Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:40:15 -0600
From: Retta Michaels <rettamichaels@gmail.com>
Subject: Beginnings - Jordan - Chapter 5

Jordan


By


Retta Michaels


Disclaimer:


If you are under the age of eighteen, or live in a locale which doesn't
allow you to read these sorts of stories legally, then please don't. Come
back when it's legal for you to do so and it will be great with us who
are here legally. In fact, we'll support you and in the right
circumstances help get you laid. Now, skedaddle and shut the door on your
way out!


Now, for the rest of you who are supposed to be adults, act like it!


Chapter 5


When we got back off of the stage, my mom was standing there with tears
streaming down her face. She came up and hugged me and said, "They had
the concert on simulcast radio outside. I heard the concert and the song
he sang to you. I thought to myself, if your dad had sung that song to
me, I'd be hopelessly in love with him. So, now, I can see that it's not
the sex of whom you love, but that you're in love that should be making
me happy."


"Mom, I love you and I love dad. I love Chad and there's not much which I
can do to stop it. I know you like him and Dad likes him, so what could
be better. If I was straight, and I brought home a girl that you didn't
like and I couldn't love with all of my heart, would you be concerned for
me? I think you would. This way, I'm happy. If you can't like Chad for
being my boyfriend, then like him because he loves me and is my sanity
out here."


"You know we love him and he's not the problem. I'm the problem. I'll try
to deal with it as I was taught all my life it was wrong. When you were
born, I was happy you were healthy and had all your fingers and toes. Why
shouldn't I still be that happy? I didn't make a pact with God to say,
"I'll love him, but...." No, I made a pact with him I would be the best
parent possible and to keep you in a happy and healthy environment. I
wasn't fulfilling my end of the agreement."


We hugged and I said, "You all want to come into the dressing room?"


"Are they all dressed?"


"They better be or someone's gonna be in trouble!"


We went into the dressing room and mom went over to hug Chad. The guys
gave us a look like, "What the fuck???" and my mom said, "Boys, I owe you
all a big apology especially you Chad. I can't make any excuses for my
behavior earlier."


I saw the little girl in the wheel chair sitting over to the side and
Chad was sitting with her, I knelt down and asked, "Did you enjoy the
show?".


She looked rather pale and gaunt, but her voice was clear and bright.
"You guys are awesome! That Cherry Pop song is the best!"


"You liked it!"


"Yeah! I can't wait to get home and sing it to my little sister!"


"Why didn't your sister come to the show with you?"


"She's sick and they're keeping her away from me since I'm not supposed
to be around a lot of people."


"Did anyone think being in a large room with twenty five hundred people
wasn't enough!!!"


"Oh, they said I could come to the concert, but I'd probably get a virus
from the air, but I just had to."


"Well, how about if we stop by and see your sister and sing Cherry Pop to
her with you!"


"Would you?"


"Yeah, how about if we take the limo to your house and then do it. Chad,
would you bring a keyboard with us?"


He gave me a look, and said, "Sure." with a look in his eyes like, "Don't
I always!"


I pointed across the room at my mom and dad and said, "You see my mom and
dad over there? They came all the way from Florida for this concert. So,
when your family tells you your sister shouldn't be with you, tell them
that shouldn't matter, but what should matter is who you spend your days
with and the love you find with them."


Chad looked at me and said, "I've just thought of a song. I'll hum it and
start the words, you help."


He started humming a ballad and then went over to get a keyboard. He
started playing and the words started flowing out. He was looking into my
eyes as he sang and the end result was "The love I found with you."


He looked at her and said, "How about if I dedicate this song to you
since you're the one that's inspired it."


She blushed and said, "Sure!" The way she said it and the droop of her
eyes told me she was getting tired. I said, "Chad, she's getting tired.
Let's get her home, so we can get to the hotel."


We went over to my parents and I hugged them. I said, "I'll be at the
hotel later, Chad and I are going to take her home and sing her little
sister the Cherry Pop song."


Mom said, "What's the cherry pop song, they ended the concert when your
first set was over. I never got to hear anything after the rest of the
boys sang their songs."


Dad smiled and said, "Honey, it might not be good for you to hear it. He
sings the words so fast that it's probably a good things since there's a
lot of double entendres in it that allude to sex."


"Oh, well, would you play it for me?" She pined.


I looked at Chad and he said, "Go ahead, make her day, I dare y you!"


I said, "Mom, wait a minute, let me get the video of it and then you can
watch it when I'm far far away."


"If it's bad enough you don't want to sing it in front of your mother,
then why are you going over to sing it to a little girl?"


"Oh ck., but you made me...remember that. Guys! I need your help here."


Several of the guys all said at once, "Don't get me killed by your mom!"


We all laughed and they said, "Go ahead, we'll sing it from where we
are."


Chad turned on the keyboard and basicly put it on auto play. He went over
to sit with the little girl and said, "When that woman blows, I want to
be far away from it."


I began to sing and really concentrated on seeing how fast and clear I
could get the words. Not one time as I was singing, did I look at my mom.
If I had, I figured, I'd lose concentration.


At the end of the song, mom looked at me and said, "Jordan Daniel Johns!
I've never heard such a thing! Would you please say it slower so I could
understand half the words?"


Everyone laughed and I said "Mom, I'll get you a lyric sheet. It's an
hour long song stuffing into three minutes."


She laughed and said, "No honey, I heard it the first time. I think it's
rather humorous how you came up with something I'm thinking lots of kids
will think is really cool, but it's a song that hardly makes any sense."


"Yeah, but that's the key part of it. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense
why people pick the people they do to lose their cherries to, but they
still do it."


"You're right there. I just want you to love whomever you do it with. The
way I see you with Chad, I'm sure you're in love, so that's what's best."


We kissed them goodbye and RJ came up to the limo and said, "Guys, we'll
be back at the hotel. Stay up late and expect company at eleven pm., as
we'll be over then. We'll bring the pizza and soda pop."


As the limo pulled away, the little girl said, "Guys, I thought you were
the only ones in the group that were gay?"


"What makes you ask that?"


"Those other boys couldn't keep their hands off each other. If they think
they're fooling anyone, they need to stop that. They were acting more gay
than you two!"


"Well, they're all friends", is all Chad could come up with.. He said
that chuckling and then put his hand upon my knee.


She said, "You guys really are going to sing that song you just made up?"


"We hope too. We're putting together a few other cds right now and we're
all submitting music to it. If we don't use it for the group's cds, then
we'll use it for our duet album."


She smiled, and said, "That song's going to go number one. I'll tell you
now. I listened to it and got a funny feeling in my heart like I was
falling in love listening to it. If everyone feels like I did listening
to it, they'll go out and buy it."


Chad looked at me and said, "Did you get that feeling with any of our
other songs?"


"No, but the one which you sang to Jordy really made me cry. That's why
after you sang the second one, and then came down and gave me your shirt
and his hat, I was so surprised. I expected you to be up there listening
to everyone applaud your songs."


