Nervous beyond all reckoning, Wade struggled to collect himself.
“Chris! Er…Christine! She was a part of my band for over a year, sir. Please…can I see her? I-I have to talk t-.”
But before Wade would finish, the Colonel was upon him in an instant, nose to nose. Wade tried to remain steadfast and not give an inch, but every second in the act was torture to him, when all he wanted to do turn and run.
“The hell on God’s green earth do you think you can just waltz right up to my door and see my daughter?! I’m good friends with the Sherriff here in town. Maybe I should to give him a call and have him toss your sorry ass up on kidnapping charges!”
“Sir, please! Colonel Remban, please wait!”
Wade paused, hoping that his respect towards a military officer would hold up and to his surprise, the Colonel seemed to stop mid-pounce.
“Sir…I only need a moment of your time. Please. I-I drove through three states just so I could speak with you. I only ask that you hear me out. If you don’t like what I have to say…call the cops. I’ll go quietly…sir.”
When Wade finished, his heart pumped overtime with fear and adrenaline as her father continued to eye him up and down. The Colonel squinted his dark eyes and then much to his surprise, he slowly backed out of Wade’s personal space and held the door open for him.
Wade tried to hide his relief and kept his eyes respectfully averted as the Colonel led him across the threshold and into the Rebman residence.
“Thanks, Walter,” said the Colonel, calling out to the elderly gentleman trimming his hedges.
Wade turned and saw the wrinkled face of the senior citizen squint even further at Wade before the Colonel closed the door and walked past him.
“This way.”
Wade followed him obediently through the kitchen and several other rooms and just like the town of Clarksville, Wade couldn’t find a single item out of place in the house. He refused to believe that at a certain point in her life, Chris chose being homeless over living in luxury. Every piece of furniture, every inch of tile, down to the picture frames hanging on the wall seemed devoid of any dust - not even a speck. Wade felt so out of place, dirty even - and he wondered if he would contaminate such a sterile environment. But something else also caught Wade’s attention as the Colonel led him past one room after another: the pictures.
Wade noticed that whatever few pictures there were, they were only of a young Christine and her father. He couldn’t find her mother in any of them. He tried to recall what Chris said about her, but only that she died when she was very young - and even she didn’t know the finer details.
“Sit,” came the Colonel’s voice, making Wade jump in surprise.
He motioned to a cushioned seat along with a few other matching pieces of furniture, a coffee table, and a fancy brick fireplace. But he hardly had time to marvel at such luxurious furnishings. As he sat down, he remarked that yet again, there were no pictures of Chris’ mother anywhere.
“Ahem!”
Wade jumped again as Chris’ father cleared his throat a little too harshly in order to get his attention. However, the Colonel was the first to speak.
“We leave for the airport in less than two hours,” he said, sinking back comfortably into his chair. “You have less than five minutes to impress the hell outta me, son.”
On one hand, Wade breathed a sigh of relief, but on the other, he couldn’t help but notice the irony of the ultimatum - the same one he gave his daughter just over a year ago.
The Colonel gestured impatiently. “Well?”
Wade seemed to snap to the position of attention while sitting in his seat. He rubbed his hands together nervously, but despite what he wanted to get out, he had trouble coming up with the words. After all, he really didn’t think would get this far.
“R-Right! I’m sorry, sir! I just…” Wade began. But at that point, he just wanted to get out some words, if any. “I just wanted to…to tell you…that…I think your daughter Chris-tine! I think she’s…she’s very special.”
But the Colonel hardly seemed impressed with his opening statement and sighed out loud.
“You came all the way here to tell me…that?”
Wade wanted to kick himself for his weak choice of words, and so he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head.
“And to tell you…that-.”
“No, you let me tell you something, son!”
And just like that, the Colonel flew to the edge of his seat and Wade couldn’t help but feel like kitten being shadowed by a lion.
