A Wildcat Summer 21

When Teri hung up, she just wanted to sit and think. Talking to Jenn was like walking through a corn maze, where the walls are ten feet high, solid, and thick. All the sound is muffled except for the breeze rattling the dried husks.

Teri felt stuck and couldn’t find her way out. It was all going in endless circles of confusion. She didn’t want to get mad at Jenn, but they’d had this talk so many times that she wanted to scream. In her mind, she was starting to think that this wasn’t a discussion anymore. Jenn was giving her an ultimatum.

Sure, Teri created this situation. She admitted to having fantasies with muscular guys, but they were about squeezing and kissing. It was just making out. But she’d watched enough porn back with the guys in high school to understand what her role would be after the hugging and kissing went further. It was all about mindless passion. She’d reached that fevered point all the time with Jenn. But they loved each other, and it was done for each other’s mutual excitement.

With porn, Teri found those images disturbing. The animalistic lust was beyond comprehension. Those women did a lot of crazy things. Teri sometimes wondered if it was acting.

Argh. It was too much. She really wanted to tell Jenn to stop. Telling her to go out and consummate something with a guy, well, none of what she’d done was planned. She couldn’t picture herself being used like as a socket for some guy to plug into. She had trouble seeing any positive. She decided those videos were just for some guy’s masturbation fantasy.

Teri shook her head and found Lisa. “When are we going?”

Lisa shook her head and looked at her phone. “I’m guessing in an hour. What do you want to do?”

Teri smiled. “Anything. How about cards?” Growing up, they’d always played a fierce game of Double Solitaire.

Lisa grinned. “I happen to have a couple of decks in my stuff. How about us finding a quiet spot?”

They stopped while she dug out the decks. Then, they found a little nook in the lobby to get comfortable. As they each shuffled their own deck, Lisa looked at Teri. She seemed a lot more relaxed. It was like she had an epiphany and found inner calm. She decided to play a twenty-question game with her sister to get to the reason. “Hey. Can I ask you twenty questions?”

Teri raised her eyes and laughed. “Sure. Whatcha wanna know?”

“What turned you around and put you in such a good mood?”

Teri laughed. “I thought that in twenty questions, they were supposed to be yes or no answers.”

Lisa shrugged.

Teri shuffled her cards out on the table. “Okay, I’ll give you a starting question.”

Lisa smiled. “Shoot. What question should I ask?”

Teri was grinning. “Did you fool around with Zoe?”

Lisa would have swallowed her gum if she’d been chewing. Instead, she just coughed. “Really?”

Teri shrugged. “A sister's secret, okay?”

Lisa was nodding. “Oh, yeah. Til I die.”

Teri looked at her and smiled. “It started out cause I was talking about my problems. Well, she said I needed a lesson to help level me out. She took my mind off my dilemmas by dragging me upstairs to her hotel room.”

Lisa was grinning from ear to ear. “That makes you very special. I’ve been hanging with that wonderful woman for many years. Zoe doesn’t drag someone up to her room very often.”

“Oh, yeah. I do feel special.” Now, Teri felt that she understood the mutual passion that two people are capable of without any strings attached.

Richard was rounding the Cats up and getting them on the bus. After being accounted for, they drove to the airport and went through security. Teri was shaking her head as they all sat up front in first class. The first class was still a big deal; now, it was routine.

She listened to her options and chose fresh fruit and a croissant. As she sipped a bottled water, she smiled. Her airplane ticket would have probably paid for a semester at community college. She understood the whole logic of moving them around efficiently, but sometimes, it was still hard to believe.

Teri was sitting next to Tiffany, who was digging into a full meal of chicken, potatoes, and carrots—it looked like a double portion. “How do you do it? You eat big meals and never gain any weight," Tiffany said.

Tiff grinned. “I know what to eat. Remember, I did a lot of sports in high school. My dad’s a doctor; counting carbs, lean protein, and lots of fresh veggies makes it easy. After a while, it’s just routine. It’s not quantity, it’s quality. Look at what you’re eating. That croissant is all fat and white flour, plus it’s loaded with stabilizers to keep it from getting stale. That could have been made a month ago and reheated. Nothing in that pastry is healthy, But you made a good attempt with the fruit. But that’s all sugar, too. You’d have been better off getting an apple. It’s got fiber.”

