Jem...Chapter 207

*Before…

Uncle Bobby leaves after giving me a hug and an envelope that looks like it has another cheque in it and some other stuff and he leaves and there a look between him and Carmen too.

Dad catches my eye and slides over. “Everything okay?”

I nod. “Yeah, just stuff’s starting to happen again and was all sort of meshing with other stuff.”

“Go for a walk with me and tell me about it?” He holds up his food. “Have sandwich will travel.”

I smile at him and hook my arm in with his. “Definitely.”

We get some looks from the others but no one says anything as Dad and I head for the the rides.

The ferris wheel is a good place for stuff like this.

*And Now…

It’s funny how not nervous I am about this talk.

I mean before sure but with everything going on and the times that we’ve had before this and my fears and issues with going from Jason to being Angel and dropping that past part of my life are things that I’ve faced now.

We get into line and Dad bought some cotton candy on the way and we get in one of the seats and we start that loading shift up the wheel as other are loading.

I wait until we’re like four starts up before talking though i started eating the cotton candy as soon as we got on.

Dad’s patient too which helps.

I take a breath.

“I ran into Old Adam today at the auction. He sort of freaked me out with how much he knew about us.”

Dad looks at me. “Are you in danger?”

“Uncle Bobby says no. he did say that Adam Senior-Senior was looking at us and at me pretty hard with some hard core professionals.”

“And you’re not in danger.”

“Apparently the Feds are actually pretty good at making cover identities and everything.”

“Okay…” He’s staring at me and we start moving again.

“Uncle Bobby said that there’s a very good chance that I can and a good idea that I should get the surgery.”

“Surgery?”

“Bottom surgery Daddy.”

He blinks. “Oh...so what do you think?”

I eat some more cotton candy and we get moved up to the top. It’s really an amazing view here with the ferris wheel getting us up this high over the lake.

“I want it Daddy.” I know that I’m using Daddy now but it just sort of feels like where I should use that…?

I take a drink. “I want to get on with my life. And this isn’t about sex or anything but it’s about feeling right in my skin and living. I want to get dressed or undressed just like everyone else instead of worrying what’s going to happen or get seen or come undone. I just want regular uncomplicated ordinary life.”

Dad smiles. “That I can understand. I might not get how you feel that way with being trans and everything but uncomplicated I do get.”

“So you’re alright with me saying yes?”

“Of course I am. I’m really glad that you’re talking to me about it first but it is your life honey and you’ve been living it a long time now.”

I scoff. “Daddy I’ve been living it with others and getting a huge amount of help as well as just being really lucky.”

“Lucky? Angel you work really hard especially for a kid that should be just thinking about graduating high school and going to college.”

We start moving and it’s a fun ride, and no that’s not a Sawyer’s pun on the business but it’s just fun.

You can’t do this outside of going to static parks up here in Canada or even Ontario that much.

As we’re going I say. “It looks like I’m working hard but so is everyone else
Daddy. And we’ve been lucky, not everyone gets the breaks that we have.”

He looks at me for a few moments. “Well I’m biased and I’m really proud of my daughter. Just work at paying it forward like you are now.”

We hug and we enjoy the rest of the ride as I fill him in on Adam Junior-Junior and the rest of the things that have apparently happened.

With Adam stabbing some guy though Dad keeps saying shanked in between him eating his sandwich.

But I fill him in on Adam and the testimonies as they’ll likely happen and how and when.

And when Uncle Bobby wants to plan the surgery thing.

When we’re done Dad hugs me.

“Call him, call him and say yes.”

I hug him and he heads off to find Max and Danny as they’re here for the rides and maintenance and I head back to my booth talking to people as I go and I text “Uncle Bobby.”

[Yes, any time after we do the Halloween show it’s a yes to getting fixed up.]

He responds right back. [I’ll get everything started and sorted I’ll contact you with the date.]

And it’s done.

Or well started.

I’m going to be made alright.

It’s like stepping into a strong sunbeam it feels that good.

I head back to the booth and sit and spend time with Josie and Ginny selling things and talking to people and again a little jam sessioning with them and in between that Josie and I are playing around on her tablet as she’s designing new shirt designs.

I’m getting a taste and a look at high end artist digital stuff and all the stuff that it entails and she really is good.

She’s doing one right now for Adam Senior-Senior and it’s for the mill or rather Marshall Forestry and it’s green in color and it has sports team yellow trim and stripping like a soccer shirt and the logo front has evergreens in the background and a front end loader and a person in a hard hat with a shovel planting a seedling.

The decal picture image is all sort of that yellow ink-paint with just a few subtraction lines to make the subjects stand out. Josie is telling Ginny that this is how you use negative space to help you render without using extra ink paint which can bleed over or blur while printing.

