AN: Mental Health is one area that is seriously neglected, despite all of our posturing that something has to be done. You'll notice that while Crystal was wrong to kill Buster, he's not entirely a villain. He's a victim in many ways. Overworked, stressed, suffering from anxiety, one of his closest friends makes a name for herself by dragging his name through the mud if she can (looking at you, Linda). The way he reacts to Jerry waking him up is too reminiscent of a soldier who's seen too much combat as opposed to a wealthy man with a loving daughter and literally everything a man could want. Mental health isn't some joke. And overwork is a thing. You can work so hard for so long that it drives you insane. And the sad thing is, we encourage that. We encourage working hard in every area except our own well-being. Crystal is a perfect example of the phrase "Evil is not born, it's made."

Part 30

When Johnny saw Suki on her Vespa with several pizzas, he and Ryan helped her inside. "We didn't know you'd be here." He said.

She nodded. "I'm the one who asked Rosita if we could all meet. How are you boys doing?" She asked as they took the pizzas inside.

Johnny shrugged. "Doing alright. How are things with you and my dad?" He asked.

"They're going very well. Your father is a sweet, wonderful gorilla," she said. "Are you okay with your father and I…." She realized that they had never talked about the relationship before.

The younger silverback shrugged again. "My dad's happy. That's what matters." He walked away.

Ryan joined him off to the side. "Okay, I'm sensing a little hostility… What's up?"

Johnny shook his head. "It's nothing, really. I really am happy for my dad. And she really is nice, this is a me problem."

Ryan pulled Johnny up the stairs into the office. "Okay, we're alone, talk to me." He played with his lover's hair.

He sighed. "It's just… she told us we weren't good enough. She told Mr. Moon that he wasn't good enough. Instead of "my boss is a fucking sociopath!"" Johnny shouted. He sighed. "I'm sorry. It's not her fault. I know that but I can't help being angry at her! I sometimes wish we'd never gone to Redshore City."

Ryan hugged him close. "But then we wouldn't have met." He wasn't surprised when Johnny began crying into his shirt. "I just wish there was something I could do."

Johnny shook his head. "I don't need you to do anything except hold me. Just hold me." He wept. "But yeah… I'm fine with them dating but I can't help blaming her… just a little… and I know that's not fair… you must think I'm being childish."

Ryan nodded and rubbed his back. "I think you're hurting. I think you're grieving and that's okay. And your anger is justified. What she said was untrue. You are all more than good enough."

Johnny sighed as he wiped his eyes. "And you're right about one thing. I don't know where I'd be now if I didn't have you. I love you."

"I love you too…" Ryan reassured him, kissing him on the forehead. "Let's go back downstairs. I see Meena and Alphonso."

His gorilla nodded and cleaned his face off quickly. Downstairs, Meena was getting a big hug from Porsha.

"Eeee, Meena, that's wonderful! Congratulations!" The wolf squealed.

Soon, they were all sitting on the stage in their favorite spot, eating the pizza that Suki brought. "Okay… now that we are all here and settled… Suki has something she needs to discuss with us." Rosita said.

Suki nodded. "Yes. I hate to be a bitch about this. I fought so hard. The board is unwilling to let you out of the contract Mr. Moon signed with Crystal."

Porsha interjected quickly. "But don't worry. I'm happy to pay the penalty if we really don't want to." Marcus squeezed her hand supportively.

Rosita shook her head. "Porsha, no, sweetheart. We can't let you do that."

Nana laughed darkly. "I'd like to know how they'd like a wrongful death suit. On behalf of both Mr. Moon and Mr. Crystal." She asked. They looked at her in question. "It can be argued that Mr. Crystal was experiencing a breakdown as the result of overwork and extreme anxiety. Thus he was not in full control of his actions. Yet, I know they would have seen the signs. Miss. Lane, I understand that this isn't the first incident Mr. Crystal had. If this board had recognized his condition and gotten him help, both he and Mr. Moon might still be alive."

Marcus applauded in agreement. "I love this old broad. No offense Nana."

"I'd really rather not involve courts and lawyers if we don't have to," Suki said. "What if it came out what really happened to Crystal?" She looked at Marcus. He'd be arrested if it ever came out. Murder didn't carry a statute of limitations and the law wouldn't accept his reasons.

Nana nodded reluctantly. "I suppose that is a concern. But I do agree that Miss. Crystal should not have to pay the penalty. So I shall."

Rosita thought back to her conversation with the doctor. "Or… and hear me out… we could do the show. Fulfill the contract and be done with it." She sighed.

Ash sighed. "Buster would hate it if we bought our way out of the contract. It would be the same as giving up on the show."

The sow nodded. "That's what I was thinking. I've been having dreams too. Every night it's the same. I'm back on the springboard and I'm frozen with fear when Crystal throws Buster from the catwalk… Every time I fail and he says "I wish I could have heard your song…""

Porsha hugged Big Daddy. "Maybe… maybe we could do different songs… that song I did… I might as well have cussed him out. It was the last thing I said to him."

The mother pig realized Porsha's hesitance wasn't just for them. "We could always change up the show."

"We're going to have to," Meena stated. "I don't think Darius should be picking me up again. It might not be safe for the baby." She held Alphonso's hand. Her closest friends smiled with joy while the ones she hadn't told yet looked at her.

"Wait? Baby?" Darius asked. "What baby?"

