Chapter 12

Frank had called Terry up after his visit with Charlie, to tell him that he now knew about Terry’s illness and that he wanted to talk with him, to patch things up. Terry decided to call Charlie and invite him over the next day.
It was a warm Tuesday morning, and Terry had asked his girlfriend Lana to put out some drinks in the study so they could sit and talk in there for a while. She left them a pitcher of lemonade half filled with ice cubes, and a couple of cold beers in a cooler. The room was filled essentially with two overstuffed sofas, a giant oriental rug, and a massive fireplace. There were no windows in this room, so the walls were covered with oversized works of art and tapestries. Recently Terry had his guitars and a television placed in the room, so he could play or watch TV for hours without distraction.

Charlie came over at 11am, and was greeted at the door by Lana. She was tall, no more than a few inches shorter than Terry’s 6’2” frame. Her long black hair was pulled into a braid that hung down to her hips. She wore a dress that looked more like a very long shirt – it was white, with red embroidery at the neck and arms designed to look like flowers and birds. It was very sheer, and you could see her shape beneath it in the sunlight. She hugged Charlie when she met him at the door, and said “I am very, very happy to see you here. I hope you two have a lot of things to talk about.”

“Oh, I am sure we will be talking for a while.”

“Follow me, Terry’s in the study right now. I think he’s playing one of his guitars.”

Sure enough, Terry was sitting back into one of the sofas playing one of the electric guitars in his collection. He was shredding some blues riffs, tapping his foot that was propped up on one of the cushions to the beat.

“Charlie!” He motioned to get up when he saw him at the door.

“Don’t bother, keep playing. That sounds like some space-blues or something. What are you playing?”

“Oh, just farting around with this old thing.” He looked down at the guitar. “It’s my 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard. I wouldn’t trade this thing for my right arm, any day.”

“It’s gorgeous. When did you get that thing? I never saw it.”

“Oh, I’ve had it for a while. Bought it in Tennessee when we played there back in 1978. The later versions of this aren’t quite the same; this is a classic. I would never let this baby see the light of day on stage back then. Maybe now I would bring her out, let her sing a bit – show people what she’s made of, you know?”

“Yeah, I can see why you’ve protected it.” Charlie walked over to Terry and took a closer look at the guitar. It’s wood made the guitar look like it was on fire, and hearing the sounds that it produced with Terry’s hands enhanced this image even more in Charlie’s mind.

Charlie sat down on the opposite couch, and eased into the cushions. Terry sat up and laid the guitar on the cushions next to himself. “Do you want something to drink, Charlie? A beer or something?”

“I’ll take a beer. It’s early, but what the heck.”

Terry reached under the table and pulled out the cooler left by Lana. “That’s convenient,” Charlie said, remarking on this.

“Yeah, it’s Lana’s idea. She’s taking real good care of me nowadays.”

“I’m really sorry to hear about your, um, condition, Terry. I guess that’s why I am here. When Frank told me about it, I was just floored. Stomach cancer?”

“Yup. It’s a bitch. Did he tell you that my doctors think I don’t have much time?”

“Yes, it’s just awful.”

“Well, I didn’t invite you here for a pity party, Charlie. You know that.” He handed a can of beer to Charlie, and closed the cooler lid.

“Aren’t you going to have something?”

“I can’t drink alcohol with the cancer. It’s against doctor’s orders, you know. I had surgery last month, and now I’m just waiting, I guess.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine what it must feel like.”

“Let’s change the subject now, ok? I know there are other things we can talk about here. I’ll get us started; how about we talk about how I treated you like shit when you got in the accident?”

“Ok,” Charlie took a sip of the beer and set it down on the floor. “So why did you do it? I heard from Frank that they were freaked about losing all the money from the tour if it didn’t go on, so I get that. But then I hear about you making some big news announcement and come to find out that you are now the lead singer for Accelerator.”

“Yeah, that was a fun day. Well, basically my ego had grown from the tour dates that I did without you. All the fans were crazy, but I thought they were there for me. After I made my decision, and coerced the band to go along with me – that I would be the next Charlie Clark, as it were – I quickly discovered that you were far from forgotten out there.”

“Well, god bless the fans.”

“Yeah, they make an honest person out of you eventually. You know, I would go out there and start singing the songs, and I could just see this glazed look on people’s faces. Even with the new stuff – no one was into it anymore.”

“I heard. Frank said that album sales are down.”

“They’re pitiful, Charlie. Don’t kid yourself – I stopped kidding myself when the label dropped us. My head was so big that that’s what it took for me to get a clue.”

“Hold on. The label dropped us? I mean, Accelerator? That’s unheard of!”