I’m not sure how much tree planting that Marshall Enterprises does but I do imagine that they do as most lumber and pulp and paper companies do that I know of here to some degree.

It’s a good shirt though if I worked at the mill I wouldn’t mind having one.

It does give me several ideas though and I take a few minutes to jot them down and sketch them out.

SE&M needs a logo and I’m playing with styles from MTV’s sort of big block lettering and adding in ink blot butterflies that we use and having a sort of long haired rocker girl in a jacket playing guitar on one side in that block print style and another girl on the other side playing drums and a star bodies guitar under the entire logo.

I’m playing with that getting a good reminder that while I can cook and sing and play music drawing and that sort of thing is not one of my strengths.

I’m still doing that when the girls arrive being done with work and classes and we all sort of end up gathering a bit of a crowd as we grab our stuff there and we start playing.

I grab the tambourine and Brooklyn grabs the guitar and Kimmie gets the drums going as Raven actually uses that voice of hers pulling people in sounding like this mix of Adele and Amy Winehouse as we cover *The Weight.* By the Band and it’s Brooklyn and I chiming in with the vocals.

Yeah it’s a great tune, it’s an iconic tune and at the same time it’s Old rock and right now it’s the Old School Old Rock crowd that’s here along with the country crowd and this song has legs in both pools.

(it’s us harmonizing in the brackets.)

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, "no" was all he said

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side
I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on let's go downtown"
She said, "I gotta go but my friend can stick around"

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Luke and Luke's waitin' on the Judgment Day
"Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?"
He said, "Do me a favor, son, won't you stay and keep Anna Lee company?"

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog
He said, "I will fix your rack if you'll take Jack, my dog"
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man"
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can"

Yeah, take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

Catch a cannonball now to take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)

That built a nice little crowd and we got from that into singing. *Billy Holiday* By Starlight Butterfly and we’re keeping the vibe so we’re singing back up while we’re going with this same sort of folk-country-rock sound.

And we follow that up and end the mini session with *Keep the Faith* By Starlight Butterfly and by the time we’re done there is applause and there’s maybe four dozen folks around and watching with some even recording it on their phones.

Afterwards we’re really busy as all of us are here and people have heard us and they’re getting their last chances in before the fair is done.

We all work pretty hard and we cut prices as we head into the evening before our last time up on stage and Molly and Carmen are there now too helping and we really, really get close to selling out before we head off to get ready for the last show of the Fall Fair.

I like the mood and the atmosphere backstage as we’re getting ready there’s a few of us steady bands here tonight but at the same time there’s a lot of smaller bands and filler.

It’s not going to be a packed house by any means the weekend is over and people are already back into their work week.

It is stage time though and for new bands it’s a chance of getting up on stage.

We’re still not the big draws here tonight either with the bluegrass players still being the main draw for the older crowds here.

Those acts started about an hour after the auction and went slowly up and up and up until the best and better known players were up between six and seven and the smaller indie rock and garage bands before us played for the hour and a half after that and we’re getting ready as the Nunchuk girls are playing and after them Huron Electric that does a few really good tunes of their own and then we’re up.

Kisses & Thorns isn’t here tonight playing which is different for them but I guess in the wake of Adam Junior-Junior doing the stabby thing they might just be circling the wagons as it were.

As we get out there the crowd’s about the size that I thought it was and I step up to the mic stand and wave to the crowd.

“Hey everyone!”

The crowd cheers and there whistles and people yelling “hey” and other versions of it back.

“We want to thank everyone this last week for your support here and with the Fall Fair here in town. We have had a really great time playing for each and everyone of you on all the days and nights that we were playing and a big shout out to everyone that stepped up big time and gave to charities and the booths and helped all of the local vendors and businesses.”

“You all rock.”

I grab the mic off the stand. “Pointers?”

I mic the crowd and they don’t disappoint. “Rock!”

“Pointers!?”

“Rock!”

“POINTERS!?”

“ROCK!!!”

Okay there’s more people drifting in and we open up with *Bar Room Blitz* By Sweet and people start jam dancing as soon as Roxy-Moogle starts the opening drums.

I always liked this song and we do our own spin on it of course but thank you Wayne's World and Tia Carrere for doing that cover in the movie. It strongly put it into the cover of girl rock.

“Ready Brook?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Raven.?”
“Yeah...”
“Roxy?”
“Okay…”

“Alright sisters, Let’s Go!!!”

It's been getting so hard living with the things you do to me
My dreams are getting so strange - I could tell you everything I see
I see a man in the back - as a matter of fact his eyes are as red as the sun
And the girl in the corner - let no one ignore her - she thinks she's the passionate one
(Oh yeah!)
It was like lightning
Everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving

(yeahyeahyeahyeah... yeah!)

