Of the three remaining Belles, Rhiannon Steel was probably the one who helped Joan's family cope with the tragedy the most. Motivated by a sense of obligation that dated back to the Belles' breakup, during which she accompanied Joan and Yuki during some of their trips and even became the drummer for the band they briefly formed, she was the first to show up at Joan's Dakota apartment to pay her condolences to Yuki personally.
Upon getting there, she'd been a little surprised at how some unruly some things were. Taking off her shoes after walking in, since Yuki liked following this Japanese custom, she found herself placing her sneakers around a box of half-eaten chocolates. Knowing Yuki's usual disdain for sweets, this seemed like the first sign that something wasn't right. And when entering the living room, she found Yuki dressed in nothing but a blue bathrobe while sprawled around the couch, and Shannon sitting on the floor in her pink pajamas while watching cartoons.
Yuki gasped when she saw Rhiannon. "Why, Rhiannon! You seem to have appeared out of nowhere. How did you get in?"
"Daddy, don't you remember that Mom gave her a key to the house this summer?" Shannon reminded.
"Oh, of course, sweetheart. You seem to remember these things better than I do," Yuki said.
"Don't worry too much about that, Yuki. What I'm more concerned about is what's up with all the carelessness around here. Wouldn't a control freak like yourself be keeping things more in line?" Rhiannon said, picking up the box of chocolates to prove her point.
"And I'm sorry for your loss as well, Rhiannon," Yuki said sarcastically. "What happened to the nice, simple drummer who was always by our side when all the other in-laws were constantly shunning Joan? If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're acting a lot like Paula now."
However, as this unusual exchange was going on between them, they were both smiling.
"Don't ever call me simple again," Rhiannon said before she started giggling. "Just look at us. You, sitting around half-dressed in the couch with rubbish thrown around the place like a lazy bum, and me, walking in on you two as if I were your cleaning lady instead of your wife's old band mate. I'm sure Joan would be getting a good laugh out of this if she were here."
"Yes," Yuki said. "Joan always said it was healthier to laugh in the face of tragedy instead of crying."
Rhiannon nodded. Although it had only been close to a day since Joan's death, she found it hard to remember the last time she'd laughed. All she'd wanted since then was to express her sorrow with someone who'd known and loved Joan just as much as she did, as opposed to sharing her feelings with frantic reporters who only wanted to make a good story out of her personal tragedy, or even her three children, who saw Joan as a good friend of their mother's but nothing deeper than that. And if that person had to be Yuki, then so be it. He may have been a bit crazy back then, but he'd been by Joan's side when that crazed woman from Alaska had shot her to death, and so Rhiannon felt that he deserved her sympathy as much as any other widower would.
And so, she struck around to help Yuki and Shannon around the house while staying at a hotel that was only a few blocks away. And later, when Jessica Warren showed up in New York City and needed a place to stay, she'd payed for her hotel room and offered her support as well.
Several days later, Rhiannon felt herself crying for the first time since her friend's death just as they were lowering Joan's coffin onto the ground. Jessica, whom Rhiannon had kept by her side during the service, buried her head in Rhiannon's coat, quietly sobbing and only looking up once as the remains of her mother were put away for good beside her own deceased mother. Rhiannon embraced her as her own tears started falling, and she was soon sobbing harder than Jessica was. This was the moment it struck her that Joan was gone for good. No amount of wishing or begging would bring her back; the world would half to accept that yet another beloved star had faded out of their lives.
Yet, as quickly as she'd let her sorrow out, she was somehow better able to recover than the others. As she wiped away the last of her tears, Rhiannon noticed Paula and Laurie still embracing each other as they both cried. Gina hugged Daniella while sobbing hysterically, all her hours of meditation not having been enough to fully rid of her sadness. And probably most painful to watch was Shannon clinging to her father, shaking as she sobbed and tried to hide her sad face from the dozens of people who appeared to be watching her so closely. Yuki uttered comforting words to her while stroking her hair and kissing her, but sounded more as if he was trying to convince himself of them instead of his daughter.
When the burial was done, Rhiannon handed Jessica a Kleenex and asked, "Are you going to be okay, Jessica? Want me to take you back to the hotel now, or did you have other plans?"
Jessica dabbed at her brown eyes, sniffing quietly for a while before looking up at Rhiannon and saying, "Actually, Rhiannon, I'm thinking of staying over with Yuki and Shannon for a while."
"For a while? Do you mean for the night, or longer?" Rhiannon asked.
"However long Yuki lets me, I guess," Jessica said.
"Well, do as you wish," Rhiannon said. "Given what you're going through, some time with your family might be the best medicine."
