

“Huh?” Trina asked.

“Side effects of the injections. He’ll bloat up a little too.” Richie explained to her. “Juanita, let me go in there and talk to him.”

“Knock yourself out. Better yet, Pray that he doesn’t knock you out.” Juanita quipped as she let them both pass.

Richie walked into the bathroom. Jon was sitting next to the toilet gasping for air. Jon looked at him and waved.

“Hear you can talk now.” Richie said.

“Sorry to burst your bubble Richie. But I can indeed talk.” Jon told him.

“Not for long. But I’m not going to talk to you about that right now.” Richie said putting the tape on Jon’s lap.

Jon picked it up. “What’s this?”

“I thought you’d want to see for yourself how we covered your ass. And to see you cop a fucking attitude? Man, did we waste our time.” Richie said.

“Excuse me? Everything was in place. Obie didn’t have to delay it for this long?” Jon retorted.

“What the fuck? Jon, the doctor said after tonight, no more talking. You keep yelling, swearing and raising your voice, your temporary situation will end up being a permanent one. So, if I were you, I’d finish throwing up, watch this tape and thank all of us. Then after that you’ll apologize to everyone. Especially Trina. And I’m telling you I better not even hear a word out of you and until we got out there and perform tonight. Not a word!” Richie yelled storming out the bathroom.

Juanita went in as Richie came out.
“Done throwing up? We’ve got to go to the venue soon.” Juanita said.
Jon rolled his eyes. Juanita sighed. “I’m sorry baby. God knows I am, but you’re not making this easy on anyone.”

Jon continued to sit next to the toilet. The tears began to well up in his eyes again as he looked at Juanita.

Trina stood by the door simply watching. She was helpless to do anything else. She couldn’t help but to put herself in his shoes. As she did, the tears flowed down her face.

“I messed up so bad. All I ever wanted to do is be a rock star.” He told Juanita.

“You are baby, but you’re also John Francis Bongiovi. Time to remember that too.” Juanita told him.

He got up and hugged her. He didn’t realize that Trina was there watching everything until he walked out the door.

He passed by her without saying a word.