Rock Star

by Kathi Goldwyn

  I wanted to be a part of the girl power I was witnessing. After another shot, I said, “I’m ready to polish. You all ready?” I shook my bottle of polish and unscrewed the cap. They both did the same thing, mimicking my movements.

  Maggy stopped and said, “Wait, I got to go get something. I’ll be right back.” I nodded in her general direction, and she got up, twisted the top of the polish closed and exited the room.

  “I’m having so much fun, Callie. Thanks for tonight.” Leanne beamed at me. I looked over at her and she seemed a bit tipsy. I thought it was hilarious and doubled over laughing, spitting out,

  “Yeah, this has been a blast. It was your idea! Thanks for inviting Maggy, too. She’s a kick.” I blew out a long, alcohol laced breath. I wasn’t going to get close enough to anyone with my boozy breath, that was for damn sure.

  “She’s cool, right? I always have fun hanging out with her.” Leanne leaned back on my bed pulling her legs up and resting her chin on her knees. “I’ve known her for so many years now.”

  I had really needed this, just chill time with the girls. It’s hard to explain why, I just needed tonight so I could unwind from everything happening to me. Since ‘Rock Star’ hit #1 there was such a flurry of activity, and I needed this breaky break.

  After we zoned out for a few, silence permeated the air. I kind of shook myself to reenergize my mind, wake up, and finish my nails. I took hold of my polish again and said, “Where is Ma....” Just as the bus lurched forward. I looked over at Leanne, my heart leaped in my throat. “Oh my god! Who’s...” and got up to run out the room feeling the panic race through me. Who could be driving? There were only the three of us on board and I was completely terrified. Was Maggy okay? Did someone hurt her to take charge of this vehicle?

  I was scared witless, my heart pumping a mile a minute, my hands started shaking and sweat broke out across my brow. I started to get pissed----only crap like this happened to me. Of course, someone was hijacking us. Shit like this always happened to me, goddamnit.

  What the fuck now? Leanne got up too fast, and almost fell over. “Oh My God, Callie, who’s fucking driving?” We both ran through the door. We started running down the center aisle. The bus was weaving and hitting obstacles in its way. I could feel it hitting the walls and even scraping against cars. What the fuck was going on? I freaked out, yelling,

  “I'm fucking scared Leanne, who could it be?” as I ran up the aisle, I saw the back of someone's head, same deep red hair cascading down her back and she was laughing so hard as she drove, her hands white from gripping tightly to the wheel. Maggy! I could hear her laughter way back at the beginning of what seemed like my long ass run. I was mystified. What the hell was this fucking girl up to?

  We could all die!

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled at Maggy. I came to a sudden halt just next to her. I looked over and noticed she’d pulled her hoodie off and was wearing a t-shirt, across her breasts read, #yournumberonefan.[SO45][SO46]

  How the fuck did she plan this? It was a strange collection of circumstances that I think collided like a perfect storm. One moment in time, all the stars aligned, and she suddenly had access to me. The event, girls’ night, had given her the perfect opportunity to find herself on board. She must have thought it was divine intervention but really it was coincidence that her friend had been hired by me, that her husband had been hired by us and that we had our party tonight which gave her access to the bus in a way she wouldn’t have otherwise. She hadn’t planned it at all, things had just worked out perfectly for her to get to me.

  Then I started freaking out, OH MY GOD! I was putting two and two together and everything started to make sense for the first time since the bus jerked forward. This was the woman who had been stalking me since day one! I wasn’t sure how to get her to stop safely, and how to get her to disembark. I felt like I was in extreme danger, and I needed to do something drastic in order to get control of the situation. I was all over the place, but got my emotions tamped down. I needed a tricky plan right now. This was outrageous, I had to get Maggy to stop the bus and leave.

  Then I felt that Deja Vue again, she felt so familiar. I needed to coax it out of her.

  “Maggy, have we met before? You seem very familiar.” I hoped I’d get confirmation that this feeling was real.

