My name had turned into a chant.
“Who the hell is calling me?” I asked. “Literally everyone I know is backstage right now.”
“Give yourself a little credit. I’m sure there’s some baby mama out there you haven’t accounted for.”
“Says the guy with twelve kids from three women.”
“Six kids.”
“Interesting that you didn’t correct me on the number of women. Honestly, Lassen, I don’t know how you do it. I look at you and I think, ‘Now that’s an icky dude.’”
“Ha.” As was customary, Lassen’s enjoyment was abruptly cut off. Like those people who always sneezed three times, Lassen only laughed once. “Please, Keith, you’re too kind.”
“And I’m not even talking about your spare tires. You have a leaking problem. Like seriously, man, you need to get it checked. When you eat garlic, it oozes from your pores. I used to be able to smell you all the way back in my bunk. I swear you’re the only thing standing between Jake and a pack of blood-sucking Yogi vampires. And, what’s with the crumbs in your beard? Don’t give me that bullshit about having something to eat if you get hungry, because I know you, Lassen, and you NEVER miss snack time.”
He spit a mouthful of kernels to the ground, he tipped his upper lip the only indication he still found my judgment against him amusing, and as always, the mystery of his animal magnetism went unsolved.
My name continued to echo through the stands, and even though I assumed it to be a former fling I had no use for, curiosity got the best of me. I climbed up onto the second rung of fencing surrounding the stage and looked out over the sea of faces. The screaming grew louder and more intense as I shaded my eyes with my hand and followed the sound of my name. My eyes came to a complete stop on a woman standing heads above everyone else in the stadium. I’m not exaggerating here when I say she was a good ten feet tall.
“What the hell?” Was the woman on stilts? Did she not realize there was no more perfect way to get your ass kicked at a rock concert?
The wind picked up in that moment, and it was then I caught the bright red curls blowing in the breeze. That color. I’d only ever seen it on one other person.
My heart beat a little faster as I climbed to the third rung to get a better vantage point. I could now see the woman was not on stilts but on the shoulders of an equally tall man, and although her face was obscured by distance, I could see enough to know it was none other than…
“Shannon O’Malley?” I yelled, my voice easily soaring over the masses.
“Yes!” Her joyful screams filled the stadium as she waved. Shannon had an easy way about her that had always made me smile, and today was no exception. But she seemed in no mood for niceties, because the second she got my attention, she diverted it downward. I followed her overt gestures, but all I could see were the heads of thousands of people milling about.
And then a name floated through the fairground. “Samantha Anderson!”
It was almost as if the seas had parted and suddenly there she was, her face buried in her hands, as brown strands streaked with gold fanned out around her.
“Sam!” I screamed, not even trying to maintain a level of cool. It seemed only fitting that the only woman I’d ever loved – the one I’d been pining over for years – had come back only after I’d finally put my life back together. Sam was the prize – my chance to right the wrong and to close a wound I’d ripped open so long ago.
“SAM?” I hollered like a giddy little kid, and this time, she lifted her head. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I knew she was staring back at me, and that was all the incentive I needed. I couldn’t get to her fast enough.
“WAIT THERE! DON’T MOVE. I’M COMING TO YOU!”
And then I hastily scanned my surroundings. Lassen was standing there in surprise at my little chick-flick moment, a sunflower seed stuck to his drooping lip. Clearly, he was going to be of no help. My eyes continued the search. The only legitimate way out of this area was around the back and then out the left side of the stage. But that would take too long and get me even further away from her. Like Sam had taught me, the fastest way to get from point A to point B was a straight line, and I intended to honor that theory now.
Bounding off my perch, I shoved the bag of sunflower seeds into Lassen’s hands and took off at a full sprint. Having worked on the tour, I knew leaping the barricade was a big no-no, and the security guards shot into action as I raced by. But I was too fast and too determined for them to stop. Profanities chased after me as I hurdled over the barrier and crash-landed into a pile of sweaty bodies. Instead of cradling my fall like what would have happened in that cheesy movie playing in my head, the extras – that is, the concertgoers – just let me drop to the ground in a heap of good intentions.
“Would it have killed you to catch me?” I complained to the crowds before leaping to my feet. Multiple bones in my body popped back into place. Yeah, that was going to smart in the morning.
An angry burly dude approached, ready and willing to ruin my romantic gesture, but if I’d learned one thing in life, it was to run the hell away from danger. And with that in mind, I darted past the strategically placed blocker and moved with purpose through the crowds. It wasn’t until I was at ground level that I realized I was lost in a labyrinth of bodies and could no longer see the circus act that was Shannon and her human ladder.
“SAM!” I hollered.
And then, like honey to my ears, I heard her voice for the first time since that day on the beach when I’d walked out of her life.
“KEITH!”
With renewed vigor, I ducked, squeezed, and scurried my way through the milling factions toward the girl of my dreams. And I was getting closer until the screech of guitars put a stop to my forward motion. The first chords of Jake’s song blasted through the speakers, effectively rendering me as helpless as a kid stuck in a maze.
“Sam!”
She couldn’t hear me anymore. I knew that, but calling her name kept my eye on the trophy as I pushed through a crowd that had taken to jumping up and down to the beat. I wasn’t sure which way I was going anymore, but I pressed on, determined. Somewhere in this mob was my future, and I would stop at nothing to get it started.
