‘I’ve signed the papers,’ Sarah said.

I hung up the phone and drowned myself in bourbon. I could hear the low hum of the crowd just outside.

I slicked back my hair and looked at my aching, weathered hands.

How much longer could I do this?

It was going to happen tonight. No time like the present.

The light bulb flickered on the roof. The dingy dressing room felt so stale. Who even paid for this shit?

I thought to call Tony and rip him a new one by what was the point? 

There was a knock at the door.

‘Who is it?’ I called.

‘Jesse, you’re on in two.’

‘In a minute.’

I finished off the bottle and picked up my cherry red guitar, Delilah. The only girl who never broke my heart.

I don’t even know how I made it to the door, let alone the stage. All the boys were smiling at me. I didn’t deserve them.

The hum of the crowd turned to deafening screams. The lights blinded me as the crowd chanted my name.

‘Jesse, Jesse, Jesse.’

I was ready to give them their show. I stepped out onto the stage and held Delilah high. My entire body shivered. 

I was awake.

I was alive again.

I’m going to give them the show of a lifetime.

‘Jesse Honold, Dead and Divorced’ the headlines will say.

None of those glowing faces out there would know this was my last show on Earth. And that was exactly how I wanted it.

The only thing that made me feel good anymore. 

I strummed the chord, and the speakers and ground rumbled.

The sound made a wave over their bodies, and it rose in me.

Blake, my drummer, built up the beat.

Here we go.

I approached the mic.

‘Are you ready?’