  “Long time ago, in junior high. Don’t you remember me, Callie?” Maggy called out. I wracked my mind looking for the connection. I thought back to all those little girls, only one stuck out to me.

  “I had a friend you remind me of her, but her name was Mary.” I was confused.

  “That’s what everyone called me, since my name is Magdalene. But when I grew up, I hated it, so I switched to Maggy.” Maggy said harshly, her voice rough with drink. “We were never friends.” she spit out, bitter vehemence laced every word.

  “I...know.” I carefully said. I sobered quickly. Shit just got real. “I remember you Maggy, you were always so sad.”

  “Sad? You say sad? I was tortured my whole fucking life. But no one cared. Not even you.” She spit the words like daggers. I could hear the heartbreak in her voice. It saddened me, but right now I had to deal with this crazy B. I wasn’t sure how to get her to stop the bus, but I had to try.

  Luckily, she wasn’t driving fast, maybe going 20 or so when I heard a voice outside, “Callie, what the fuck are you doing?” Hunter’s voice, literally screaming at me. I knew instinctively that he was trying to get on board in order to stop us. But the door was locked just like it always was, and he didn’t know what the fuck to do either.

  “Hey Maggy, why don’t you stop, and I’ll sign your sweatshirt?” I was praying I could distract her and get to the key. If I could turn the key to off, wouldn’t the bus just stop? I think Leanne was in a drunken stupor, she couldn’t believe this was her friend, she didn’t recognize her like this. I thought she was so overwhelmed she was slow to react. And my heart went out to her.

  “Leanne, help me?” I begged, I looked at her with a prayer on my face. She had to help me get this crazy girl off the bus, fucking now!

  “Maggy, stop, please stop,” Leanne begged, starting to cry, her face scrunched up, sweat poured from her eyebrows. She was a complete wreck and I felt sorry for her. This was her friend, her person. The one she shared everything with.

  Maggy slowed down even further and finally spoke, “Callie, you’ll sign my hoodie? Really? I love you. I’ve loved you forever.” She spoke in a whisper. I thought I had her! She came to a complete stop, Hunter and the rest of the men unlocked the door and rushed onboard. He grabbed her and threw her down on the floor, he held her down with his knee pressed against her lower back.

  “What the fuck are you doing? You could have killed everyone!” He screamed at Maggy, furious that she had endangered us, though I knew this was more about me. I think the fear of losing me hit him hard.

  “I just want Callie to love me back.” Maggy was weeping into the floor where Hunter had her pushed onto her front. He sat on her back, her head turned to the side. “I’ve wanted her friendship since I was fucking ten years old!” She spit out the words with vile intentions.

  “I’m her #onefan Hunter. I just want....”

  “You’re the one who’s been terrorizing Callie this whole time? You get nothing! Call the police Lip!” Hunter spewed.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Maggy cried out, trembling under the weight of Hunter. “I just want Callie to love me like I love her.” She was crying hysterically now. I think this girl had major problems, but I had no time to figure it out. I was heartbroken that my fun night had turned into such a travesty.

  Lip grabbed her off the floor and dragged her out the door. Just as the bus doors slammed shut, I heard Maggy crying, ”Callie, don’t do this, don’t do this to me! I love you.” her words faded as I turned to Hunter and fell in his arms.

  “Shhhh, it’s okay babe, she’s gone.” He held me tightly, I never wanted him to let go.

 
; I looked over at Leanne, she looked heartbroken. Here was her lifelong friend with her freak flag flying. I felt so badly for her, she had sobered quickly and had gone suddenly quiet. “Leanne, this isn’t your fault,” I tried to reassure her. I put my arms around her and gave her a soft squeeze. “Go to sleep my friend.” She crawled into her bed shelf and closed the drapes. [SO47]Never again. All I could think was how fucked up the whole night had turned out.

  I reached for Hunter who picked me up in his arms and carried me to our room. He laid me softly on our bed, then crawled in and took me in his arms. I passed out soon after that. I felt safe in his arms.