Jessica gave a small smile. "May as well start now, don't you think?"
Rhiannon didn't realize what she meant at first, until she saw her walking over to Yuki and Shannon. Yuki was talking with Gina, who still looked quite vulnerable from seeing their friend's burial. Given how they'd both given speeches during the event, with Yuki talking about his marriage to Joan and how their love for each other had inspired their peace advocacy, and Gina sharing funny stories about their time as the Belles, Rhiannon had to bet they were offering feedback to each other. Back in the day, Yuki had taken an interest in Gina's songwriting, getting into the habit of giving her a little more advise than she desired on everything from melodies to song themes. It had annoyed Gina then, but she now admitted that it had helped on certain occasions, especially when composing her first solo album.
Coming up to Shannon, Jessica nudged her shoulder gently and said, "Hi, Shannon. Everything going okay?"
Shannon threw her arms around her sister, and the two were soon hugging each other. She whispered something Rhiannon couldn't hear into Jessica's ear, to which Jessica nodded slowly before whispering back to her. Then, thumbing through Shannon's scarf, she chuckled and said, "I bet only a few of our American guests know what you're wearing, kid. To them, it's probably just an ordinary old scarf. You're already starting to learn about our family's little inside jokes, are you?"
"What are inside jokes?" Shannon asked.
"They're jokes that only certain people can understand," Jessica explained.
"Oh, I see," Shannon said with a smile. "I thought not many people would know what I was wearing because there's only one other kid in my class that watches Doctor Who."
"That's pretty clever of you," Jessica said. "And by the way, have you noticed what I'm wearing?"
This got both Rhiannon and Shannon's attention as they closely examined what Jessica wore. And upon looking down at her long white skirt, they noticed immediately.
"You're wearing the funny red socks Mom used to get in trouble for wearing to school!" Shannon said.
"Got that right, kid," Jessica said.
Rhiannon looked surprised. "Your mum told you that story already?"
"Yeah. She liked telling me everything about herself," Shannon said.
Finishing whatever it was they were discussing, Gina and Yuki now turned their attention towards the three of them.
"Oh, how stupid I've been!" Gina said, clasping her arm around Rhiannon's back. "You've been here longer than any of us, Rhiannon, and yet I haven't taken the time to talk to you in person since Joan died."
"It's not your fault, Gina. Rhiannon's been keeping herself busy ever since she got here," Yuki said, looking at Rhiannon with an odd sense of admiration. "She always seems to be the one we can count on to handle family emergencies. We could all take a couple lessons from her, right, Jessica?"
Jessica blushed, and Rhiannon wondered if this was his way of acknowledging Christian's absence from Joan's funeral. But, keeping her cool, Jessica said, "Yes, Yuki. I'm really glad Rhiannon was here to help me when I needed her."
Yuki then took Jessica into his arms, giving her a small hug. As glad as they were to see Yuki showing some affection towards Jessica, it had both Rhiannon and Gina thinking it seemed a little awkward. While he'd kissed Shannon just a while ago while hugging her, he looked as if he was trying to be careful with Jessica, refusing to cross some boundary that was all too common with some stepchildren. It was rarely seen with Harold and Paula, but then again, the circumstances behind his parent's divorce (his mother had been an heiress who'd preferred parties and much wealthier men over raising the son she'd had with Laurie) made it easier for him to accept Paula into his life. Things between Joan and Christian had been much more complicated, and having only been five when they'd divorced, the separation had hurt Jessica in ways that couldn't be repaired no matter how hard either Joan or Yuki had tried.
After remaining silent for a while, Jessica told Yuki, "I've decided that I want to go home with you and Shannon."
"That's okay. Shannon has been wanting to see you ever since it all happened, so I think having you around for the night will do her a lot of good," Yuki said.
"Actually, if you're willing to let me, I want to stay a little longer. Perhaps for a week or two, or even into the Christmas holidays," Jessica said.
Yuki looked unsure about this. "But don't you have school exams and sports games to take care of? I know you left just as winter holidays were about to start, so you're probably missing out on a lot already. Also, if you're worried about how I'll handle things at home, you know I already have Rhiannon close by to help. We really wouldn't need you for that long."
"I already gave a ring to my headmistress before I left England, Yuki. She knows about everything that happened, and said that I could take as much time off to sort things out in New York as I wanted to. I would be allowed to take my exams in January if I so choose, and basketball season ended a week ago, so I don't have to worry about that either," Jessica said.
