Authors: John R. Kess
* * *
Elly listened to
her cell phone messages with one ear and Laura, her manager, with the other as
they walked with Kevin down the hallway toward the hotel elevator. Kevin would
go with Elly to her parents’ house while “The Three Stooges,” as Kevin dubbed her
three bandmates, went on to Seattle with the crew to prepare for tomorrow’s
concert.
“… stylist lined
up tomorrow for you first thing when you get to Seattle,” Laura droned, “and
then you do a signing at a local music store. Then you’re meeting the mayor at
a fundraiser for that …”
Elly’s phone
beeped. The text message from her dad asked her to call when she touched down.
“… and we have a
car that will take you to the radio station as soon as you land in Baltimore.”
“What are you
talking about?” Elly asked. “What radio station?”
“You’re doing an
interview when you land.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. I
was able to book it last night.” Laura said this as if it was some great
achievement.
“Are you kidding
me? Why did you do that?”
“The station has
the biggest market in Baltimore,” Laura said.
“I’m supposed to
be spending the day with my family!”
“You will,”
Laura said. “Once you’re done at the station.” Laura gave her the “look” that
Elly hated so much. It was the one a mother gives a child during a scolding. “This
is good for everyone.”
Elly had heard “This
is good for everyone” so many times, it made her sick. She knew more events translated
into more money for Laura. Every concert scheduled and every event meant more
money in her pocket, thanks to her contract. The band’s contract with Revolution
Records stipulated they have a tour manager at all times. This meant that unless
the band wanted the tour to come to an abrupt end, disappointing thousands of
ticket owners who’d all paid months ago, System Override was stuck with Laura until
the tour officially ended. Laura knew this and took every opportunity to run Elly
and her band into the ground from exhaustion.
“Oh,” Laura
said, “your voice coach called to say you need to limit how much talking you do
when you’re at your parents’ place today.”
That bit from
Laura caught Elly’s full attention. “If I didn’t have so many concerts in a row,
not to mention radio interviews, I wouldn’t have this problem.” Elly’s dislike
of Laura was growing by the minute, and she wasn’t alone. She and her bandmates
already agreed that Laura’s contract wouldn’t be renewed.
Laura continued
reading from her list. “After the concert you’ll be meeting with the winners of
the Revolution Records contest.”
Elly had never
heard of this contest. She hated how Laura waited until the last minute to tell
her about this stuff. Not attending would cause Elly to lose fans, and part of
her couldn’t let that happen. “You need to give me some time to sleep. My voice
needs it.”
“We will, don’t
worry. Oh, and good news, we’ve sold so many tickets in Chicago and New York that we’ve opened up two more concert dates!”
“What? How many
is that now?”
“It’s two
concerts the three days we’re in Chicago and three the five days we’re in New York.”
“You have to
stop this. Please. I can’t do that many so close together.”
“Look, I have to
run. We’ll talk about this later.”
“But we never
do!” Elly stopped walking and stared at Laura. Kevin and Laura stopped as well.
Elly’s fists were clenched tightly.
Laura walked
back the direction they’d come, still facing Elly as she spoke. “Trust me, Elly,
this is good for everyone.”
“Everyone but
me! Stop adding concerts! Do you understand that?”
“Sure thing. I
have to run.”
Laura disappeared
down the hallway. Elly’s head seemed to explode with pain. She squeezed it in
her hands, hoping the medication would kick in soon.
“OH, MY GOD!
IT’S ELLY WITTENBEL!” A young girl’s voice screamed from the end of the
hallway. Her high-pitched voice clawed at Elly’s eardrums. The girl ran toward
Elly, and Kevin stepped in between them. The girl tried to ignore him, but he
stopped her. A man in the background, who must have been the little girl’s dad,
watched with a smile.
Elly guessed the
girl was about ten years old. “I love you, Elly!” The girl jumped up and down
with excitement.
“Thank you,”
Elly said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
Kevin helped her
to the elevator as the fan continued. “I loved your concert! You’re the best! I
hope you come back soon!”
