by The Abbotts
She saw several parents that she knew from school functions, also biding their time, waiting for their children to exit from the concert hall. One woman, Hilda Bryant, who worked on the local newspaper came and shared a small table with her.
“Are you waiting for a Lucien-crazed teen like I am, Hilda?” she asked with a smile at the wild, red-haired woman of fifty.
Hilda shook her wild mane. “No, no husband and no kids, thank God! However, as they wouldn’t allow any press over eighteen in the hall, I’ve sent a junior reporter in to cover the show. I hope he doesn’t get too distracted by it all and actually records, something newsworthy!”
She drank her coffee with a frown on her plain and world-weary face.
“What do you think of this Lucien phenomenon?” asked Kate.
“The usual teenage idol crap, I guess!” replied Hilda who had absently taken out a cigarette from her purse but now realized that she couldn’t light it, in this cigarette-free café. “I’ve seen it all before, from Elvis to Michael Jackson; girls love unobtainable but beautiful young men, but eventually it always passes on to some new discovery!”
Kate nodded. “I guess that you are right, Hilda.”
Just then, a huge crowd of young men and women began to exit from the concert hall. A young man crossed the street, entered the café and walked up to Hilda.
“Well, Barry, did you get the low-down on this Lucien fellow?” asked the gruff woman.
The junior reporter sighed and answered in an almost mechanical voice, “Lucien is a fine, upstanding member of the community. He sings well and his advice to the teens is kind and well-meant.”
Hilda raised a shaggy eyebrow. “Yes, but what else? That’s just like his publicity handouts! Didn’t you record his talk, like I asked you, Barry?”
Barry looked stumped for a moment. “The machine wouldn’t work. I guess the battery was dead. There’s nothing to write about, except that he discourages drug taking and wants us all to be good citizens!”
Hilda sighed. “Go home and get a good night’s sleep!”
The tall boy nodded and obediently went away.
“They don’t make junior reporters, like they used to!” exclaimed Hilda grabbing her bag and making for the exit, where she obviously wanted a cigarette!
Kate frowned. What a strange encounter that had been. The boy had almost seemed hypnotized! Then she paid for her coffee at the service desk and went out into the fresh night air. She saw Ashley and Sarah with a strange boy standing waiting, up the street.
She had expected the girls to be overcome with excitement and was surprised to see them quietly talking in whispers with the boy.
Ashley spoke up. “This is Jason; he’s in our class at school. He lives in Darby Street near us. Can we give him a lift home, Mom?”
Kate smiled at the tall, ginger-haired boy. “Of course! Did you all enjoy the concert?” The three teenagers nodded silently. Then, they filed into the car.
“What was Lucien like?” asked Kate surprised at their unusually subdued manner. Had they been disappointed in the costly show?
The girls looked at her blankly for a moment and then Sarah said in a strange voice, “Lucien is a fine, upstanding member of the community. He sings well and his advice to us teenagers is kind, practical and well meant.”
Kate looked a little shocked. These were almost the same strangely intoned words that the young reporter, Barry had spoken.
“Is this a joke, kids?” she asked in a light manner.
The boy, Jason looked at her censoriously. “Life is not a joke, Mrs. Thomas. We teenagers have a responsibility to change the things that are unjust.”
“And Lucien will show us how!” said Ashley in a very odd voice and Kate had a shiver run down her body. Something was not right!
She was happy to drop Jason and Sarah off at their respective homes and saw a look pass between the three teenagers. She heard the boy whisper “Tomorrow!” and then he and Sarah were gone.
“Now tell me what it was really like, Ashley?” she asked in a pleasant manner, but her daughter just gave her a steely look.
“I’m tired, Mom! It was awesome, just leave it at that!” And she went up to her bedroom, as soon as they reached home.
Kate thought about the teens’ odd reactions after the concert, but in the end, she just sighed and fell asleep, vowing that “she would never understand this new millennium generation!”