"Please let her stay, Yuki," Rhiannon said. "I have several music sessions in London next week that I can't miss, so I can't help you out that much longer. Also, Jessica's your stepdaughter. She's been affected by Joan's death just as much as you and Shannon have been, and as family, you should all be sticking together. If you saw just how awful she's been feeling at the hotel when I've gone to see her, you'd understand how much she needs you."
"She's right, Yuki. It would be awful to let her go so early when we don't even know what's going on with Christian," Gina said.
In the three days that Rhiannon had been going over to see Jessica, it had been nearly impossible for her to say anything besides "I'm fine", or "I just want to be left alone". Much of her time was spend seated beside the hotel room's telephone, waiting to receive a phone call from her father that never came in. She rarely got any sleep either, preferring to watch late night shows she despised while in bed than to close her eyes and see what happened to her mother flashing before her eyes in a nightmare.
To Rhiannon's relief, Yuki looked sympathetic enough. Turning to Shannon, he asked, "What do you say, sweetheart? Do you want Jessica to spend a week with us?"
"Yes!" Shannon called out happily, not suspecting her father's doubts.
"Well, I guess that settles the matter," Yuki said with a smile. "Stay as long as you want with us, Jessica."
"Thanks a lot," Jessica said. But Rhiannon noticed a look of doubt remained on the girl's face, as if she wasn't sure how well this could go.
…
When Jessica Warren had been only a year old, she'd appeared in a series of photos that was published in the 1964 Christmas edition of Vogue showcasing the family lives of all four Belle members. Half of Joan's photos were dedicated to showing off her baby girl, with one of them showing her wearing a satin red dress and matching ribbon while seated around a life-sized teddy bear. Several others were taken of her with at least one of her parents present (and always in different outfits), but the only one which showed all three of them together was one where Christian and Joan were seated on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, with Joan carrying Jessica around in a sack that was fastened to her back. In it, they were all smiling, looking as if they always had moments as carefree as shown in that photo.
But Jessica had very few early memories of a glamorous life or happy parents. Most of what she remembered was her father sitting alone in the evenings in their large sitting room, staring at the television with a tired look in his face. She would sometimes see news coverage of the Belles, during which she would look up happily at her dad and say, "There's Mummy!". He would then nod and say, "Yes, there she is, all right." On one really bad day, he'd added in "How many other mothers do you think actually appear on the telly instead of just watching the telly with their kids?" And Jessica had been left dumbstruck, not sure what her father meant.
And on those days when her mother was with them, there was always this sense of quietness that Jessica had grown accustomed to over the years. On those days, her mother and father would sit with her during tea time, sipping from their glasses while having short conversations about the weather or their plans for the week. It was often boring, but if things weren't quiet, then her parents would be yelling over something, and she would be sent to her room to play with her toys until things had calmed down a little.
Around the time of the divorce when she was five, she remembered feeling afraid all the time. People in suits would enter their house and ask her father all sorts of strange questions. Sometimes, they even asked Jessica things, including, "Has your mother been treating you well?" or "Do you feel safe when you're at home?" Her time spend alone in her room increased, until the day her father told her that her mother would be leaving home and not returning anymore.
"Why?" she'd asked, "Is she going on another long trip with the Belles?"
"No," her father answered sadly. "She's found someone else that makes her happy now, so she'll be living with him for now on."
Years later, she'd find out the full extend of why they broke up. In addition to being angry over how her mother was rarely around the family, her father had been suspecting that she'd been cheating on him during her tours, and so when Jessica had been two, he'd started an affair of his own with one of his old friends from art school, the start of two affairs he'd had while still married. Her mother felt that Christian didn't want to give her any support, and she would openly complain to the other Belles about how awful things were at home, sometimes preferring to stay in hotels with their manager, Brenda Stein, rather than staying with her husband, even if it was for Jessica's sake. When Joan learned about Christian's affairs, that was the last straw for her, and after a series of fights, she decided to leave him for Yuki Ogawa, whom she'd understood her more as an artist than Christian ever would.
Jessica had only met Yuki on two occasions when she was little. During the first time, she wasn't sure what to think of him. Her mother told her that he was an artist, which had impressed her at first, but her excitement over it had worn off when she discovered how quiet and grim Yuki was around her, often appearing just as nervous as she was around him. Yet her mother was always in a good mood when he was around, and she couldn't understand why that was. On the second occasion, the realization of what was going on with her parents was clearer to her, and she'd asked him, "Why are you leaving with my mummy?"
Yuki had been quiet for a moment. Then he'd said, "I want to give her a better life. Your mother had been unhappy for a long time, and I want to change that for her. Perhaps later, when things are better for her, you could come along with us. I have a son that's around your age, and your mother wants more children soon, so I hope we could all come together as a family soon. But that will have to wait."
