Chapter 4: Playing Nice

Elwood and Jake let the band sleep in late that morning. It wasn't until 10 that Matt, Lou, and Willie woke up. Melody was awakened by voices near her door and she sat up, listening.

"That was nice of you guys," Willie rarely gave them any sort of compliment. "I needed that after last night."

"We figured you would. Everyone does need to be up by noon though if we're to get any work done." Melody picked up a brush from her nightstand and began to brush her hair back.

"Yo, what's bothering Alan?"

"I don't know, El," Willie didn't sound concerned. "Lou thinks he's got the hots for Melody but I wouldn't know about that." Melody dropped her brush in surprise and scrambled to pick it up. She resumed brushing her hair, wondering what Alan would ever see in her. She was just a run of the mill average everyday girl with nothing special. As far as she was concerned, there were better women out there more worthy of him. When she put down her hairbrush, she tried to put eyeliner on but was too preoccupied by Willie's proclamation.

"Alan? He doesn't give off that vibe of a horndog."

"Come on Jake, if it was you, would you say anything about it and have the rest of us take the piss out of it for you? He keeps these things pretty quiet."

"There's some sense to that," Jake admitted. "huh. Even our own bandmembers are capable of surprising us."

"Bite me, Jake."

Jake laughed as a door closed, meaning Willie had gone back into his room. Melody put her eyeliner back in her makeup bag, unsuccessful in her attempts to put it on, and dressed for the day. She put on her jeans, low cut blue top which was sleeveless, given that it was still summertime. Melody thought, discarded the jeans, and pulled out her denim cutoffs that were about three inches above the knee. She decided to be nice to Alan that day to try to gauge for herself whether he had any interest in her. The newly minted vocalist tied her sneakers on, picked up her driver's license and some money, put it in her back pocket, then opened up the door and went to the cafe area of the hotel. Jake and Elwood were sitting down at a table and the other bandmembers were nowhere to be seen. She took a look outside and smiled, noticing it was brightly sunny that day.

"Hey, Mel!" Jake chirped.

"Hi, boys. So what's on the agenda for today?" she crossed over to them and sat down, ordering coffee to try to wake her up some.

"We're going to try out the set list this afternoon around about 2 so we can get plenty of time in for the bugs and shit to be worked out."

"Good. So everyone's having a lie in?"

"Yes indeed. We thought it best to let them sleep in, but they have to be up before noon."

"Sounds good. I never thought you weren't a tyrant, Jake." Melody teased as she glanced at her watch and took a pull at her coffee.

"Don't tell the boys that or my rep will be ruined!"

"Touche," Melody gave him a teasing laugh as she drained her mug and stood up.

"Melody, why don't you come with us on a ride around town?" Jake stubbed out his cigarette and stood up. "Might do you some good."

"No thanks, guys. I think I'll head for a walk around the block or something. With this sun, I just want to be out in it."

"I'll come wit ya." Elwood offered, standing up and offering Melody his arm. Bemused, she accepted it, wondering if Elwood was going to pretend to be her bodyguard or something. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see where it all led. Jake dismissed them jovially and they exited the hotel.

"So what about your past?" Elwood clumsily inquired. "What did you do for a living?"

Melody had to giggle. Elwood was cute when he was a little flustered. She gazed over at the sunshine, feeling it on her shoulders as birds chirped overhead and the occasional car drove by. The faint stink of exhaust was swept away by a gentle breeze and she looked at Elwood benignly.

"Well, I worked in retail for a few years, selling clothes and such."

"I had a few of those jobs," Elwood shuddered. "Hated 'em."

"Me too. There's more to life than just pimping your ass off, getting sales quotas and all that bullshit," she agreed as they rounded a bend. "my dad was always into electronics and he taught me several things about them. I did a few years at a community college and graduated easily. My aunt was a nurse and she taught me a lot about medicine, though I never did have much of a head for that kind of thing."

"Did you faint?" Elwood guessed.

