Chapter 376: The River Court

Saturday, February 4th, Afternoon (Eastern Standard Time)

At the appointed time, Nathan showed up at Punk'd and Disorderly Studios. In the lobby, a young man sat waiting. Upon seeing him, he stood up and offered his hand.

"Mister Scott?" he asked.

"Yes," Nathan said and took his hand.

"We've met before, but you probably don't remember me. I'm Lucan Adenauer," he said, and they let go of each other's hand.

Nathan nodded, "Vaguely, there were a lot of people passing through my house at the time," he said.

Lucan nodded, "I understand; Brian wasn't the easiest to get along with," he said.

"He wasn't always that way," Nathan said.

"Can we talk elsewhere?" Lucan asked.

"Sure," Nathan said, "Where?"

"The River Court is good," Lucan said.

"Okay, I'll follow you," Nathan said.

An odd request, but Nathan figured Lucan was in the driver's seat. They left the grounds of the Scott Building and drove in the bitter North Carolina winter to an open-air park by the river. Once there, the two men walked out onto Center Court.

"So, what do you want to know about Los Angeles and The Black Count Album?" Lucan asked.

Nathan nodded and pulled out his smartphone. He opened the picture he wanted to show Lucan. "Does this woman look familiar?" Nathan asked.

Lucan nodded, "Vaguely, maybe some rando studio person," he said and studied the photo, "No, shit, that's Estella."

"Estella?" Nathan asked.

Lucan nodded, "Yeah, Estella, well, you know the famous Los Angeles lifestyle," he said.

"Vaguely, I was a married dad of two when I lived in LA," Nathan said.

"That never stopped some people at the clubs," Lucan said.

"Never mind that, what's the story here?" Nathan asked.

Lucan shrugged his shoulders. "Not much to say, really, Mister Scott," he said.

"Please, elaborate," Nathan said.

"Mister Scott, I don't like talking about that time of my life. It wasn't pleasant, and I was already halfway out of the band," Lucan said.

"Lucan, I need to know if I have another grandchild," Nathan said.

Lucan sighed and took a far-off look. Nathan went to see what Lucan was looking at and found nothing. "I never signed with Lou Morningstar as a manager. Ever since I refused to sign him as a manager, he poisoned Brian's mind against me. I bled for him that last year with High-Performance Heart Attack and through those first two albums with Mental Lapse. I drummed my ass off for him, but things changed once Kat left the band," Lucan said.

"I know, Lucan, I've recently seen footage of Y'all at Wacken; you're right you played your ass off," Nathan said.

"Thank you, Mister Scott," Lucan said.

"What's it like at the studio for The Black Count album?" Nathan asked.

Lucan shrugged, "It was different from the first album. Not just the studio, but the crew and the attitude. Dell Parker was one hell of a bass player, but he's no Kat Hartmann. Also, not having Kat in the studio made things difficult," he said, then shrugged, "About halfway through the recording process, I decided to leave the band after the album and tour."

"So, how did you end up meeting this Estella?" Nathan asked.

"After one bad day in the studio, Lou plopped down a stack of cash, maybe two Gs, and said a limo was coming to bring us to a strip club. I raised the issue about my age, and I was told, don't worry about it. We went to the club, and it was my first time in a strip club. Estella came up and wanted to see if we wanted private dances. Brian, being Brian, stepped up and bought a dance. One thing led to another, and Brian was making it rain. We went home and started back in the studio the next day," Lucan said.

"Doesn't sound that impressive," Nathan said.

"Things always start small, Mister Scott," Lucan said.

"So, what made it grow?" Nathan asked.

"You've seen what Estella looks like, and most of us were in our early twenties, Mister Scott," Lucan said.

"I meant the relationship," Nathan said.

"Well, in that case, we started going to the same strip club every night after the studio. Somehow Brian took a liking to Estella, and he's for some reason slick as oil. He had Estella eating out of the palm of his hand. I know they are mercs, and it just about the money, but somehow they made a connection," Lucan said.

Nathan looked at Lucan, "Was he doing that pick-up artist shit?" he asked.

"Probably, I don't know, I probably was too distracted, and it was years and another lifetime ago," Lucan said.

"So, he did have a relationship with her?" Nathan asked.

"Relationship is kind of a strong term, Mister Scott," Lucan said, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He tapped the pack and took a single cigarette out, and lit it. He took a deep drag of the cigarette.

"What term would you use, Lucan?" Nathan asked and tried to ignore Lucan's smoking.

"Well, Mistress would probably fit the best, I would guess," Lucan said, "She started hanging out at the studio, and well, the work went to shit."

"Brian was open about the whole thing?" Nathan asked.

"Open?" Lucan asked and laughed, smoke coming out of his nose and mouth, "You could have a house with no roof, windows, or doors and not have been much more open, Mister Scott."

"If my math is right, Lennon was already born at this time," Nathan said.

Lucan nodded, "Yes, Lennon had been born at this time; we even ended the studio session early so we could all go to the hospital to see his prince be born," he said.

"How did Gabi react to Brian having this mistress?" Nathan asked, trying to his shock, distaste, and temper.

Lucan shrugged, "How else would Gabi take it or tolerate it?" he asked.

"Lucan, I don't know; that's why I asked," Nathan said.

"Gabi was so much a simp for Brian he could've basically done anything, and she'd be okay with it, if not down for it," Lucan said.

"Okay, what's a simp?" Nathan asked.

"Basically someone who does way too much for a person they like," Lucan said.

"We use to call them doormats," Nathan said.

"That's a good description as well," Lucan said.

"Do you think Brian could have fathered her son?" Nathan asked.

"It's possible, but they only carried on for the duration of our time in the studio. Once we were done, we went on tour, and Gabi came with, bringing Lennon along," Lucan said.

"What would happen with Lennon and Gabi when you were on stage?" Nathan asked.

"Gabi was the merch girl, and Lennon would be behind the table in his car seat," Lucan said.

"Y'all were cool with this?" Nathan asked.

"I had no say; all I did was play drums, Mister Scott. Gabi had no one to leave Lennon with, and Brian wanted Gabi on the road with us," Lucan said.

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, I know whatever Brian wanted Brian got, especially from Gabi," he said.

"Yeah, that sums it up," Lucan said.

Nathan nodded, "well, thank you for your time," he said.

"You're welcome, Mister Scott," Lucan said.

Nathan nodded and turned away from Lucan. Slowly, he walked off the court to his waiting vehicle. Nathan reached into his pocket and started his car from his remote starter. By the time he got behind the well, he just shook his head, and with the flat of his fist, he pounded on the steering wheel. This conversation didn't make him feel better.