Chapter Twenty

Ada

Thursday has come up a lot faster than I thought it would. I’ve never seen so many people in one place. The whole lawn is covered in bodies. We’re actually here on the third day of the festival so they aren’t very clean bodies. I’m thankful I don’t have to go out into the crowd and can remain safe on the stage.

The stage is small. It will probably fit just the two of us and our equipment. Now I have to worry about possibly falling off the front of the stage. I really don’t think I can do this.

A man sits near the stage in a full headdress and face paint smoking a pipe that is as long as he is tall.

“Charlie,” I say my voice coming out much quieter than I intended.

“You’ve got this Ada. We sing four songs and we’re done. You just need to pretend they aren’t there.”

“How did we even get this gig?” I ask Thomas who is loving the scene. Lila is standing with him looking disgusted.

“Someone canceled. You’re placeholders. Who cares, you got a gig!” Thomas says.

“You’re so much more than a placeholder,” Lila says encouragingly.

The act that was on in front of us just seemed to do a lot of screaming. The crowd responded to that because all they were doing was screaming. There were topless girls with their breasts painted in bright colors. There were men covered in mud dancing in strange circles. There were people swatting at things in the sky around their heads. I couldn’t see anything near them. It was not my scene.

A guy in a half alligator and half angle costume came up to me and I froze. He stood so close I could smell the cologne he’d piled on to cover up the stench. It didn’t cover it.

“I’m the scaly fairy, want to buy some molly?”

I open my mouth to answer, but Charlie is right in front of me. “She doesn’t man. Thanks.”

The strange creature moves away from us staring at me the whole time.

“Why do people dress up?” I ask as we move back from the band exiting the stage. They are dressed as strangely as most of the audience. I look down at my bright red flats, dark jeans, and flowing green shirt and wonder how much I must stick out.

“They do it to feel like they’re part of something. They feel free and can express themselves any way they want. People think about their festival outfits for months ahead of time.”

“The gator fairy thought about that for months?” I raise a brow.

“Okay not everyone plans ahead, but you know what I mean. They get excited and ready to hear some good music, do some good drugs, and not care about anything for a while.”

“You’ve done the drugs and enjoyed the scene before?” I ask him knowing the answer. Of course, he’s enjoyed it.

“Yes, Addy. I’ve done it all. When you have a lot of money and you’re young you spend it on festivals, drugs, and women. It’s just what happens.”

I did tell him not to lie to me. I wonder if I should have him reign back the truth bombs. Every time he mentions other women I find myself thinking about how many he’s been with.

The guy hosting the event announces us but it’s hard to hear him. I hear him say please welcome newcomers, Charlie and Ada. The crowd is restless and a few of them are chanting Toilet Water Backrub.

“What’s that mean?” I ask Charlie.

“It’s the band that was on before us.”

I feel like maybe I should have known that, but I’m beginning to realize my knowledge of the music scene I’m getting into is seriously lacking. This is going to be a disaster.

“What genre are we?” I ask Charlie as he straps on his guitar and starts shifting his weight from foot to foot.

He looks at me with surprise. “I don’t know! We don’t even have a good name.”

Great, I’ve panicked him right before we’re going to go on stage. His eyes are wide and he’s stopped moving back and forth. The guy announces us again and he doesn’t move.

“You’re a mix of soul, grunge, alternative, and rock. Get out there and do the thing,” Thomas says as he gives Charlie a shove.

As we start singing the first cover something wonderful happens. No one is paying attention. A lot of people have taken our appearance on stage as a good time to take a bathroom break or go to the food trucks. The people left in front of the stage are all involved in their own heads. Some spin others stare blankly anywhere but at the stage.

The first song is a cover that he mostly sings and I chime in every once in a while. I’m getting a feel for the vibe and it’s mostly uninterested. I can sing to a crowd that’s not paying attention. We get to the second cover and maybe ten people have started paying attention to us. This one I sing more and I start to get into it interacting with Charlie a little.

When we rehearse I’m so concerned about getting the words right and not thinking too hard I never relax and sing with him. He smiles and I can tell he enjoys it. Some of the people have come back by the third song but now I’m in the zone. I’m singing a cover mostly alone. It’s the one I sang for the charity concert and I nail it.

By the time we’ve finished singing Bring on the Water, we have a few people clap for us and it’s time to get off the stage.

“Well, we did our first gig, Addy,” Charlie says. “How do you feel?”

“Not a single person paid attention to us,” I exclaim, “that was fantastic.”

I notice he’s frowning so I put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay we still played a real gig.”

“Yeah,” he says, “yeah we did.”

He picks me up and spins me as Thomas brings us our payment. It’s two tickets to the festival and a voucher for food at a shady pizza truck. We pass. Lila wants to stay despite being disgusted by everyone around us. She leads us out into the sea of people and we listen to a few more bands before it’s time to leave.

I enjoy the laid-back vibe of just being in the crowd. I see gator fairy off to the side talking to a police officer. I recognize her.

“Detective O’Neal is here talking to the reptile sprite,” I say to Charlie.

“What the hell?” He asks and I shrug.

I think nothing of it until she comes over to us. My stomach tightens and I start to sweat. Something is wrong.

“He’s here Ada,” she says. “Someone called us saying a guy was in the audience acting strangely while Charlie and Ada were playing. They reported they thought he had a weapon. We came immediately.

“You didn’t hold him in jail?” Charlie asks frustrated.

“No, he was charged and released with a court date. You have the protective order so we can arrest him for being here, but we have to find him.”

Lila has been listening to this whole thing and I turn around to see she’s flush with anger. Uh oh. I feel like the best thing for us to do is get the hell out of the venue and pray we don’t run into him on the way out.

When we get to the car Lila explodes. “How could you not tell me he came after you, Ada?” She’s near tears and Thomas has an arm around her trying to comfort her.

“I didn’t want to worry you. I’ve been dealing with him and my dad. They threatened Charlie if I sang with him and now they are trying to make good on their promise.”

“I am so mad you didn’t call me. I would have stayed with you. I would have been there for you.” Lila says.

I don’t bring up the fact that I did call her when I was having to stay away from Charlie because it seems pointless. She didn’t answer and maybe she had a really good reason. I also don’t bring up the fact she didn’t call to check in on me like she used to because she’d been so wrapped up in Thomas.

“I’m sorry Lila,” I say. “It won’t happen again.”