Chapter 2: On The Road Again
"If I may have your attention?" Elwood stood in front of a door at about 9 the next morning, directing the band to come to him. "I have something to show you."
He opened up the door and out stepped Melody, wearing jeans, sneakers, and a v-neck sleeveless pink shirt. "Call me a something again El, and I'll get ya!" the band exclaimed in surprise and welcomed Melody back with hugs, leaving Alan out of it. The trumpeter looked at her with an expression of longing hidden behind his shades and stood by Matt's Mercedes.
"Thanks, guys I missed you too!" she laughed. "Oh, Matt, nice car! I see I'm not in the German car club alone!" she threw her things into the Ford.
"Yeah? What kinda car you got?"
"Audi A6."
"Their cars are real nice. Still have your Mustang?"
"Nope. I had to junk it years ago. I blew the transmission and it was too expensive to replace."
"Was it just age that did it?"
"There might have been something about drag racing a Mazda Millennia..." Matt laughed and hugged her tightly.
"Glad to have you back again."
"Glad to be back again."
Melody slid into the Ford with Tom and Buster in the backseat. Elwood was accosted by an extremely fat man asking if they would hear his band play in the next lot, but Elwood politely declined and said that they had a schedule to stick to. Mack gave the man some encouragement and they were on their way.
"So Buster, tell me about yourself, hmm?" Melody asked, leaning on Tom with a broad grin on her face. He wrapped an arm around her and gave her a hug, grinning, and was delighted that she had not changed in all those years.
"Um, there's not much to tell," Buster was used to being quiet when the adults were talking. Even Elwood hadn't asked anything about himself yet. "The sisters told me I was dropped off at the orphanage when I was a few weeks old and that was it. My mom had been really poor and she couldn't afford to keep me, so she brought me in and dropped me off. My dad was a druggie and he didn't even know my mom had me. I don't know their names or anything else."
"It's probably best you don't go looking for that information, kid," Mack said gently from the front seat. "what matters is you're here now."
Buster gave Mack a grateful smile. "Thanks, Mack."
"What do you like to do, Buster? What are your hobbies? Do you like animals?"
"I do. We had a talking bird at the orphanage once and one of the kids taught it all kinds of swear words," everyone started laughing. "the nuns didn't like that, neither did they like it when the bird started making belching and farting noises!"
"I can imagine!" Melody chortled as she wiped a tear from her eye.
For the rest of the morning, Melody and Tom bantered with Buster until they got off at a rest stop to fill up the cars' gas tanks and their own tanks as well. The band took up 4 tables in a cafe the size of half a football field and Duck asked Melody what she had been doing the past 15 years.
"Not really that much." the horn section was a good ways over so Alan wouldn't overhear her. "I dated Alan for 7 years, he left me, then my dad and brothers moved from Florida to Wyoming and my dad was getting on in his age, so I spent 3 years with them out west. I came back to Calumet city when he died and my two brothers moved to opposite coasts. I did a few years full time touring with some popular acts but got sick of the arrogance that comes with that sort of thing. I took up secretarial work at a law firm and I still like to gig on and off."
"Not bad," Duck complimented her. "do you know what exactly happened between you two?"
"I couldn't tell ya, Duck. All I know is at the end of the 7 years he was touring and I was touring and since Alan's dad died he'd become really distant with me, I'd schedule my gigs when he was done with his so we weren't home together anymore. Quite frankly I'd had better conversations with a brick wall." Matt and Steve chuckled, stealing furtive glances at the trumpet player, who had been talking with Lou.
"That's Alan for you." Steve remarked. "If he's got something on his mind and you can't draw it out of him, he'll go nuts."
"If nuts is growing a ponytail, then Alan is looking at nuts in the rearview mirror." Matt started giggling. Melody nearly choked and ducked her head down so nobody else saw her cracking up.
"Still, it sounds like one of those mid life crisis things and he didn't know what he wanted anymore." Steve had seen many men go through it, though he himself never had.