"Well, Jordan and I decided to get you the outfit before we thought too
much about the show."


He paused and then said, "If you hang onto the jersey and the hat, I'll
tell you now, they're going to be worth a lot of money. That's the very
first edition of a bunch of shirts we're going to have coming out like
that."


"Really!"


"Yeah, we decided to change our stage outfits to those and sell them to
the fans. We're also selling the hats and the pants too. I'd give you my
pants, but then I wouldn't have anything to wear home!"


She gave him a look like, "Go ahead!" and I said, "We'll get you a pair
of them sent too you, o.k.?"


"Sure! Could you send my sister one? Her favorite color is pink."


"O.k., we hadn't thought about doing them in many colors, but I guess
that would be a good idea. We'll tell it to our merchandising manager.
He'll like that idea."


"One other thing I think would go good for you guys is if you sell an
ipod that comes pre-loaded with your songs on it and a picture of you all
as a screen saver."


Chad looked at me and said, "That's a real good idea!"


He pulled out his cell phone and called Jill. When she answered, he told
her what was suggested. She said she'd tell her boyfriend, Matt."


When Chad got off the phone with Jill, he turned to me and said, "They're
going to be putting that color thing into boys billfolds and girls purses
too. The name of the group will be on the the strap of the purse."


"That's a good idea!" she said, "I'd buy one!"


"We'll send you and your sister one of whatever we have, o.k.?"


"Sure, but you guys don't have to do that!"


"No, but we want to. We don't get to see many real people outside of the
group, so when we do, we really cherish those times."


"Why don't you get to be away from the group?"


Chad looked down and said, "It's a matter of time really. Today, we got
to be away for four hours and that's the longest we've been away from the
group in several weeks."


I looked at him and said, "Chad, it's been almost eight weeks."


"Man, that's terrible!" She said with a shocked face.


"Well, being with Jordy is what makes the time go by so nicely."


I put my hand on his and said, "Thank you babe."


"Well, it's true. Just think about how long it'd be if we didn't have
someone special to make it go by faster?"


"Well, that's true. It'd be terrible."


The whole time, he was sitting on the edge of his seat with his elbows on
his knees talking with her. I think he was leaning up so she wouldn't
feel so alone sitting in her end of the seat. The seat in the limo was
like a huge doughnut shape with a spot for the door to climb through. She
sat by the door and we sat on the other side. Chad sat back on the seat
and then he looked at me and smiled.


To be honest, I hadn't been looking out the window to where we were
going. I didn't know how far away she lived, but riding in the back seat
always made it seem like the trip too longer. It was something I'd
learned to get used to on the road as talking made it seem to go by
sooner.


We were talking about the differences in the songs from the first album
and the other songs the guys all had sang when out of nowhere, WHAM! The
car skidded and I felt it start tilting towards Chad's and the little
girls side. The car rolled over and I fell towards Chad. The sounds of
the car rolling over and the sounds of glass breaking were all I heard.
Then the world went black.


When I awoke, it was to the sound of a steady, "Beep. Beep. Beep, Beep" I
opened my mouth and looked around me. Everything wasn't the same. I was
in a hotel room, but the equipment was hospital equipment.


No one was in the room with me, and I wondered to myself where I was,
where Chad was, and why no one was with me. I tried out my hands and feet
and they all were fine. I tried lifting my arms and they were fine and
then my legs. They worked, so I got up to see where I was, or look for a
phone to see what town we were in and have them contact me with the
managers to see where everyone was.


The problem with moving was there were I.V.'s attached to my wrist and my
dick had a tube running out of it to a bag. I had the sensation I needed
to pee, but trying brought nothing.


When I sat up, the world seemed dizzy. I grabbed ahold of the bed and
steadied myself. The sensation passed and then, I began to feel a sense
of euphoria. Don't ask me to describe it, all I can say it was light
headed, happy, and like there was absolutely no pressure on my chest to
breathe at all. That's when I passed smooth out.


When I came back too, my parents, Chad, RJ, and Jill were all in the room
sitting and staring at me. It was the same room, so I knew it wasn't an
issue of some strange horror flick.


Chad was smiling at me and he had the signs of a badly bruised face that
had about a week to heal.


"Where am I and how'd your face get that way?"


"You're at the hospital and we were in a car wreck."


"Who was in a car wreck, the whole band?"


"No, you, me, and a little girl."


"We have a little girl?!"


Everyone gave each other a startled look and then Chad continued, "No, we
had a little girl with us that was a Make-A-Wish recipient."


"She o.k.?"


Again, the startled look.


"No, she didn't make it."

"Oh, man, tell her parent's I'm sorry."


"No, it wasn't the car wreck and it was. She was going to die anyway, and
then we had the car wreck and they took her to the hospital for treatment
and she caught a staph infection. She died last week."


"How long have I been in here?"


"You've been out six weeks."


"Wow, so what is today's date?"


"It's late August."


"Oh, who's doing the tours in my place?"


"They canceled the tour dates until you could get better."


I looked over at RJ and Jill and said, "I'm sorry guys. Help me up and
I'll get out of here."


"No, you stay here until we get a doctor's permission to let you work. I
doubt if that will be for a while" said Jill.


"I remember waking up once before. No one was in the room and then I had
a sensation of euphoria and then I don't know what happened."


"That was the morphine. You were on that and they were trying to keep you
sedated. You had a severe concussion and you nearly didn't make it."


"What happened?"


"The limo driver didn't yield when he entered another highway. It was
nearly a broadside wreck with a semi. You were all lucky you weren't
killed." said my mom. "Your car went off a very steep embankment and
overturned several times. Chad was only saved because you took most of
the blows of things flying around in the car."


"Well, that little girl can't say she's lucky"


RJ said, "He'll be better, that sarcastic humor is back."


I looked at him and said, "RJ, what are we going to do about the group?
Don't disband it because of this."


"No, it's not going to be disbanded. Just as soon as we can, we're going
to go back into the recording studio and we're going to get the cds
recorded. What we've done is we've released the videos from the concert
and we've said you all were back in the studio re-recording the music.
That bought us some time and we didn't have to let it be known about the
wreck."

"So no one knows?"


"Well, that's not true. There are some that found out. Word of you being
in the hospital slipped out and it was even reported by the National
Enquirer you were dead."


I turned to my mom, "Did you buy that copy! I want it so I can have it
blown up and put on the wall in my room! In fact, make it a bunch of
copies. "


She smiled and said, "You would enjoy that, wouldn't you."


"Oh yeah, then every time someone tells me to drop dead, I can say, "I
already did, they sent me back to put you through hell. You're not
getting a moments rest now!"


They all laughed and RJ said, "We have you in a hotel because the Rev.
Fred Phelps was protesting the hospital where you were. Chad rather
embarrassed the Reverend though because he dressed up in his leather
outfit and then put on a collar and some really mini leather shorts and
went out and handed the Reverend the other end of his leash and said,
"Beat me off daddy. Beat me off!". He had Wend recording it and they sent
it out to every news outlet in the country besides YouTube."


