Loneliness Trilogy Bundle Boxset (39 page)

“Ohhh, don’t, or I’ll throw you on our bed right now,” I tell him.

He lets me go and I see the tent his towel is making.

“You are going to have to wait. We have a concert to put on!” I slap his wandering hand away and push him off of me.

“Have water with you? Let’s go,” Marcus says, folding my hand inside his.

I tremble, knowing this will be the first time Lizzie sees me performing.

“I’ll take video and snaps through the entire concert. This way, we can give Lizzie lots of good memories,” Marcus promises.

Chapter 26

I
am getting excited and nervous at the same time. I love performing in front of a live audience, but at the same time, I am worried about what Millie and her group have in store for us! We arrive at the city green and Marcus drives to the area that has been reserved for the band and the city employees who have set up the stage, lighting and sound system. We walk to the stage and I hear some disturbing noises. Looking around, I spot Millie’s group, holding signs and shouting pre-determined phrases. My stomach does a small flip-flop. The signs say, “Stop artist groups from benefiting! Artist groups and musicians are evil!” Individual members shout things such as, “Fight back against drug use! Protect your children!”

I feel a shiver of apprehension. We can only set the sound system so high before we are in violation of sound ordinances - if we cannot drown out the noise of this protest group, the concert will be ruined! I look around for security but so far don’t see any. Marcus ushers me to the rest of the band.

We start our sound checks and then began to play. At first I think everything is going well, before I realize that the audience can’t hear us. We stop after the first song and confer with the sound guys. They tinkered with the sound as much as they could. Still we - and the audience - can hear the sounds of the protest group.

I look around - Oh, no! The protest group have moved closer to the stage! I look at Tim and his face is grim. He shakes his head. A police officer approaches and talks to us.

“We have as many officers as we can spare here. We have several civilian men who have volunteered to form a physical barrier between you and the protesters. Would this help?”

Tim grins and nods.

“Yes, sir, it would!”

The officer leaves the stage, beckoning to the men, who follow him.

Before we begin our next song of this first set, I glance back. Lord! A good forty men or more are standing, shoulder-to-shoulder with their backs to the stage! They are facing the protesters, giving them the message that the audience want to hear the music. Good!

We are relieved. The group continues to perform, playing the first set. As the set ends, we receive thunderous applause from the audience, who appear to be giving the protesters their own message.

I look at the men providing a physical barrier - they know they are forbidden from engaging the protesters, so they simply stand, providing a solid line of male resistance to hatred. We leave the stage and troop into the trailer set up for us. I gulp down water and sit down, shaking slightly. This is definitely a different situation to what I am used to! Nigel comes in, expressing excitement that the concert is going so well.

“The police are guarding the stage so nobody can destroy instruments or sound equipment. Of course, anyone would be stupid to try - they would have to pay for the replacement costs of any damaged equipment,” he says.

“I don’t know what else can be done,” Tim says.

“We can only get up there and give the audience our best.” I touch-up my makeup and fuss with my hair. “I am not going to let Millie and her awful group get the best of us!”

Marcus brings me some hot tea and I try to relax. We have to be back on stage in a few minutes. I close my eyes and try to drown out all the drama and focus on the positive.

After ten minutes, we go back out onto the stage and prepare for the second forty-five minute set. This is the one where we play some of our new music that our fans haven’t heard yet. A song that I recently wrote is one of the pieces we perform. After our final song, the audience beg for an encore, so we troop back onto the stage and play two pieces which we have selected ahead of time. I feel alive on stage and enjoy performing these last two songs. I spot several friends and family members in the audience and wave. Everyone seems to have had a great time, despite Millie and her groups’ best efforts to destroy the concert.

We find mum, dad, Lizzie and Marcus’ parents. Lizzie is sound asleep on my dad’s shoulder. I feel Marcus stiffen next to me and look in the direction in which he is staring - Millie is standing, not ten feet away from us. She’s just looking at our small group.

Marcus’ parents look at her. Nobody moves.

Finally, Millie turns and leaves, her back straight and her head high.

We all walk to the performer’s section of the parking lot and dad slips Lizzie into her car seat, buckling her in securely.

“You lot did a very good job up there, notwithstanding the noise of the protesters. You will get only positive reviews for this,” he says.

“I only wish…”

“Mum, I know,” Marcus says gently. “She’s made her choice. All we can do is accept that.”

Ruby sniffs once, holding back her tears.

I feel for her. Really. Millie is her only daughter. But I have to protect my family, too. I put my hand on my stomach, thinking of the growing little pea pod inside of me.

It is Monday, and we have been clipping reviews from all the papers. By all accounts, the concert was a huge success! The city’s accountants are still counting all the money raised from ticket, food and drink sales. We should know in a few days how much has been raised.