***
“Wow!” said Zack Hobbs sucking on a fat cigar, “That really went well, Lucien!”
“Just like all the other towns and cities, Zack!” the young man sat back in a comfortable armchair, in his luxury suite. His green eyes glowed and his lively face smiled with pleasure. “It’s coming together, just like I intended; another year or so and it will be complete!”
Zack looked at his young protégée with mixed feelings. He was pleased with all the success and money that they had made over the last year, but he was never quite sure of Lucien himself. The boy had come to his notice last year, when he had won a television singing show and he had quickly snapped him up as a client. However, he had never imagined the quick success that they would have, around the world.
He had tried to discourage Lucien from shows in hick towns such as this one, Middletown, as a waste of time when they could pack the Palladium, in London or the Disney Theatre, in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, Lucien had adamantly refused to give up touring the smaller towns and cities, saying that, “he wanted everyone to feel his energy and see his genius!”
Zack had further been surprised, when he insisted on holding concerts in the strangest and remotest places. Lucien had held a concert for only a few hundred people at Uluru, the giant red rock in Central Australia and then later, a free concert near Stonehenge, in England.
Other even peculiar sites had been chosen, to display Lucien’s talents, but Zack ever eager for money and publicity had gone along with his client’s decisions, even if he personally disagreed with them. Yet, it was not only the strange places that they visited for concerts that worried Zack, but also rather the way that Lucien spoke to the young men and women who attended them.
All adults were banned from these talks and most of the show, but Zack had overheard some of Lucien’s speeches and he had been seriously puzzled, by them. He spoke of adult conspiracies to keep the young people’s talents and rights suppressed and that one day - Unity of the Youth would prevail! Zack was not quite sure what he meant by this, but somehow it continued to worry him.
Of even of more concern was that he had found out that the free water coolers and plastic cups that they dispersed around the concert hall, were laced with a carefully diluted solution of the Colombian drug, Devil’s Breath. However, when questioned, Lucien merely murmured that it made them more amenable to his music and suggestions and would not harm them, in the long run.
Zack sighed and sucked on his fine Havana cigar, he muted his conscience with the old adage, “Let the future come what will, just as long as his pockets were full of coin!”
“I want more interaction with the really committed boys and girls in my audiences, Zack!” said Lucien with a smile. “Lets start to invite the serious ones who come to see me at least twice, to meet me behind the scenes; particularly the personable ones. You know the prettiest girls and the alpha males at the colleges! The ones who can influence others, to love me!”
Zack looked concerned. “Hey, we’ve got to be careful, Lucien! We don’t want to get the parents outraged or we may get bad publicity!”
“I can manage it! And I’ve got a few other ideas, as well! Just let me plan them and you carry them out, right? Or I can find another manager who will!”
Zack nodded glumly, oh for the old days of singers who got drunk and threw television sets out of hotel windows!
Chapter Three
Conspiracies
The next day, Ashley seemed to be back to her old self and spoke of the concert with more enthusiasm.
“He was awe
some, Mom, really awesome! I’ve just got to go to another of his concerts! There is one at Reinier, tomorrow night. Please let me go!”
Kate looked surprised. “Ashley, you’ve already had two hundred dollars worth of tickets! I’m certainly, not going to pay for any more! I’m not made of money!”
Ashley’s pretty face grew sullen. “You’re always unfair! All grown-ups are. You’ll see what happens when the youth become unified!”
“I think this Lucien has been a bad influence on you teens!” said Kate in a shocked voice. “You are definitely not going to Reinier or buying, any more tickets!”
Ashley glared, thumped away and grabbed her schoolbooks, then headed for the bus stop. Here she met Sarah and the tall, ginger-haired boy, Jason.
“Let’s skip school and plan what we’re going to do next!” he said and the two girls nodded and followed him to the backyard of a deserted house.
Sarah was feeling a little guilty for she had never skipped school before, but she looked at Ashley’s determined face and went along with her and the tall boy.