"Did they play it?"


"YouTube did! Chad snickered and then after it got so many hits on
YouTube, CNN and the other media picked it up. CNN sent a reporter who
then got the other side of the story."


"So, you guys put me in a hotel to make me safer?"


"Yeah, Fred Phelps had signs telling anyone they'd pay a hundred grand
for someone in the hospital to lace your I.V, line with something which
would kill you."


"Can we sue him on that?"


"Well, the company took photos of it and Chad's going to put the signs
into a video protesting them and putting out a contract on Fred Phelps
for the same hundred grand. We figure if Phelps can't get arrested, then
Chad can't either."


"My suggestion would be to have the hundred thousand dollar bounty be a
million dollar bounty for someone that could come up with a credible
video of Phelps doing something bad enough to get a warrant and put him
in prison."


"That's a good idea. That way, we could get promotion and he could get
put away where he couldn't hurt anyone else."


"Chad, I've got an idea for a song. Put the Fred Phelps pics in a video
that also shows a soldier being buried. Start getting recordings of all
the soldier's funeral picketed and we'll have a video that starts off
with a zoom in of John 3:16 and then as it zooms out, we see the
President saying something about the soldiers being someone's Sons,
etc...etc...etc..., and then show that Fred Phelps sign and then, Have
you in a grave yard with the National Enquirer of me by yourself with the
guys all dressed in black and you singing, "I miss you. " Then have file
footage of Fred Phelps picketing a funeral and a close up of one of those
signs showing GOD HATES FAGS, and then confront the sign in a song
saying, God doesn't hate you, because he sent me a piece of heaven when I
was with you. I know you went to be with the angels above, I just wish I
could keep your love." At the end of the video, have Chad on his knees
crying and make the video look like Fred Phelps is standing over him so
the outcry is terrible."


Chad said, "That's great!"


RJ said, "No, because that would have everyone saying you are dead."


"No, that's having the National Enquirer saying I'm dead and when the
next song comes out and it says I'm alive, then Phelps, and the National
Enquirer, and everyone else will know we know how to manipulate the media
so don't fuck with us."


RJ smiled and said, "Jill, Chad, go get the guys and get busy. We're
going to have this on MTV in two weeks, so get to hopping."


Jill looked startled and said, "Chad? Do you even have a song written?"


"No, but Jordan and I had just written it before the accident and he gave
me the melody, so I can get it."


RJ smiled and my dad snickered. He looked at me and said, "Your fans are
going to be pressed here, you know that."


"No, they don't know if it's real of if it's just a video. If we do it
right, it will get them moved to hate Fred Phelps and not to trust the
National Enquirer ever again. I'll be forgotten in the outpouring of
emotions."


"Or so you hope."


"Dad, one thing I've learned is they love the next record and forgot the
last one. What was last month is forgotten, and what's brand new this
hour has to be good enough to get them to drop the remote and go buy a
record. We're not competing against other bands, we're competing against
a bag of potato chips and a glass of soda. We're not even competing
against another channel. So, we've got to make them remember us from all
the rest."


RJ smiled, and said, "You know the business. That's what I've been trying
to tell the board, but they don't seem to understand. They think money
still grows on trees and people will still run out and buy a record."


"If we had a way of them downloading the song from their television set
for ninety nine cents, then we'd be onto something, but if they go to
their computer, they can watch the video for free."


"Yeah, and there's not really much we can do about it."


"No, but it's up to us to find a way to rope them in and get the buck."


"It's not likely to happen. This is the information age."


"Well, there is, but I don't know how to explain it."


"What do you mean?"


"We need to go against MTV and the video companies and have a file system
enacted that when they show a video, it allows it to be shown in the
entirety, but if someone tries to record it digitally or on a computer,
it comes across as a black screen advertising to watch the video for a
download fee, and the music they're hearing sounds like it's coming from
a tin box without any equalization."


"Someone would have a crack on that in no time."


"Yeah, but what if we make a deal with IPOD to only do our videos there?
And, on our IPOD we're going to have out by Christmas. You are pursuing
that aren't you!"


"Yes, the guys picked the color of pink out the other day, They've got
blue ones and black ones with a red Cardinal on it. The video the guys
made in memory of that little girl showed the ipod as being in memory of
her and it was quite touching."


"How about if we get over the death and dying videos and come out with a
live cd? We could use the CD to promote the other cds and the concert
tour. Then, we could push a big stadium tour with a limited number of
dates."


"That's in the works, we just need to have you out of that bed."


"Well call the doctor, I'm feeling fine."


"We need to get you up and get you to walking."


"O.k., well, get me a walker and someone help me up."



By the end of the day, I was walking up and down the hall of the hotel.
The next day, I did it for most of the day while talking on the cell
phone with Chad and Jill who were in recording the song with the guys.


Somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted the video to be in black and
white with the exceptions of the flag and the signs of Fred Phelps. I
wanted it to look like it was raining in the scene with Chad in the grave
yard and the guys to all be in black tuxes with Chad being in a black tux
with overcoat.


I kept up the recuperative therapy and the only side affect of the car
wreck was an occasional headache...well, my dick would itch, but that
might've not been the accident...lol.


Chad told me the car overturned and I landed upon him and the whole seat
and bar I was sitting on came loose and landed upon me. He thinks the
wood counter of the bar hit me in the head. He was undamaged by it or
anything. It was my head that had hit him in the face. He said my head
hurt him worse than the entire car wreck.


As the days progressed, I got stronger and didn't see much of Chad. The
production schedule and editing for the video were such it was a sudden
full time obsession of his to get it out. This led up to the release of
the video.


At one pm on Friday, the video was released and by two pm, we were in
trouble...or I should say the company was in trouble. Records flew off
the shelves, but the cancellations of concerts wasn't something we had
foreseen. It seemed that if I wasn't going to be singing, the promoters
didn't want the band.


By Saturday, RJ was begging me to get up and have a press release to tell
our fans and the world it was a video and to admit I'd been in a car
wreck and hospitalized. He got the media together and said the group
would make a statement at five pm.


I dressed up in the same black outfit as the band and then Chad and the
guys went out and performed it. The media went silent and then I came out
to read the statement. The flash bulbs and the screams of the fans and
media asking questions all at once were incredible.


As soon as they stopped long enough to let me speak, I said, "Can't a guy
get a little rest around here!"


Then, the media and everyone went wild again with the questions. I
finally said louder, "HEY! LET ME SPEAK AND I'LL ANSWER QUESTIONS!"


It was funny because the whole place was quiet in about ten seconds.
"Ladies and Gentlemen who are all my fans, I was in a car wreck and
seriously hurt. I've been in recovery and recuperating. For six weeks, I
was unconscious and the National Enquirer reported me dead. As soon as I
came to, I discovered a certain asshole was protesting the hospital and
running off my fans. That same asshole had put a bounty on my head and
was trying to get me killed."