Teri was always surprised when Tiffany showed her props, just like the first time she played the cello. Teri had to remind herself that everyone around her was three-dimensional and complex. Tiffany was a lot more than an air-head Barbie doll.

She leaned over and whispered, “Did you ever play Barbies with your friends growing up?”

Tiffany laughed. “Of course I did. I was Annika Lundgren, a too-tall, four-eyed, freaky girl. I was gawky and awkward until I hit high school. But sports showed me the way. I ran cross-country and played volleyball and spring field hockey. By then, my size didn’t matter. And I started wearing contacts. Suddenly, I bloomed and became a lover of bad boys.”

Teri laughed. “Is that when you became Tiffany?”

Tiff laughed. “We can thank Gina for that nickname. She always was a boil on my ass. But she did kick our field hockey team up a notch, but she helped us rule the state in volleyball.”

Teri shook her head. She still had trouble being around Tiffany. Looking into her blue eyes, watching her lush lips, and smelling her wonderful skin were still mesmerizing.

“Hey! Earth to Teri. Come in, space girl. Stop fantasizing about me. Are you sexualizing your bass player again?”

Teri knew she was blushing bright red and laughed at herself. “Yeah, you know what you do to me. You’re my fantasy girl.”

“You realize just how beautiful you’re girlfriend is, right?”

Teri grinned. “Uh-huh. I’m totally in love with her. It’s just a shame we’re both so young and inexperienced. It would be much easier if we were both older like you.” The instant those words came out of her mouth, she realized how stupid she sounded.

“Honey, I’m twenty-four, and you’re eighteen. Six years older and just so much wiser. I think you need to start following me around and writing down everything I say and do. After all, not only am I brilliant, but beautiful. Prayers every night to only be as perfect as I am.” Tiffany had a huge grin on her face.

Gina leaned over between their seats from the row behind. “You are shoveling so much horse shit right now, they’re going to smell it up front and not be able to fly this boat.”

Teri smiled at Gina. “I’m already dedicating a space in my tablet to write down all the words of wisdom from Tiffany. I want to grow up to be just like her.”

Gina patted her on the shoulder as she disappeared behind them. “You bet, kid. Tiffany is the best person to see about giving advice.”

When Richard walked by their seats, Teri stopped him. “You said we’re playing at this festival and have been moved up as a headliner?”

Richard smiled. “Uh-huh. Your fame is snowballing. They contacted Gimli and wanted to pay you more and let you play longer. I knew you’d like that.”

Teri beamed. “We were just talking about hungering to perform for more than an hour. That’s great!”

Richard nodded. “I’m going to spread the word. Do you need time to meet and draw up a set list?”

Tiffany was grinning. “Yeah, that would be a good idea. It would be great to play under the lights for a receptive crowd. But do you know how they got the name, Kick Out The Jams?”

Teri immediately sat up and turned towards them. There was a Detroit band, MC5, who had a hit titled Kick Out The Jams! They used to yell, kick out the jams, motherfuckers.”

Gina laughed. “The girl is a walking encyclopedia of Rock and Roll history. She should have her own podcast.”

Teri smiled at Gina. “A podcast where we can interview rock gods and discuss their history. I’d really like that.”

Lisa leaned over Gina and looked at her sister. “Okay, that could be a real thing. When we’re in LA, you'll meet all those people to possibly record interviews with them. Some of your podcasts can be with bands we meet on the road who are just getting started, like Alba May.”

Gina got excited. “Do a two-part interview with EBR. Maybe Lisa can put in a good word for you.”

Teri was laughing. “Those guys owe me. I’ve spent a lot of time rearranging their old songs for them.”

“There you go, girl. You’ve got another career to keep you busy when we’re not on the road or even on it.”

