Deanna • Duff McKagan

Chapter Seven • Who's Your Daddy?

July 4th, 1985

"Madame Wong!" I exclaim, pulling the Chinese elderly woman into a hug, and silently praying she hasn't called my father.

"Deanna!" She smiles before looking past me at the faces of Guns N' Roses. "This band you were talking about?" She speaks, turning back to me. "They look like rock and roll."

I chuckle, nodding at her words. "Yes, I think so too. I'm going to help them set up their stuff."

"Oh, I called your father!" Oh no. "He said he'll be here to see his daughter's first band," the look of happiness is one I don't want to break, so I don't fill her in on the details of my father and I's falling out.

But, a small part of me hoped he would come to see the band. What happened with the last one was horrible, and I'm confident that won't happen with Guns N' Roses. At least I hope it won't.

"That's wonderful! Thank you Madame Wong," there is no way she knows what happened between my father and I, so I'm sure she thought she was doing something nice for me.

"You will be a great record producer, just like your father!" She exclaims, turning away to help a customer.

"You're father is a record producer?" The unmistakable voice of Axl Rose sounds behind me, causing me to sigh. The exact thing I didn't want to happen. The smile on his face is huge, and, despite what I was saying before, I think Guns N' Roses may turn out just like the last band.. just like Mötley Crüe.

"Yeah, but I don't talk to him," I shrug it off, hoping the lead singer would drop the conversation. Of course, I didn't get that lucky.

"This could be huge for the band!" Four years ago, Nikki Sixx had said those exact words. I'll be damned if I let this happen again.

"Yeah.." I trail off, trying to figure out what to say to the hopeful young man. "Oh, I see Haley, I'll be back," quickly, I head through the restaurant to where my roommate is standing by the stage, helping Steven set up his drum kit.

"Haley," I grip her wrist, pulling her down the hallway into the bathroom. "Axl just found out about my father," I sigh.

"I don't see why you're keeping his identity such a secret," she rolls her eyes, using the mirror above the sink to reapply her mascara. "It could help them a lot in the long run."

"Haley," I start, my monologue forming in my mind. "I don't want to be the girl I was in high school, everyone becoming friends with me because this Los Angeles 'I wanna be a rockstar' thing led them to me. I don't want what happened with Mötley to happen with them."

Haley sighs, turning to face me. "Honestly, I don't even think he'll show up. He doesn't give a fuck about either of us."

"He may not give a fuck about either of us, but he does give a fuck about making money, which is exactly what that band could help him do." The raw talent within those boys is rare, a once in a blue moon type sight. That's the one thing my father taught me, how to spot potential. Which, apparently, he didn't see any in me.

"Yo," Duff says, opening the bathroom door to reveal us. "We're on in ten," I shake my head at the blonde, who has a black eye from the one and only, Katharina Kerekgyarto. Nobody ever told me how Katharina figured out he cheated, or how she found out my address.

"Duff, you literally just opened the door to the girls bathroom," Haley laughs, shaking her head. "Still can't believe your girl gave you that shiner."

"Not my girl anymore," a grin spreads across his face. "Bitch has always been crazy."

I pull my tongue ring between my teeth, biting it softly. "Have you ever thought, Mr. McKagan, that men are half the reason girls end up crazy?"