“The hits aren’t hits anymore, man. No one wants to hear it anymore.”

“No, that’s not true. I can go out there and sing our oldest stuff, the crap that came out before anyone had even heard of us, and I get cheers.”

“Well, that’s reassuring for some of us.”

Charlie could see that Terry’s wounds from the unwelcoming response of the audience still stung him. “Sorry. I just can’t believe that they dropped the band. It’s seems so sudden.”

“Nah, it was written on the wall. Frank saw it coming at least, and was giving us warnings. He’d tell us that we’d better churn out a hit or we were toast, and he was right. The thing is, no matter what we would give the fans, they were just not interested anymore. They had fallen under the spell of Charlie Clark!” Terry winked at Charlie.

“Thanks,” Charlie saluted Terry for the compliment. “So, then you found out about the cancer soon after that? What a fun year for you, too.”

“Tell me about it. Yeah, the alcohol, the smoking, and lord knows what else all made my stomach turn into this mass of – well, you know.”

“I bet it was the ‘what else’ that really did it to you. I wonder when the ‘what else’ will catch up with me.”

“Ha, yeah! I was thinking about all the shit we used to get away with back then, the other night. Do you remember when we went on tour with that band from Germany? What were they called?”

“The ones with the leather chaps and spurs? I think they were The Flux, or something like that.”

“Yeah! And we called them The Fucks, and they could never figure that out!”

“Do you remember what happened with their tour bus?”

“Aw, that’s what I was thinking about, Charlie! That was so brilliant! How did you do that, again?” Terry remembered the story verbatim, but wanted to hear Charlie
tell it with his enthusiasm and excitement, to bring the story to life again for him.

“Well, you remember how they had that narcoleptic bus driver?”

“Gilbert, right?”

“God, I don’t remember his name for Christ’s sake. Ok, Gilbert. Anyway, Gilbert was nodding off in one of the bunks on the bus, during their show, and we were just hanging out back stage, waiting for them to wrap it up so we could hit the road again. I got so bored listening to their crap music. I told Tim I would be right back. I think I said I was going to go take a leak.”

“Yeah, and you were gone for about thirty minutes and Tim was flipping out about it, I remember.”

“Oh, I can imagine how Tim would be pissing himself over that. Well, I got into their bus and I made sure Gilbert was knocked out. I think I put a pillowcase over his eyes, so he wouldn’t wake up or something.”

“Oh, genius my friend. A pillow case?”

“Well, I was probably blasted at the time.”

“Go on.”

“Thank you. Where was I?”

“You had blindfolded poor Gilbert…”

“Yeah, so I got the keys out of his pocket and fired up the truck. I guess I thought the cops had read my mind and were waiting for me or something, so I pulled out of the lot with the headlights off until I was a way down the road.”

“What were you planning on doing, anyway?”

“I hadn’t even thought that far ahead, you know? My big plan was just to get the bus and see what happened. And since nothing was happening I thought, ‘Well, this is boring. I’m just driving a bus right now.’ So then, it happened.”

“Yes?”

“I saw the lights shining down the road, Miss Bunnie’s Ranch House.”

“It was Divine Intervention.”

“Yes, a sure sign from God. So I pulled in and said to the gal at the counter that there was a band of horney men up the road, and how much would it cost for me to take about five gals on a road trip? Well, the big lady of the house didn’t like the idea of her girls leaving the ranch, on business or pleasure.”

“So what did you do?” Terry was loving every moment of the story Charlie was telling, and didn’t want him to pause or stop for breath.

“So, I told her that I was insured, and that if she didn’t believe me she should come along too. And she wasn’t going for that one, either. This next part is really embarrassing, and I should have stopped my little adventure here, but I was so gonzo on this idea of mine… well, anyway, she said that she wanted to see what I had going on in there. And I said, ‘Where, in the bus?’ And she said, ‘No, in THERE,’ and she’s pointing to my willy.”

Terry burst out into laughter. “You never told me about this!”

“Like I just said, for those of us who can pay attention, this was really
embarrassing for me. She made me drop my pants right in front of all the gals at the ranch!”

“Did they laugh too?”

“Oh shut up! No, they didn’t. She told me that she wanted to make sure I was healthy. And she sure as hell took her time, man. Stared at my poor guy for a good 30 seconds it felt like.”

“Did it fall off?”

“I’m going to stop now, if you’re going to be like that, Terry.”

“Oh no! Please, please go on. Just ignore me!”

“Fine. I was given a clean bill of health, and the lady was given a clean two hundred dollars, and off I went back to the club with a bus load of gorgeous women.”

“And I can tell you what happened while you were out.”

“Well, take it away.”