And the wait turned out being longer than Jessica had hoped for. By the time she started seeing her mother again, she was thirteen, living in Nottingham with her father, who now taught art classes at the sixth form level. She was an accomplished school athlete, having led multiple championships for her school, while also showing an interest in music. She felt out of place in her mother's new home in New York City, especially now that it seemed like she was finally forming that perfect little family that Yuki had longed to have all those years ago. More love and attention was given to her half- sister Shannon than Jessica could ever recall getting herself as a child, and as much as she loved her sister, she couldn't help but feel as if she was an intruder whenever she came over, a bitter reminder of the past that ought to stay away if the family was to remain well.
But despite all her mother had done, the happy family she'd formed was now left shattered once again. Jessica was seventeen now, no longer willing to stay hidden in her room when something went wrong. Her father had taken off almost as soon as he heard the news, giving her money to pay for a flight to New York while telling her, "You're already better at handling difficult situations than I ever could, Jessica. Go out there now, and if anything starts going wrong, feel free to come back. I'll try to get back home as soon as I can."
"But why leave at all, Dad? Doesn't it seem like you're letting Mum down by doing this?" Jessica asked, her eyes still full of tears after forcing herself to watch the full news broadcast detailing her mother's murder.
"I let her down a long time ago already, Jess. And now, everyone will be wanting to get something out of me, and no matter what I say or do, they'll manipulate it in some way. They villainized me almost as much as they did Yuki back in the day, and no matter how many books I write about your mother or how many interviews I give, it won't make a difference. So, if I'm not around during this media circus, maybe it's all for the better," her father said.
He then kissed her in the forehead and headed over outside to his 1973 Impala, driving off before any reporters or friends would come over to see him.
A couple days later, Jessica was putting on sunglasses as she stepped into Yuki's Rolls Royce. Yuki had advised her to do so before leaving, warning her that, "They'll soon be bombarding you with questions, and it's always as we're preparing to leave. It doesn't help that you already look a lot like your mother."
This was true. Jessica now had long curly brown hair that looked an awful lot like her mother's when she was her age. She may have been tall and muscular, with no spectacles outlining her brown eyes, but her face still had that soft yet plain look that many associated with Joan Lennox. And there was no doubt they'd notice the red stockings too, but unlike Shannon, they may not see it so much as endearing than as a desperate attempt to try making herself be a little too much like her famous mother.
But to everyone's relief, there were no reporters waiting beside the Rolls Royce. Instead, the dozens of journalists waiting outside the church went after Paula and Laurie as they were walking around with their kids. Laurie was the one who answered most questions, yet Paula's silence was already being looked upon with suspicion after her last questionable statement, even as they saw her gently guiding along Martin and Jenna in place of speaking with them.
Once they were inside the car, Jessica asked, "Why do you think they didn't come after us?"
"Probably out of respect," Yuki said. "Nothing looks more indecent than going after a dead woman's widower and children. Perhaps they learned something after all those years of bothering your mother for no good reason."
Jessica remained silent after he said this. She once saw Yuki's constant disdain of reporters as a way of making excuses for his own questionable behaviors, but after seeing what just happened with the McGuire's, she figured that at least now he had a good reason for being suspicious. And with him giving her advice on how to avoid them, perhaps that meant they could continue acting civilly around each other.
They were all mostly quiet during the ride home. That was, until Shannon started tapping Jessica in the shoulder.
"What is it, kid?" Jessica asked, almost expecting her to talk about still feeling sad after the funeral.
But instead, she asked, "Do you have any food with you, Jessica? I'm hungry."
Jessica laughed. Why was she always expecting every word that came out of people's mouths to be so dramatic? "Didn't you have any lunch? Don't tell me your dad's making you fast or something crazy like that."
"Neither of us was in much of a mood to eat as we were preparing to go," Yuki explained. "I tried getting Shannon to eat something, but she kept telling me she wasn't hungry."
"Well, Shannon, you're lucky that I got a bag of biscuits with me. That is, if that's all right with you, Yuki," Jessica said.
"Please say yes, Daddy," Shannon begged, already reaching into Jessica's purse for the bag.
"Let her eat what she wants. Some cookies once in a while never hurt anyone. Not anymore than what we'll be having for dinner."
"And what will that be? More takeout Chinese food?" Jessica asked, remembering what Rhiannon told her about his newly acquired eating habits.
Yuki laughed. "Oh, no. We've had enough of that for now. I was thinking instead of ordering from Pizza Hut. Joan would sometimes take Shannon there when I wasn't around, but I've only ever eaten there once, believe it or not. Thought now would be the best time to have it again."