"Nope. I couldn't watch procedures being done on the head. Anything below that I was great with. When I was a teen, I could watch open heart surgery without a trouble, but now I get lightheaded and yes, I'd probably black out."

"Same goes for me. Jake likes slasher movies but I can't bear them." Elwood snaked his hand down and held hers. Melody allowed him to without any thought. He was relaxed and open with her and she thought he was a cutie in his own way. Besides, if Alan did have a crush on her like she'd heard that morning, maybe jealousy would speed him up a bit.

"I don't like them either. Ghost movies are great with maybe a bit of gore. I do love the paranormal."

"Me too." he squeezed her hand. "Do you mind?"

"Nope. I'm not spoken for."

"Mind if I say good?" he teasingly jabbed her in the ribcage.

"Say whatever you want. I'll come out to play if you want." Melody hinted as she put on her sport sunglasses with a crooked grin.

Elwood nearly jumped out of his skin. "Are you hinting at what I think you mean?"

"Well, what do I mean?"

"Um, a little afternoon delight?"

Now she was a bit confused. "The song or the act?"

"I mean..." he turned beet red as they finished their circuit and stood together by the Bluesmobile. Lou waved at them from the room he and Alan shared and they waved back.

"Can I be forward with you?"

"Go ahead, El." Melody was unprepared when Elwood picked her up, put her on the trunk of his car, then kissed her long and hard. Surprised, she stared for a moment, then closed her eyes and smooched him back. When he finished, panting slightly from the long pause, he looked up at Melody, eyes almost pleading behind his shades. She reached over and took them off, taking his face in her hands.

"Do you mind?"

She understood immediately what he was asking for. "Not at all. I think we'd better do it inside, though." he helped her off the trunk and hands together, they entered the hallway where Lou had just come out of his room.

"Is Alan up yet?"Elwood glanced at his watch. There were only 2 hours before they had rehearsal.

"Yeah he is, though he's not a morning person. Be advised." Lou grinned at them and went off to play games with Tom and Willie in the games room. Elwood opened up Melody's door and led her inside like a gentleman. She passed in front of him and he made a playful grab at her ass, making her squeal loudly.

"Before this goes any further, I should tell you that I'm just lookin' to scratch an itch," he warned her as they sat on the bed. "you?"

"Same here. No strings attached?"

"Ditto."

"Glad that's out of the way then!" Melody took off his hat and put it on her head. "Giddap!"

When Alan had awakened that morning around 10:30, he had just gotten out of the shower when he heard Lou talking to Tom and Duck.

"Yeah, I looked out that window and Melody and Elwood were sucking face." the trumpeter's heart fell some and he took a peek out the window himself. Melody was sitting on top of the Bluesmobile smooching Elwood. Nothing would disturb them, not even a 3 ring circus. Alan scowled at the scene and brushed the curtains back to where they were. He attired himself for the day and sat down on the bed, looking at a book but not really seeing it. Lou recognized his mood easily enough and left with the others.

Some mumbling was heard from the next room where Melody's was. Alan recognized her voice and Elwood's, then there was a series of noises he did not need to lend his imagination to or guess what they were. Knowing exactly what was going on in the next room, he pulled out his Walkman and played a cassette tape, leaning back and closing his eyes against the amorous hubbub next door.

When the tape ran out, Alan pulled out one earpiece, listening for anything coming from the next room. When he heard nothing, he sat up and put his Walkman away. The two had probably gone outside to do it in the Bluesmobile, he thought bitterly. Jake had been a randy horndog on the road before and the band was used to his going with some hooker after a show and not returning to the next morning, but he would never have thought Elwood would have done the mattress mambo with their own technical director/vocalist.

"Wow, those look great." Elwood's voice drifted to him. Alan paused, a part of him hoping they were talking about the amp Melody had repaired yesterday.

"Yeah? They're mine." OK, they weren't talking about that amp...

"I know. How come you're not more excited about them?"

"Because I've had them for a long time, Elwood. The thrill kinda goes away after awhile."

"But still, I love 'em."