They sat on old outdoor chairs that were flaking paint and rusty, but reveled in their rebellion.
“I saw on Lucien’s blog page that he is inviting teens like us to meet him backstage, if they attend his concerts more than once! Wouldn’t that be amaze-balls!” Jason said in an awed voice.
Sarah sighed and Ashley looked gloomy. “I’ve already asked my Mom and she definitely said no! And I’ve got no money of my own, except my college account and Mom has the bank book!”
“You remember what Lucien said last night - we have to become resourceful and get what we want from life and not worry about what our parents and other authority figures want!” said Jason soberly.
The two girls nodded. “But how?” they said in unison.
Then they sat and discussed the practicalities.
***
“How did Ashley go, at the Lucien concert?” Dan asked Kate over their coffee break. Oscar listened for her reply with barely contained excitement.
“Not good! She and Sarah and a new friend Jason all behaved most oddly!” remarked Kate with a frown. “They quoted some odd things he said and then she had the nerve to ask me for more money for tickets, to his next concert in Reinier. Can you beat that?”
Dan nodded. “Oh, well, you can’t blame her for trying. I remember when I would have done anything, to see Cher perform. I thought she was really smoking hot!”
“I don’t think that the Lucien concert tours are as innocuous, as most other shows!” remarked Oscar eagerly. “I’ve been studying him online and the places he holds his concerts, are all very strange!
He’s been to Uluru in Australia, the Great Pyramid at Giza, Glastonbury in the U.K., Machu Picchu in Peru, Mount Cook in New Zealand, The Gobi desert and Mount Shasta. You know what those places are, don’t you?” The two co-workers shook their heads.
“They’re the seven major chakra centres of the Earth. The most powerful places where natural energy builds-up. This Lucien guy is planning to tap these energies and I bet you, it ain’t for something good!” he ended with a grimace.
Kate would have usually exchanged amused glances with Dan who also found Oscar’s conspiracy theories improbable, but today, she just shook her head.
“Why would Lucien do that? And couldn’t it just be a coincidence?”
Oscar snorted. “What, he just happened to visit the seven major chakra centres in the world, by chance? No, Kate, he’s up to something!”
Kate shrugged her slim shoulders and looked perturbed.
“Maybe, now he’s gone from Middletown, it will all die down and Ashley will get back to her normal self, again!”
That afternoon, to her surprise, Ashley and Sarah came into the store and the girls apologized for their odd behavior. They explained that they had just been over-excited and tired and Kate, pleased to have the problem resolved, kissed them both and easily forgave them.
“Dan, we’d like to help out in the store, to help Mom and you all. Go and have a coffee and we will serve the customers!” Ashley sounded so sincere that Dan smiled and took her up on her offer.
He, Oscar and Kate made a pot of coffee in the back room and sat down for a rest. Their part-time worker, Elaine had the afternoon off, so the break was truly appreciated. Kate was rather proud of the young girls’ generous offer.
When they were gone, the girls served two customers and then nodded to each other. Jason sidled into the store and bought a cheap memory stick and Ashley opened the cash register and handed him two hundred dollars in change, for his proffered ten-dollar note. Then he quietly left the store.
When Dan and Kate returned from their break, pleased with the young girls’ efforts, Ashley asked if she could spend the night at Sarah’s home, so that they could study together and Kate smiled and nodded her agreement. She knew that she could trust them both and Sarah’s rather strict parents would keep an eagle eye, on them both.
The girls then said goodbye and left the store giggling to themselves and went to meet Jason in a local park.
“Wow! You are so cool, Ashley! We can now all go to the concert in Reinier, tonight with the money you stole and with the money, I got from my Dad! He’s flown out’a town on business, so I can drive his BMW there, as well. We’ll go in style! Did they believe your story about staying at Sarah’s?”
