He didn’t know.

She didn’t know.

But it was like we all knew, you know?

Christ.

He didn’t kiss her.

But he did stand outside that diner a long time after she got in her friend’s car and took off.

And yeah, that’s where “The Back of You” came from.

Yeah.

“Give Then Take” and “The Back of You” were the songs we cut for our first demo.

Balls to the wall rock and a rock ballad that’d make Hitler weep.

The first two hits we had.

Big hits.

And…

Yeah.

He finally comes back in, his breakfast is cold, but that isn’t why he pushes it away.

Dave pounces ’cause that’s Dave.

“You didn’t even fuckin’ kiss her, dude. What’s up with that?”

“She’s seventeen.”

That got all our attention.

Especially Tommy’s.

“Say what?” Tommy asks.

“Not yours,” Preach told him. “She was the older sister of the one Jesse banged.”

He looked at the rest of us.

“But yeah, all of yours.”

“There is no way the woman I had last night was seventeen,” I said.

Because…

Fuck.

I mean, you gotta know, I was all about the rubbers. What happened to Penny.

Fuck yeah.

But I was all about them being fuckin’ legal too.

And Tommy absolutely was.

No way he was gonna bust his balls for that band and have any of us go down for something that stupid.

Stupid and illegal.

“Wrong,” Preacher says to me.

[Shakes head]

First and last, sister.

That girl was the first and she was the damned last.

After that, I’d goddamn card if I needed to. You know what I’m sayin’?

“I’ll kiss her when she’s eighteen,” Preach decrees then looks at Tommy. “Which is when we’re comin’ back to Indy. In four months. When Lyla is eighteen.”

It’s weird, doin’ this.

[Sits back, sighs]

It all comes into focus, doin’ this.

You know, I knew.

Later, I got it.

But talkin’ about it like this now?

Crystal-clear focus.

After we left Indy, Preach tore the lid off.

And I’ll tell you what.

Serious as fuckin’ shit. You lookin’ at my face?

[Points at face]

[Off tape]

Yes, I’m looking.

So, you see I’m serious as shit when I say I was pissed way the fuck off.

I did not get it.

You know?

Lyla, at the booth at breakfast with us being…Lyla.

And Christ, from Lafayette to when it all went down, he’s fuckin’ anything that moves. Booze. Pot. Blow.

Mostly booze.

And blow.

Even let loose, back then, Preacher had a rein on it. It was like he knew. She wasn’t there, he let go, it’d get ugly.

He had iron control, that guy, and he might get loose, he might get laid, he might get happy, but he never let go.