Jem…Chapter 150

*Before…

I smile as we head out for Lucky’s and I’m in a red band tee and my corset top under it and pink jeans with heels and that’s it just pretty basic stuff and we’re going for the whole casual rock look that’s suit playing a bowling alley and bar and we park in the back side parking lot and it’s actually pretty neat. There’s a roadside billboard sign there and at the corner with our names on it and the specials tonight.

Thursday nights are a pay night for a lot of people. There’s usually two days and that’s Thursday or Friday that are good as paydays and that means that there’s generally better crowds in anything as people are more than willing to spend some cash on eating out and seeing a band and stuff like bowling.

The parking lot being pretty full is actually a pretty good sign too.

Rayne starts to curse actually as we’re pulling into the parking lot. I look where she’s looking and I see.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum there.

Randy and Danny McWhitter those two asshole thugs of Brooklyn are outside and hanging around a truck that’s seen better days and they’re talking to a bunch of other rough looking guys and I can’t help it either.

“Dammit!”

*And Now…

Seriously I don’t like seeing that they’re here and while I actually didn’t recognize them I’m still kind of sure that they were involved with the thing where we were hit and runned and Mike was hurt and stuff.

I mean it could have been the bikers that I’m pretty sure that Adam might have brought in to deal with Mike. But I can’t shake that those two goons had something to do with all of that too.

They’re doing I guess whatever thug boys do with friends and stuff and we pull past them but on the other side of the parking lot and then to where we’re going to be going in through the back and I look at Brooklyn as we’re getting out of the van and she looks as pleased as Rayne does and Kimmie is sort of glaring out towards the front parking lot even if we can’t see them anymore.

I take a breath and ask Brook. “You going to be okay?”

She nods. “Yeah, I just really hate those assholes; they made my life a living hell because they could and because I’m a girl.”

“We’ll talk to Charlie when we get inside and we let him know. That and the guys are here too that should like help in case something happens.”

Billy goes past with some of our amps. “Nothing is going to happen, well like nothing to you girls.”

Brooklyn looks at me and she does this huge sigh and she gets her guitar case and then heads inside and partway there Mike’s taking her hand and they head inside hand in hand.

Molly looks pissed and she looks a little scared as she’s getting her things and I look over to her. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I think so is it going to be bad?”

I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not it might not be anything at all with the guys here and we don’t know that they’re here to cause shit.”

Carmen frowns. “They’re here to cause shit. I can just tell I just…” she looks pissed. I look at her. “Were they….?”

“Oh hell no, the Jons had money or they were like worth something to Satan Marshall guys like those two assholes didn’t rate.”

“So then…?”

“Just a feeling Angel, we were the last car in and they did see up come back here.”

“Great.”

Josie looks at us. “It might be something, the dockside townies can be pretty rough and stuff and it’s like part of the whole rock scene too like playing bars and clubs fights happen.”

Rayne nods and has her things. “Yeah we seen some stuff playing some of the places that summer had us playing now and then. Still though these are assholes that hurt Brooklyn.”

Carmen nods. “Yeah and Mike got froggy with them and they’ll be looking for payback or something.”

I get my things and we all head inside and Brooklyn and Mike are with Dad and Uncle Mitch and they’re already talking to Charlie about the guys out there and I catch him saying he’ll keep an eye out but they’ve never gotten banned here yet so he really can’t just not let them in if they show up and stuff.

Yeah that’s true but we don’t have to like it.

Thankfully we’re not doing a huge show tonight as Lucky’s isn’t open really late like The Amsterdam is.

I get set up with my stuff and I head over and offer Charlie my hand. “Hey, sorry about the drama and everything.”

“It comes with the job actually Angel it’s no problem.”

I smile and look out at the place and it’s busy and a decent crowd is waiting to get in here not super or packed but a decent crowd all the same really and I wave at a few of the familiar faces and they wave back and I look at him. “Thanks for taking us on for a gig here again.”

