Just Beyond the Curve (20 page)

“When I die,” Josh said honestly. “I’ll always watch
over you. I promise.”

“Thank you Josh,” John said seriously. “You make me
very proud to know you. Not many unselfish people in the
world.”

“I know,” Josh agreed, then stepped back and went to
Billy, who was wiping tears of his own. Billy led him to the bus,
then helped him up and inside it.

“Well,” John said. “I’d give anything to make him
well, Pam.”

“I know you would, John Travis. You’re the most
unselfish person I’ve ever met.”

“I appreciate that, Pam,” John said. “Judy and Misty
are in the house if you wanna go say hi. I’ll put your suitcases in
the bus.”

By three o’clock that afternoon the tour busses
rolled in caravan to the north on 1-35 toward Dallas. From Dallas
they would take 1-30 to Little Rock, Arkansas, then 1-40 into
Nashville. Ross, Dempsey and John were taking turns driving.

At present John was laying back in a captain’s chair.
Judy was beside him asleep. Pam and Misty were at the dining table
talking softly and Billy and Josh were playing a video game on the
entertainment center near the front of the bus.

John had drifted off at some point and was awakened
by a gentle nudge on the shoulder. He opened his eyes, realized
right off that Judy was gone. He was surprised about that. He would
have thought he would have awakened by her getting out of the
reclining chair. He looked up into the smiling face of Jake, “Your
time to drive, Boss,” he said.

John got up instantly, noticed for the first time
that the bus was stopped and that Ross was outside filling the tank
with diesel. They were stopped at a truck stop.

“Where are we?” he asked, walking toward the front of
the bus.

“Little Rock,” Jake replied. “You drive to Memphis
and I’ll drive the rest of the way into Nashville.”

“Okay,” John replied. “Maybe you’d better get some
sleep. Your eyes look tired.”

“Their crossed, John,” Jake laughed. “They always
look tired.”

John laughed with him. He went to the front of the
bus, adjusted the seat and mirrors for himself. When Ross came back
from paying for the fuel, he started the bus, closed the door and
they were off.

True to his word, Jake took over in Memphis and while
he drove into Nashville, John sat in the back of the bus with the
Martin D-10 and played it softly. While everyone else slept except
him and Jake he thought about what all had happened to him in the
past two years and wondered if he was destined to die like his
father had; at the height of his career, with a son to raise and
one on the way. He decided that if a person knew what lay just
beyond the curve, no one would ever get on the road and try to
reach a goal. He figured that was what his father was getting at
when he wrote the song, ‘JUST BEYOND THE CURVE’. John smiled,
deciding he was right. He laid the D-10 aside, then laid his head
back and was soon asleep.

When he awakened again they were parked behind the
Ryman Auditorium among a large parking lot filled with other tour
busses and tractor-trailer rigs that had transported other country
stars to the awards ceremony.

“We’re due inside in an hour, John,” Judy said from
beside him. “You’d better get showered and dressed. Most everyone
else is inside.”

John smiled up at her, took her hand and pulled her
down for a kiss. “What would I do without you, Judy?” he asked
seriously. “You make my life.”

“I imagine you’d do just fine, John Travis, Junior.
Now, get busy, you’ll be late.”

“Yessum,” he said with a salute, then stood and went
to the back of the bus.

Two hours later John and his family and friends sat
several rows back from the front. Josh and Pam looked around
excitedly at all the stars and celebrities in attendance. Everyone
who was anyone in the business was there in all their glory.

On stage the MC announced the names of Leann Rimes
and George Straight to make the next presentation, “It is a common
misbelieve,” the MC said, “that legends are not born overnight.
That is a myth that may be broken tonight. These two superstars
need no introduction; they themselves are legends in the country
music field. “I’ll let them tell you in their own words.”

It was then that Leann and George came out on stage
and walked to the MC. Leanne carried the envelope. She stood beside
the tall good looking George Straight. He said, “The most coveted
and prestigious award in Country Music is also the hardest to
earn.”

“It comes to those who serve as a beacon; a guiding
light; an inspiration to the rest of us,” Leanne said, looking all
around the audience as she spoke.

“Only through hard work to overcome nearly impossible
odds, dedication, a little luck and a battleship full of talent,
can one hope to be nominated for Entertainer of The Year,” George
said with a large grin.

“And the nominees are,” Leanne said, breaking the
seal on the envelope and unfolding the paper in front of her and
George. “Janice Reeves, for ‘Stranded in the Dark,” she said.

“John Travis for Just Beyond The Curve,” George said,
above the uproar of applause and cheering.

“And,” Leanne said, “Steven Beyers for, I Almost Lost
My Way.”

“And the winner is,” George said looking over at
Leanne.

“John Travis, for Just Beyond The Curve!” they said
together, as the crowd drowned them out in the uproar.