"Dude, you are not that dense," Ryan said. "Meena's having a baby."

Nana chuckled. "That is great news. Best wishes to both of you."

Suki smiled. "Well, I'm sure the board won't mind any necessary changes. Congratulations, Meena. That's wonderful!"

"May I make a suggestion?" Eddie asked, curiously typing into a document on his smartphone. They all looked at him, eager to hear his ideas. "Well what if Darius was a prince who was under a sleeping spell. And Meena sings this…" He opened up a file on his phone and an upbeat song about true love's kiss.

Meena began humming along. "One kiss, one kiss, it all comes down to this…" She nodded. "I like that."

Darius frowned. "But I don't get any lines."

"No, but you do have the daunting task of pretending to be asleep through an entire 3 minute song. Without laughing or even cracking a smile," Rosita told him. "Of course, if you're not up for it…"

The yak shook his head. "Are you kidding? I'm the best at pretending to be asleep. I'm in."

Meena smiled gratefully at Rosita. "That or… maybe, Alphonso could be my prince." She smiled at her husband who blushed. "And Darius could sing with Porsha. You wouldn't have to sing or do anything beyond lay there and let me kiss you awake." She told him, knowing his reservations about going on stage.

Alphonso hugged her. "I can do that much." He agreed. He didn't want to say it but the idea of her kissing another, even just pretending, was uncomfortable to him. And he knew she was uncomfortable with it too. They were both too modest.

Eddie nodded and made another note. "In that case, what about this song for Joy?" He opened up another music file, an upbeat pop song about finding happiness inside you. "Darius, think you and Porsha could do this together?" He could see Porsha was already in agreement. "There's plenty of lines."

The blond listened to the song and nodded. "Yeah, okay, I can get behind this. I'll do it."

Suki smiled. "So, I can tell the board you're… onboard?" She laughed at her own weak pun. "What dates shall I give them?"

Rosita thought. "Well… what does everyone else think?" She asked.

Porsha nodded. "Nooshy and I have school. We'll have to take off. Unless we do it over Thanksgiving break. Would they let us push it to the last week of November, Aunt Suki?"

She nodded. "I'll make sure they know that's non-negotiable. School sure as hell trumps this."

Marcus nodded. "I'll second that. I feel bad enough that Johnny didn't finish school because of me. You both are graduating high school."

Johnny shook his head. "It's okay Dad. I forgave you for that. I can get my GED if I really want to." He looked at Ryan. "At least we can do our dance this time. Without Kickenklober getting in our way."

Ryan kissed him. "I'd really like that, my alien warrior."

Suki nodded. "So, last week of November. I'll make sure the best suite is ready. And Meena, Alphonso, I'll ask them to prepare the honeymoon suite for you." The two elephants blushed but she could tell they liked the idea.

Alphonso smiled. "Thank you. By then I should be able to leave Tyler and whoever we hire to manage the truck for that week. I'm hoping our interviews tomorrow give us a few candidates, including Mr. Beaumont." He smiled at Ash. "Don't worry, I won't go easy on him." At his own request, and Alphonso knew he had hurt Ash once before.

"Thank you, Alph. He's very concerned that he should earn this job so he sets a good example," she sighed. "He's really grown up. Before he would mooch off whoever he was with at the time and he wouldn't let me sing with him beyond backing vocals. And today, after asking to borrow some strings that I had to take him, I was invited to sing for his kids' class. It was a lot of fun and he loves them so much. And seeing how much he loves them…" She blushed. "Sorry… I didn't think I'd ever like him this way again. Or at all."

Rosita took her hand. "I think we've all experienced some change recently. We've all grown. For good or bad." Four hands reached out to touch her shoulder, while she wiped her eyes. "So we'll do this. One week. And let them know, Suki, next Summer, maybe we can do another run. But it is the school year. We have too many obligations here to do any tours during the school year."

Suki nodded. "So, I have it all scheduled. November 21st through November 27th, Out of this World (Kaiteiban). And may I suggest, we do this in honor of Mr. Moon and I'll propose that 25% of the profits go to mental health awareness in Mr. Crystal's name."

Nana grinned. "Tell them that if they agree to the donation, I will match it." Jerry would be pleased. He had not been invited to the meeting but she had left Hobbs to make sure he ate and took care of himself.

Porsha hugged the old ewe without waiting for permission. "Thank you, Nana!" The singer just chuckled and patted her head. "And thank you, Aunt Suki. That's a great idea. I don't want to do this but this makes it worthwhile."

Rosita scratched her chin. "And… Mr. Calloway, what if the troupe donated half of our share to cancer research? In Ruby's name?" She asked.

The old lion smiled. "For both Ruby and Mr. Patel." He looked at Meena who smiled back. "I think she'd like that. I'll match both donations. Let's see some good come out of this if we can."

Ash put out her hand. "Let's do this then. There's only one way left to go…" One by one each hand joined hers.

"And that's up!" They all shouted together, dismissing the meeting in the usual way.

AN: So you're probably noticing a pattern where we go back and forth between the two cities. But we won't be going back yet. We still have Lance's interview, Halloween, thinking I'll show a few traditions, like carving the pumpkin and trick or treating and even trunk or treating, maybe a fall festival at Alphonso and Meena's church complete with a mini performance. What are your favorite Halloween traditions? What was your favorite costume when you were a kid?