“You kidding me, you kids are a hot thing now and tonight right after that show you all put on last night at The Pine Tree I’m hoping that I might catch some of that spillover with you girls and the whole charity thing and then there’s like that commercial thing you girls made like way back that’s on your computer stuff, seriously we get a ton of orders for a Lucky Burger and onion rings.”

I blush and grin. “Trust me that actually was totally on the fly and it all has like led us into a whole other thing now with our own website and we’re promoting things were we play or those we work with and it’s getting to be an actual business now.”

He is grinning. “That actually sounds about right and all I’ve been hearing a few really good things about you girls.”

We actually hug lightly and he goes off to manage and I head up to the stage and we’re getting ready and doing sound and video checks as the doors between the bar and the bowling alley open up and we’re getting a few more people coming in and I get ready and I talk to the girls on cues and stuff and another little idea and I go to the keyboard as people are filling in and I look at Mike and give him the handy-cam gesture and he picks up the video camera and he starts to tape me as I start playing the music for the TV show *Cheers* on the keyboard.

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you got…”
“Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.”
“Wouldn’t you like to have a game…”

I grin at the crowd and there’s some cheers and some laughing. And then they’re starting to sing along with me.

“Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
“And it’s just the place to bowl a frame…”
“You wanna be where you can see…that the lanes are straight!”
“You wanna be where the Lucky burger’s so great…”

I raise my hands and I’m clapping and Rayne and Brooklyn are just looking at me with smiles as they shake their heads and people I think are looking like they’re having a good time.

Mike actually is smiling too and he has this huge grin and he gives me a thumbs up and yeah it just literally came to me on the fly and now I think after I see about paying for the cover, and you do have to pay for the cover even if it’s this different I think we’ll run that spot on the ad block for The Lucky’s link.

And since we’re going into this with some energy to it we actually break into a cover of. *Higher and Higher* By Jackie Wilson and it’s a really upbeat tune that I fell in love with as a kid when I seen the second Ghostbusters movie.

We’d kind of talked it over and for Lucky’s we kinda wanted to do a mix of fun and rocking kind of stuff and try to get a good sound specifically for here and it’s a bar so dancing is of the good.

We jump into *Love Shack* By The B-52’s next and the crowd’s starting to move.

Then we hit them with Kimmie doing *Magical Power Panties* By Starlight Butterfly and there’s some happy, really happy scream cheers when they get what is going on and they’re bopping along with it and screaming the lyrics too.

And then we double whammy the girl pop with. *My Best Friend’s Hot!* By The Dollyrots.

*Soul Sister* By Train gets people moving though more and singing along too.

*Oh Love* By Greenday it’s actually a pretty good song really.

*Don’t Wanna* By Starlight Butterfly and okay that’s pretty cool when they start to give a bit of a cheer for us when we play our first song that’s our own.

We’re really getting into our groove and rocking it out and I yell into the mic. “You want something a little harder!”

They’re cheering and I yell again. “Do you want to hear something a little harder?”

They’re cheering and shouting “Yeah!” and we slip from that into another girl-rock classic bit and get into Joan Jet’s *I Love Rock and Roll*

And they’re dancing as soon as that mix of that iconic mix of guitar and drums is going off there’s bodies moving with it… and they’re singing along because Everybody…everybody loves.

“And I could tell it wouldn’t be long before he was with me.”

And there’s that shout back and I mic the crowd as we all sing. “Yeah Me!”

“And I could tell it wouldn’t be long before he was there singing…”

And I mic the crowd again as we sing altogether. “I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL!”
“PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUXEBOX BABY!”
“I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL!”
“SO COME AND TAKE YOUR TIME AND DANCE WITH ME!”

It’s like that, just like this special kind of magic as we hit the “Me Yeah Me!” and the Chorus over and over and it’s one of those things that makes this just so special to me. I’m playing Joan Jett and it’s really out of the generations of like most of the people here and me and the girls included but it’s still iconic, we all still know it, we’re all grooving to it and singing to it and we’re all still getting the thrill bumps from it.