"I'm not inclined to speculate on it, boys." they finished up and walked around a little bit to loosen up their legs and get a little exercise in.
"Know what Lou told me last night?" the 4 of them sat outside at a round picnic table.
"What, Steve?"
"Well, Lou said that Alan told him that he hoped you'd be coming on this tour with us. Lou thinks that he's been pining for you."
Melody didn't quite know how to handle that information. "I don't know if this is good or bad. We had a great run, but he ended it and I took that as the official word it was over."
"Yeah, but I kind of think he wanted you to come after him," Duck told her gently. "sometimes people do that for attention."
"Crazy," she muttered. "I was never good at handling relationships anyway."
"So let's picture it like this: Alan left you, he wanted you to come after him and ask him why, then you could have had a nice heart to heart chat and mend things up to how they used to be," Matt supplied. "but you didn't, he might have gotten depressed over that and didn't know what else to do. Then he hears you were in Wyoming and automatically thinks you got married and moved out there. Where does that leave him? Sad because he thinks you didn't care about him enough to come after him and talk."
"So he saw you today and didn't know what to think or say so he didn't do anything at all." Duck finished off.
"This is all supposition but suppose you're right? What happens next?"
"I think your instinct will guide you. You can always have Elwood put you in the same room with Alan like Jake used to."
"Oh boy, there's something to think about any way," Melody humored them. "so anyone know where Elwood went after Jake died?"
"Your guess is as good as ours."
"I'll ask him that tonight." Melody stood up as she saw everyone leave the cafe.
Nobody said much in the car on the afternoon drive. Buster was a little tired so Melody let him sleep on her lap while Tom chatted with Mack for a little while. Thinking about her relationship with Alan, she remembered the time when they were living together and he'd gotten the news that his father had died.
A ringing sound jerked both of them out of their slumber and Alan reached over and grasped the phone with his right hand. "Yeah?" he asked sleepily, trying not to disturb his girlfriend. "Yeah, he's my dad. What? OK thanks, goodbye." he hung up, the shock rendering him numb for a long moment, then it sank in. "Oh god!" he sat up, buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Melody gave him a few moments to himself then turned to face him.
"Alan?"
"Go back to sleep, Mel."
"I couldn't. Not when you're so upset. What is it?" she had a good guess what it was. Sitting upright, she rubbed his back and gave him comforting words while he composed himself enough to tell her what had gone on. Melody embraced him and let him grieve as long as he needed. Putting her mind on autopilot, she soothed him when she sensed he'd worn himself out. She tidied up her boyfriend the best she could, making sure that he went back to sleep. It was around 6 AM when he got the news and about 8 AM when she got up for the day. Melody knew that Alan didn't want to deal with all the arrangements that had to be made, as he was an only child, so she set herself up to take care of everything.
When Alan woke up again, he found that Melody had booked two tickets to Florida, was packing up their things as needed, and was waiting for a callback about a memorial service at a church.
"You're amazing, Mel." he kissed her on the cheek. "When do we go?"
"In 2 hours." she zipped up a duffel bag and gave him a slow smile. "Try to relax the best you can."
"It won't be easy."
Once they got to Florida, Alan had to play his part in setting aside the clothes to be put on the body for burial, arranging for all his father's friends and relatives to come, checking for a burial plot, buying the casket and vault. Melody arranged for the memorial and graveside services, helped Alan buy the monument and get it inscribed correctly. She hadn't met Alan's father and though she went to the services, it was a gesture of support to Alan than anything else.
For the next few weeks, they took care of packing up the estate, having the consignment shop go through the house and buy what they wanted, then they put the house up for sale. Alan and Melody came back to Calumet city shortly afterwards.
Alan fell into a depression of sorts, not being able to have any fun, pleasures of the past bored him, and Melody had to watch him sink further into himself. One night she'd had enough of his depressive moping and read him the riot act, telling him she'd made an appointment with a shrink that he was going to, even if she had to tie him up and drag him along. Mercifully he did agree, both went, and Alan was diagnosed with depression. Medicine was prescribed along with more visits to check his emotional status, and after a few months of treatment, he was well on the road to recovery. The trumpeter resumed his passions, was more affectionate with Melody than before, and she in turn fell deeper in love with him.