Richard added, “Talk to Phil, and he’ll hook you up with the proper mics and recorder to make it perfect. Then, you can mix it on a soundboard. With your up-and-coming reputation, you’ll have no trouble finding sponsors.”

Teri frowned. “No money, no profit. I want to do this for charity.”

“Easy enough. We’ll find you sponsors who will just do it for branding and donate all the money to charities.”

“You could get the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland to be one of your sponsors. We’re playing in Cleveland at the end of June in a small place called The Beach Land Ballroom. You’d have time to visit the hall while you’re there.”

Teri got out her tablet and started taking notes about a podcast. “This is a real open-ended project," she said.

Before long, the plane landed, and their bus was out front waiting for them. As they all climbed off, Phil and the roadies appeared. The box truck was parked behind the bus. Teri immediately cornered Phil to talk about her podcast plan. The two of them immediately made lists and discussed what they’d need to create a portable studio.

The Cats discussed a ninety-minute set as the bus rode along to the festival.

Lisa laughed. “I say we punch out a ninety-minute set, and maybe they’ll call us back for an encore.”

Zoe scoffed. “Of course they will. I’m surprised we’re not doing a longer show to close the place out much later at night.”

Richard shook his head. “They have a permit but must stop at ten at night. If we start at eight, we have to close before ten so they can make announcements.”

They were introduced to their chef and his assistant, who prepared a full meal.

“I’m Pete, and this is Gloria. We’re making grilled vegetable tacos and sides of macaroni and cheese tonight. From now on, we’ll give you a long list of foods you like and ensure you have them. We are also stocking up your freezer and fridge on board the bus with healthy, fun stuff to snack on. Richard already told us what Lucinda made for you in May while you were home. We can make three meals a day or just dinner. We’ll shop for local organic, fresh ingredients daily to make each meal special.”

After meeting their commissary people, they walked around the festival and listened to the bands.

After dinner, they sat around backstage until it was time to go on. At eight at night, it was still more twilight than dark. When Gina started slamming down on her drums, the crowd cheered and also started clapping.

Teri appeared wearing a bright orange, form-fitting jumpsuit, orange platform sneakers, and silver hair braided and looking like dreadlocks. She unleashed a Jimi Hendrix-style feedback guitar and played a freeform solo that had everyone cheering and clapping. On the other side of the stage, Zoe was in black tights, a white tuxedo shirt, and black stiletto heels. As she spun around, her bright red ponytail moved with her.
With the two guitars blasting at both ends of the stage, everyone cheered as Tiffany came out in a silver bodysuit. People down front were treated to seeing her live, but everyone could look up on the projection screens that showed all the Wildcats.

They had divided the screen into four parts, one for each Wildcat. The director filled the screen with one Cat and then moved to four. The greatest applause was for Gina, who never stopped pounding down, looking incredible in a black, one-piece runner’s outfit that showed all her muscles.

Then, the stage flashed black, and a single spot revealed Lisa standing at center stage in her bright red prom dress, her hair cascading down her back. The big screens just showed Lisa as she gave a banshee cry and started singing the lyrics to Run, Run, Gone!

Everyone on the festival grounds had swarmed the stage to see the Wildcats. Later, the sponsors estimated the sixty-thousand people who’d bought tickets were in front of the stage.

The Wildcats played without stopping for an hour. Then, Tiffany announced, “We’ll be back in a few!”

Crowded in the back, they wiped off and donned their Fur Face costumes. When everyone was ready, Teri waddled out to the stage front while the rest of the cats stood downstage and played their heavy metal song. When Tiffany started doing her rap, you could hear thousands of people accompanying her. Everyone continued to sing along with most of their songs, including the new ones on their recently released album.

After another forty-five minutes, they played their last songs, saving Summer Song as they got closer. Throwing kisses and disappearing, they closed out a festival night.

As their bus left the grounds, they could hear the promoter's final words to the festival goers.

After a quick rinse, they were all in comfy clothes as they headed to their hotel on the outskirts of Detroit. By the time they parked and staggered into their rooms, no one had anything to say. Even Teri was quiet as she dragged herself into bed.