Because that’s what rock and roll is all about.

We got from that into *Raise Your Fist* By Starlight Butterfly and that lets us go into *Fortune Favors The Bold* By Starlight Butterfly and we play that one a bit heavier so that it can lead into this song that’s an unexpected cover from us.

And it’s Raven that’s singing it with that heavier and more powerful voice of hers. And there’s a whole section of people here that are getting that beat and the guitar riffs because this song is really great and Motorhead is a very, very well-known metal hard rock band.

And actually pretty popular here in Ontario for like bars and rinks and especially things like the old speedway places where Ontario racing was such a big thing and booming.

She’s in the leather pants, and the goth boots, with a black SLB nebula butter fly t-shirt and a leather vest and she has her hair in that black semi-spike and the goth make-up and she is just going at it at first on the bass playing hard and showing real skill in doing that and she steps up to the mic and she nails it with this power and speed that actually reminds me a lot of Biff Naked.

*Rock and Roll* By Motorhead…

“Well here babe look at you in love with someone else!”
“Turned out like all the others, leave me by myself!”
“That’s how it works I guess, and you’re like all the rest…”
“Guess I can handle it, if that’s the way it is!”

And we all join in with her singing the chorus and there’s some singing along but there’s a lot of bounce dancing to it because it’s a really good tune.

(Chorus.) “I’m in love with rock and roll!”
“It satisfies my soul!”
“If that’s how it has to be, I won’t get mad!”
“I’ve got rock and roll!”
“To save me from the cold!”
“And if that’s all there is…”
“It ain’t so bad!”

“Rock and Roll!”

And this is where we changed the lyrics because really there’s a lot of great rock songs that are really old school mancentric and even kinds shitty with the whole rock-misogyny kind of stuff and this actually might be our version of the song.

It’s a tribute cover.

“I’ve never been one to have no steady job.”
“I love the way I live though, running round the world.”
“I like to fool around!”
“I like to party down it down!”
“And when I leave, you’ll miss me when I’m gone!”

And we launch altogether in the chorus together again. (Chorus.)

Then there’s the guitars lead layer with bass and serious drumming and Raven is just cranking out the licks and Brooklyn does the walk up playing as well until her and Raven are playing together face to face and I’m actually just keeping up with the crowd by doing that sort of mosh-pit styled kind of jump dancing.

Heck I’m just back up on this and I’m not even playing really.

I’m having fun.

Raven steps up and starts singing again and this one we had to change too.

“I could never imagine growing old with anyone!”
“Marching to a different drummer!”
“I hear a different song!”
“I swear I loved them all…”
“Didn’t care if they’re small…”
“Didn’t care if they’re tall…”
“I loved them anyway!”

(Chorus x6)

The song is really simple but you really have to kind of have that groove going on really to even do it and the music is key it has to be spot on for a cover like this and those lyrics they have this cadence to them that you need to nail and after the long repeats of choruses they’re playing the guitar again into the fade out as we’re all shouting… “Rock and roll!” X6

And I mic the crowd so they’re going along with it too “Rock and Roll!”
“Rock and Roll!”
“Rock and Roll!”
“Rock and Roll!”
“Rock and Roll!”

And we fade out the song and the crowd is definitely kicked into a decent gear and there’s some more people that are coming in from the other section or just coming in as far as I can tell and that’s a good thing and I can see a few people on the edges of the crowd here texting and stuff and there’s a few camera flashes here and there too.

From this we go into *Whole Lotta Rosie* By AC/DC

This is a really great girl band tune, sexy, high intensity non-body shaming and pro-sexuality too. All the things that are like big things with the much more aware crowd these days especially when there’s a whole lot of folks online learning about all these feminist things and I’m not going to say that we’re feminist rock at all but when you can cover a really, really good rocking hit and have it not be problematic.

That’s actually some of the kinds of stuff that we want to be into.

And again it’s Raven and not me and again it’s me just dancing and whipping up the crowd with me doing the wild girl head shake back and forth and I really don’t know what I’m doing dance wise at all just sort of going with it and I mic the crowd for when we get to the…

“Whole lot of woman! whole lot of woman! A whole lot of Rosie!”