I find myself reading accounts of the concert and the protest, held just beyond the stage area. Uniformly, all the papers treat the protest and the church group harshly. Given that The Lonely Lovers put on a concert that helps the homeless, particularly during the cold winter months, the reports are justified. The truth is, I am thinking that this benefit should become an annual thing - why help groups in need only once? Why not hold a concert every year and benefit the homeless more consistently? Something good can come out of all this.

I raise this thought in the meeting on Monday, and my thoughts are well-received.

“Would we want to benefit the homeless only or any groups in need of help?”

“Why don’t we discuss this with the mayor?” I ask. “He could tell us more about what is needed.”

“One good thing is that you already have the basics in place for an annual benefit concert, so you won’t have to do nearly as much work as you did for this year’s concert,” Marcus points out. “When you talk to the mayor, find out if Saint Albans would want to commit itself to an annual concert - my guess is he will say yes.”

Instead of practicing, we go over all that happened in our performance. We do this after every performance - kind of a debriefing that shows us where things went well and where we can do better. We finish just after noon and go home.

After feeding Lizzie and putting her down for a nap, we attend to the emails and voice mail messages. One of these is from the city’s accountant - the concert drew several thousand pounds! This money will be used to buy blankets, coats, shoes, gloves and mittens for the homeless! If there is anything left after buying these items, it will be deposited into an interest-bearing account so more items can be bought as needed. Oh, my God! This is much better than even I expected! I tell Marcus and his eyes go round.

“Jo, you and The Lonely Lovers will have to do an annual concert now! Every summer!”

I agree. This could be the start of something great.

Marcus, Lizzie and I go to the maternity shop - by now, I need to buy maternity clothing - I cannot fit into my regular clothing any more. We find several cute maternity outfits to supplement the maternity clothing I already have from being pregnant with Lizzie.

That weekend, Marcus’ mum and dad call us, asking if they can come out and talk to us. We set up a day and time to get together.

On the day when Ruby and Andrew have asked to come by, we cook a meal for the five of us. I make my special roasted turkey and vegetables. Strawberry trifle for dessert. I have a feeling that we are going to need some comfort food to get us through the evening. I also pull out a couple of bottles of wine in preparation.

“Mum, dad, come on in. Lizzie’s playing in the family room and Johanna’s finishing up with dinner preparations,” Marcus says.

They all walk into the family room and kitchen and Lizzie, looking up, smiles widely.

“Gram! Grampie!” Trotting to them, she gives them a big hug and they give her a small gift bag.

“Lizzie-girl, what do you say? Before you open the bag, what do you say?” I prompt.

“Thankyouverymuchgramandgrampie!” After this hurried “thank you,” Lizzie tears the bag open and nearly dives into it, so eager is she to see what is inside. “Mum! Doll!” Out comes a beautiful doll and she begins turning it this way and that, exploring it.

Marcus beckons Lizzie to him. “Come here, Lizzie. I can open the package for you.” A few minutes later, the doll is free of the hard plastic and Lizzie is happily playing with her newest gift.

“I hope you don’t mind, Jo, but I wanted to distract her so we can talk about…Millie,” says Andrew. “We have a fair idea of where all this comes from, but…why? We don’t. The concert the other night, when she was looking at us as you put Lizzie into your car…that highlighted the separation between us, and it hurts. We have been reading news accounts in the papers. Her church and group have been treated very harshly in the press. We have been reading these articles and, in every one of them, the group have been described as ‘crackpots’ and even as a hate group. I don’t know the official definition of a hate group, but what concerns me the most is that this group she has started and the U.S. groups to which she has belonged certainly do hate some elements of our society.

“Johanna, I am the most worried about you. If it is just Millie, that’s one thing, although that is bad enough. Millie has always held very strong beliefs and opinions. I am very worried that, now she has this group, Johanna, she - or members of her group here in Saint Albans - could go after you and cause you and our grandchild physical harm. We do not want that. It is scary - it petrifies us. We are just having a hard time believing that our own daughter is mixed up in this…this…horrible group. Now, I am sure Millie has read the same news accounts. This will displease her greatly, to say the least. I’m sure she thinks that her group, beliefs and recent efforts are all justified, so as she reads these articles, I know she becomes angry. And this is just why I am worried. Ruby and I read your newspaper interview, and we watched the television interview. You were…so diplomatic in not putting her or her beliefs down. We know this. But she won’t see that. All she will see is that you spoke out to the media, defending The Lonely Lovers. This…could…potentially put you, your unborn child and Lizzie at risk of physical harm. Now, how do you treat her visits?”

“Dad, we keep that rear gate locked at all times. She has come by on numerous occasions and we have never let her come past that gate. She has tried - the last time was the night before the benefit concert. We ended up calling the police. She…I hate to say this, because she is my sister…but she is not welcome in our house. Given what she has said about Johanna, Lizzie and the baby, I cannot, in good conscience, allow her to be around them,” Marcus says.