One night long ago he had presented her with a special gift as a way to say thanks for all she had helped him through in that turbulent year. It was a plain silver ring with an inscription on it, "Forever yours, love Alan." Melody pursed her lip as she ran her finger over the silver band that she still wore regularly on her left middle finger. It was a reminder of the great relationship they had in the past and Melody reflected on the good times whenever she had a minute.
"Mel?"
"Huh?"
"Come on. Suppertime." Tom told her as they got out of the car.
In Bob's Country Kitchen, the new trio of blues brothers were in the bathrooms while the rest of the band tucked in to supper. Melody sat with Lou and Willie as the others chattered around them.
"I went on tour with Alan shortly after you guys broke up," Lou adjusted his voice slightly. It wasn't likely that Alan would overhear but he wasn't taking any chances. "he was crushed you didn't come after him."
Melody sighed. "I know I committed a serious social error," she admitted. "honestly, I'd think that no note means that he didn't want anything else to do with me."
"He says he left you one."
"I never found one."
"Huh. I'll have to tell him that. Anyway, I'm not trying to blame you for anything. If you wanted some...closure that he was miserable without you, then I can tell you that he definitely was. He looked like a lost boy without you. He seemed to snap out of it after a bit, but still."
"Um, that's OK."
"He was convinced for a time that you met a new lover and ran off with him. When Murph here told him that you had left for Wyoming, he told us that you must have met someone new." Willie watched as Melody gazed out the window for a minute.
"I suppose it might be natural for him to think that. I had to move out there for a few years because my father was ailing and my brothers needed me," she sighed. "he died, my brothers moved on, and I was there to help Alan through his dad's death, but he wasn't there for me." Lou and Willie did not fail to note the bitterness in her tone. "Did Alan even know that I moved back to Calumet city?"
"I think he lost touch with almost everyone in the band in the past 5 years when he became a mortician." Lou reasoned. "He was never big on rehashing the past anyway."
"Tell me about it. But anyway, how has he been otherwise?"
"The same as usual. Polite yet cranky. He's never dated since you."
"Oh, is this a fact?"
"Yes. He's turned down several females since you. Alan went into the mortician field because he'd deal with people in grievance and all of that and there was no chance of him landing a date, etc. He still plays the horn mind you, but discourages female company."
"I left a legacy it seems." Melody took a drink as Elwood peered out of the restroom door and turned back. A state trooper came in, questioning the band on who owned the Ford Crown Victoria outside.
"Why are the cops looking for Elwood?"
Willie leaned in closer. "He got some of the Russian mafia drunk when they came to demand a payment from me. The mobsters like to hit on the strip clubs for female companionship and I had no choice but to pay 'em off after one of my dancers upset one of them. I had to pay them and they left me alone, but Elwood started in at my joint as a singer, he got the men drunk and left them in an alley somewhere. The Russians came and torched my club. I also heard that Elwood and Buster stole about five hundred bucks from some cop to get the Ford."
"Right. I'm hoping we don't get implicated in this."
"I'm glad we met Mack and Buster. I think with you doing songs like you used to, we have a more universal appeal." Lou turned briefly to hear Buster yelling.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" the kid sprinted out the door and Mack followed, yelling something that they couldn't quite understand. Elwood followed, shaving cream plastered thickly on his face. Melody quickly hid a smile behind her hand as her friend ejected a spout of the cream into the air, stumbling for the door and causing a ruckus. The state trooper went after them so Melody could smile freely as the others turned blase looks back to each other and their suppers.
"Nobody ever said that Elwood didn't have any imagination." Lou giggled along with her. Clouds of dust rose up outside and they peered out the window to see the Ford turning donuts in the driveway.
"That's not good." Melody glared out the window but knew Elwood wasn't going to be able to see her.