"Why is it you men get so hyped up over the least things?"

"Least things? I don't have those!"

"Elwood!" Melody began laughing, something Alan hadn't heard before. She would giggle and chuckle, but this was a full belly laugh none of them had ever heard previously. Elwood seemed taken aback as well, if the silence on his part was any indicator.

"Come on, Melody!" Alan did not want to hear any more of what they were up to. He stood up, tucked his wallet into his pocket, and left the room in a huff, slamming the door.

Melody was picking up a bottle of nail polish that had fallen to the floor and Elwood came out of the bathroom. He got Melody in a front to back hug and held up her hands. "Like I said, they look great."

"Like I said, they're real and they're mine." Elwood laughed and necked her a bit. "Come on, shouldn't we get dressed and head on over for the rehearsal?"

"If you insist." he play-whined.

"I do! Unless you want me to sound like shit in front of people. I'll blame you and get Jake to fire you from the band."

"Oh, play dirty now, don't you?"

"As I recall about 10 minutes ago, you were the one who was playing dirty!" Melody pulled on her shirt and Elwood found his sunglasses. They pulled themselves together and hightailed it out to the Mustang, Elwood insisting that she drive him.

"Just remember, you asked for it." Melody drove like a normal person, but as they pulled into the parking spot, she yanked up on the handbrake and drifted the car. She did a J-turn into a parking spot and thumped the car into neutral, cutting the engine.

"You're a natural," Elwood commented as he got up. "I've never seen anyone do that before."

"Thanks, El. Let's hurry up and get this rehearsal under way." she put the keys in her pocket and they walked over to the entrance.

The band was tuning up, Alan looking more sullen than usual. He barely grunted a greeting to everyone's cheerful voices, just grabbed his trumpet and began to play riffs. Murph and Tom jammed with him for a little bit while Jake set himself up for their opening number Gimmie Some Lovin'. He counted down and the horns began to play while Elwood and Melody sat at the bar, talking about the set list and agreeing on the order.

The first number over, Elwood did a tune called Rubber Biscuit that Melody thought was funny, but more of a funny groan than an actual laugh. The third tune was Messin' With the Kid, then Lou gestured to Melody as he began the opening to Mr. Saxobeat. She jumped up onstage as Elwood and Jake went offstage. Tom and Alan were not needed for backup vocals so they went offstage as well, the latter peering through the curtains of the wings to see how Melody was.

"You make me this,
Bring me up,
Bring me down,
Play it sweet,
Make me move like a freak
Mr. Saxobeat

"Make me this,
please me up,
please me down,
pleasing sweet,
Make me move like a freak
Mr. Saxobeat

"Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...

"Hey, sexy boy, set me free, don't be so shy, play with me
My dirty boy, can't you see that you belong next to me.
Hey, sexy boy, set me free, don't be so shy, play with me
My dirty boy, can't you see, you are the one I need.

"You make me this,
bring me up,
bring me down,
playing sweet
Make me move like a freak,
Mr. Saxobeat.

"Makes me this,
brings me up,
brings me down,
dancing sweet
Makes me move like a freak.

"Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...
Oh, yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah, mmm yeah...

"You make me this,
Bring me up,
Bring me down,
Play it sweet,
Make me move like a freak
Mr. Saxobeat!" There had been a lot of repetition in the song and it really wasn't much of a song, truth be told. Lou and Melody had devised sax solos to cut down on repetition and to showcase Lou's brilliant skill. When they were done, there was applause from everyone else and not much else. Jake and Elwood did Funky Nassau with Melody coming in about halfway to sing with them. Melody didn't care for reggae and Caribbean tunes, but she had to admit that Funky Nassau was a very catchy tune.

During the song, the band discovered not only could Melody croon like Adele, but she also packed a fiery punch much like Aretha Franklin, which was one of Melody's idols. She came out with a powerful ending to the song that seemed to leave everyone dumbfounded. Enjoying it, she watched everyone seem to regain their senses and begin to play the next song which was Soul Man. Minnie the Moocher came up next, B-Movie Boxcar Blues, Love Light, I Don't Know, Born in Chicago, and Jailhouse Rock. Melody was called up for You Know I'm No Good.