And do you know how strong the guitar is on this song? Brooklyn is into it with that leaning back into the guitar strap and sweaty hair and just completely rocking it out and Raven’s keeping up and Roxy is just doing absolutely amazing on the drums and me…2nd song in a row I’m just dancing, mic’ing the crowd and whipping them up.

There’s so much talent here and I want it to happen when people think of SLB they think of the band.

And honestly I’m the second lead singer that they’ve had in this band, that’s a definite thing in the rock world really. And it says stuff about the fact that the band survived with the front woman leaving.

Not that I’m planning on going anywhere but the band is family, Rayne’s my GF and the girls are my sisters and Starlight Music and Entertainment is sort of a thing that I made with them all.

All…you hear that Summer? I mean like how can you just not get that the band is bigger than you?

And then we’re back to me stepping in as we go right into a music change over and have a really well done shift into *AC/DC* By Joan Jett and I actually launch into it belting the song out and it takes like about 4 seconds before the crowd realizes the song and they’re right, right into it.

Then it’s *Boots of Chinese Plastic* By The Pretenders and they’re into the funk of that too and then we end out the set on us playing *Who’d Ever Think?* By Starlight Butterfly.

We take a bow as we come to an end and the crowd is cheering as we are getting done the set and we went from just plain fun to hard but good rock and then into that sort of cool funky rock to end us off the first set and the point of doing it as a wave is that we play softer chiller stuff in the second half and while we want to have the crowd have a great time you sort of want them in the mood for things too when you come back.

I call out to the crowd I through the mic.

“Okay! That was a heck of a lot of fun and we’re going to be back with something a lot more chill for you all and some stuff to dance to after we take a break. This would be a really killer time to grab a Lucky Burger or some of the absolutely butt-kicking onion rings too and have a few cold ones before we’re back.”

We head out back and we’re sweaty and we’re pumped up and even with all of that I’m looking around for Brooklyn’s brothers and even take a peak outside and Uncle Mitch is there and he smiles and gives me a nod. “We’re good, nothing going on yet.”

“Hopefully nothing at all.” I say as I head back inside and I head for a drink first and some water and Brooklyn looks at me and I shake my head.

“Nothing yet, they haven’t showed up out back.”

She nods and she goes over and she hugs Mike when he comes out back and he pulls her into a tight hug.

Rayne passes me an OJ and I drink that down pretty fast and take my bottle of water into the bathroom as we’re taking turns doing that and then Carmen’s doing a touch up on all of us with the tackle-tray styled tool boxes and then one of the waitresses comes back with a big tray of goodies courtesy of Charlie and we’re actually hungry now or I am and I have a Lucky Burger and there’s lots of fries and onion rings.

A Lucky Burger is actually pretty great. Two patties and they’re thin ones so not like to make you feel like ugh heavy and they’re flame grilled with the char marks and it’s really well seasoned too and then there’s mayo that has like diced dill and sweet pickles and finely diced onions and then there’s cheese on it plus ketchup and a little mustard and some lettuce and tomato.

Way better than fast food.

And the fries are decent which is a plus and then there’s the onion rings which are double dip battered and it’s like this beer batter too so there’s that taste that you get from that and then the onion ring which are pretty thick and just this side between cooked and raw…there’s still texture on them instead of mush.

Rayne and I share a burger since we’re still going back on stage and the last thing you want to feel is heavy really so this is a light refuelling for us but with Mike there and us taking some to Uncle Mitch and Carmen and Molly the food is going fast anyway.

A few shots of us eating and biting into burgers and Rayne actually does this shot with Mike as she breaks open an onion ring and shows off that crunch and the insides before eating it and Kimmie’s actually snapping pics and tweeting it out and doing the same and posting them on Instagram.

