Different Circles

He went back downstairs and finished the job of covering his tracks. He pulled the cassette from the machine and placed it back in its cover. He used the remote to return the television to the Discovery Channel before turning it off. He picked up his glass, which still contained half of the third shot of rye whiskey he had poured, and the bottle of hand lotion, and went upstairs. He put the porno tape and the lotion in a drawer at the foot of the bed—a drawer that could be locked and that his housekeeper was forbidden to get into. In addition to twelve other pornographic video tapes (eight of which had been distributed by Mary Ann Cummings Productions) and three pornographic magazines (two Smooth Operators and a Penthouse), there was a bottle of Ambien that his doctor had prescribed for him about two weeks ago. He opened the bottle, took out one of the pills, replaced the bottle, and then closed and locked the drawer. He carried the pill over to the nightstand next to his bed and picked up his rye. He washed the pill down with the remainder of the whiskey.

Once that was done, the clock was ticking. He had learned very quickly that once the Ambien was in his stomach, he had about thirty minutes before he fell asleep, whether he wanted to or not and no matter where he was or what he was doing. When they said that Ambien make you sleep, they had not been kidding.

He quickly undressed down to his underwear and put all of his clothing into the laundry hamper on top of the bunched-up towel. He then pulled on his silk pajamas and got into bed. He turned off the lights and looked up at the dark ceiling.

It was now just past eleven o’clock. Right on schedule, sleep sucked him down forcefully at 11:33 PM.

Such ended another day in the post-breakup life of Greg Oldfellow.

Jake spent much of the latter half of April 1996 traveling with Bigg G and the boys as they pounded out the final eleven dates of the Livin’ It tour. The final stop was Detroit, where they played three dates at the historic Cobo Arena. All three of those shows were recorded in digital audio and videotaped by multiple cameras in anticipation of a probable live album and video release later in the year.

G then threw an after-tour party for all of the band, roadies, techies, and everyone else involved in making the show what it was. It was a party that lasted for three days and nights and quickly became the stuff of mythology and legend. He rented out the entire Detroit Civic Center and Hotel for the occasion. Five open, unlimited bars were stocked and staffed throughout the facility, operating from seven in the morning until two the following morning each day of the party. Catering was available in the convention center auditorium twenty-four hours a day. Four separate DJs kept music playing in the auditorium for the entirety of the event by rotating every six hours. The Detroit Police Department was called to the event eight times during its run, resulting in fourteen arrests on a variety of charges. Two police officers and four party guests were injured and had to visit the hospital due to these encounters. The entire thing finally wound down after last call on the morning of April 27^th. When all the expenses were added up, the party ended up costing Gordon just a hair over a million dollars, not including bail money, which totaled another sixty thousand but was theoretically refundable.

“Yeah, it was an okay party, I guess,” G was quoted as saying afterward.

Jake flew back to Los Angeles on April 27^th, taking an early evening Delta Airlines flight and arriving wasted, fatigued, and about as hungover as he had ever been in recent times. He had slept for much of the flight and slept even more on the limo ride from LAX to the Granada Hills house. By the time he let himself inside, travel bag in hand, it was after eight o’clock and the sun was below the horizon.

He passed by the bar and grimaced as he saw the bottles of booze neatly in their places. He wondered if he would ever feel like drinking alcohol again. He went to the freezer and pulled one of the frozen dinners out—it was the chicken and rice one, about all he thought his stomach would be able to handle. He vented the lid and placed in in the microwave. He then opened the refrigerator and pulled out one of the quart bottles of Gatorade. He opened it and had a long drink, draining away nearly a third of the bottle.