"No?"
"Nope. I tried something like that in a big car based on the Crown Vic platform. I think the steering will lock up and the car's suspension is going to crack. A car that size has a lot of stress on it if you try to be funny. Other crap can happen to it as well. If it's mechanical, it's fallible."
"So should we expect a distress call from them down the road that the car shit the bed?"
"I hope not, Willie. I really hope not." the car stopped spinning around and took off.
Everyone managed to squeeze into Matt's Mercedes and head out for a few more hours of driving until they reached the hotel in Kentucky. Melody roomed with Willie and Murph while the horn section and the guitar section had group rooms as well. They gossiped a little bit until 11 rolled around and the men went to bed. Melody was feeling restless and wanted to do something a bit crazy. There weren't any racetracks around and she didn't have her jumpsuit or racing gear anyway. She looked out the window and spied a lounge and bar across the street.
A bar there would also have a karaoke bar, she reasoned to herself. An idea flashed in her mind and she changed her clothes with a grin on her face.
When she set foot in the establishment, Melody looked very different from what she usually wore. She had on a black shirt with a black skirt, tights, and pumps. The skirt had been pulled up until it reached only halfway down her thighs, the shirt's tails had been tied just under her bust, and her hair was in a ponytail. Men barked and whistled at her as she crossed over to the bar and got a drink, trying to build up a buzz for what she was going to do.
It only took about ten minutes for her to get to the buzz level that she wanted, slid off the bar stool and went up onstage, grabbing the karaoke mike and setting the machine to play a song that she loved called Buttons by the Pussycat Dolls.
"Typical, hardly the type of man I fall for
Wanna get physical, don't leave me asking for more
I'm a sexy mama
Who knows how to get what I wanna
Do is spring this on ya
Back up all the things that I told ya
"You been sayin' all the right things all along
But I can't seem to get you over here to help take this off," she stripped off her shirt, revealing a black and white lacy bra as the men catcalled. Melody giggled, doing a few turns so her well-muscled physique was accentuated. Periodic gym trips had kept her in shape and gave her the definition that she wanted.
"Baby can't you see
These clothes are fitting on me?
The heat coming from this beat?
I'm about to blow
I don't think you know." Melody did a few moves she had picked up from a dance class she'd taken a month ago.
"I'm tellin' ya to loosen up my buttons, babe
But you keep frontin'
Saying what you gonna do to me
But I ain't seen nothing." she repeated the chorus and did a few more suggestive moves.
"You say you're a big boy
But I can't agree
'Cause the love you said you had
Ain't been put on me
I wonder if I'm too much for you
Wonder, my kiss don't make you just
Wonder what I got next for you
Whatcha wanna do?
"Take a chance to recognize
That this could be yours
I can see just like most guys
That your game don't please
Baby can't you see
These clothes are fitting on me?
The heat coming from this beat?
I'm about to blow
I don't think you know!"
The music sped up a bit so Melody remembered an old routine from her dance class and adapted it to the music, giving some random guy a little lap dance. She finished off the song and tied her shirt around her waist by the sleeves.
"Thanks and goodnight!" she left, feeling very happy with what she had done. The singer pulled her skirt back down to a comfortable length and since it was warm outside, she kept her shirt off. Melody had a great figure and she didn't show it often enough. They were just a few hours away from the gig and driving that morning would bring them to the fairgrounds and leave them plenty of time for setup the next night. Melody exhaled, enjoying the evening air and quiet streets which were very different from Calumet city. She felt safer in that small town, even if she just emerged from a bar and lounge. A car passed by and gave her a friendly wave which she returned. Crossing the street she attracted a few catcalls from a few transients at a bus stop, then entered the hotel. The night clerk on duty nodded to her as she walked across the lobby and over to the left wing of the building where their rooms were.
Jabbing at the hotel elevator button, the bell rang and the doors opened up. She took her hair down from the ponytail, wrapping the elastic around her wrist as she strode inside the elevator.