"Meet you downstairs in the bar and hurt,
Your rolled up sleeves in your skull t-shirt,
You say 'what did you do with him today?',
And sniffed me out like I was Tanqueray,
'Cause you're my fella, my guy,
Hand me your stella and fly,
By the time I'm out the door,
You tear men down like Roger Moore,

"I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would,
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good,

"Upstairs in bed, with my ex boy,
He's in a place, but I can't get joy,
Thinking on you in the final throes,
This is when my buzzer goes,
Run out to meet you, chips and pita,
You say 'when we married',
'Cause you're not bitter,
'There'll be none of him no more,'
I cried for you on the kitchen floor,

"I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would,
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good,

"Sweet reunion, Jamaica and Spain,
We're like how we were again,
I'm in the tub, you on the seat,
Lick your lips as I soak my feet,
Then you notice little carpet burn,
My stomach drops and my guts churn,
You shrug and it's the worst,
Who truly stuck the knife in first

"I cheated myself,
Like I knew I would
I told you I was trouble,
You know that I'm no good.."

The band played her out and then she sat back down at the bar as the band went through the rest of the tunes, New Orleans, Sweet Home Chicago, She Caught the Katy, King Bee, Cheaper to Keep Her, and Lookin' For A Fox.

"What a great set list," Melody murmured as she checked the time. It was almost 5 now and the band was winding down for a break until showtime. "I'm going out for a bit, guys. I'll be back around 7, OK?"

"All right. Have fun!" Jake waved her off as the horn section put down their instruments and began filing off the stage. Melody disappeared as Elwood came out from the wings and shoved his harmonica in his pocket. Matt and Steve were gossiping about Melody and the Amy Winehouse song as Duck unhooked the bass guitar, standing it up on the stand he'd brought in. Alan watched her go as he set down his trumpet, a brief longing look came into his face, then he mentally cursed himself for being sentimental, even for a moment. Lou looked at him out of the corner of his eye, feeling more sure than ever that Alan did have a thing for Melody. The sax player shrugged inwardly and put his instrument down, resolving not to get involved. He knew Alan's last girlfriend had treated him badly, and if Melody was going to be loose with other men, then Alan getting involved with her would definitely be a crap shoot.

Outside the venue, a shadowy figure was leaning against a white colored Chevy Astro van. The silhouetted form pulled out a picture of Melody from a jacket pocket and the hiss and spurt of a match being struck and lighting up. Across the lot, Melody jumped into her Mustang and drove off.

The figure lit a cigarette and burned the picture of Melody, dropping it on the middle of the asphalt parking lot as the person climbed back into the van and went off in the direction that Melody was heading. The sun was setting right into Melody's eyes as she drove and she swore, pulling down the visor and putting her shades on. Not knowing where she was going. she cut a neat circle and pulled up at a deserted children's play park. Melody sighed and rapped the steering wheel with her fingers, wishing that she knew what to do next.

Popping a tape into her cassette deck, she turned on her own favorite music and rocked out, knowing that she was not being too loud. The original singer's voice enveloped her own and the more Melody didn't hear her own voice, the more she really let go. It was natural, her not liking her own voice when she sang. She was her own worst critic in that way. Elwood and Jake had taught her to trust her voice, she believed them when they told her that she was great. Neither one of them would lie on that front and she knew that the band wouldn't either.

The band enabled her to restore a part of herself that she thought she'd lost touch of. After all that had happened to her, Melody had tried to cut herself off from her emotions, believing that they were weaknesses that would put her off track in her life. Emotions were a nuisance anyway, as Melody had been quite frustrated after her aunt died when the grief just hit her and it would not stop for anything. Not liking being almost paralyzed by her emotions, the technical director had vowed to better contain her emotions after that. She still had nightmares about her aunt's death, who the murderer was, and all that, but when she was up onstage and gotten back in touch when with her emotions, she felt more whole.