Yeah we so stole that from the crowd the other night at The Pine Tree Café really and it did well for them and everything with those looking at this stuff online and the Instagram stuff will show on our site and on our Facebook and I think it links to Twitter too so there’s lots of followers there and not even counting the shares that’ll happen it’s fast word of mouth.

I really hope that this actually gets into the social networking stuff for people that are from out of town.

Like fast food will always be fast food but if places like this get even a ten percent bump in orders that’s a big deal.

We head back out after forty five minutes and It’d normally be only thirty but there was a rush on at the bar for a while and there was a rush on with the kitchen too that we waited through as people ate and drank and used the bathroom and they’re mostly back by the time we’re back out on stage and it’s planned but Raven and I take off our band tee shirts and there’s cheers for me in my red and black corset top and Raven in her black camisole and yeah…yeah that really got yells and whistles an cheers.

Seriously she showed some midriff why she did it and she is wearing one of those strapless bras so she has even more amazing cleavage and it’s definitely having an effect.

It’s still very wow to me and us both at just how many of those screams and whistles are from other girls and women.

I’m not sure if there really are that many lesbians in town or there’s just the whole sexy appreciation thing that’s going on but it’s still pretty cool. It’s kind of daunting but cool.

I get my Keytar and lean into the mic and smile. “Here’s a great song, really chill and it’s like still relevant y’know today with all of us younger folks out there.”

I start playing and Mike gets the lights and we dim it down and I start getting into *Signs* By Five Man Electrical Band.

And once we’re past that sort of chill funk intro we’re can feel the recognition of the song kicking it in that little bit just before the vocals.

“And the sign said long haired freaky people…”
“Need not apply…”
“So I tucked up my hair under my hat…”
“And went in to ask him why?”

“He said, you look like a fine upstanding young man I’ll think you’ll do.”
“So I took off my hat.”
“And said imagine that…Huh.”
“Me workin for you…..!”

“Oh!”

We get to that chorus and it’s like before there’s that magic right in the music as there’s thrill bumps happening and people out there signing along and there’s phones and lighters starting too.

The thing is this is a socially relevant song still today, it’s about fairness and not judging others but it’s also about stuff like the bad side of the status quo.

Trans, Gay, Lesbian, Tattoos or Piercings, Disabled, Poor… it’s a song that still fits y’know, told what to do, told how to conform and to hide and that we’re not really, really wanted.

And there’s that chorus swell too as its Ontario styled beloved classic rock and it’s live and the crowd is singing along with me and Raven mic’s the crowd.

(Chorus.) “Signs, Signs…”
“Everywhere there’s signs.”
“Blocking up the scenery…”
“Breaking my mind.”
“Don’t do this, don’t do that…”
“Can’t you read the signs?”

“And the sign said…”
“Anyone caught trespassing.”
“Would be shot on sight.”
“So I jumped the fence and yelled to the house…”
“What gives you the right!?”

“To put up a fence to keep me out!”
“Or to keep mother nature in!”
“If god was here he’d tell you to your face…”
“Man you’re some kind of sinner…!”

(Chorus.)

“Now hey now Mister can’t you read?”
“You have to have a shirt or a tie to get a seat!”
“You can’t even watch…”
“You can’t even eat…”
“You ain’t supposed to be here….!!!”

And all the girls jump in with the next two lines as we play-pause just to those two lines that are really a great punch to the song.

“And the sign said…”
“You gotta to have a membership card to get inside.”

Then there’s the guitar break small solo that has Brooklyn doing it just awesomely and then back into the song with me singing and doing Keytar.

“And the sign said…”
“Everybody’s welcome, come in kneel down and pray.”
“But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all...”
“I didn’t have a penny to pay...”
“So I got me a pen and paper…”
“And I made up my own little sign,”
“I said thank you lord for thinkin ‘bout me…”
“I’m alive and doing fine…!”

“Oh!”

(Chorus.) X2

More short guitar solo.

And we’re all singing. “Signs, Signs…”

And then it’s all guitar playing us out of that song and into *General Handgrenade.* By Trooper which is just a good song with the same sort of vibe and close together music and that leads us into our version of *Roller Derby Queen* By Jim Croce.