In the audience John stood slowly. He helped Judy to
her feet, then turned and picked Josh up in his arms. The little
boy hugged his neck and kissed his cheek, as they walked to the
stage beside Judy. Misty, Janice and Old Billy followed two steps
behind them with Jake, Ross and Dempsey behind them.

On stage John shook hands with George Straight, then
kissed Leanne on the cheek. She kissed Josh on the lips gently. He
blushed red, then grinned large.

John accepted the award from George and turned to the
microphone. “I am honored,” he said shyly. “Thank you,” he added,
to the applause, whistles and cheers. “Most of you know I’m not
very smart...” he started, but was drowned out by more applause,
clapping and whistling. “So you know I didn’t get here on my one. I
would’a got lost!” Again the audience applauded him. “I had a lot
of help and support along the way. Judy, my wife, who I love beyond
measure, gave me a hand up to get started. This young man,” he
indicated Billy,” Billy Rivers and a friend of his named Danny
Floyd, showed me a way to learn what I didn’t know; which was
everything
. I ain’t real smart. And this beautiful woman,
Misty Rivers, well, she gave me Judy and Billy, in addition to her
unyielding faith and a good hard kick out the door to get me
started...” Again laughter erupted. “And this beautiful young
lady,” he indicated Janice Reeves. “In the midst of my darkest hour
stepped in and pulled me back from the abyss...”

Applause and cheers erupted into a standing ovation
that drowned out all other sounds for several minutes. When the
noise level fell to near silence, John continued.

“This young man is my friend Joshua Jenkins. He’s
been sick, but he’s been getting better. He and his friends from
the Children’s Cancer Ward are big fans of country music and they
desperately need our financial help. Not the hospitals or the
research centers, but the families who are overwhelmed by the
stratospheric costs. If you can help, have the heart to help; adopt
a family and help them out of a terrible situation.”

When the applause died down once again, John stepped
back to the microphone and said, “I also need to thank my recording
team, band members, and a thousand others who were involved. Above
all, after Janice pulled me from the darkness and showed me it
wasn’t about me, my family, my parents or friends, but all about
the millions of country music fans around the world. Without them,
we, as artists, are a voice crying in the wilderness. So, I thank
them above all others. It’s for them that we pour our souls out day
after day, never knowing what lies just beyond the curve... Thank
you from my heart...Goodnight,” John finished, then bowed to his
audience, who stood and applauded him louder that any before.

John and his family made their way back to their
seats. They accepted hugs, kisses, handshakes and congratulations
until they were back at their seats and watching the stage to see
what would happen next.

The MC stepped back to the microphone and tapped it
gently with his finger. “Might have broke with all the noise in
here,” he laughed when the audience laughed nervously.

“John,” George asked with a large smile. “An old
friend of your father’s is here tonight and he insisted that I ask
you to join him on stage for a salute to your late father. We know
it’s asking a lot of a superstar of your status, but since your
band is already making their way up on stage, could we coax a song
or two out of you?”

On stage John’s band began picking up their
instruments. John stood with a bow all around. A voice up on stage
that John recognized caused him to turn around and stare in wide
eyed surprise. He immediately placed the voice as that belonging to
an old man who had given him a ride to 1-35 the day he set out for
Austin and cautioned him that it was a long hard row to hoe.

“Hurry up John,” Cotton sang loudly. “It just ain’t
the same without you singing and pickinnnn’ them stranggggs!”

John jumped up on the stage and picked up the Fender
Stratocaster, dropped the strap around his neck, reached for the
old man’s hand and shook it firmly. “You knew all along,” John
accused with a smile.

“You’re your father’s son, John,” the old man said.
“He gave you all his talent on the night he died. You’ve made him
proud!”

John smiled and with tears in his eyes turned to the
microphone and launched into Just Beyond The Curve, to a standing
ovation.

THE END

About the Author

In 1991, Larry E. Huddleston, along with a
close relative, was charged and convicted of numerous counts of
bank robbery, armed bank robbery and use of a dangerous weapon
during the commission of a crime of violence. He was sentenced to
292 months for the bank robberies, 60 months consecutive for the
weapon and 60 months supervised release. In total, he must serve
29½ years before he is eligible for release in 2017.

From January 1992 until March 2006, he served his
sentence at the United States Penitentiary at Leaven-worth, Kansas.
He saw it turn from a maximum security prison to a “maximum
security housing medium security inmates”.

After 18 months at Leavenworth as a medium security
inmate, he was transferred to FCI Texarkana, a “low security”
facility.

While incarcerated, Larry became interested in
writing and has since written 29 completed movie ‘spec-scripts’ and
twelve completed novels of several genres, from western to sci-fi,
romance to war, comedy to horror.

You may write to Larry at:

Larry Huddleston #04147-010

FCI

POBox7000

Texarkana TX 75505

The Mistri Virus
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