“You left to go take a leak, and the minutes are ticking by. The set is just about to wrap up, and Tim is getting everybody ready to head back onto the bus. So he asks me, ‘Where’s Charlie?’ And I look at him like he’s speaking French. I say, ‘Charlie? Did he leave? I thought he was back here, too?’ And Tim turns white - ghost white, man. He runs off looking for Frank like he’s about to keel over, and he comes back to me with Frank. Frank says to me, ‘Where did Charlie go?’ I said, ‘Look man, I don’t know where he went. Why don’t you go ask Aaron or somebody?’ So they go find Aaron and Twig and some roadies and they’re throwing their hands in the air. Meanwhile, The Fucks have wrapped it up, and are getting ready to leave, when their stage manager starts shouting something in German. Like, ‘Das bus! Das bus!’ And the guy runs up to Frank and says, ‘Where is Gilbert? Where is the bus?’ Frank and Tim just look at each other, and immediately figure out where the bus is and where you are.”

“Well, I was coming right back, you know. The ranch was about thirty minutes up the road from us. It was a quiet ride there, but it went fast on the way back!”

“I bet it did!”

“Aw, nothing disgusting of course. I am a civilized man, after all.”

“Well, it may have gone fast for you, but for those of us waiting on your return, it was like watching paint dry.”

“Is that why I had the audience waiting for me in the parking lot?”

“But, of course.”

“Well, once I got there all the gals are liquored up from the Germans’ stash, Gilbert I think woke up and thought he’d died and gone to heaven, and my arms were sore.”

“Why were your arms sore?”

“Driving that bus! It wasn’t one of those nice limousine numbers that we get nowadays. You actually had to shift the gears and turn that great big wheel with some muscle power.”

“Oh, poor baby!”

“Well, anyway I believe that bringing back the women was a brilliant idea of mine.”
“Yes, you would make a terrific pirate, Sir Clark. In fact, I believe that the booty you brought with you persuaded that band to not file charges against you for stealing their bus.”

“Well, it should have. I didn’t get to have any fun with them. I think they thought I was a roadie or something. Just because I drove the bus.”

“It serves you right. It’s your karma.”

Just then, Lana walked into the room. She had a glass of water and her hand cupped several pills. “I’ve got your medicine here, Terry.”

Terry sat upright, and leaned forward, reaching his hands out to take the glass and pills from Lana. “Thanks, darling.” He noticed Charlie staring at this spectacle, and said “Not the kind of pills I was used to taking from the hands of pretty girls, eh Charlie?”

Charlie snapped out of his stupor, and laughed at Terry’s joke. “Yeah, no kidding. What are they for?”

“Pain, mostly. And to help me heal. I already had the chemo, radiation, and all that jazz. Doesn’t do much for the healing process to get zapped by a laser and then have your veins pumped full of nuclear waste. Then you get to vomit until your eyes turn red.”

“Now, I’ve had those pills before,” Charlie joked with him.

“Exactly.” Terry threw the pills into his mouth, tilted back his head and quickly swallowed the water. He handed the glass back to a waiting Lana. “Here you go, nurse.” He patted her behind as she left his side. “I wish she would wear the nurse’s outfit I bought for her. Then the pills would go down a lot easier!” He said it more for Lana to hear than for Charlie.

Lana shouted out loud, as she walked away, “I told you – not when company is visiting!”

Terry wagged his finger at Charlie, and said, “There you go, causing trouble again!”

“Wait a minute. I remember one person who was stinking drunk and decided to go on a rampage with the electric shaver one night.”

“One night – long, long ago! I can’t believe you remember that.”

“How can I forget? I nearly had my eye socket shattered because of you!”

“Oh!” Terry waived off his protests, “It wasn’t that bad!”

“You must be going senile. Don’t you remember, when Aaron woke up and Twig said to him, ‘Something’s different about you. What is it?’ And Aaron is trying to figure out what the hell he’s talking about, and they look over at you and you’re practically pissing your pants, laughing so damn hard.”

“Well, it was fucking hilarious! A man loses his eyebrows overnight, and no one can figure out for the life of them what has gone missing!” Terry threw himself back, propping his head up with his hands.

“Oh, well, then Twig takes that baseball cap off…”

“It was his fault for always wearing that thing right as he got up. He should know better than to just assume that all of his hair would be under it.”

“I think you taught him that lesson.”
Terry sat up again, “Yeah, but do you remember what happened? He takes the hat off to scratch his head, cause he’s thinking so damn hard about Aaron’s face and why it looks different, and Aaron’s eyes go wide like saucers!”
Charlie continued, “And he screams out, ‘Twig! Your fucking hair! You’ve got a strip mowed right down the middle!’”