I paused and then said, "Do YOU think I would tolerate that! NO, I had to
do something to strike back and the video was what we came up with. It's
powerful and it pulls at the heart. It struck you where we needed you
struck and it caused the National Enquirer to retract the story and
hopefully, it will inspire every young person out there to think about
the message of the Bible and love one another as I have loved you. Not as
that asshole is loving his fellow man."


The media began asking questions and Chad came up and stood next to me.
He said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this was not a gimmick to have you buy
cds. This was a protest of the protesters and to tell you the National
Enquirer shouldn't be trusted. If you read those points into it, and
think we did this for anything other than what we're telling you, then
get over it. It's that simple."


For some reason, RJ had me walking with a black cane with a gold eagle
handle. He said that would be a part of my future and the future media
shots would all show that and it'd be an underlying message to the media,
"We fucked you once, we can do it again."


What was interesting was when we got in, my mom called and said the press
conference was on all three media channels and CNN was doing it up like
they had the towers collapsing. What I do know, was Larry King had asked
for an interview and we had more interviews than RJ could get scheduled.
He had schedulers scheduling us down to the minute for appearances and
then had us in New York for the press tour.


The way it went was the entire group would perform the song and then,
we'd have an interview where we gave our opinion of what we thought about
Fred Phelps style of protests. Surprisingly, everyone had stayed silent
while this was happening until we came out against it and then the whole
world was up in arms over it. I loved it because the media didn't hang
onto the fact we were gay, they hung onto the fact we were trying to get
up against the arrogance of one man's terrorism on his fellow Americans.


What was funny about all this was every time Fred Phelps insisted upon
having an equal billing, we would counter with asking one of his ex
followers being on with us and insisting the photos of his group with the
placards of the one hundred thousand dollar bounty be shown. He'd
suddenly refuse and then we could go on and do it as we had intended.


For three weeks, we did the press tour and during all that time, RJ and
Jill were having us promote a new line of men's tuxedos and scheduling
the release of the i Pod and asking us to promote different items
casually on the interviews. RJ was smooth and bought air time on the
shows advertisements and had enough i Pods pre-ordered so we could give
them away at the interview shows. We'd show the audience putting them on
and then mentioning they'd be released for Christmas sales along with our
new cds and clothing. Somewhere along the line, RJ had us several
different fragrance companies in so we could start selling colognes and
perfumes. The group had it's fragrance and then we had a different one
for each of us and a gift set that had little bottles of each individual
one in it plus a bigger bottle of the Group's fragrance. The one I had
picked out for mine was really nice. As soon as I smelled it, I wanted
it. Chad's was a musk scented one. When I smelled him with it on, we had
to go snuggle. He felt the same about mine, so it was hot. What's funny
was I really didn't care for the other guy's scents and we found out they
didn't care for ours. It was so personal we found out later the colognes
caused a lot of snuggling to happen amongst us couples.


In November, the word came out we'd be featured on a float in the Macy's
Thanksgiving parade and were requested to be on the same sponsor's New
Year's float. RJ got on the horn and had the sponsors jangle out cash for
us and to have our entire families staying in the city at the Carlisle so
we'd all have a joyful Thanksgiving.


On the float, we handed out the i Pods. Someone who received one gave it
a demo and plugged it on a morning show and suddenly the orders
skyrocketed. I personally liked it because for each one that sold, we got
a dollar. When millions of the things flew off the shelves, it suddenly
became a very Merry Christmas.


The money had came in from the difference between the Hummer and my
little electric car. We'd contacted the family of the little girl to see
how much her hospital bills had been. We took a plane and went down and
presented them with the check for that amount and then presented them
with a lot of the groups items. Chad gave her sister a keyboard and then
told me we were supposed to perform Cherry Pop for the sister that night.
I performed it and she absolutely loved it. The parent's weren't amused,
but they smiled politely.


When we left, the father came out and told us he had intended on suing us
for our part in the death of his daughter, but saw our hearts were in the
right place. It angered me, but at the same time, I was reminded his
sense of loss couldn't be measured on any scale I could fathom.


When we got home to his mom's new house, I was amazed at the size and
scale of it. Chad was all smiles and all I could think was how big it was
for one person and what the yearly property taxes could be on such a
house. He assured me there was a trust in place for his mom so she could
make the monthly bills and the taxes from it. I later found out he'd put
his first million from the i pods into the trust. I couldn't deny him
that as I'd just threw mine into an account and hadn't done much useful
with it.


In early November, we filmed a Christmas variety show which guested
several of the boy bands and was our first foray into the world of
television. What was different for us was the amount of takes and retakes
needed to get the different camera shots they needed. It's hard because
I'd be totally into singing a song and someone would yell "cut". After
the first few times, you get used to it, but the first few times, it
really pissed me off. It takes the human factor out of a performance and
makes a machine out of someone real fast because rather than being into a
song, I was prepared to hear the word "CUT!". It wasn't until afterwards
when we were discussing it with RJ, he said he'd change it so it wouldn't
ever happen again. He said we could afford enough cameras to get the
shots and do switches so everything would be edited later.


In the second week of December, we began the press tour of Christmas
wishes on the interview shows. It was a headache because some of the guys
who interviewed us were real homophobes and let it be known in a variety
of ways, but on air, we'd be all smiles. The fakeness got to be so much I
really resented it. By the week before Christmas, I was ready for a
vacation.


RJ could get to me mentally by telling me all we needed was another week
and I'd hold true like a trooper, but after enough of those weeks stacked
up, I was tired and didn't really want to hear he only needed another
week. I was wanting days off, or a week off. He promised it would happen
in January, but I reminded him we had the super bowl in January and
February had us doing a press tour, Daytona week, and then Mardi Gras and
that wasn't including anything Valentines which I knew they'd want us to
do.


Each month, had a holiday and each month would have us performing at a
different venue and a different town. The good thing about it was we got
used to the grind enough we could afford a treasured couple of hours and
be able to go out and be ourselves.


What was interesting was I got a disguise by accident and used it with
enough success, I could afford to go out and be by myself to purchase
Christmas for everyone. The bad thing was Chad couldn't disguise himself
with the success I could. I could throw on a wig and a pair of dark
rimmed glasses and when I was dressed in a pair of dockers and a polo
shirt, no one could tell I was me. Chad, he couldn't hide his good looks
no matter how he attempted it...someone would always recognize him.


For Christmas, we split it with two days at my parents and two at his
mom's. Then, we had to be back with the group in L.A., for a Hollywood
bowl performance and the parade in Pasadena.


What was neat was for Christmas, RJ surprised everyone with a post tax
check for five million and the keys to an exclusive subdivision where
each of us guys had a house. Chad smiled at me and said, "Let your
parents live in my house and I'll live with you."


I told him, "No, I'll live with you and let my parent's have mine."