And the man in the back said, "Everyone attack!" and it turned into a ballroom blitz

And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I want to warn you it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"

Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz

Reaching out for something - touching nothing's all I ever do
I softly call you over - when you appear there's nothing left of you
And the man in the back is ready to crack as he raises his
hands to the sky

And the girl in the corner is everyone's mourner - she could kill you with a wink of her eye.

(Oh yeah!)

It was electric
So frantically hectic
And the band started leaving
'cause they all stopped breathing

(yeahyeahyeahyeah... yeah!)

And the man in the back said, "Everyone attack!" and it turned into a ballroom blitz

And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I want to warn you it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"

Ballroom Blitz
(Oh yeah!)

It was like lightning
Everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving

(yeahyeahyeahyeah... yeah!)

And the man in the back said, "Everyone attack!" and it turned into a ballroom blitz

And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I want to warn you it'll turn into a ballroom blitz"

Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz
Ballroom Blitz
It's, it's a ballroom blitz
It's, it's a ballroom blitz
It's, it's a ballroom blitz
Yeah, it's a ballroom blitz

Then we do *Raise Your Fist.* By Starlight Butterfly.

And we keep up the speed by going from that into *Don’t Wanna* By Starlight Butterfly.

We’re going for the rock, the high energy not just to cap off our gig here but to get people up and dancing and excited while they’re here for the last of the fair and so maybe that will carry on with the final mood of the night.

Up next just fitting in this mood is us covering *I Love Rock and Roll.* By Joan Jett and The Blackhearts.

There is nothing like this song that gets the girls bopping even the older women are bopping to this music. It’s iconic and it’s powerful Girl rock and it’s pulling a few more bodies in to come and see us play.

And of course I’m singing at people and I’m micing the crowd.

And they’re sing-shouting it back to me and we’re starting to really have a good time.

After that we keep it up but getting cheeky and fun with *Talk Dirty to Me* By Poison.

That’s another song right in the local’s rock wheelhouse. A lot of Radio outside of Toronto hip-hop and the younger digital stations is still classic rock.

But getting into the fun lighter rock let us transition over to *All the Small Things* By By Blink-182 which is a good and catchy tune. And that lines us up for *Walk Like an Egyptian.* By The Bangles and then *Love Shack* By The B-52’s and after that one we hit them with *My Best Friend’s Hot* By The Dollyrots which is right off of our old covers and then we break out with our own. *Magical Power Panties.* By Starlight Butterfly.

I slow it down after that with Mike tossing us bottle of water and I catch one and take a drink.

“Wow that’s a lot of fun right guys?”

There’s more whistles and cheers.

“We’re here for the rest of the show and we’re closing things out so we’re going to slow things down and let all the couples here and the lovers and those here on dates get together as we give all of you something to dance to.”

And then we open with *Please Don’t Go* By Starlight Butterfly.

Hello, good morning …
You’re beautiful …
And I know you don’t know me well.
So...
Hello …
You’re soulful …
You take the pain away …
You brighten up my days …
I know …
You don’t know me well …
But your laugh, it makes me smile.
I see sunshine in your eyes …
(Chorus)
Please … … Don’t go away …
I need to know you better.
I need your smile in my life girl.
Oh that’s not true …
I need more … I need you …
Oh I need you …
Hello …
Are you having second thoughts?
Are you wondering if I’m just …
Too much trouble …
I know … …
I’m not what you signed up for …
But who’d sign up for this kind of crazy …
Who could take me every day girl …
(Chorus)
Hello … good morning …
Do you really think I’m beautiful …
Did you really say I’m …
Worth it …
I know …
I’m sorry that I crying …
And no I can’t stop smiling …
They’ve never said that …
I’m worth it …
I’ve never heard it …
Until you did …
(Chorus)
Hello …
I Love you …
You Take away my pain girl.
And I’ll love you everyday girl …

We go from that to doing *Under The Bridge* By The Red Hot Chili Peppers and that’s definitely finding an audience with those starting to dance.

It’s a good tune, older but not too old and not too grungey nineties stuff either.

Then we go into *Everything* By Starlight Butterfly and we’re really in our comfort place slow ballad and love songs and girl pop.

We’re pretty good at the love songs.

So we line it up with *Carousel*, *Who’d Ever Think* and *Billy Holiday* before we add in *Follow Me* By Uncle Kracker.

That’s a really good song and it’s way more romantic than people give it credit for.

And then we go into *Tingle* and *Destiny* both by Starlight Butterfly.

And we’re getting flagged to wrap it up since it’s just about ten PM and I look out at the crowd and smile.

“Goodnight everyone, we’re getting the signal to wrap it up so we’re going to play out as we always do.”

Brooklyn steps up and she starts playing lead into *One For The Money, Two for The Show.* By Trooper and some folks linger to finish dancing and others are filing out and I’m smiling and leaning on Raven as we’re singing the last bits of the song.

This was fun, more than fun it was amazing.