“And Twig smacked his head and is rubbing his hand all over it, feeling the bald strip there! Oh, it was genius!”

“And then Frank walks by, and he says ‘Did you burn your eyebrows off smoking in bed again, Aaron?’ And they both go running like mad into the toilet to look at the mirror!”

“Oh, I should have checked out of the hotel that same night. Shows how smart I was, sticking around.”

“They knew right away who had done it, too. Moron!”

“Was it that obvious, though? I guess so.”

“It was genius, and stupid, all at once.”

They shared a good laugh for a few seconds, and Terry laid down on the couch. “I’m pretty wiped out, man.”

“Yeah, I know, Terry. I know.” Charlie looked at his watch, and said, “I’m gonna head home now. I need to go check on Jean Marie. She doesn’t like me staying out for too long, now.”

“Why not? Afraid that you’re going to bring some hookers home in her car?”

“No, no that’s not it! She’s, well, pregnant with our baby.”

Terry’s face produced a smile that started as a startled response to Charlie’s admission, and spread into one of pure happiness.

“You’re kidding?”

“I am most certainly not. Although, she could be gaining weight from all the cookies and ice cream she has me buying for her now…”

“Oh, good job Charlie! That’s terrific!” He paused, thinking if he should ask the question that popped into his head. “Um, does Sheila know?”

“No, I haven’t told anyone except family yet. Frank doesn’t even know. I guess you’re the first.”

“Well I certainly won’t tell anyone unless you ask me to. That’s great news, Charlie. Daddy!”

“Thanks. You can throw me a baby shower, since you’re so tickled about it.”
Charlie got up and walked over to Terry.

“No, don’t get up, buddy.” Charlie leaned over and hugged Terry. “I’m going to call you tomorrow.”

“No – I’m going to call you. I heard that you have a recording studio now at the house, and I want to bring some music over.”

“Wonderful,” Charlie stood up. “Just call me and we’ll make a date.”

“Now, don’t just say that to out of pity for me…” Terry winced his eyes suspiciously at him.

“Fine, let’s set a date now. Tomorrow? How’s Wednesday afternoon sound? Bring Lana over, and she can swoon with Jean Marie over the baby stuff.”

“Very well. And I will bring my music and some guitars, and it will be a riotous affair indeed.”

“I will see you on Wednesday!” Charlie saluted Terry, and left the room. Lana showed him to the door and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Chapter 11

Sheila was sitting in her office at her new home on Monday afternoon. She was working on some endorsement deals for a new client of hers, a girl rock band that had just moved from Sweden to the states and met Sheila after playing a set one night at a local club. There was a knock at the door. It was Chad.

“Hi She, how are you?” he said, as he entered the door.

"Oh, hey Chad! Come on in, I’m just reading some contracts right now.”

He made his way to her office, and sat down in one of the chairs in the room. “I got your mail for you today, and this came from Charlie’s lawyer’s office, so I thought I should bring it by.”

“Oh.”

“What do you think it is?”

“Well, Chad – probably divorce papers from him, I am sure. I doubt his lawyer would be sending me a birthday card, for heavens sake.” After hearing the words, “Charlie’s lawyer’s office” from Chad, she was not in the mood for niceties.

“Sorry, Sheila,” he said, feeling a bit charred by her comments. He held out the envelope towards her.

“Let me see it,” she grabbed the envelope from Chad’s hand and ripped it open with her index finger. She extracted it from the envelope, unfolded it and stared at the top of the letter. Chad was silently watching her, and dying to know what it said.
Sheila sighed. “Irreconcilable differences. There it is, Chad. After all these years and it comes down to irreconcilable differences. I should have known this was coming, now that he’s getting back into the business.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Sheila. Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” she folded up the letter and put it back into the envelope. “You can get my lawyer on the phone for me. I need him to look this over with me and I need to figure out how I get my fair share of things from him.”

“Ok. I’ll do that right now.” Chad got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. He stood there for a second or two, long enough to hear her quietly start to sob. He couldn’t leave her alone, not right now. He turned and walked back into the room.
“Sheila, are you alright? Come on, don’t cry. You said it yourself, you knew this was going to happen.”

“I know what I said,” she was getting angry at him, “don’t tell me what I should be feeling!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Chad, I’m not mad at you. I just,” she let out some loud sobs and took the tissue he handed to her. She blew her nose, and continued, “I just thought I would be the one sending him papers from my lawyer, you know? I didn’t think he would ever want to leave me. I know he has Jean Marie living with him now, but she’s nothing like me. What does she have that he wants?”