It wasn't until we got to tour the houses I found we'd each been given a
Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe in the garage. I'm not much into autos
and or houses, but that car was beautiful. I wasn't sharing it with
anyone because it was in Chad and I's colors....white with gold trim.
They'd even made the convertible roof look like gold leaf, so it was a
custom job.


As we toured the houses, Chad smiled and said, "Well, I guess you're
going to have to get domestic now, aren't you?"


"No, mom and dad are going to be living next door and I imagine mom will
want to be over here taking care of me."


I wasn't wrong. As soon as we presented my parents with the house, mom
saw where we lived and demanded a key so she could be sure we had home
cooked meals and the house was constantly presentable.


The good thing about the houses were they each had recording studios
built in and at the end of the cul-de-sac, there was a large building to
house the bus and to practice choreographed routines.


One thing through all this time, the group was really clicking together.
We got along great and we really strove to be uplifting for each other.


Jill became like a mother to us out on the road. Matt, her boyfriend
proposed for Christmas and he'd told the group his plans in late
November. For Christmas, the group gave them a week long vacation in the
Napa wine country. Along the way, we'd discovered that was a dream of
Jill's and we made it possible.


After New Year's day, Jill left for her vacation and RJ said the group
could take a week long vacation as he was going to head for the hills
without a cell phone and/or any forwarding details where he could be
found.


What was funny was we found him by accident as Chad and I hadn't really
gotten a chance to know before hand it was happening, so we quickly
looked for someplace warm and Cape Town, South Africa offered some really
beautiful resorts and nice weather. We booked and used the Cardinal to
fly us over.


When we got there, the man who drove our taxi...a really junky car who
had wholes big enough in the floorboards to be active in a Flintstones
movie...in broken English said, "So, you are with that boy band too!"


Chad and I looked at each other and instantly knew someone else from the
group had the same idea. We tried to pick which one it was from the man,
but all he would say was, "Tip Good...He tip Good!" We smiled as we
figured if we tipped good, we could get the news who it was. What we
didn't know was RJ had tipped the guy really good to not tell anyone who
he was." It didn't matter, as soon as we checked in and got into our
swimming suits and went to the pool, I saw Roger, RJ"s lover and knew who
it was. I motioned to Chad and about the time we saw RJ in the pool, he
saw us and dove under.


"Roger, if he doesn't come up in a minute, I'm going to have to dive in
and save my career!"


Roger turned and saw us and motioned us over...discretion wasn't one of
his strong points to a real friend. Together, we stood there with arms
crossed until RJ finally surfaced and gave us a nervous glance. As soon
as he saw us with Roger, he knew he was found.


We set out our stuff and lay out next to Roger. I told Roger, "If it
makes RJ uncomfortable, we'll go to a different area and we won't bother
you guys. This is supposed to be a vacation from the group and I don't
want to disrupt yours."


He waved the comment off with, "Oh, forget that! You guys are friends and
if he wants you gone, I'll set him straight real fast!"


RJ came over and I could tell by a glance of his face he wasn't thrilled.
I stood up and said, "Chad, we're about to move. RJ isn't thrilled with
us being here and I'd rather not upset him."


When I said it, it was my intention. That was until Roger turned to RJ
and said, "Babe, these boys are here for a vacation too. It's a vacation
from the band, but if you're on a vacation to get away from friends, then
I won't have it."


RJ said, "Guys, the deal is we don't discuss one word of the group except
in this conversation. I don't want to hear you sing, I don't want to hear
a song. I just want a vacation."


"Deal" we both said in unison.


During that vacation, we got to go out on the tundra and see some really
beautiful wildlife. We saw gazelles, elephants, and giraffes in their
natural wild habitat. By the end of the different expeditions we had
taken, RJ, Roger and us were super close friends. That was when Roger
told us RJ had invited us to attend the next vacation with them in late
February up in Yellowstone. Chad and I readily accepted.


When we got back home, we did a few concerts in stadiums and then Jill
snuck in a few performances in smaller venues on Wednesday nights. What
was neat about it was one was in St. Louis, Missouri at the Fabulous Fox
theater. If you'd asked me before we went if I was thrilled, I would have
told you I'd preferred the big stadium performances due to the
choreography involved. Well, that thought ended at the Fox. The place is
awesome beautiful and the acoustics there were perfect. They were such
that Jill called RJ and told him we needed to rebook the theater again to
get a live recording there. The group readily agreed.


One thing I'd forgotten to tell you was we'd released Albums two and
three for late November releases. What was interesting was we didn't
promote them. We let them sit there and sell while everyone else was out
hawking theirs. What we'd chosen to do was place huge poster banners
across any music store that would take the twenty five dollar donation to
place them and hope the customer seeing the banner would change their
mind when entering the store. Apparently the tact worked, because
Christmas sales without publicity had us nearly at five million units
without a publicity tour.


We already had the fourth album's material recorded and printed. It was a
collaborative effort, but wasn't Risqu'e. We released album four when we
began the publicity tour for albums two and three. The enterprise was we
would go out and push the records and then perform the material from the
new cd and would casually mention it being in stores now. The sales of
four went through the roof at over seven million units two weeks out of
release. That's when we really began to start promoting ourselves and
pushing for a summer concert tour in which we would be performing four
different shows a week.


We had no idea how popular we were. Our faces were all over magazines and
we were always being interviewed, but when we're pretty isolated from the
world and working all the time, it's hard to relate to how huge we were.
That was until we started promoting the tours and they were selling out
multiple billings in shows as fast as Jill could schedule them. Our clue
was when Jill came in and said, "Guys, we have to ask you a question and
you can say no, but I'm begging you to say yes. We've got to start
scheduling Thursday nights and we'll do this as long as we're in the same
city performing Wednesdays through Saturday. I won't ask it if you don't
have a sell out in those towns."


"Until she said the word sell out, we had no clue. Red was the one that
caught it first and said, "So, you're saying these cities are selling out
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and a Saturday matinée too?"


Her one word answer of "Yes" quickly had us looking at each other.


Wend said, "How many are you putting in these venues, can you make the
seating chart so it will be more?"


She looked exasperated and said, "Guys, some of these places hold sixty
five thousand and that's for a ball game. We're booking for shows of
forty and getting sold out. In Chicago, you'll be working for two weeks
and they're all sold out. The same for L.A, Boston, New York, Houston,
Denver, Phoenix, and for Nashville of all places."


That's when bedlam broke out in the room. Chad calmed the guys and said,
"Jill, schedule Thursdays and then if you need, schedule Sundays and a
Sunday matinée, but don't ask us for Mondays or Tuesdays, we're going to
be recording another album."


She smiled and said, "Guys, Risque's material is being released in May.
We're going to push a live album in August and then in September, we're
going to put together a compilation. Your individual albums and materials
are getting a bit dated, so what I'd do is concentrate on those and then
think about what you want to release for next Christmas. You've got
whatever you want and your fingertips because we're talking about you and
you're damned big stars. Matt just released some posters of you guys from
publicity shots without your shirts and several of you guys sold out in
three days. The other ones sold out in five. The money is flowing in so
fast, Stuart over there is making daily deposits into your accounts and
you're really needing to get an investment advisor in here so you can
earn more."