“Thanks for
coming to my show. I promise I’ll come back,” Elly said as the elevator doors
closed, leaving her and Kevin alone.
“I’ll be there!”
the girl shouted. Elly heard the girl scream through the elevator doors. “Dad! I
just met Elly Wittenbel!”
Elly remembered
when she was younger and would have loved to meet her favorite singer but never
had the chance. She remembered thinking that if she ever became a singer, she’d
treat her fans so well. Now she hated herself every time she walked away from
them. She knew she could have at least stopped and let the girl’s dad take a
picture with her. Elly knew if she was that little girl meeting her favorite
singer, that picture would be cherished for years.
“It’s getting
worse.” Elly squeezed her head in her hands. “Laura is killing me with concerts,
and my fans seem to be getting more fanatic.”
Kevin smiled. “It
just means you’re getting better.”
Jay grabbed his
gear from the back of the pickup truck and waved to the driver. He paused to
gaze at the mountains he’d missed so much. The beautiful western Montana horizon provided the perfect backdrop for Jay’s childhood home. The blond twenty-three-year-old
hadn’t been home in two years, but it felt like a decade.
Everything here,
the big oak tree, the chipped paint on the garage door, and the bent basketball
rim, was exactly as he remembered. Jay smiled as even the squeak of the screen
door welcomed him home.
Chris Pender walked
out of the house and looked shocked as he stood on the concrete step looking at
Jay. The two had been friends since first grade.
“Ha! Is that who
I think it is?” Pender asked.
“Who do you
think it is?” Jay asked.
“I think it’s
the long-lost Marine back from kicking ass in Afghanistan,” Pender said as he flew
down the steps and wrapped Jay in a bear hug. “It’s good to see you! I wasn’t
expecting you for another week.”
Jay let his bags
fall and hugged his old friend just as fiercely, clapping Pender on the back
before pulling away. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Stepping inside
the house, Jay raised an eyebrow at Pender. Junk mail covered the kitchen table,
and four houseplants sat dead in the bay window. “I like what you’ve done with
the place.”
“If I’d known
you were coming so soon, I would have cleaned,” Pender said. He’d been house sitting
while Jay was gone.
Jay found the
kitchen sink full of dirty dishes, and the smell of rotting tuna made him
retreat.
He lugged his
stuff to his bedroom and was greatly relieved to find it just the way he’d left
it.
“Hey,” Pender
called from the living room, “we’re going to Maddy’s to celebrate. Tonight, drinks
are on me.”
Jay figured
Pender’s beer gut fit in nicely with all the other loggers he worked with
during the day and drank with at night at Maddy’s Bar and Pool Hall.
Jay walked back
into the living room shaking his head. “Pender, I got discharged a little
earlier than I planned. You’re the only one who knows I’m here. I didn’t even tell
my sister.”
“You didn’t tell
Sarah?” Pender asked. He gazed at Jay quizzically. “Why not?”
Jay tried to
speak, but nothing came out.
“You’re not in
trouble, are you?” Pender asked.
“No. I didn’t do
anything to get myself discharged early, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“I don’t
understand.”
Jay knew what
Pender was thinking. Ever since Jay’s niece Kelly was born, Sarah and Jay had
grown close. After the accident that took their parents, they’d gotten even
closer. Pender had told Jay on multiple occasions how cool it was that Jay got
along so well with his sister.
Jay held up his
hand and then let it fall. “Will you take me to the airport tomorrow morning?
I’m going out to the hunting property. I need some time before I see Sarah and
her family. I need a week. Alone. I just need some time. Do you understand?”
Pender nodded,
but it was clear to Jay that he didn’t understand. Jay was happy he wasn’t
asked to elaborate. He knew there was nothing he could say to help his friend
understand what he was going through. He felt completely out of place coming
home and needed time to distance himself from the war.
Jay’s family owned
property in the mountains, and both Pender and Jay had made many trips out
there when they were in high school.
“Man,” Pender
said, leaning against the wall, “I haven’t been out there since Ben died.”
“That’s part of
the reason I need to go. It’s been a long time, but still hasn’t sunk in.”