“Don’t think about that now, Sheila. That’s just gonna make you more upset, you know?”

“I know. It’s just that I’m so mad at him! Why did I have to get him a physical therapist in the first place? I should have just let him rot and die a crippled old man in that big house all by himself, the bastard!”

“There, there. Take some deep breaths.”

“Leave it to him to end up with the hottest physical therapist in the county, and them hitting it off together so wonderfully. Oh gag me! She’s probably ten years younger than he is!”

Chad was clearing her desk of all the paperwork, so that she wouldn’t either ruin it with tears and snot, or in a fit of rage rip it all up as she had been known to do in the past when confronted with bad news. “Sheila, just be glad you’re not raising his kids now, by yourself. You’ve got this great house, and your business and your clients. And I’m still here.”

“Chad?” she said, looking up at him from her chair.

“Yes, She?”

“Do me a favor?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Will you screw me?”

“What!” Chad backed away from her and the desk, and tried to move to the door.

“Come on, Chad. I want you to make me feel better.” She got up from her chair and walked around the opposite side of the desk and stood in front of his path to the door. “I’m not saying you have to make love to me, you know? I just want you to screw my brains out until I can’t think straight.”

“Sheila, I can’t do that!” He was feeling his heart pound in his chest. “I – I’m your assistant!”

She dropped to her knees and grabbed the waist of his jeans. “Chad, you are the best assistant in the entire world, believe me. I know. And I wouldn’t ask you to do this for me unless I thought you would be willing to help me out.” She unbuttoned his pants and started to unzip them.

“Stop it! Stop it!” He swatted her hands away, but it only made her more determined to get his pants off. She took her hand and ran it up the inside of his leg. “Oh my god! Sheila!”

“You’re not going to stop me, Chad! I always get what I want!”

Finally, Chad slapped her across the face. Sheila froze. He was silent. She sat back on to her feet, and held her cheek.

“I – I’m sorry Sheila. But you can not do this to me.” He buttoned and zipped up his pants again.

“Chad?” she looked at him and was puzzled. “Will you forgive me?” The tears started to well up in her eyes again.

Chad scoffed. “You know, you can really be a crazy bitch. I have always put up with you, for these last few years, but I just don’t think I can take it anymore, She! This is really unbelievable!”

She started to sob and fell to the ground, huddled over her knees and holding her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” She repeated this over and over again.

“Look,” Chad knelt down next to her. “I know you’re sorry, ok?” She looked up at him, shaking and sobbing still. “We’ll get past this, alright? I’m going to call Ken and fax him the papers and tell him to call you when he can, ok?”

She nodded at him, and fell into his lap.

“Come on, it’s ok. I know, you’re totally insane.”

This got her to let out a little giggle.

“I knew that when I signed up for this job.”

She picked up her head and rested her chin in her hands. “I’m really sorry Chad. I know I must look absolutely pitiful to you right now. I am just so mortified that I did that to you. I will understand if you never want to see me again.”
Chad leaned towards her and kissed her on the forehead. “That’s all the action you’ll get out of me Sheila. I can hire a male entertainer for you, if you want, but that’s it, ok?” He smiled at her, and she smiled back. “I’m gonna make a phone call, and I’ll come back with a nice glass of wine for you.”

“Thank you sweetie.”

The next day her lawyer had set up a meeting with Sheila, and before she left for his office, she stopped at Chad’s house. She left him a bouquet of flowers with a note that said “You’re not my assistant, you’re my friend. Love, She.”

At the office of Ken Draper, Sheila was greeted with the red carpet treatment. She was whisked into the conference room by the secretary, and left with a pot of coffee, a decanter of scotch and whiskey, and the view of the city through huge windows. It made her feel taken care of, but the view was a little too stunning this morning, so she drew the drapes over them. They were striped with dark green and dark brown, and coupled with their height made her feel like she was surrounded by trees in a dark forest.

“Never been much of a camper,” she said to herself as she poured a large snifter of whiskey.

Just then, Ken entered the room through the giant wooden doors. “Mrs. Clark, glad to see you.”

“It’s Sheila Polk, Ken. Good to see you too. I was just making myself comfortable.”

“Good, very good. So I got the papers from Mr. Clark’s lawyers, and I went through them last night.”

“So, how bad is it? Or am I getting the goods out of this?”

“Well, Sheila we need to talk about some things here. Assets, the relationship. I hope you’re feeling up to it?”

“Nothing worse then I’ve already gone through myself. Let’s do this.”
Through the next hour and a half, Sheila and her lawyer went through all of the ramifications of the divorce paperwork. They looked over the marriage license, her tax returns and bank statements. Sheila was exhausted.