“I don’t know why the hell I’m even going to bother tellin’ you this when I’m fightin’ every gut instinct to throw you outta my god damn house!” The Colonel seethed and his mustache twitched in excited irritation. “But since you have the decency to show me some semblance of respect, I’m gonna let you in on a little family secret.”
Wade had no idea if the Colonel was being sarcastic or genuine, but he listened intently all the same.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen you looking at all the pictures in my home. Notice anything…out of place?”
Wade felt guilty about his gentle spying but meekly pointed out, “Chris’ mother?”
“Very good. At least you’re smart punk ass kid.”
Wade’s eyes fell to the floor but he remained silent, hoping the Colonel would continue.
“What do you think of our little town here, hm?”
“I…think it’s perfect,” Wade admitted.
“Oh? You think so?” The Colonel’s nostrils flared and Wade began to think he had a knack for making him upset. “Well, our perfect town has a bit of dark history I think I should enlighten you to.”
Now, it was Wade’s turn to come to the edge of his seat.
“You see, just after Christine was born…her mother died. Did she ever tell you how?”
“She…said it was a car accident.”
“If only it was that simple,” he stated. “My wife took a walk one day and some punk ass kid, who looked a lot like you, decided to take a joy ride and had his ‘rock music’ turned up a little too loud. And can you guess what happened next, Wade?"
Wade didn’t have to wait long for him to continue. The Colonel pounded his fist into the arm rest of his chair, making Wade jump yet again.
“He took a life that day!”
Wade thought he’d relieve his bowls right in front of Chris’ father but he did his best to hold it together. Eventually, he settled back into his chair, but his words, however, seethed nothing but pure disgust at Wade.
“He broke almost every bone in her body,” he quietly admitted. “She didn’t even make it to the hospital before she bled to death. And I’ll be god damned if my own daughter didn’t grow up listening to the same shit that took Sara from me!”
The truth of it all hit Wade like a ton of bricks and he couldn’t stop as his eyes welled with tears. He knew the gruesome truth behind her father’s underlying hatred of the music that Chris fell in love with. The very reason Wade lived and breathed was the same reason he never saw a picture with the three of them together.
Tired of holding back, Wade let his emotions go and threw everything on the line. And when he spoke again, he was amazed at the tranquility in his own voice.
“Sir? I’m not here to defend the actions that left you without a wife - or Christine without a mother. But I do have a story of my own…and it’s one I think you should hear.”
The Colonel looked at Wade wearily, but allowed him to continue. Wade reached down inside his pocket and felt around for the piece of metal and fabric that he knew was there until he pulled out something small, worn with age and time, and set it down on the glass coffee table with a gentle ‘clink.’
The Colonel reached over and gingerly picked it up - inspecting the violet colored fabric and bronze cast and immediately recognized it as the Purple Heart.
“That belonged to my father. He was an officer in the 442nd Infantry Division and did two tours in Viet
nam. The second time," Wade swallowed. “He came home to us in a box.”
Wade’s voice dropped to an all-time low. He spoke of his sordid past to maybe a handful of people because when he did, he barely kept his emotions in check and this time was no different, nor was it any easier.
“The 442nd was one of the most decorated infantry units in Vietnam. You should be proud of your father,” the Colonel remarked with an uncanny gentleness that Wade never thought possible.
“Try telling that to a distraught five-year old,” Wade replied, although there was no malice in his voice, just a thick knot that he wished to hell would go away.
“One night, I couldn’t stop crying. But my mother came to me, held me by the shoulders and said, ‘Wade, don’t you ever despise the choices your father made. He did what he loved…and he loved you, too.’”
Despite Wade’s attempt to control own emotions, he felt the hot tears literally push themselves out of his eyes and down his cheeks. But in front of Chris’ father, he put embarrassment aside and fought to drive his point home, even if it killed him.
“Sir, please don’t despise the choice your daughter has made because she’s doing what she loves,” Wade begged, staring directly into the eyes of her father. “She has God-given talent, and she doesn’t hold anything back. And you should hear thousands of people scream her name.”
