State of Love and Distrust

The Birth of NO!

BACKSTAGE

The members of Pearl Jam huddled backstage, not quite sure what to do next. They couldn't believe what they had just done. They said "NO" to people they weren't exactly supposed to say "NO" to. They didn't know what was going to happen next, but all they could do was move on and hope for the best, or maybe... the worst. For a few moments, they stood backstage at a loss for words. In the background, the echoes of security guards, fire marshals, and concert stragglers permeated through the walls. Everyone was pissed off... except for Cameron Crowe. He knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Well, they'll edit the hell out of it, that's for sure..." said Cameron, who was exasperated.

"I never want to see that footage...EVER," said Eddie. "Get rid of it!"

Cameron didn't look so sure. "Ummm. I'll put it away somewhere. I like to keep things."

"Like they said, I'm sure it will be unusable," Jeff shrugged.

Mike looked slightly amused. "I dunno, maybe many years from now, you'll have cool footage for a documentary or something."

"If we even make it that long," grumbled Stone. "We're just part of a fad right now."

"Like I said—" Cameron sighed. "I'll stow it away. I'll talk to the studio and MTV."

"Thanks Cameron, we owe you one... again," muttered Eddie, who was sobering up quickly.

Many of the MTV employees, stagehands, and other hangers on had fled the scene and were running en masse to try to get their cars out of valet. Meanwhile, outside, there were hoards of people waiting for their cars.

Out of nowhere, some hotel staffers came rushing through the backstage area. One of the women was out of breath and was freaking out.

"The police are here! You have to go!"

All of the guys looked at each other in confusion. Kelly groaned. When he thought nothing else would happen, now this.

"Get out of here! Go! The cops are looking for you!"

Jeff wailed in agony and Eddie started to curse under his breath.

"We'll show you another way out!"

A security guard grabbed Cameron and lured him in the opposite direction.

The hotel staff scrambled through the backstage area and escorted the guys down a dark passageway and through a small door hidden in the wall, which led to a creepy hidden corridor. Since the Park Plaza was built in the '20s, it was full of secret nooks and crannies.

"What the hell?" said Eddie as he was engulfed by the blackness.

Jeff was sniffling as he speed-walked through the damp and pungent corridor.

"Are you crying Ames?" asked Stone.

"No..." said Jeff quickly. "Man this night was so awful, man. Now the police? I'm—we're not criminals."

Jeff's voice grew weak and he started sniffling again. He quickly turned his head away. "We didn't put in all the work for this..."

"It's OK, Jeff," replied Stone quickly.

"Gotta love LA," said Mike. "Now that I think about it, I don't miss it much. This all reminds me why I left."

Eddie thought back to what Kurt said to him the night before,

"Keep saying YES to everything, and yeah... these bloodsuckers will take everything from you."

"I'm glad we said 'no,'" said Eddie quietly.