Seriously we are in a bowling alley.

I love that Raven does that little acoustic play near the front of the song on her bass as I’m sort of signing that to her.

Then Raven sings *Billie Holiday* By Starlight Butterfly pretty much back to me and it’s really just so awesome and so sigh-worthy when she does that. And out there in the crowd I can see sort of shadowy shapes leaning heads onto shoulders as they’re dancing.

I serenade her back with *Carousel.* By Starlight Butterfly and that’s a really nice slow song that I got inspired to write from thinking about a soft and simple nice date with Rayne and me at a whole boardwalk kind of thing by the lake and this sort of like carnival going on for us in the background.

Seriously I have like three quarters of a music video in my head for this.

People like to dance to this one too.

and after that I set down the Keytar and go over to the keyboard and there’s some cheering when I’m doing that and Raven comes over and I start to play and there’s some cheers as *Open Arms* By Journey and I smile as I can see lighters and phones waving out there and some people dancing and Raven and I actually do it as a duet.

She starts with the first two lines… “Lying beside you…hear in the dark.”
“Feeling your heart beat with mine…”

And I’m a lighter high pitch and sort of the girl in our relationship so the next to fits me better.

“Softly you whisper, you’re so…sincere…”
“How could our love be so blind…?”

We do that back and forth until we get to the chorus and that we’re singing together and it’s just one of those really great moments in a gig where it all is so good that it seems to just slow down perfectly.

Raven gets her bass passed to her and she’s still sitting but it’s sitting and playing with me still on keyboards as we go into. *Everything* By Starlight Butterfly

We’re actually doing more of us too because this is sort of our strength right now with our own lyrics and songs to do the loving and slow dancing stuff more than the rocking or the fast happy fun sort of pop stuff.

So Everything leads into *Washed Away* By Starlight Butterfly and we go from that into us doing *Invisible* By Starlight Butterfly and I’m still amazed at the number of people that know this song.

It’s not so much dancing as arms in the air and lighters and waving and but it’s still there and it’s still all of those voices swelling up from out there and singing along with us.

Then Brooklyn joins us too as we sort of are all together and we do an all-girl trio of *All for Love*

I start with Bryan Adam’s part the Raven slides in with Sting’s part with her voice and Brooklyn is doing Rod Stewart’s part and it’s getting a long soft cheer with applause as we’re doing this.

I have always thought this song would translate so well into an all-girl cover.

Just a little tweak at the first and we swap out “man” with “I’ll be a lover of good faith.”

Then the rest is the same we’re focused on strong triple vocals with most of the music being my keyboard and Roxy keeping that time with the drums to keep us in synch and Brooklyn lightly playing on the guitar right up until her short solo on it which is why she’s the one standing and she rocks that out pretty well and there’s a lot of applause as we finish it up and whistling and cheering and lots of camera flashes.

Raven leans over to the mic. “We’re just about done tous l’monde and it’s the last song of the night and here’s Jem with *I Believe.*” I slip out from behind the keyboard and just have the mic in hand and I start in and I wanted something that’s going to leave an impression and while we’re at it having that song be a Starlight Butterfly song will be good because we’ll be there in people’s heads afterwards.

There’ lots of applause and the show went pretty fast but not too fast really when you look at how much we did do here tonight like nearly thirty songs and half of them are ours.

Add in the break and we carried the gig really well.

And when I’m done as we usually do we close it all down with. *One for The Money Two for The Show.* By Trooper.

That last tune is the whole thing that they’re using for last call and kitchen closing and everything and there’s always sort of a rush for that and Charlie closes the bar side doors since we’re done while that last of the bowlers are still finishing their games.

He actually turns around and he claps. “Holy shit girls that was freaking awesome, and that thing you girls did with the cheers thing that was really, seriously cool. I mean you girls like made a jingle for the gig.”

Rayne grins at him and she points at me. “Don’t look at us Charlie she made that up like on the fly and just sort of told us about it right before she did it.”