It was reclaiming a piece of herself. Now her emotions weren't all over the place, but it made her feel better about herself as a person. On the stage, she had power over people, to make them feel the way she was singing, and to be honest, she found it addicting.

Heaving a sigh, she looked out over the vanishing horizon and glanced at the clock in the car. It was nearing 7, so she turned on the car and started back.

About halfway to the nightclub, Melody applied the brakes to stop at a spotlight, only to find that they were not working. She stomped on the pedal and when there was no response to the disc brakes, she managed to coast through the intersection without a problem. Swearing royally, she tried the handbrake, but found that had been cut as well. With no brakes and coasting down a small hill, Melody put the car in neutral and honked the horn as she steered towards the club parking lot, hoping that the imminent collision would be soft enough so there was no permanent damage to her car.

The car hit a streetlight in the parking lot at about 30 miles an hour and all Melody heard was a loud cracking sound. Shakily, she pushed her hair away from her face and got out on rubber legs to see the damage. Opening up the hood was a task in itself, as she had to thump down hard and make it pop open. In her car there was a toolchest in the trunk, so she opened it up, seized a pair of pliers, and bent the hood catch back to the way it was supposed to be. Leaning over the internal engine, she spied the radiator hose which had been unharmed. "Could be worse." she muttered, seeing the radiator bracket had been shattered all the way through.

"Melody?" Alan was coming towards her. "I heard a crunch. What's up?" she crouched down and looked at the pooling puddle of fluid just under her car. Watching her bend down and touch the fluid, she brought it up to her nose and smelled it.

"Brake fluid. Oh, god," she stood up and looked back at Alan. "I could have died!" she threw her tools in the backseat and locked the car, slipping her keys in her pocket.

"What? You're not dyin'!" he started as Melody's face drained of color. She started to walk towards the club, but Alan was having none of that. Taking her hand and pulling her towards him. "What's going on?"

"Alan-someone just tried to kill me."

"What?!" it was unreal to him, like something you'd see only on cop shows. Melody fidgeted nervously and met Alan's eyes.

"You heard me," she spoke in a shocked tone of voice. "someone cut my brake lines in hopes that I would die in a fiery crash."

"How can you say such things?" he exclaimed.

"But it's true! I'm gonna need to tow it to an all night shop and hope they have replacement brake lines and radiator for this car." Melody shivered, not entirely from fright.

Alan didn't know what to do, so he pulled her into the club, asked for the local towing service, and left it up to Melody to make the call. The trumpeter got up onto the stage and went behind it to the makeup stations where the bandmembers were, gossiping.

"Guys, Melody's just had a car accident," he held up his hand to forestall any exclamations. "she's absolutely fine, but the car had its brake lines cut."

"Where is she now?" Duck stood up.

"Talking to a towing service and an all night repair shop." Alan replied. "Let's keep it real. She'll come and tell you later on, so let's keep going with the show."

"Right." Elwood agreed, exchanging a worried glance with his brother. The two of them were used to being pursued, but when it came down to a member of the band, they would get edgy and agitated. Melody being the target of nefarious activity would have them calling on God to protect her with everything they possessed. Jake fidgeted idly, waiting for her to come back so he could see with his own eyes that she was fine.

The show went off without a hitch that night, Melody was welcomed and cheered on with the songs she sang, everything went well. The band chose not to say or do anything that alluded to her crash and Melody found that easier to deal with. She sequestered away that worried part of herself and put on what she called her singing mentality. It was after the encore that the crowd finally left around midnight and the bandmembers went to bed, exhausted, except Alan. He found himself worrying about Melody now and knew he wasn't going to rest until he spoke with her. Opening up his hotel door that night, he walked down the hall to Melody's door and rapped quietly.

"Who is it?" she inquired at the gentle knock.

"It's me, Alan." he paused. Should he say anything else or just roll with it?

"Enter." the trumpeter opened up the door, happy not to have to say very much.