Chad asked, "How much of a cut do we get if we invest in other star's
careers?"


"You get producer cuts. That means you get a dollar for the first three
albums like someone did for you when you first started."


"O.k., then RJ was our producer, so he's the one that made the dollar."


"Yeah, off the record, he was, but he's also the one that came in and
managed you guys and took the cut in his percent. He believed in you guys
and he really put more money into you than you realize."


"We're not complaining. Heck, we realize it took money, but what we're
asking is if we can do the same for new and upcoming acts and put them on
the tour with us as a lead in performer. That way, we're getting a cut
off who we're promoting to tour with us and they're benefiting from who
we think is an awesome performer."


She looked up shortly and said, "I'll get RJ in to discuss this with you.
Now, I've got another item we need to discuss while I'm in here."


"O.k., what is it?" Chad asked.


"The i Pod people want you to promote a larger i Pod and a new phone
they're going to put out."


Chad said, "So, do they want a commercial, or they want another with us
on it?"


"Both"


Chad looked at us and said, "Guys, we got two million for the last
commercial. We weren't a known group then and they took the gamble. This
time, they're coming to us after we sold twenty million of their other
ones. They gave us a cut of a dollar per person on the last one. My
suggestion is if our name and faces sells things, then we set a price cap
on it and ask we make five dollars each on the next ones. That's thirty
dollars on something they're making for in a factory for four dollars and
making a hundred and fifty dollars at the cash register on. Now, you
figure they're selling them to the store for a hundred, then they're
making sixty plus dollars on the things."


The math didn't take long for me to figure, I agreed because I figured if
we sold five million of the things, then we got twenty five million. If
we promoted and got twenty million of the things out the door it'd be a
hundred million. That's when I asked about the phone.


"It's something revolutionary and is a cross between the larger i Pod and
a cell phone."


"Tell them to send us one and we'll see. Some of those things are crap. I
bought one for six hundred and it fell apart in my pocket. I took it back
to the store and they told me it had to be refunded through the company.
I don't know if I ever got my money back because we got this job."


"I'll tell them you guys want a free trial version."


I then went out on a limb and said, "Tell them we're going to want one
that isn't black and we'll want one that is pink neon for the girls and
colors that match the i pods. And, we'll push it like we did the i Pods,
so we'll need a bunch of free ones to pass out on interview shows."


"You guys are invited to several award shows. The Golden Globes want you,
and the Academy Awards want you. Then, there's the MTV awards, and
several others."


I sat up and said, "I'm in, and if some of you don't want to go, then
that's fine. I know Chad can't stand going to those things. So, If some
of you don't like going, then I'll go with you so the group is still
represented. I mean, it's not like we're getting an award at movie
awards. They just want us there for window dressing."


Jill agreed and said, "Guys, I normally don't ask you to go to these
things, but I'll tell you now, this year is going to be really busy for
you. It's like a wave, you paddle out there and you happened to catch a
huge wave. Your riding the crest of it, or you will be this summer. It
will probably last for a year and then by a year from now, we'll be
having you guys touring Europe and Asia. Hopefully, we can get that drug
out and then we'll be having a talk about when we're ending things. If
you're lucky, then we'll have another year after that, but even the
longest ride for a boy band has been seven years. My suggestion is for
you to think about looking into other opportunities. If you're interested
in television or movies, then we'll start now getting you bit parts and
working towards that in three years for you. If you're interested in solo
careers or furthering your duet careers, then we'll look at those. I'm
not telling you it's over, but what I'm saying is if you're going to be
another Madonna, then you've got to think about it now, so the switch in
personnas is gradual and we can get you promoted."


Chad looked at me and said, "We've got to work on getting material
together for at least two more albums of our duet material. We've been
snoozing on this shit."


"Yeah, I didn't think it would go so fast, but we should have been doing
like we're doing with the group and putting new material out there each
time the group put out another cd."


He smiled and said, "The advantage we have is we're good together and we
work good off each other."


"Yeah, but how much are we making on the cd we did? I'm getting a clue
now the others are doing really well."


"Well, talk with the accountant and he can give us some figures. He might
even be able to tell us what songs are downloading so we can get a pulse
on things."


"O.k., we've really messed up on this, let's not let it happen again.
We've got after hours and Mondays and Tuesdays to work on things, so we
can have a bunch of songs written in time for a release for the May and
the August releases."


He smiled and said, "At least we're seeing the light now and we'll be
surfing with two surf boards at the same time."


He turned to the guys and said, "If you didn't just hear what Jordy and I
were saying, My suggestion is you get to working on new material for your
new releases as duets. We'll start scheduling a group meeting once a week
to work on the group material. O.k.?"


Everyone agreed and then we turned to Jill, "Can we have a meeting with
the accountant so we can get numbers? None of us knows really what we're
making and we don't know what the numbers are with the sales of our duet
records."


"O.k., we'll get that meeting scheduled for tonight...after hours."


"O.k., you all pay for the pizza. We're still pushing two and three."


"You guys don't forget a thing, do you!"


"No, as long as we can write something off, we're pushing that."


She said, "Guys, I need to speak with you about something else." The way
she looked, I wondered what she had to say. She began slowly and said,
"As you know, Matt proposed. I accepted. And I'm wanting to have the
wedding in June."


"O.k., you want us there we hope!"


"Yes, and if you would, I'd like for you to perform love songs, not my
cherry popped!"


"O.k., but why the down face."


"Well, we're wanting to have children and if things go as we hoped, we'll
be expecting in February or March of next year."


"So, you're saying you want a baby, where does that bring us in. Matt can
do that job!"


"Yeah, but if I have a baby, I'm going to want time off."


As soon as she said it, I knew we were losing her as our manager.


"So, you're saying you're wanting to stop being our manager?"


"I'm wanting to take some time off. So, I realize I'll probably work
again, but for me with you guys, it probably won't be because you'll have
someone else in here and that person will have the reins and won't let
them go."


"So, is Matt going to take time off?"


"I don't think so! He hasn't said that, so I doubt it."


"Then, let Matt inside your head and then he can do both jobs and when
it's time, you can come back in and he can share the job with you."


"That's a great idea! I'll ask him."


The meeting broke up and Chad and I went to our suite.


Chad said, "Jord, I need to ask you something."


"O.k, why are you asking, because you know you don't have to have
permission."


"I'd prefer it if you didn't go to the award shows without me."


"Why not?"


"Well, the way I see it is we're a couple and we need to present a solid
front."


"O.k., then you expect me to not go just because you don't like them?"


"No, I'll go, but I just hate them."


"O.k., so that's decided. All you had to do was discuss it with me."


