Chapter 9- If You Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em
The "Heartbreak Hotel" was filled with men and women, dressed similarly to the other two but then also different at the same time. One of the men stepped forward, he had long blonde hair and was for some strange reason wearing a pair of jeans open at the front to show off a pair of bright red Y fronts.
"Who are these two, Brit?" he asked looking at Galileo and Scaramouche with suspicion "ok so at least I know one of 'em's name" Scaramouche thought,
"I think I've found him. The one we've been looking for. The Dreamer" Brit said stepping up but the other man was not going to be proven wrong quite so easily.
"The Dreamer? Just because he has a leather jacket doesn't make him the Wild One. He looks like a clone from the zone to me"
"He calls himself… Galileo" if Brit thought this was going to prove himself right he had another think coming as yet again the blonde man didn't want to give up
"Galileo? Then he must have seen the texts. He's a spy" this time the girl who had first seen them spoke up
"Which is what I said" "thanks a lot blondie".
"Kill him!" they all rushed forwards ready to attack Gaz who had somehow ended up standing in front of Scara, it seemed he was trying to stop the other Bohemians from getting to her. Brit then stopped them holding his arms out in front of Galileo
"Anyone who tries to kill the dude has to deal with me. He hasn't seen the texts, how could he? We guard them with our lives" as Brit had held out his arms one of his hands had inadvertently landed on one mans chest which was covered up by a gold corset that was obviously meant for a woman
"Do ya mind! That is ma boobie!" Brit quickly moved his hand
"Oh sorry". This time the girl spoke to their defence, well sort of
"He says he dreams the words" "he calls the chick Scaramouche" "ok that does it, now it's my turn to speak up"
"What is this "chick" business? Do I have feathers? So I lay eggs?" at this point all the others looked behind her to check "oh no you bloody well don't" she quickly turned around so they weren't looking but then the man with the visible red underwear spoke "Hey lady! We believe that there was a time when if a cool dude wished to refer to his red hot momma he would use the term "chick". It was a mark of respect. Second only to "bitch"". "What did the lack of fresh air kill off some brain cells or something?" "Something tells me you've got that wrong"
"Eh? We're getting off the point. The point is this dude is a spy" Gaz was getting equally annoyed with everyone calling him a spy.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about! And I didn't ask to be brought here. I don't know who you are or anything about your stupid texts" Brit once again came to Gazza's aid
"He just know this stuff. It's in his head"
"What are these "texts" anyway?" the blonde man was starting to trust Galileo "Fragments, nothing more. Stuff that we and other Bohemians across the global shopping precinct have found" another Bohemian stepped forward, a girl who was covered in tight leather
"We have scraps of stuff, magazines". This was starting to interest Scaramouche, finally she was around people like herself
"Magazines?" the blonde guy stepped forward again
"They were kind of like Web Sites but they were made of paper and you could touch them. And weird static commercials, stuck to walls- they were called posters. We take our names from these clues from the age of rock". At this all of the Bohemians stepped forward introducing themselves,
"I'm Aretha"
"Jackson Five"
"Donny Osmond", then the blonde guy finally told them his name
"And I am Sir Paul McCartney but I prefer to be called Big Macca". The blonde girl who had helped get them here stood up for them to see her properly
"And I'm Meat. You can call me Miss Loaf" a girl in what looked like a cowboy hat stepped up
"I'm Madonna", then there was the guy in the corset
"I'm the Artist Formally Known as Prince, currently known as the Artist Formally Known as Prince". A guy that was wearing a white skirt over his trousers stood in front "I'm Cliff Richard" then the girl in the leather stepped forward again and Scaramouche could have sworn she heard it squeak
"Charlotte Frigging Church" she didn't look too happy about the name. Another man stood up
"And I am Bob. Bob the poet. Bob the rebel. Bob the prophet, I, am Bob the Builder" then Scaramouche turned to the man who had helped them along with Meat
"And who are you?"
"Me, I am the biggest, baddest, meanest, nastiest, ugliest, most raging, rapping, rock and rolling, sick, punk, heavy metal, psycho bastard that ever got get down funky. They call me Britney Spears" after all the introductions Galileo still had another question
"And what is this place, this Heartbreak Hotel?" Big Macca stepped forward again as though he was hoping one of them was going to ask this
"Get the man a chair please" one of the Bohemians ran off to look for a chair but Scara had other things on her mind.
"And where do you get all this great gear? You look fantastic" Meat stepped up to her starting to look a bit excited and was trusting Scaramouche even more
"We find it, we're scavengers. Fancy a makeover? You're a Bohemian now" all the girl walked over to Meat and Scaramouche and were talking excitedly about clothes whilst Scara was deciding "I guess it would be nice to wear something that isn't a ripped up bed sheet"
"We-ell".
"How about some tight jeans?"
"I hate my bum"
"A short skirt?"
"I hate my legs"
"A cropped top?"
"I hate my stomach… and my hips… I quite like my arms…"
"Well then lets…"
"But not my hands…"
"So, we'll be needing something that accentuates your elbows?" Big Macca who was clearly getting annoyed with all the girls talking about clothes spoke up
"Girls please! I am talking to The Man here" but Meat wasn't finished
"Well it's better than talking out of your bum, Paul!"
"Sir Paul" he corrected her,
"Whatever. Go on hen, I've got loads of stuff back there, just have a laugh" Scaramouche walked over to the door but then turned back for one more thing
"It's you lot that'll be having the laugh!" and with that she went through the door and couldn't believe all the clothes she saw. She started picking out clothes but could still hear what all the others were saying outside, they were all listing names but Scara couldn't pick out who was saying them.
"Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix"
"Kurt Cobain"
"Janice Joplin"
"Jim Morrison"
"Bob Marley"
"John Lennon" and then she heard what was unmistakably Meats voice say
"Freddie…". Scaramouche could hear Meat singing, then occasionally all the others, she was singing about all the people who had died young, Scara presumed that's who all the people they had named were. She couldn't help but let a tear fall while she was changing.