Deanna • Duff McKagan

Chapter Thirty-Four: Fargin Bastyges

Two and a Half Months Later
May 31st, 1986

"Fargin Bastyges? What the hell? Why did they play a show under that name?" I ask Andrea as we sit at her kitchen table, the Raji's Los Angeles flyer she had handed me centered on the table before us.

"I guess Geffen wanted them to stop playing live, focus on the album." Andrea shrugs, shaking her head. "Word on the street is, Guns N' Roses is falling apart. From the inside out."

"What do you mean they're falling apart?" I try my hardest to act like I don't care what Guns N' Roses (as well as Haley) are doing nowadays, but sometimes it's hard. I get curious on the things my hard work might have done.

"Slash pawned his Les Paul for drugs," Andrea sighed, leaning her head into her hand. "I fronted him the cash to get it back. This is the second show they've played under the name Fargin Bastydges."

I wrinkle my nose at her revelations, not necessarily being a fan of their 'new name'. "I really hope they aren't seriously considering a name change."

"It gets even worse than that, Deanna," Andrea pauses, still staring down at the flyer. "They may have gotten signed by Geffen Records, but they're recording at Rumbo Studios and absolutely nothing is getting done. They have one more chance to record before they get that record deal ripped from them."

"When is there next chance to record?" I ask curiously, wondering why in the hell they're just throwing away their dreams like this.

"June fifth," Andrea answers. "They're supposed to record with producer Manny Charlton at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys."

"Do you think they're actually going to show up?" I ask, playing with the hem of my t-shirt. "How is their manager allowing this to happen?"

"Well, Tim Collins - the manager for Aerosmith - was extremely interested in managing them. But, he changed his mind after the boys ordered a shit ton of drinks on his tab. Alan Nieves is their manager now, and it's like he can't seem to control them." Andrea explains, information she had gotten from Izzy when he stopped at The Troubadour last night.

"They're throwing their careers away."

June 5th, 1986.

Hesitantly, I walk up the steps to the apartment building I used to live in with Duff and the rest of the band. They never lock the door; it would be that easy for me to enter the apartment and maybe beat them into shape.

I take a deep breath before I open the door, watching as Slash snorted what I know damn well is heroin. What the hell happened in the past two and a half months?

"Oh no," I say, causing everybody's attention to turn to me. "This is absolutely not fucking happening. Not after all the hard ass work I put into getting you guys to succeed."

"Deanna, what are you doing here?" Axl looks utterly confused from his seat on the couch, genuine surprised looks painted on everyone else's faces.

"You're fucking up your lives. You're fucking up my hard work, you're fucking up your own hard work." Nobody says a word, and I can only assume that it's because they know that I am one-hundred percent and extremely correct.

"Get the hell up," I state, ripping open the curtains. Nobody moves, they just continue to stare at me. "I said, get the hell up!"

At my change of tone, the band members scramble up from their seats, standing before me. "You have a half hour to get ready to go to the recording studio, starting now. I put in too much effort for y'all to waste it like this."

It didn't take long for all five band members to be up and ready for their recording session. They all crammed into Andrea's car that I was borrowing for this occasion, giving me semi decent directions to the recording studio they're familiar with.

"Oh, you guys showed up," the receptionist seems taken aback at the sight of the five men, writing something down into a log book before gesturing to a door. "You're going to be in Studio C."

"You're coming with us?" Steven asks, confused as to why I was now following them through the recording studio hallways.

"If I leave, nothing will get done. So yeah, I'm coming with you." Things are definitely awkward, as I just listen to them record music with the producer's input. I say nothing, just sitting on the black leather couch and staring at a poster on the wall.

After three hours, they finally managed to get "Welcome To the Jungle" and "It's So Easy" recorded.

"Who might you be?" A man in a three piece suit questions as he walks into the recording studio, staring down at me. "No girlfriend's at recording sessions."

I stand up as the five band members file out of the sound booth, staring me down. "I'm not any of their girlfriends." I start, shaking my head and letting out a scoff. "I'm the reason they got here and started getting the album recorded, you're welcome."

"Where's Alan?" The formal man questions, looking around the small studio. "He's supposed to be here with you when you record."

Axl scratches the back of his neck, looking around at everyone. "We haven't seen Alan in probably two weeks. Deanna is the manager we had before this record company forced us to get a new one."

The man's eyes flicker back to me, a small look of shock on his face. "You're not even their manager anymore, yet you showed up for them?"

I stare Duff down, but he unsurprisingly refuses to meet my gaze. "I'm not about to let all my hard work go to waste, they're destined for success and I put everything I had into getting that for them. Whether I manage them or not."

"Well, Deanna. Since you're here, and you actually showed up for them, how would you like your old job back?" The offer is tempting, extremely tempting. I could continue working on something I built from the ground up. The guys brought the talent, don't get me wrong, but I pushed them. I got their name out there. I built their following.

The looks on the boys faces are hopeful, which makes me wonder if this was the plan. Did they drive their manager away on purpose, hoping to get me back.

I swallow hard, running a hand through my hair. "No," I breathe, avoiding eye contact with any member of the band. "They aren't my responsibility anymore."

A/N: heyyyyy guys!! I feel like my writing has gotten so much better since I started this. I've gotten out of a major depression mode recently so I've been doing more. My ex cheated on me with my best friend so that's awesome 🙃 but it's been a little over two months and I'm working on healing. I also got a job at Amazon and I'm making extremely good money, but I'm so incredibly tired when I get home from work. But I promise, I'm doing my best!