"Well, I was worried you'd get the wrong idea."


"No, I'm patient. I'll listen as long as you don't hand it down as an
ultimatum and we can discuss the reasoning behind it."


"O.k., another thing I'm going to discuss with you is about the life
after the career. I'd really like to act."


"O.k., by then, maybe I will too. I doubt it, but if not, then I'll go
out as a solo artist."


"It's that easy for you to say you'd rather spend time separately?"


"Let's see...being with you doesn't mean you get ownership rights, and
being with you means I don't have the right to call the shots with you,
so you trying to slip in a double standard here?"


"No!"


"So, you want a career and you want to go to Hollywood. So, I'm to go out
and polish my nails while you establish your career?"


"Well, I thought we'd be together!"


"So, let me get this right. I'm to not go do what I want, but you're
allowed to. If that's what you're saying, then get over it and think
about it for the next year so when the time comes, I don't make you
really disappointed by going after what I want."


"You can make us split up just like that?"


"What aren't you hearing here? I'm not saying we'll break up. What I'm
saying is I'm not going to sit around and wait on you for all that time
and rest on my retirement funds at an age of nineteen. That's bullshit
and you know it. I'll go out and I'll sing solo. I love singing and by
then, I'll be established enough it won't be a tour like it is now. I'll
have the Cardinal and I can fly in and out. So, the money will roll in
and some of the promotion fees can pay for the jet rather than a hotel
and all the good while I'm in the city."


"What happens if it's like it's going to be with us and you sell out in
cities."


"Then, I'll be in those cities. You'll know where I'll be and the
Cardinal will still fly. You can fly to me when you've got a spare
moment, but you need to realize you'll be out on location for like six
months at a time. So, think about what you're asking me to consider."


"O.k., I just don't want us to split up."


"We're not unless you ask to have an affair with someone else. Then,
buddy, I'll dump you and won't look back. I've got enough money to
definitely keep you away from me if I want."


"It sounds like you've thought about this."


"Chad, look at me and understand one thing. I never think things through
really strong unless that's what I've decided. If I ever find out you've
went elsewhere, then you're history. That much is a "Thou Shalt Not" with
me...I'll tell you that now. As soon as I ever find out, then we're
history. I'll move out and get my phone number changed. You've got but
one time to break my heart and when that happens, then I'll recover, but
it won't be with you."


"O.k., so you don't do it either."


"Oh, so you'd like to imply I'd ever be a hypocrite?"


"No, I'm saying what is good for the gay gander is good for the gay
gander...o.k!"


"Oh, that sounds like a song."


"No, that sounds like a train wreck."


"Chad, what about us redoing some other people's songs and putting some
of those in with the new albums."


"O.k., what are you wanting to do?"


"I don't know, but there are a list of favorites that I have which when
we go through a hotel or when I hear them on the radio, then I find
myself singing along and liking the songs. Now, we can put them in and
redo them so, I'd like to do it before we're 'has beens'."


"If we play it right, that won't be for a long time. We're good looking
enough, we could be the classic older stars like Wayne Newton, Sinatra,
or Air Supply."


"What matters to me is this... and you can make a pact with me on this,
or not...but, what matters to me is we don't begin drinking or doing
drugs. We don't smoke and we always look our best when we're out in
public. I've seen some of the older stars with cigarette's in their hands
and they're dead now. I've heard stories of Sinatra and his pals all
being totally drunk and making really huge asses out of themselves. Then,
there's the cases of the stars that got so off into drugs that they
overdosed or ended up in rehab after rehab. Their money's all gone and
all they have to show for it is bad memories."


"You don't have to worry about that."


"Just tell me if anyone ever offers you anything because even if you
don't, I'll call security and get them out of there. The people working
for us are going to be the ones who are on our payroll soon and when that
happens, I'll fire them to get them away from us. They can become someone
else's nightmare."


He nodded.


"O.k., we're on agreement on that because its' going to be tough when
you're in Hollywood and alone on location."


"No, the phone is always going to be my connection to you, or the
Cardinal will fly."


"O.k., we're in agreement with that. So, our pact is made?"


"Yes, if that's what you want."


He came over and walked into my arms. "Mm mm, I love you so much!"


"I love you too babe."


We went over to the keyboard and he said, "I've been thinking about a
song that sounds like this..." He began to play and as soon as he hit the
rhythm, I knew he was looking at another railroad gang song.


He said, "Here's the story and then you can think of the words. The work
is hard, their backs are breaking and they're not making enough. The
sun's hot and they're sweating. They're not getting enough to eat and
they're facing discrimination by the man."


"O.k., and the story?"


"That's it."


"Then, let's just put the thoughts into order that you just spoke. With
this style of song, the lines have to be short and the rhyme is where we
pull it together. Do you remember that Billy Squire song, "Coal Mine"?
The song wasn't much except the rhythm and it worked. If you did it in
this style (which it's not much different anyway) and you throw in a few
grunts and some clangs, you've got a gang. All you have to do is put in
some foot stamps and it's working the rails. Now, I'm going to throw
another song at you that's in that style. It's "Promises Promises" by
Naked Eyes. The underbeat of it is a gang working and then it's got light
rock on top which is pretty cool."


He went over to the computer and went to YouTube and quickly found it. He
began to play it and said, "You've got a heckuva memory for music. That's
almost exactly what I was thinking about."


"So, you want to work on that song, or do you want to write our own?"


"Let's work on this one and see what we can do to change the under rock
into something funkier. I think we can make it a bit faster and yet, keep
the gang under the whole thing."


"O.k., here's another one from the eighty's that's called "Tainted Love".
If you hear, it's faster, but underneath is the gang beat. The gang beat
is faster and to me, that says they're working in the morning because
someone that's been doing that for several hours is a lot slower. Either
that, or they're replacing the guys in that gang fast and everyone's
getting a good break."


"You seem to know the gang."


"No, it's pretty much common sense. If you and I went out and we began
running in the morning, we would be fast. By two hours down the road,
we'd be slower and by one pm., we'll be doing what we can to lift our
feet. That's why they did the beat. It invigorated everyone and it kept
everyone working as hard as everyone else. The beat kept the guy next to
you in rhythm and the only way he could not do it was to fall out because
that's how they worked them."


"O.k., so is their a library of old railroad gang songs?"


"I don't know, check the Internet. I'd say there are probably some, but
it's about a dead art because the people nowadays do it all with
machines. It's amazing how easily a machine does things today that it
once took twenty men to do."


"Yeah, but in some cases, the old way is better. Silk doesn't get made
the new way now because it sucks."


"No, but look at what rayon does now. Our jerseys are rayon and it's
doing what silk used to do."


"Cool, I didn't think of that....here's a subject switch, do your nipples
get sore wearing the jersey?"


"Yeah a bit, but the next time you're in the dressing room and you put on
the moisturizer, then put some on your nipples. If they get to hurting
too bad, then ask for some of those little circular bandaids. The
audience won't know until you're right up on them and if you're that
close to someone, I'll be reaching down to pull you up and calling
security at the same time because you'll have fallen off stage!"