He’s actually staring at me and so is Dad and Josie and she actually claps.

I try and wave it off. “It was sort of goofing off but it was really just more luck than anything and it kind of helped that I was here with all of you.”

Carmen makes a rude noise. “Stop playing yourself down Angel, you won’t let us do it. C’mon that was actually pretty damned cool.”

Charlie looks at me. “That’s twice, twice you did something that’s that cool and it’s like a big deal Angel.”

I’m blushing. “Okay, okay it was a cool moment but it’s still going to need us to pay the cover to use it even modified.”

Molly says. “Did that while you were actually doing it and that’s actually already downloaded on the site and linked out and patched to the Ad blocks for Lucky’s along with the footage of the eats.”

I blink. “Really?”

“Sure that was actually kind of cake compared to the stuff that I’m going to have to load for the shows once we’re done editing the camera stuff and everything.”

Charlie looks at us. “It’s up?”

I nod. “Sounds like it.”

He nods. “I’ll be right back and we can settle up and you can do what you want with the girls.”

I get our tips and the box from the item sales together and Rayne joins me as we sit at one of the bar booths and so do the waitresses as we all start to pool out money together and it’s nothing like last night’s tips by far but we still average out like twenty six dollars between us and yeah some of the waitresses seem a little put out and some are okay with it but there’s a cook a bus boy and a dishwasher getting a share now and that’s like just as important.

Charlie comes back and he has our cheques and the one he passes me is pretty big, like a lot bigger than I should get at all.

“Charlie? This is way too much.”

“It’s pay for the jingle and for the last commercial and run times and all the other stuff that you’ve done. People get paid for this stuff Angel and actually given how much I’ve paid before for like radio spots and all that’s light.”

“That’s a lot of money still Charlie I don’t want to short you up.”

He looks at me. “You’re not and stop arguing girl just say thank you Charlie.”

I sigh. “Thank you Charlie.”

He grins and we shake hands and then we’re packing up and Rayne looks at me. “Just how much is too much?”

“Four hundred dollars.”

She tilts here head from side to side. “I don’t have a clue about advertising but that actually sounds fair.”

“I know and it I was doing it for money that’d be one thing. But I really just did this to like make things like easier.”

She smiles at me. “Sometimes that can be both things honey.”

I smile. “Well we can still use the money.” I pocket it or rather put it in my purse and we get back to putting all of our stuff in the vehicles and we all sort of look at each other and we pull out with Billy and Davey in the lead.

I don’t see Brook’s brothers there anywhere or the truck which is a good thing and it has been a few hours with us doing our thing and everything and we pull out from the parking lot and we head out in the whole kind of driving convoy sort of thing that we did from the last time that we ran into trouble.

It’s actually still very unnerving that we seen them and that we’re kind of like expecting trouble and it’s kind of sort of really sitting in the pit of my stomach as we’re driving that whole feeling of dread and stuff.

But the drive home is kind of a whole like non-event and everything until we get home and there’s great big letters that have been spray bombed over our house with stuff saying.

Brookskyn… Skank…Rat-fucker.

I get out of the van and others are getting out of their vehicles and I look over and I see Brooklyn and she’s standing at the side of her car with the door open and she’s red faces and she’s staring at the house and she’s crying and there’s tears running down her face and she starts to sob a few times and then she’s screaming.

“FUCK! FUCK, FUCKING COCKSUCKERS!!!” She’s pounding her closed fist on the roof of her car over and over and Mike’s out of his car and jogging over to her and Brooklyn wipes her eyes off on her sleeve and she hops into her car and she pulls out of the yard gunning it and spraying gravel and once her tires hit pavement the tires chirp and squeal.

We’re all looking at the scene still in shock for a second them Mike’s sprinting to his car and I hop back into the van and look at Rayne.

“She’s going looking for Randy and Danny!”

Rayne pulls out grinding gravel under us until we hit the pavement and we peal a black strip or rubber too as we chase after her.