  I was exhausted from all the alcohol I had consumed and everything that had happened just wore me the fuck out.

  What an end to a crazy night. Thankfully we were all safe and sound. I was in the arms of the man who would always protect me, always be good to me, always love me.

  “I love you, Hunter.” I mumbled into his shoulder just before I drifted off.

  “I love you too.” he whispered.

  Epilogue

  Callie and the Turtledoves were the biggest new thing by the end of that first tour. By the time they got back to California, ‘Rock Star’ had been number one on the national charts for weeks. They were a household name and preorders of their first album had broken all the records. It was #1 before it was even released.

  I mixed down the tapes from our concerts and the album was released shortly after we finally returned home. The record label was so pleased that they were already paid back for that $150,000 advance. They were talking about album number two. The Doves had money in their pockets and every time we turned on the radio, we heard Callie’s beautiful voice.

  ‘Dancing with Tomorrow’ was an instant success. Garnering huge numbers of fans, it hit #1 immediately. Callie and the Turtledoves were a singing sensation and guested on every show from Rachel Ray to Ellen to late night. They would sing one of their originals and Callie did a great job in the chair. She was really something sharing road stories. She even told the story of Maggy hijacking the bus. Ellen thought it was incredibly funny, but I still thought it was heartbreaking. Maggy was sent to rehab and got therapy. We all hoped she was going to get well. Her husband David apologized profusely many times over, but I wasn’t hiring them to come back. I hated to do it, but I had to let them go. Lip and I decided the clubs should provide crew for us from now on. It went in the new rider. Leanne was shocked at her behavior. She said, “I guess I didn’t notice that she had gone off the rails.”

  Callie tried to comfort her, “It happens. But keep an eye out for her.” Leanne and Callie remain great friends to do this day. She was slotted to leave with the band for our next tour.

  Callie and I were getting married after our next trip on the road. We had our own bus now, but we’d never forget the generosity of Joni Mead. We’d never forget those early days either.

  Callie took home 4 Grammy’s that year. One for new artist, album of the year, song of the year. And Artist of the year. It was an incredible night and she looked so poised and beautiful up on the stage making her acceptance speech. I was so proud of her. If you didn’t know who she was by then, you didn’t care about rock music. Or paid attention to anything worthwhile.

  I was stretched to my limit trying to juggle everything for Callie. The business side is all behind the scenes and no one really knows or sees what’s happening. But I worked really hard to protect my girl. She was my everything.

  I had been looking at another act to sign in the near future. I had new dreams for this musical genius. I heard his band play just the other night when I took my girl out for date night. He had a fabulous, fantastic voice by this new male vocalist. It would be a different path, a new challenge. A hot rocker would be a whole different kind of act to manage. I was totally up for it. The ideas kept pouring out of me and I was excited for the future of my business. I had an appointment set up to meet him tomorrow at noon.

  Bob recovered from his heart surgery and was watching his diet. He got healthier every day. He wanted to be around for Gaby, Callie and Keri, for a good long while.

  Keri never regained the use of her legs. The nerve damage was just too severe, and she remained in her wheelchair. She learned to accept her fate. We saw them as much as possible. She impressed me how she kept her cheerful attitude every time we saw her. I can totally see how Callie got such a solid spirit from her mom.

  The driver that put her in that chair was given three years in jail for driving drunk. There was no amount of time to pay for what he had done. But at least it was something. Callie and I went to court to watch the trial and got some satisfaction out of the ordeal. We never did hunt him down to make him pay. That could have been really bad for us. We let the law handle him.

  Gaby was walking and talking. He was the best part of our tour really. The memories were so special having him on our bus. It taught us that we wanted our own baby. Of course, we’d take our kids on tour with us. We had learned that we could do anything if we did it together.

  Lip stayed in LA with us. We didn’t want to let him go and after everything we went through, he committed 100% to the Turtledoves. He shared a house with Marko, Ted and Sean. They were a ten-minute drive away. We spent many nights BBQing together. Our little family meant the world to us. And Joni totally understood.

