As they performed, Yan, Yui and Anna all came out to watch.
Pulling up some lawn chairs, they sat and watched enrapt while the little angel at the microphone began to go from humming to something more like open choral vocals.
As the music built up, Tammy picked up on the sound effects and at just the right moment, Jacqueline's angelic voice began to issue forth,
Its the spring time of my life,
I am just a seed in the wind and rain,
I have been plowed, trampled, kicked
I am no stranger to pain
I struggle against the storm
Knowing I need the rain to live,
I face the blazing sun,
And all the power it has to give,
I break the weighted stone,
Whose nutrients I consume
I force myself in deep,
And I push so I have room.
I'm just a little flower.
Whose battered by life's storms
But I will never ever cower
Because I was born with thorns
Yes I was born with thorns.
I see the crafty weed,
The one who simply swarms
I see the mighty oak
Which rains on me acorns
I see the poison ivy,
With toxin in its blood
I see the little mushroom
Who lives in this world's crud
And
I'm just a little flower.
Whose battered by life's storms
But I will never ever cower
Because I was born with thorns
Yes I was born with thorns.
Weeds get slain by sickles
And oak trees break in wind
Ivy gets burned with fire
Mushrooms wilt in daylight
But this little flower
Is every woman's desire!
Yes,
I'm just a little flower.
Whose battered by life's storms
But I will never ever cower
Because I was born with thorns
Yes I was born with thorns!
The adults couldn't help themselves but to leap up applauding, tears of joy in their eyes.
Ep 21, Chapter 5
The days of testing, homework and band practice were intense and exhausting.
The weekend before the show, they did their best to make a full day of it, but Jacqueline was worn out and ended up falling asleep during a break in practice right at 9:00 pm.
Anna carried her up to her bed and the band played on, with Margret doing a poor job of standing in for Jacqueline's divine voice.
They had advanced from twelve songs to fifteen since Bunny had joined the band.
This added another twenty minutes to the show.
They played the whole act ten complete times and rechecked it each time for flaws until it was perfect.
“Do you think she will be up to this?” Rachel asked.
“I know she will.” Margret dismissed the question out of hand, “She may be young , but when the lights are up and the crowd is screaming, trust me, she will be on top of the world again.”
“Okay,” Rachel said with a tinge of dubiousness, “We have to know before Tokyo,” she warned, “Its the world stage.”
“Trust me, I know.” Margret rebuffed her warning, “Jacqueline LIVES for the spotlight.”
“You know,” Tammy pondered, “I kind of sensed that in her early on.”
“Okay girls,” Marge called out clapping her hands, “We got time for one more run before midnight, lets knock it out!”
Ep 21, Chapter 6
Margret climbed into bed next to the softly breathing girl and lay there in the darkness thinking about everything.
Jacqueline was such an enigma!
Some times she acted as uncomprehending as an invalid, and some times she was the wisest person you could imagine!
Other times, she was a helpless lost child, and then at times, she was a cunning vixen who somehow easily overpowered Margret with nothing but the most delicate of touches!
“This is just beyond amazing!” she thought to herself, “How could such a creature even exist?”
Jacqueline rolled over and reached her arm across Margret's chest, resting her head on Margret’s shoulder where she breathed soft little puffs of air on the big girl's neck. At one point she gently murmured “Margie-pargieeee...mmm...”
“I must be delusional.” she decided, “No god or gods would ever be so merciful to a sinner such as me as to send an angel from heaven to me like this.” she lifted her arm out from under Jacqueline and gently stroked the long lush soft black hair as a little tear trickled from her eye.
Ep 21, Chapter 7
“Wait-wait-wait-wait!” Margret sputtered in excited disbelief, “You managed to grab us for a SECOND...I don-I-I -” she softly gasped incredulously, “A SECOND showing at the Staples Arena?”
“I have my ways,” Janice softly boasted with a purr, “I don't expect you to say 'no' to this.”
“Oh we're SO TOTALLY going!” the rocker exclaimed, “Who in their right mind would refuse?”
“What about uhhh...'Bunny' there?” Janice asked.
“Oh her parents are totally getting into this,” Margret assured, “especially now that we're engaged.”
“So is it true you are living at her house now?”
“You'd think that.” Margret snorted, “But I still have my own apartment.”
“Oh.” Janice replied, “I must have gotten bad intel then.”
