“Yup.”
“What a load ofshit,” I said.
“The Spiderstold Daphne we tried to run them out of Portland so the Dogs could control themeth trade in the area.”
“We ran them outto keep meth out of Portland,” I said.
“Sundance isdealing with them dealin’ in the skin trade and he’s had enough of it,” Docsaid.
“These fuckersare trafficking?”
“Yeah. It cameto a head when they tried to traffic one of their member’s kids.”
“Fuck me,” Ibreathed out.
“Yeah,” Docseethed. “All I know is this shit’s gonna come to a head sooner than later.”
“It alwaysdoes,” Alamo said.
“Until then, Isuggest we enjoy these cigars, and raise our glasses to Train’s pal Puddin’,”Doc said. “The Beast’s time is comin’.”
The rest of theevening was spent catching up with old friends and swapping stories. After somuch time on the road, it was nice being back on club soil, even if it wasn’tmy home turf.
Melody
Iclosed myeyes and took a deep breath.My hands trembling as I removed my microphone from its stand. My pulsequickened as I moved closer and closer to the edge of the stage. Tonight wasour first show since Puddin’s death, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt thatI could never make it through the night alone. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. Farfrom it.
“Hello,” I said,greeting the sold-out audience, who bathed me in applause, wrapping me in adeep embrace of sound and I paused to fully appreciate the moment. “Thank youall so much for coming here tonight,” I said as the arena quieted. “As youknow, we recently lost a dear friend,” I said, choking up. “And I know he wasloved by a lot of you out there. Especially you dads who’ve brought yourdaughters here tonight.” The sound of middle-aged male laughter rumbledthroughout the audience. “Puddin’ wasn’t only our bandmate, he was our older,wiser, brother and we’ll all miss him for the rest of our lives.” The crowderupted into applause again. “So, tonight, we’re going to do what he’d want usto do. We’re gonna play some music and I’ve brought some friends along to helpme,” I said, introducing my band as they took their places on stage, thenadding, “Please also welcome, from Roses for Anna, on bass, Mr. Jimmy Banks!”
Again, the crowdroared in approval.
I looked over tosee Train, in his place, his eyes locked onto me.“You’ve got this,”hemouthed, and I nodded back.
As we playedthrough the set, I seemed to be working out the various stages of grief withevery song. My emotions ranged from elation to sadness to furious anger.Puddin’ could never truly be gone because he lives inside all of us, but Ialready missed him so much. Jimmy was brilliant, and a natural fit for theband, but he wasn’t Puddin’ and that would take some getting used to.
I’d decided toturn tonight’s show into a benefit concert, with all proceeds going to severalrehab centers across the country in Puddin’s name. Bam and Zeke from Roses forAnna joined us for a few numbers as well as other stars who’d flown in lastminute like Stracey, Jason Maxx, and Brooks Martin. Best of all was thelong-awaited return of the Morgan Family Singers. I swear it was like no timehad passed at all when Harmony, Lyric, and I sang together, and the crowd ateevery moment up with a spoon.
I looked outover the beautiful smiling faces in the crowd, then at my sisters and my band,and my heart felt like it was going to burst. I’d never felt so supported andloved in all my life. It was almost like Puddin’ moved on from being my bigbrother to my guardian angel and I felt safe.
We played twoencores, then everyone gathered onstage for a rendition of “Amazing Grace,”which had been Puddin’s favorite religious song. Train’s acoustic was the onlyinstrument while my sisters and I huddled around one microphone, and my guestsand band sang beside us.
You could haveheard a pin drop otherwise.
“Sing with us,”I encouraged. “Just the voices.”
It was Savannah,the Bible Belt, so everyone in the room knew every word, and Train stoppedplaying as we backed off from the microphones and listened to the crowd singout. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room, including my own.
“Thanks,everyone. You’ve made tonight such a healing experience, and I really can’tthank you enough. I love you all. Please be safe. Goodnight!”
* * *
Train
I followed Melodyoff the stage, the crowd still screaming for her even after essentially a thirdencore.
“You wereamazing,” I said.
Melody hadclearly given every ounce of her blood, sweat, and tears on that stage tonight.