"Oh." Alan was right there holding a backpack.
"Mel?" he was incredulous at her appearance. "You take up hooker duties or something?"
"I haven't been able to get any since you," she shot at him. "anyway, I went and did something that I wanted to." he pressed the button and the door closed.
A few moments of awkward silence passed before Alan asked. "Didn't you get my note?"
"Nope. I never saw one." she just barely managed to keep the bitterness out of her tone.
"Funny. I left you one."
"Moot point now, Alan. You're obviously happy without me so I'm not intruding." they walked out into the hall.
"I am not happy without you!" he protested. "I missed you! I tried to find out where you were all these years!"
"You burned me, Alan," Melody unlocked her door but turned to face him. "what you did to me I couldn't forget for the longest time!" she sighed. "I might as well straight out tell you that after you left, my father died, and I damn near gave in to my depression."
"You mean that you almost committed-"
"Yes. I was convinced that nobody would love me like you did and life wasn't worth it without you." his jaw nearly fell open. "Next time you decide to abandon a girl, you at least need to talk to them first!"
Alan didn't know what to say so he made to take her hand but she pulled away from him. "No. You've made your choice and it's not me. I'll not have you getting my hopes up again and then crushing them down-again."
He reacted like she'd taken a cattle prod to his arm and drew back, stunned. "I just wanted to-"
"I know, but you made your choice a long time ago and there's no claim for me." she went into the room without another word. Still stunned, he went to his room and sat on the edge of the bed, throwing his backpack into the tiny closet. Lou and Tom were sound asleep and didn't notice his entry. Alan put his face in his hands, processing what Melody had just told him. In his mind's eye he could see it, her on the floor, leaning against the edge of the bed, looking devastated but certain that her pain would come to an end. He forced that image out of his head before it went any further and changed for bed, but it was a long time before he fell asleep.
In the room with Willie and Murph, Melody thought about her depressive episode where it nearly killed her, and she had to wipe away a few tears that came into her eyes.
WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT AHEAD
Melody was sitting in the living room, watching the rain come down from the clouds. Alan had been gone for a few months and she had not wanted to believe that he would not return, but every day it was looking more and more likely she would still be alone. Seven years had come and gone, yet she was still alone. Melody had been used to being alone for years, but since Alan had come into her life, she had quite enjoyed having someone to share her life with. It had been a mutual feeling with him and they never needed to voice it in words.
She gazed at the couch where she had crashed so many times after getting in around 2 in the morning, not wanting to disturb Alan while he slept. Many was the time when she'd wake up to find him near her, the TV turned down low so it didn't disturb her. Alan had been her comfort, a source of pride that he'd picked her and he hadn't been wrong about her at that time. They'd nursed each other through illness, particularly when Melody had a bad case of strep. That illness had been a bit frightening, as it had a good hold on her and didn't want to quit but eventually it had.
Now she was alone, a five letter word she hated. Melody turned off the TV and went into the kitchen, drawing the shades down. She picked up several expired medication bottles and sat down on the couch, imbibing several of each. When she felt herself starting to lose her senses, she made a call so the EMTs would know where she was, bag her and take her away. The singer released her conscious mind and sank into the sweet and welcoming oblivion.
It was a few days later when she woke up, feeling extremely ill and wondering what had gone wrong. She was supposed to be asleep under the grass but there she was, feeling like death warmed over. A nurse told her that someone had come into the apartment to get something, found her on the floor, and had been trying to rouse her when help had arrived. Melody demanded to know who the person was or what they looked like, but nobody could tell her anything. Because she had taken so many drugs the doctors had to send her into a medically induced coma to purge all the toxins from her blood.
There were no clues otherwise to her rescuer and even though Melody was sick from a staph infection, a single flower bundle had come to her from the gift shop downstairs. No name, nothing, but she admired the gift, offering up thanks to God that someone had been looking after her.
After her infection healed, she went back to the apartment, got a call from one of her brothers who said they needed her help in caring for their ill father, so she packed up and left Calumet city.