The Colonel paused for a moment before he wiped away at his eyes but Wade couldn’t stop himself when more words rode past his lips.
“And I…am completely in love with her.”
The Colonel’s expression then molded into one of disbelief. He sat and stared at Wade, almost as if he didn’t know what to say. The two sat in akward silence for ages before the Colonel stood up, placed the medal gently back on the coffee table, and walked away from Wade, purposefully keeping his back to him.
Wade watched as he stood there for a few minutes but said nothing. He seemed to be deep in thought and he wondered what he was thinking. Did he get through to him? Will it even matter?
Was he too late?
Then, he walked over to a staircase that Wade hadn’t noticed before, and yelled.
“Christine! Front ‘n center!”
Wade jumped in surprise at the volume of a voice that nearly matched his own. But the reality of what was happening gripped him suddenly. He came to his feet and swiped the medal off the table and shoved it back into his pocket.
As he heard soft footsteps stir to life above him, his heart began to race again. His nerves were beyond shot and he worked hopelessly to try and tidy his unkempt appearance, even running his hands over his messy hair again.
Soon, slender thin legs wrapped in denim slowly began to appear. Bare feet took one fateful step after another until Wade was looking at the female version of Heretic’s drummer. Her hair was tied back into a simple pony-tail and in nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, but if there was any other time Wade thought she looked more stunning, he couldn’t remember it.
“Yeah, Dad?” she said, her attention momentarily diverted to her father. But when she saw Wade in her dining room, she was gripped by surprise. “Wade? H-How did you get here? I thought th-.”
As her voice trailed off, her surprise turned to hurt. “Come for another pack of smokes?”
The pain in her voice was more than what Wade could bear and he could only manage a choked, “No.”
The Colonel cleared his throat and Wade was thankful that he didn’t know what terrible secret she hid within her words.
“He came…to try and talk some sense into a stubborn old man.”
Chris shook her head in bewilderment. “What? What’s going on?”
“This young man here tells me you have a very unique ‘gift’. And he’s done a fine job of convincing me not to let it go to waste.”
This time, Chris and Wade both looked shocked.
“Y-You…you mean…I can keep playing?” she asked on the verge of tears.
He nodded and smiled as best he could through his hardened military demeanor. “Somehow, I just can’t see you doing anything else…despite my best attempts to get you to.”
“But what about the Army? What about-!?”
The Colonel raised his hands to calm his excited daughter.
“You don’t have to go. I’ll call my guy and cancel everything.”
Before the Colonel could say another word, his daughter lunged forward and hugged him warmly.
“I love you, dad.”
At once, her father became choked up.
“Well, now. Those are words I haven’t heard in a very long time.”
Chris looked up from her father and to Wade - the nervous, uncontrollable wreck he was, but she only stared at him in hurtful silence.
Wade want to break down into tears and beg for forgiveness, but he found it more difficult to say something to her than he did to her father.
“Christine,” he started cautiously, trying to control the waver in his voice. “Please forgive me. I-I don’t know why I said those horrible things to you. I was…I was an asshole.”
Chris hardly appeared convinced.
“How do I know you’ll never say something like that ever again?”
The guilt and shame returned to him tenfold. His mind rummaged for the right words - hoping that they might possess some redeeming quality. But then, he let it all go and spoke from his gut.
“Because…I don’t care if Heretic plays anymore,” he began, wiping at his tears almost angrily. “You…are my music. And I can’t…sing…without you.”
Chris broke eye contact with Wade, but he could see the emotion in her eyes. If he could just find a thread of forgiveness, it would give him something to work with.
He continued to stare at Chris while tears spilled out of his eyes, but no longer cared about losing his composure in front of her father. The only person he cared about remained horribly quiet.
“I understand if you hate me,” Wade continued. “Even I hate me.”
“That’s putting it mildly…” she grumbled.