“Are you spying on me?” Margret asked.
“Knowing the wellbeing of my clients is part of my job dearie,” Janice replied casually, “Is that a problem?”
“Well,” Margret replied distantly, “Let my family do that from now on, okay?”
“Are you firing me?” Janice asked suddenly.
“Not if you keep to your job as an agent and leave my personal life alone.” Margret said in a thinly veiled warning.
“I get ya,” the agent acknowledged, “No more digging through the trash bins and planting trackers on your car.” she chuckled, “See ya at the arena 10pm, ciao.” and she closed the connection.
“She isn't very friendly toward you, is she?” Elaine asked Janice.
“She's a tough chick who doesn't trust people.” Janice shrugged, “Why did you even want to know where she lives anyway?”
Ep 21, Chapter 8
The night of the show, Jacqueline and Margret at the last moment decided to not take a limousine.
Instead, they rode with their parents in the Mercedes, with Anna driving.
Jacqueline's outfit sparkled even in the dim light. She was wearing earrings and a necklace as well, and they sparkled also.
Anna held their passes and being a licensed chauffeur had no problems with credentials.
“You look totally ravishing tonight Jacqi-chan.” Anna purred.
“Thank you, Anna-san.” she replied graciously.
They drove in silence, the radio playing soft classical music from composers selected from Anna's homeland heroes.
It was an hour ride to the arena, and another thirty minutes just getting through all the check points.
For the sake of privacy, Anna pulled an old trick and flipped the license plate down as they entered the last ramp past the final row of LA traffic police.
After this point, the casual observer would simply think that she forgot to close it the last time she fueled up.
Fortunately, traffic was crawling at this point while security did all of its checks to verify everybody in the car was on the right list.
As they pulled in, she stopped at one point, pretended to mess with the hood, and quickly dropped a magnetized fake license plate over the real plate.
Going back to her driver's seat, she proceeded in without even holding up traffic.
The man at the gate wrote down the fictitious plate number and asked for her credentials, looked and
saw the passengers, and waved them through.
Anna remained with the car instead of going inside.
“I'm going to stay here with the car.” She announced.
“That's fine,” Margret said, “Thank you for driving us,” she said, “something fishy is up with Janice, I just feel it.”
“Always trust your instincts darling,” Anna said, “And mind our precious little angel there too.”
“Yes, ma'am!” she promised, then she opened the door and stepped, out, then lifted Jacqueline's dainty little hand which tonight was enshrouded in a rhinestone encrusted silk glove.
The number of flashes this time was so great, it was almost blinding.
Ep 21, Chapter 9
Anna sat in the parking lot and watched everything.
A tall, raven haired woman seemed to be walking up and down the parking way with a clip board looking at license plates.
Slipping out the passenger side, Anna quickly pulled a second fake plate from the gap between the front seats, reached around, snagged the first fake plate and then deftly replaced it with the second, slipping carefully back into the car and squeezing into the leg area of the passenger side of the car where she remained fully out of sight.
She heard heels clicking.
As a shadow passed on the fabric of the front seats, however, she pressed the locking button which made the car's alarm loudly chirp and flash.
The shadow disappeared quickly and she heard the hurried clatter of heels fading down the driveway of the immense concrete parking cavern.
“You was right 'Margie-pargie' ” Anna breathed, “You has trouble on your heels.”
Pulling out her ear com, she called the house.
After the answering machine picked up, she pressed the star button three times, listened for a confirmation beep and pressed a button on the radio.
At home, a high resolution image of Elaine Richutti with a very startled look and a clipboard in her hand printed out in vibrant color.
Episode 22
“Family Ties”
“Why don't you two girls go on a REAL date? Yui asked, “Instead of just going to shows you perform in?
“That's our date mama!” Jacqueline replied while raising her hands in a 'pick me up!' gesture with her fingers all splayed.
“How do you call that a date?” Yui asked unconvinced.
“We have a fine meal, we listen to the kind of music we enjoy, we some times dance, and we get to do our favorite thing in the whole wide world! Sing!”
“Would it have been any better if it were Karaoke?” Margaret asked, looking up from cutting her tuna steak.
“Well...” Yui began.
“They have a point Yui darling,” Yan said, “We did Karaoke all the time, and video games and night clubs,” he put a piece of his own tuna steak in his mouth from chopsticks, “The only difference being we lack the gods given talents these two have to get paid for doing what they enjoy!”