“I feel like I should have dragged in my dirty clothes from the laundry pile, too.”

"I understand. We just need to make a sure accounting of your assets. Since you’ve been legally separated through these last nine months, your assets have been frozen, as well as Mr. Clark’s.”

“What does that mean?” She got up to refill her snifter with whiskey.

“Essentially, any money or property either of you have acquired during the separation is off limits to one another. But, the property and earnings acquired before the separation is up for examination.”

“Ken, what is the bottom line here? Am I going to get alimony from him, or what?”

“Chances are, no – you won’t get alimony from him. He was basically dependent on you for his income, as you were his manager and helped acquire jobs and work for him. It can get very tricky, but it is possible that you will be the one to pay him alimony.”

“Oh, that’s just fucking great, Ken!” Sheila finished her whiskey in one dramatic swig of the glass, and slammed it down on the counter top.

“Unless…”

“What? Unless what?”

“Unless you want to consider this an uncontested divorce, Ms. Polk.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“By uncontesting the divorce, you are saying that you and Charlie are going to agree to your own privately decided upon terms of the divorce. You would sit down with him and write out who gets what from whom.”

“And you’re there with me during this whole process?”

“No, unfortunately in these cases you need a mediator to sit down and go through things with you. They don’t need to hear the nitty gritty details that you have both figured out, but they do need to be there to agree that the divorce is legal.”

“Oh. Is it fast?”

“It can be, if you both cooperate with each other and the mediation.”

“Should I do it? What do you think, in your professional opinion Ken?”

“Sheila,” he reached his hand out to her, across the conference table, “I think if you can both be civil enough and agree to some terms with each other, then this will be a bloodless, painless way to end everything. If that’s what you want. Did he ever harm you?”

“No. He never – well, once he did. I had witnesses…”

“Was it a pattern with him? Or was this a one-time thing?”

“Oh, it was just one time. And the witnesses would probably all agree that I had egged him on to do it. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Where do I sign to make it an uncontested divorce?”

Sheila and Ken wrapped up the paperwork in the conference room, and she headed back home. She would have his office call Charlie’s lawyer, to tell him about her decision. She got to her house and went to her bedroom, and closed the blinds and drapes on the windows. It was pitch black, and she climbed into her bed and cried herself to sleep. The relationship between her and Charlie was soon to be over, forever, and Sheila felt the need to mourn its end.

Chapter 10

After meeting with various professionals and other musicians with home studios, hiring contractors and choosing everything from equipment to carpeting to wall panels for sound proofing, the studio was complete.

The windows were coated with a think tinting, so that the musicians and producers inside wouldn’t have to think about all the fun they could be having out in the sunshine, or swimming in the pool, and certainly not think about how late the night was getting as they worked for hours and hours on one song. The walls were covered with a padded foam material, which was a shade of dark red. It looked like someone had painted the walls with a glass of red wine, before placing abstract shaped pillows on the walls. The lights were thought up by Jean Marie. She had been playing around with a string of Christmas lights in the baby nursery one day, and had tossed them under the dresser while looking for an outlet. When she plugged the lights in, she noticed how they created an interesting effect with the shape of the dresser. So, in the studio, there was a cornice in the ceiling, and recessed into this was a string of lights. It made the ceiling look like it was suspended over the room, appearing disconnected from the walls. The carpeting was black which made it appear less worn and abused than it was. Furnishings were placed to allow people to listen to the music in the sound booth – a large chenille sofa and a lounge chair that was actually a rocking chair were behind the sound editor’s board. The musicians had wooden stools to sit on, if they needed to. All the sound equipment and recording equipment was bought through suggestions by the other musicians.

Frank had also heard about this project of Charlie’s through the grape vine. He had called Charlie up a few weeks after he found out.

“Hey Charlie – I hear you’re going to open a private recording label!”

“Aw, well, not a label – just building a recording studio. You heard about that?”

“Yeah, I was working on some paper work at the old label and someone mentioned to me that they were going to suggest to Charlie Clark that he use a soundboard that they liked. So, is it finished yet, or did you just start?”

“Well, we’re all finished actually.”

“Have you made any hits with it yet?”

“In due time, I’m sure. You should stop by and check it out, if you’d like.”

“Are you sure?” Frank had heard about his blow-up with Terry and knew that he hadn’t talked with any of the other band members since he was thrown out. “I wouldn’t be imposing?”

“Nah, it’s alright. Come on by this Friday or Saturday – you’ve got some time?”

“Ok, I’ll come by Saturday. Say hi to Jean Marie for me.”

Charlie told Jean Marie about the impending visit, and wanted to ask her if she thought they should tell Frank about the baby.