"You willingly eating fast food. I never thought I'd see the day," Jessica said.
"Neither did I," Yuki said.
So far, so good, Jessica thought. In the past, she'd be lucky if Yuki could utter a word to her when her mother wasn't around. Now, he was at least trying to include her in conversations. Even if it was just out of politeness, it was better than nothing at all.
…
Four hours later, Jessica was lying in a mattress in Shannon's room, feeling stuffed and exhausted. Shannon was seated in her bed, working on a drawing beside her dozens of stuffed animals. Yuki had gone into his studio for the night, working on a mural that he wouldn't show to anyone for the time being. "Focusing on my work has been more helpful for me than sleeping," he'd told Jessica as he'd wished the girls a good night.
Dinner had gone well, with the three of them eating a cheese pizza that had been delivered over to the apartment along with Coca Cola and chocolate ice cream for dessert, a big change from the low- fat Japanese meals Jessica was used to having during her past visits. She shared stories from her sports games, while Yuki talked about his latest art projects and how he was completing the art portfolio of her mother's work that she'd started putting together after Shannon was born. Everyone remained friendly towards each other, and Jessica managed not to remain so anxious.
Now, alone with Shannon, she asked, "So, how would like to spend our days together, kid?"
"You remember how during our last visit, you said you'd start teaching me the guitar?" Shannon asked.
"Yeah. I also said it can be quite hard because of all the work you put into your fingers. I see you had your nails cut a while ago, so it might be hard to start with lessons at this point," Jessica said.
Shannon sighed. "Could I at least watch you practice?"
"Sure," Jessica agreed.
"Good. Daddy said he will start showing me how to play the piano and sing soon, because he thinks I'm already showing talent."
This had Jessica laughing. Given Yuki's tendency to sound like a dying animal when he sang (although no one could ever convince her mother of this), she knew he wasn't the right person to be showing anyone how to sing, especially not his daughter. "Are you sure you want singing lessons from your dad?" she asked.
"Why not? I think he sounds okay," Shannon said.
We might have a problem here, Jessica thought. But to Shannon, she said, "It's just that I think art is more of his thing."
"He's already teaching me to draw. I can already draw cats and birds, and he says that with a little more practice, I could learn to draw people soon."
"Sounds like you already know a great deal," Jessica said. "Mum tried teaching me to draw a while back, but I wasn't very good at it. I'm much better at photography though, so that's something else I could show you someday."
Shannon was quiet for a while. Then she asked, "Would you mind if I leave the light on while we sleep?"
"Sure, but why? Do you get scared of the dark?" Jessica said.
"Not always. But after I found out that Mom was shot, I get scared whenever my room is dark," Shannon admitted. "I keep thinking that if everything is dark, someone will come into the house when I'm not looking and try killing me too."
This confession shocked Jessica. The poor girl was much more scared about what happened than she was letting on. And Jessica couldn't blame her; watching the nearly unlimited news footage about how her mother's killer had been a paranoid schizophrenic who'd developed an obsession with exposing Joan Lennox as a hypocrite, then shooting her five times after getting an autograph from her earlier in the day (she was reported to have waited for nearly four hours outside of the apartments) always left her feeling terrified and sickened afterwards.
"Look, Shannon. Nobody's going to try hurting you. That woman's in jail now, and is probably going to stay there for the rest of her life. Despite what they show in movies, there aren't dozens of people running wild killing people at any moment after things like this happen," she said, patting her sister in the shoulder.
"Would you try protecting me if they did, though?" Shannon asked.
"Of course. Just one swing of my baseball bat, and I could put down any potential serial killer in a second," Jessica said.
This had Shannon giggling. "I bet you can. You're so strong that you could beat anyone in a fight."
"Yeah. I just hope I never have to do it."
And with that said, Jessica now turned off all the lights except for Shannon's desk lamp. As she'd been dressing up in the bathroom, she'd taken a sleeping pill so that she wouldn't remain wide awake through the night, or have nightmares when she did sleep. She'd been taking them every night since that awful first night where she kept seeing her mother being shot every time she managed to sleep, which frightened her more than the old stories of the Belles downing sleeping pills during busy nights on tour and nearly developing addictions at this point. If they were taken for a good purpose, she didn't see how they could become problematic.
As she wrapped the pink covers around her sister, she said, "And Shannon?"
"Yes?"
"If anything else bothers you, don't be afraid to tell me. There's nothing wrong with letting other people know when you're upset or scared."
"Okay. I will. Good night, Jessica," Shannon said.
"Good night to you too, Shannon," Jessica said. And she hoped things would always stay this way between the two of them.