  Sean decided to stay after everything, and we were really pleased. The two of them, Lip and Sean, were really amazing and we couldn't do it without their expertise and wisdom.

  The second album was almost ready to drop. The Turtledoves had new songs they had written on the bus. One in particular was going to jump off.

  ‘Going Nowhere'’ was about our little trip down crazy lane.

  We survived it all. We grew strong together, the entire bunch of us. Ted and Marko were handling stardom well. They helped their parents buy a new house. They didn’t care about money or fame. They were the same men they were before all this happened.

  We knew that as long as we all stayed together, we were going to be the Kings of Rock and Roll.[SO48]

  The End

  From Kathi’s desk,

  I can’t believe it! Rock Star is finished. I hope you enjoyed my take on the rock star trope. I was an agent/manager for 25 years, most of my working years were dedicated to my company Goldwyn Productions. I had a gold panning rig built so Alaska State Fair would hire us and went there twice for work. I managed a mime, built my own circus,the Three Bean Circus and entered the music scene after a couple of years. I spread around tons of money to every person I knew from artist turned face painter to jazzers turned background musicians. This life was exciting and kept me on the run for every year I was in the game. My house was always filled with entertainers, and my kids thought that it was normal to watch a juggling team in our courtyard or listen to incredibly famous musicians in the living room.

  But music changed me. I didn’t book music until I felt confident in the different genres and learned what was the good stuff.

  These road stories are mine to share.

  Thank you so much for reading my book, every author feels the same way as I do. Someone reads our book is the biggest win of all.

  A big thank you goes out to Sara Ohlin. I met Sara during Winter Games and fell in love with her writing, so much in fact I begged her to beta for me. The generosity of the author community blows my mind. So even though she didn’t know me well, she agreed. And she taught me so much with her notes and recommendations. And now we have become good friends. I can’t thank her enough. But if you like a slow burn, pick up one of her books.

  Charity Bailey, always reads my books first. She’s an incredible support, and one of my best friends. I don’t know what I'd do without her cheering in my corner! She’s a wonderfully talented author and if you haven’t read her yet, I’m telling you, your next read should be by her. She’s taught me almost everything I know about writing.

  My group The Dark Angels are my cheerleaders. No one should have
to face self-publishing without an angel at their back. I am so blessed to have met some of the most wonderful women. Women supporting women, oh my heart.

  If you’d like to stay in touch with me, you can join in the fun with The Dark Angels or Wicked Dirty Girls 2.0. They are easy to find on Facebook. Just click and I’ll say yes. I have a lot of fun in my groups, and they help me with decisions I need to make as I’m writing.

  Proofreading by Evelyn Summers, who is amazing, wonderful and wise! She catches all my mistakes. Thank you so much, Evelyn![ES49]

  * * *

  [SO1]How old is she here? Booking her own gigs? Not saying she couldn't. I just can't figure out her actual age here.

  [ES2]Make sure this conversation agrees with the events in Callie's previous chapters as they are slightly different.

  [ES3]choose one or the other because they mean the same

  [ES4]Is it Turtledoves or TurtleDoves? Decide and correct all instances so you are consistent

  [SO5]How old is he here? Are they 12 and 13?

  [ES6]CONSISTENCY: earlier in the manuscript she says that she has no time for love. She also clearly lusts after Hunter. If she is with Hank, make sure you amend the previous scenes to include mention of him.

  [SO7]Okay, I think I just figured out she's still only 17 here, and if he masturbates to her as he did earlier, when she's still underage, that could put some readers off. This is honestly just my opinion and not something that is incorrect, does that make sense? Just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents.

  [ES8]Just wanted to add my own two cents here as Sara is correct that it is a bit taboo and could turn some readers off. But if you want it taboo, perfectly fine. Either way, you should definitely make her age clearer throughout this as there is nothing said about her being at school, just about her having a job, so it's quite difficult to place it.