“I don’t think it would hurt anything, do you Charlie?”

“Well, you’re not really looking pregnant yet. We could wait until it was more obvious if you’d like.”

“Do you think it matters to tell him? Are you still upset with Frank?”

“I don’t think I am upset with him still, but there is a part of me that doesn’t want to forgive him, you know?”

“Well, perhaps we should wait until a little later when things have settled down for sure between you two. You do think things will settle down, don’t you.”

“We’ll see what happens on Saturday.


Frank came over bearing a basket of fruit for Charlie and Jean Marie. “My mother always told me never to visit someone empty handed!” he said, handing the basket to Jean Marie as she let him in the door.

“Please come in. Thank you,” she said to him. “Charlie’s in the living room right now, just over there.” She pointed down the hallway towards that room.

“I can hear him in there, watching the TV, huh? Hey Charlie!” He shouted across the hall as he made his way towards him. “How are you doing?”

Charlie stood up from the couch and walked towards Frank. “Hey man, long time no see.”
“Yeah – you’re looking really healthy, old man. I haven’t seen you since you had the bandages taken off. How are you feeling?”

“You really want to know, Frank?”

Jean Marie heard this and decided to make her way upstairs, to let these men have out with their past and hopefully move on with their lives. She said a silent prayer that things would go smoothly, and that Frank would understand how hurt Charlie was.

“Let’s sit down, Charlie. Let’s have a chat.”

“Well, Frank,” they both sat down in unison, Charlie on the sofa, and Frank sitting to his left on the love seat. “I have to say, the whole business with Terry taking over my spot in the band, that was real crappy.”

“Well, you're still getting royalty checks, right?”

“Yes, they are still coming. But, Frank, why did this happen? You know, Terry tried to call here a couple of months ago, but I just couldn’t listen to that asshole.”

“I know, he told me. Well, I was hoping to get to talk to you about this sooner than now,” Frank leaned back into the cushions, as he was trying to stay relaxed before telling Charlie all the gory details of what transpired without his knowledge. “You know, I want to tell you first off that I am sorry that things happened the way they did. I didn’t ever think that something like this would happen to Accelerator, and certainly not with you laid up in a hospital bed.”

“Yeah, well that makes two of us.”

“The guys, I don’t know. I think seeing you and Sheila get into that fight after the show really made them think that you were going to get rid of her. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I think you know how Sheila was making everyone feel on edge and at war with each other, especially with you.”

“She certainly was not a diplomat. I know. That’s what the fight was about actually.”

“So why didn’t you leave her then?”

“Oh, come on Frank. You knew what kind of hold she had over me. Especially back then on that tour. Things were such a mess with me and the other guys, it was like she was the only one who would talk to me after the shows. I wasn’t gonna just ditch her out of popular opinion.”

“I know, I get it. Well, looks like you’ve changed your mind about that now, with Jean Marie in your life.”

“Yeah, I think the divorce papers are being delivered to Sheila on Monday. Shouldn’t be a big surprise for her. She actually had her lawyer over here right after we got back from the hospital, to talk about getting a divorce.”

“Wow, that’s one way to welcome you home.”

“No kidding. That’s after I got the boot from the band, to get back to the subject.”

“Oh, yes. Well, so when you and Terry had your fight at the restaurant that night, I think Terry had it in his mind to either quit the band after the tour, or after the next show.”

“What a guy,” Charlie said, rubbing his hand over his shoulder.

“I know, he really screwed with you, too. At the hospital, after you came through and we knew you had a lot of healing ahead of you, I was panicking about the tour. Sheila and I were both. The promoters were calling us, then calling the label. And the label was calling us. Everyone was threatening everyone else. It was just ridiculous.”

“I see. A bloodbath.”

“Well, then Tim mentioned that if we didn’t finish the tour, we’d all be financially wrecked. And Terry suggested going on without you.”

There was a long few seconds of silence. Charlie was staring out the back door, looking at the water shining in the pool, refracting the sun on its surface. Frank was staring at his shoes. Finally he said, “It was all just a big snowball. Once we hit the road, Terry’s head grew bigger and bigger, if you can imagine that, and he just steamrolled the rest of the band into deciding to leave you out for good.”
“And what did you think of that?”

“I knew the fans wouldn’t like it, and I knew you would be devastated. I knew it was a bad idea. But with all three of them agreeing, and still selling out the shows, what could I do?”

“You could have stopped them, you know that.” Charlie turned to give Frank a stare.
“You know you could have stopped them."

Frank sighed. “I know Charlie, I know I let you down. I don’t feel good about it, and I am sorry,” he was looking right back at Charlie’s glare. “I am really, really sorry about it all. If it makes you feel any better, the new album is sinking out there. No one is buying it, except for the novelty factor, you know?”