“You really shouldn’t speak with your mouth full papa,” Yui admonished.
“And you shouldn't be so hard on these girls for not being clones of us.” Yan admonished in return.
“So when is your next big concert supposed to be?” Yui asked.
“The Kintoka Center in Tokyo,” Margret replied just before popping a juicy chunk of tuna in her own mouth.
“You guys are getting to be a major event in the world!” Anna commented as she sat down at the end of the table nearest Jacqueline and Yui.
“Yaayy for the big time!” Jacqueline cried out, then took a drink of milk, “Mmmmmmm juicy!”
“We try.” Margret replied humbly.
Ep 22, Chapter 2
“Bunny,” Margret began as they got settled into bed.
“Yes Margie-pargie?” Jacqueline began as she lay her head on the older girl's shoulder.
“Why do you act so different when you are in front of your parents than when we are alone?”
“To remind them.” she said simply.
“Of what?”
“That I am not the prodigy they were expecting me to be.”
“So that is why you do that?”
“Partly,” she replied, “and partly because its who I am.”
“But you're so much more mature around me.”
“Some times.”
“Well,” Margret pondered, “this is true, but still, some times, its like you are altogether two completely different people.”
“Maybe I am,” Jacqueline said, fumbling with her fingers distractedly, “Is that a bad thing?”
“I dunno,” Margret sighed, “As long as you're the person I love and who loves me, that's all that matters to me.”
“I will never betray you Margie-pargie,” she rolled over and kissed the bigger girl.
“But why DO you love me?” Margret asked, perplexed.
“Why does the sun rise?” Jacqueline replied.
“But what good am I?”
“As good as the sunrise” Jacqueline replied, laying on her chest, fiddling with the little ribbon lace at the collar of her pajama top.
“What do you mean by that?” Margret persisted.
“Just what it sounds like,” Jacqueline shrugged, facing Marge's chest, “my whole world revolves around you.”
“That sounds all romantic and stuff,” Margret conceded, “but what if I didn't love you? What if I had never happened to stop in that hallway and stopped those girls that day?”
“I would have died eventually,” Jacqueline sighed, “this life was getting too unbearable, who knows, I might have even killed my self eventually.”
“That's terrible!” Margret stroked Jacqueline's silky long hair, “but what if you had found somebody else to love instead of me?”
“What if you still loved Julie?”
“Huh?” Margret cried incredulously, “I NEVER loved Julie! That was all HER idea.” she paused, “I admit, I tried to, but, it just wasn't there. She's....she's just not...” she ended with a sigh.
“My point exactly.” Jacqueline said, reaching out and softly stroking Margret's side with her left arm and sliding her right arm under her back.
“Why did your parents take me in like this?”
Raising her head and saying in a silly chirruppy robot voice, “ 'We are blorg, resistance is frutile',” making a comic reference to both a television series, a video game character and the high class french brand of fruit juice she drank, 'Frutil`e', which made Margaret giggle, “Really though,” she said in a more serious tone, “Its the Shunokoi family way to protect and look after its own.
“Mama felt you were at risk with all the violence and the continuing advances Julie kept making on you.
“And no, she doesn't know about your past with Julie, she just knows what those various hidden cameras Anna placed showed, and to her, that was plenty of reason to pull you in.”
“Wow.” Margret marveled.
“Besides,” Jacqueline said, “Isn't this better?”
“Well...yeah.” the rocker admitted.
“Why do you put flowers in the sunlight after all?” Jacqueline said rhetorically, “To make them stronger, right?”
“Right.” the big girl agreed.
“Well I thrive better in your presence,” Jacqueline explained rationally, “so its in their child's best interests if you are here. That's pretty simple, yes?”
“Well...yes, now that you put it that way.”
“And besides: you are my thorn.”
“Your what?” Marge asked, “What do you mean?”
“I'm safe when you are with me.” Jacqueline elaborated, “Mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I rely on you to protect me.”
“But what about your parents? Are they better off with me here? They used to work all hours of the day and night,” she worried, “Won't the business suffer?”
“Since you came, we've spent more time together as a family than since I was born combined.” Bunny clarified, “And I can see their health has impro
ved greatly as well. Mama stopped smoking even.”
Bunny Love ( Songs of Love Book 1) Page 20