Alan entered the room, blinking at the darkness. The streetlight was giving some light into the room, so he could just make out her silhouette sitting on the bed. The blinds made eerie silhouettes themselves cast against the door, vaguely reminding Melody of a prison cell. She pulled off her robe and threw it against the chair, but missed so it slithered down onto the floor. Alan crossed over to her and sat down on the bed near Melody. If she saw him, she didn't do anything at all. The young woman sat as motionless as a stone.

"Are you all right?"

Melody gave a halfhearted snigger. "Someone's made an attempt on my life, Alan. No I am not all right."

"Glad your sense of humor is still intact." he edged closer and saw that she was shivering. Alan picked up the fleece blanket at the foot of the bed and draped it over her shoulders, rubbing them a little bit in an attempt to comfort her. Melody felt safer with Alan near her and leaned into him a little bit with a sigh. A little surprised, he welcomed it and spent a few minutes saying nothing, just giving her the support he knew that she needed. The trumpeter felt protective then; he mentally dared anyone to mess with her when he was around.

"Why don't you file a report with the cops?"

"Because nothing will convince them that the brake lines were cut. Those lines were only a few years old and had a lot of life left in them. You know how slimy cops are, Alan." she gave a little sniffle.

"Are you crying?"

"I'm trying not to."

"Don't," he hugged her. "let it go. It's good for you."

Melody shakily sighed again and did exactly what Alan told her to. It felt good to her, like shedding a skin layer. All the anxiety and shock seemed to lose their grip on her psyche and she mentally shut herself off from those feelings. A part of her wondered if whoever had killed her aunt was gunning for her too, but it seemed far too possible in her mind. She didn't know what had caused anyone to kill Ella, maybe she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A month ago she had to force herself to stop speculating on it in order to move on with her life. It would be far too easy to fall into that rut again, so Melody mentally vowed not to go there. All she knew for a fact was that she would not sleep easily in the nights to come.

It was about five minutes before she composed herself again and looked up at Alan, though he didn't see it through the dark. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Do you know who would want to do this to you?" he tightened his grip on her shoulders a bit more.

"No idea. My aunt was murdered, but we don't know by whom. I suppose it was only a matter of time before they got a fix on me. I might be on borrowed time now, Alan." he squeezed her hand for a moment.

"Not if we have anything to do with it." he swore. "How's your car?"

"They have a replacement radiator in stock and they'll get the brake lines in tomorrow. The car should be ready tomorrow afternoon."

"Good." Melody didn't know how to properly address the feeling in her mind so she just went for it bluntly like Jake would.

"After what nearly happened to me today I don't want to be alone. Alan, would you? Just for tonight?"

"Sure. I wouldn't want to be alone after all that either." he sympathized as Melody stretched out on the bed. He pulled the fleece blanket over himself and laid down beside her. She was still shaking a bit and he realized it was just the delayed reaction from the entire accident. It would stop eventually.

It took an hour for Alan to fall asleep, but Melody did not. The adrenaline that had kicked on during the accident was taking a long time to wear off and she tried to keep herself calm and collected. Knowing that she would not be able to do anything that night, Melody resolved to not let the assailant or whoever it was know that they had gotten to her. Staying calm and collected with her resolve would at least control how she felt for awhile.

Turning her head towards Alan, she saw he was gently snoring and she had to giggle to herself. A trumpeter with excellent control over his own lungs snoring? Odder things had happened. If someone had told her that she would be on a bed with him and sleeping a day ago, both of them would have laughed at the person outright. Melody's respect for Alan went up another notch as he'd been the only one who'd noticed her eventful arrival back and seemed to want to give her a hand. The singer nearly regretted her tryst with Elwood that afternoon, but it had been to say the least, fun. Besides Alan was only being friendly towards her, there hadn't been any clue that he wanted to further things into the romantic zone.

Melody rolled her eyes. She was overthinking things again. As her father liked to say, all things will be revealed in their proper time. Closing her eyes, she called up on memories of times with her two brothers, which relaxed her and put her to sleep.