Charlie nodded to this. “Well, I can’t say life has totally screwed me over. I’m healthy now, and I have Jean Marie and the new studio.”

“I hear you’re getting a lot of work in, too. I heard what you did with J.B. and with the B.E.B guys. It’s all really great stuff, Charlie.”

“Thanks.”

“Can you show me the studio?”

“Yeah, let’s take a tour.”

Charlie stood up and Frank walked behind him out to the patio. Charlie explained about the dark windows, and Frank nodded in agreement. They walked in and Frank inspected the sound board.

“This is really nice, Charlie. How many channels?”

“40. And what’s really neat is that you can save up to 90 scenes in its memory. Very cool.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Very cool.” Frank stopped and plopped down into the sofa. “This is nice. Did Jean Marie pick it out?”

“Nope, this is all my vision. Except the lights – she had the idea for that. Pretty nice, huh?”

“Ingenious,” Frank said, looking up to the ceiling.

“So, how are things going then? Are you two looking to get hitched sometime soon?”

“Well I am expecting her to get the papers soon, and after that Jean Marie and I can think about making our plans. We don’t want to get too wrapped up in things before they’re at least a little bit solid, you know?”

“I hear you. I’m sure Sheila will be professional about it all – I mean, I hope she will be.”

“Me too.”

They walked back out to the patio and sat down beside the pool.

“Let me just stick my feet in here, Charlie,” Frank said, as he took off his shoes and socks, and rolled his pant legs up.

“That’s fine with me – I‘ll join you,” and Charlie did the same.

“There’s something else I didn’t tell you earlier. Some news I just got a couple of weeks ago, that I’m pretty sure you didn’t hear about yet,” Frank said.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s about Terry.”

“No, haven’t heard anything about him lately. I basically told him never to call me again last time he tried. What’s the news about?”

“Well,” Frank swung his legs in the water, making swirls and pools around his calves.

“It’s not good.”

“Oh, just say it already man,” Charlie was tired of Frank’s pausing and thought he was being dramatic.

“Fine. Terry has cancer. Of the stomach.”

Charlie froze, and Frank turned to look at him.

“He found out about it three months ago, and his doctors think he’s going to go pretty quick.”

“What did you just say?”

Frank pulled his legs out of the pool and swung himself to look at Charlie.
“Terry has cancer and is going to die soon.”

"I can’t – I can’t believe it.”

“I know. I mean, I knew he couldn’t be doing himself any favors with the way he drinks and lives, but cancer?”

“Wow, stomach cancer. That’s terrible.” Charlie was completely stunned. It was as if the full weight of his body was coming to rest on him, and he thought he would fall into the pool. He scooted himself back from the edge and leaned on the palms of his hands. “You said he found out three months ago?”

“Yup, that’s what he told me.”

“So that’s probably why he called me. I thought he just wanted to wave his success in my face. What an idiot!” Charlie shook his head. “I can’t believe I told him never to call me again.”

“Don’t be mad at yourself, you didn’t know what he was going to say to you. I would have been angry too, if I were you.”

They sat there, beside the pool, for another twenty minutes. Nothing was said between them, as they just were quietly thinking about Terry and this lot in his life.
Finally Charlie said, “I did not think I would care about him like this, after what he did to me. But I guess I still think of him as one of my friends.”

“I think he wants to be friends again with you, Charlie. Maybe you guys should talk again?”

“Could you swing that by him, man? See what he thinks about it? I can just see him getting mad back at me and cussing me out on the phone. No – I want to see him. No phone calls, will you tell him that?”

“Yeah, sure – first thing tomorrow morning, ok?”

“Yeah, that’s great. I don’t want to try to get him to apologize to me, so tell him that. I just want us to get back to being normal with each other. I think that would be good, don’t you?”

“I think so, too, Charlie.”

Just then, Jean Marie walked out to find the two men. “Here you are. I thought you’d both taken off for Shanghai, you’d been gone for so long!”

“Hey stranger,” Charlie said to her. He got up from the pool and walked over to her, giving her a hug and a kiss. “No, we were just catching up on things.”

“Oh, good.”

“Yeah – well, now that that’s done, I guess I should just take off now,” Frank said.

“Oh, why don’t you stick around for dinner. I think we should order some food in for the night, and maybe we can eat outside – it’s so lovely out here today.”

“Sounds good to me, Frank. Come on!”

“Alright, you twisted my arm. You can tell me some more about the songs you’re working on. If you ever need representation, you know who to talk to Charlie.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure I’ll get a good deal on it too, right Frank?”