Deanna • Duff McKagan

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Squatters

November 22nd, 1985

"Andrea, I can't tell you how much we actually appreciate what you're doing for us," I yell over the loud music, the opening act for the guys on the Troubadour stage before me.

I stand behind the bar with Andrea and a new girl, who's name I believe is Kaitlynn. "Can I get a Bourbon Old Fashioned?" A customer tells to me from across the bar, the loud music making us all half deaf.

"Coming right up for ya!" I drop half a teaspoon of sugar and three dashes of Angostura bitters into an Old Fashioned glass before adding a teaspoon of water and stirring into the sugar dissolves. Filling the glass with ice, I pour the Bourbon over top, stirring all the ingredients together. I finish the drink off by expressing an orange peel over top before dropping it in the liquid as a garnish.

"No problem, girl," Andrea calls back to me, popping the cap on a bottle of Budweiser. "Not gonna let the truest bitch this bar has ever seen live in a dirty ass storage unit."

Since our eviction eight days ago, all of my furniture has been thrown into a storage unit (conveniently the one right next to the guys' practice unit). The six of us moved into Andrea's house, the guys crashing in her unfinished basement. Well- most of the guys, Duff stays with me in the guest room.

"You gotta keep up, new girl," I tell Kaitlynn, who seems to be taking ten years to finish making a Whiskey Sour. "It's a very busy night, and Guns N' Roses is going to be the next up and coming band on the strip. Therefore, it's about to be packed full."

She nods quickly, stepping up and picking up the pace a bit. Good girl. That doesn't happen too often. "So, what brings you to LA?"

"Uh, just a change of scenery," I raise my eyebrow at how fast she seems to turn away and engross herself into another customer, but ultimately decide to brush it off.

I hear the opening notes to Welcome to The Jungle start as the band takes over the stage, the crowd going absolutely wild. It's amazing, the energy that the crowd opens up as they scream the lyrics back at them. We're almost there, a few more steps to climb until we're at the top. One day, instead of clubs and bars, this band is going to be playing concert venues and stadiums.

"So," Andrea screams over the crowd. "How's it been going, getting gigs and managing the Strip's next up and coming band?"

"We're making pretty decent money," I shrug, running a hand through my hair before popping the tab on another Budweiser. "Does come with its own challenges, though."

"I've lived with them for three days and I could already tell that it comes with lots and lots of challenges," Andrea rolls her eyes, glaring over at the boys on stage.

It's safe to say that she isn't their biggest fans, as in the past three days, they have wreaked so much havoc on her and her apartment. Slash broke her glass coffee table, one of them broke her toilet, her window got cracked when Steven and Duff got into a fight. Axl broke the door one night when it was locked and he couldn't get in. The only one she doesn't have an issue with is Izzy, and that's simply because he stays in a corner by himself.

"I promise it's temporary, we're just waiting on a record label to put us up somewhere. They're so close to getting signed." It's true, they are. They have had quite a few record companies showing interest, but everything keeps falling through. It's only a matter of time until someone decides to follow through.

"You're really dedicating your life to them, huh?" Andrea questions, staring at me. "Aren't you scared of another Crüe incident?"

"We actually almost had one," I shovel some ice into a glass, about to make another customer's drink. "But I was able to get rid of him, the guys were kinda mad I didn't tell them who my father was, but I think they're happy they settled with me."

"Anybody would be happy they settled with you, Deanna. You're the best. And you're going to make their dreams come true."

A/N: heyyyyy guys 💜 I have a question. I was thinking about actually publishing this when I finished it, obviously I'd have to change the names of course because axl would probably sue me lmfao but who would actually buy it and read it 🥺