Wade sighed. “If it makes you feel any better, Joe beat the crap outta me.”
Chris perked up. “H-He did?”
Wade nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, but no matter what, more tears came.
“Oh, yeah. You shouldda seen ‘im. He definitely went Jet Li on my sorry ass.”
Chris looked at him and smiled. It was small, but it gave Wade hope.
“But he also beat some sense into me,” Wade added.
“How much sense?” she asked.
“Enough to know that if I ever hurt you again, you’d probably never find my body.”
Chris broke into a laugh, but she quickly masked it under a fake scowl. When Wade looked over at the Colonel, his mustache just barely gave away his grin.
“And…he made me realize that I’m absolutely nothing without you.” Wade watched as Chris stepped even closer, and for some reason, it gave him the power to keep going - to spill every word and every emotion that made him crazy for her.
“Take my band, my money, my music. Hell,” he said, not caring if they were already gone. “You can take my voice for all I care. But please,” he begged. "…don’t make me leave here without you.”
Wade could have kept going. In fact, he wanted to, but when Chris closed the gap in a just a few strides, he held her as she wrapped her arms around his ribcage. He laughed like a happy fool and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Os told me everything,” Wade explained. “I had no idea he called your father-.”
But Chris stopped him and motioning for silence. “I…don’t care about any of that.”
She came forward and kissed him on the mouth. The warmth and fullness of her pouting lips was something that Wade sorely missed, but out of respect for her father, he pulled away.
As much as Wade never wanted the moment to end, he felt a familiar buzz coming from his back pocket. Confused, he took his phone and saw his agent on the caller ID.
&n
bsp; “Uhm - it’s Mike. Can I take this?” he winced.
“Some things never change,” she said, smacking his chest playfully.
She walked back over to her father as Wade brought the phone to his ear. He cleared his throat and tried to shake off the emotional battle before he spoke.
“Yeah, Mike. What’s up?”
“HOLY-SHIT-JESUS?! WADE?!”
Joe was screaming so loud, Wade’s ears rung and he held the phone away for a few moments before his head stopped echoing.
“Joe? Calm down, wouldja? What’re you doin’ with Mike’s phone?”
“OH SHIT JESUS! I-I’m sorry! It’s just that we’ve been trying to get a hold of you for-fucking-ever! You wouldn’t answer when I tried calling you, so Mike let me use his! Yeah! Yeah I got him, man! What? No, no not yet…”
As Joe’s voice trailed off with other excited voices in the background, Wade tried to steer him back on track, but he sounded unusually hyper.
“What’s gotten into you? What the hell’s going on?”
By now, the conversation caught Chris and her father’s attention.
“OH MY GOD, MAN! SHE WON! CHRIS WON THE FUCKING COMPETITION!”
“No way,” he whispered back in shock. “You mean she wasn’t disqualified?”
“Hell no, man! Dark Water was pissed! Rick wanted ‘em to throw out the results, but they didn’t! Competition rules didn’t say anything about a girl entering! Chicks wanna be just like her and guys think she’s fuckin’ hot! Our sales are through the roof, man! You should see it! It’s all over the news! It’s everywhere, man!”
As Wade held the phone away from his ear again, he laughed and wondered when he would finally have his fill of irony.
“YOU GOTTA BE HERE, MAN! YOU JUST HAVE TO!” Joe screamed in utter excitement.
“What? Whoa, man. Slow down. Be where?”
“Wade? Wade, what’s going on?” Chris asked.
She approached him expecting news but Wade was too busy trying to decipher the heavily coded language of an over-excited Joe Bedden.
“OUR NEXT CONCERT, MAN! IT’S RIGHT HERE! RIGHT HERE IN FUCKING OMAHA, NEBRASKA!!”
“Joe! Joe - listen to me, man-!”
“WOOOO-!!”
“Man! I’m counting on you to get things ready! You know how I run things! Joe!”
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