Several times, Jay
had caught himself thinking about seeing Ben again when he came home from the
war, but then he had to remind himself that it wasn’t possible.
“Your uncle took
a look at the floatplane, right?” Jay asked.
Pender nodded.
“Glen fired it up about two weeks ago. He said it’s ready to go.”
“Good. Can I get
a ride from you tomorrow morning?”
“Sure, man,
whatever you need.”
“Thanks, and
please don’t tell anyone I’m here. I don’t know if Sarah would understand, and
I don’t want to have to explain it to them.”
“I give you my
word. I haven’t seen you.”
* * *
After Jay heard
Pender leave for Maddy’s, he drove his parents’ old Jeep to a small cemetery. He
walked to his parents’ graves. The last time he’d stood there had been when
they were buried five years ago, just before Jay shipped out for basic
training.
The image of the
mangled mess that had once been his parents’ car flashed in Jay’s mind. His
stomach tightened and his vision blurred, just like when he got the news they
were dead.
His tired brain
caused his memories to scramble together. He remembered the burning armored
personnel carrier his unit had come upon in the Afghan desert a month ago.
Black smoke reeking of burning oil and rubber rolled off the vehicle as his
unit took enemy fire. Body parts littered the ground.
Standing in the
cemetery, Jay again could feel the weight of the wounded Marine on his
shoulders as he carried him to safety. The image of the little girl from the
suspected Taliban hideout flashed in his mind as she screamed and covered her
eyes to block the view of her dead family.
Jay stared at the
grass in front of his parents’ headstones, unable to even make eye contact with
their chiseled names. “Mom, Dad … I’ve done things I can’t make right. I don’t even
know how many people I’ve killed.”
He remembered
the sound of a gunman opening fire on his location and then an explosion, followed
by intense silence. The Marine who’d been joking with him hours before, the one
he’d been carrying, had died in his arms.
“I know you were
trying to protect me from this. I know now that you were angry with me for
enlisting because you loved me, not because you didn’t. I love you both.”
Jay was
overwhelmed with loneliness, like a ghost left to wander the world of the
living. He questioned, as he had so many times, why he had lived when so many
others around him had died.
Near his
parents’ was the other headstone Jay had come to see. Benjamin Chase 1981–1999.
Ben had died a few weeks after Jay’s parents. A fake four-foot-tall potted fig
tree stood next to the headstone. Jay assumed Ben’s mother had put it there, as
it had once been in Ben’s bedroom. The tree brought back memories of Ben’s room
with all the plastic models of World War II fighters and bombers hung from the
ceiling.
Jay looked at
his best friend’s grave, and a rush of guilt made it hard to speak.
He choked on his
words as tears rolled down his face. “I’m sorry, Ben. I’m sorry I wasn’t there
for you.”
* * *
Elly Wittenbel
woke up with a yawn as the small twin-engine turboprop hit the runway with a
jolt.
“Good morning,”
Kevin said.
“What time is
it?”
“A little before
noon.”
Elly stretched her
arms and then fell back into her seat. She took a sip of water, trying to
quench the burning sensation in her throat. Contrary to her voice coach’s demand,
there was no way she’d be able to conserve her voice surrounded by friends and
family at her dad’s fiftieth birthday party.
Elly looked at
her cell phone. “Oh, my God! How can I have thirty-seven messages? It’s only
been two hours. Can’t these people just leave me alone for one day?”
One was a text
message from Alex:
Laura extended the tour 3 more shows in Europe-ahh! We
need to stop that woman! Or hire an assassin!!
Elly knew Alex
well enough to understand that his saying “we” meant “Elly.”
“Oh, great,”
Kevin said, pointing out the window.
Screaming fans were
jumping up and down outside the chain-link fence on the edge of the tarmac.
They waved signs saying “Welcome Home Elly” and “I Love You Elly.”
“How?” Elly
sighed. “How do they always know?”
Kevin just shook
his head.
Elly hated the
dilemma that came with every crowd of fans. She could go meet them even though
her voice was shot, or get in the car and disappoint all of them by leaving
immediately.