Ashley nodded and Sarah agreed to tell her parents that she was staying at Ashley home. They could then stay out as late, as they wanted. Then the girls went home to eat and change for the evening concert. Jason was eager to borrow his dad’s car, to take them the forty miles to Reinier. Hopefully, his busy father would not notice the miles used, when he next drove the car.
“This is going to be so A1!” laughed Ashley free of guilt and full of excitement. She would do anything for Lucien!
The girls had arranged to meet Jason on the corner, a little away from the house, but he was late in coming. He had just pulled up to the curb, when Ashley spied her mother’s blue sedan turning the corner. She pushed Sarah quickly into the car and then she bobbed down, as her mother drove by.
Kate had seen the movement out of the corner of her eye, but quickly dismissed the tall, blonde figure as being Ashley. She didn’t know anyone with a BMW and surely, she was safely spending the night, at the Wilkins’ home.
She had a long, scented bath and then made herself a simple salad and went and sat outside on the patio. It was lovely not to hear Ashley’s music system blaring away with strident rock music. For a moment, she felt a stab of loneliness. How she would love to share such peaceful moments with a compatible male companion!
Kate had never quite got over the death of her beloved husband Joseph, fourteen years ago and she tended to judge every male she later met, against his caring nature and humorous wit. Somehow any men she met, never quite came up to her deceased husband’s level. She sadly wondered, if she was meant to be a widow, all her life.
There came a knock on the front door and she hurried to open it. She wore a blue and silver striped kaftan that highlighted her large grey eyes. She was surprised to see her employer Dan standing there, but she ushered him inside with a welcoming smile. She had always admired the reserved, but caring man and was grateful for the job that he had given her, when she was grieving and moneyless, after Joseph’s death.
Dan looked very uncomfortable and for a second, she wondered if he had come to sack her and her heart skipped a frightened beat. How would she and Ashley manage without her weekly pay packet?
“What’s the matter, Dan?” she asked him in a soft voice.
Dan sighed. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Kate. I know things can still be tough for you, bringing up Ashley and all”. He stopped for a moment and his pleasant face grew red. “But the thing is, er, when I tallied up the takings, at the end of the day; I found two-hundred dollars was missing!”
Kate looked surprised. “Perhaps, you totaled it wrong or something got misplaced?”
>
“I checked it half a dozen times, Kate. I’m sorry to say it, but someone stole two-hundred dollars from the till!”
Dan looked quite anguished.
“Well, call the police, Dan! It must have been a sneak thief!” Then she suddenly stopped. “You’re not suggesting that it was me or Oscar?”
“No, of course, not!” he blustered. “I think it was Sarah and Ashley!”
Kate felt her anger rise. “Never! You are saying that my daughter and sweet Sarah are thieves! I’ll never believe that, Dan!” and she glared at him, her grey eyes fierce.
“It probably is a mistake, Kate or just a silly trick the girls are playing. Let me talk to Ashley and we’ll get it all sorted!” Dan tried to sound reasonable, but Kate was still mad.
Kate explained that Ashley was at Sarah’s home and she offered to accompany him there, to speak to the girls. She went upstairs and changed into a pair of dark slacks and a grey linen tunic. She knew that Sarah’s parents were quite old-fashioned and she wanted to present a more conservative image.
They drove in silence to the Wilkins’ home, a large, well-kept timber house with a neat garden. Kate walked to the front door and rang the bell. In a few minutes, Mrs. Wilkins opened the door and smiled tiredly at Kate. She had six children and the thin, older woman seemed constantly strained and exhausted by the fact.
“I’d like to speak to Ashley, please Marjorie”. She said in a determined manner.
“But she and Sarah are spending the night, at your place!” replied the harassed woman. “That’s what Sarah told me, anyway! Are you telling me, they’re not there?”
Kate sighed. “Any idea, where they could have gone, Marjorie? The mall or the movies?”
“Sarah’s got no money; she spent it all on that Lucien concert!” she sniffed derisively. “Tried to get her father to take her to Reinier, to see him perform, again. As if, we could afford to do that! They’re all mad about that boy!”