We laughed because it'd nearly happened a few times already and although
it'd be funny, it'd hurt like hell in some places because the fall would
be twelve feet. The problem with highly skilled choreographed
performances is that when a mistake happens, someone can go flying and
doing what they can to keep from falling. One of the reasons is there's a
trick we use called bar wax which shakes from a can like Comet powder. It
makes the floor slick and shoes don't catch and dancing is easier on the
ankles. The problem is that when it gets built up on shoes, and it hits
an area that doesn't have it on them, it will send you skittering. I've
been careful and keep a brush handy at my dressing table to brush the
bottoms of my shoes before each performance. It's become so ingrained in
me that I just do it naturally as a part of getting dressed.


Chad was working on his keyboard and I went to the living room to work on
my laptop. The way I stayed on top of a lot of different sources of music
was I listened to music a lot. YouTube was a source of my music and
another was MetaCafe and Stage6. I went to these sites and browsed the
various videos and listened like a hawk does for a mouse. The little
nuances a normal person doesn't hear is what I pull out and when I hear a
sub melody or a underbeat, I bring it to Chad. He understands what I'm
hearing and although we might not use it today, he'll store it away in
his memory and we pull it out for another time when we're working on
something.


Today, I put in ( Remix) and pulled out a list of what I could find. What
surprised me was a song which was by Sting that was older but he remixed
himself. The guy singing with him was Arabic and that's what's caught my
ear. His voice and the way he through his voice around all over the mix
was something I grew more and more excited about. I didn't know when I
would use it, but I knew I'd use it and when I did, it'd make all the
difference in the song we were doing.


The next one I listened to was a new one I'd found by Bananarama. It was
one "Look on the Floor" (Angel City Remix). As soon as I heard it, I was
watching and then, the beat hit and it hit me so hard I nearly dropped my
laptop. Chills went through me and I let out a yell, "Chad!"


The interesting thing about it is he's heard it often enough he doesn't
come running anymore, he calmly says, "Yes dear, you bellowed!"


"Yeah, you've got to see this one. We've got to do it!"


Now, me saying that had him into the room. It wasn't often I'd say
something like that, and he know it.

What was funny was I set him up just like I'd been at the same volume and
everything so when it hit him, it'd hit him at the same everything. Then,
I pressed play.


He listened and when the beat hit him, the reaction was the same, the
startled expression and the chills were evident. Then, the smile hit. He
started nodding with the beat and his voice hit the background and about
five seconds later, he pulled the headphone and said, "We've really got
to get a bigger stereo system. That song is a 'must do'. What would be so
cool is if we could do it with them. They'd be on one side of the stage
and we'd be on the other side and they'd do it the female way all soft
and then you'd start letting lose with your growls and vocal gymnastics
and the guys would be matching their softness with some deep do doos and
made it a complete collaboration Let's get the guys and see what we can
do when we hook it up to a large system and we add our version. What's
wild is I don't hear your voice up front, but Bandy's. His voice is more
in the tone that would be excellent."


He gave a worried expression which I think he thought him saying that was
being disloyal to me, but as soon as he said it, I could hear Bandy's
voice perfectly.


"It'd be perfect if we could get Bandy to do the vocal gymnastics, but
the way he is with his voice, you'd think he's studying for opera or
something."


"Let me work on him with Niles and I bet he'll give it a whirl when he
finds out it's going to be his song. If he doesn't want to do it, then I
think your abilities will work."


"No, if he won't do it, then we won't do it. I can hear his voice in the
front part now and it's stuck in my head. It's not often you tell me
someone else is better suited and when I hear it myself, then I know I
can't do it better. So, why do it if I know I'm not giving the song the
best we have?"


"That's the way I feel"


I said, "Babe, I'm going to show you another video of theirs and as soon
as I do, I'm going to see if you see it too."


I showed him "Move in my Direction" by Bananarama and as soon as he
started it, he was listening and said, the beat's all fucked up. It's
like they're on the merry-go-round from hell. Is that what you're wanting
me to hear?"


"No, watch the guy?"


"You're showing me a guy cause you've got the hots for him?"


"No dip shit, take a look and then look in the mirror. The guy is you in
about ten years."


"Oh.... No, he's a babe and I'm not."


"You're built better and better looking, but your face will have that
same character when you're his age. That's what I'm showing you. You're
going to age damned good and you'll hold those looks all the way into
your sixties. By then, your face will be fuller and you'll have a suave
charisma to you rather than the raw sexuality you have now."


"O.k, let's get back to the other song, that's a great song. Look at the
difference in that chick all grown up versus when she was young. She's
hot now and not back then. What a difference twenty years makes."


"Yeah, she's got the Farrah look going for her. She's make some pretty
steamy videos for us if she'd do it. She's gorgeous."


We continued to talk about the song and then Chad said, "Let's call Bandy
and Red over and see if they'll work on that song with us. I can hear
your voice growling in that part where they're shoving it through the
mixer, but his voice out front is going to be awesome. Do you think we
could get his voice to do that like you can?"


"Yeah, all he has to do is lay his hand on my throat when I do it and
he'll be able to do it. One thing you'll learn with me Chad is my throat,
I exercise by doing all those sounds. I learned it by accident. I had the
flu once and my voice was so bad, it was like Froggie's voice off of 'Our
Gang'. As it healed, my desire to sing was so much, all I could sing was
low low in the throat like Tom Jones. That was when "She's a Lady, the
Miss Congeniality remix was out, so I sang it until I could get his voice
perfectly. He sings low...like down here in his sternum. That's why when
he goes high, it's still low like about here on your throat.


The next one I could do was the lowest sister of the Pointer Sister. And
as I sang, I learned how to move my throat to make their sounds. The
hardest voice is Britney Spears. She sings from both her nose and her
lower throat. It's like everything else she shuts off. It's damned hard
because it's a kittenish voice out of her nose."


"Well, a lot of people find her hot, but I don't." he said with finality.


"No, she used to be cute, but that sister's got severe problems and I
think it's because she's shut everyone out that was her support
structure. There's no one there who will dare tell her no now."


"Well, just remember that because Elvis got the same way, and so did
Michael Jackson. Both of them self destructed and so is she."


"Well, I think it's a part of our isolation. We pull in people who will
make us forget the isolation and who are those people? They're the ones
out at that time of night, or it's the ones that are around us. If
they're not around us, then it's the one's out at that time of night and
those are the ones taking stimulants to stay up. So, she's done it and
rather than having control over it, it's got control over her...just like
Whitney."


"You know what is interesting?" he asked.


"What dear?"


"We find acceptance through our music and we share it with others. They
were given all the keys to the kingdom so to speak and each one of them
had a problem when they had to face reality. Do you think we'll have that
problem?"


"No, and I'll tell you why. The difference with us versus them is our key
manager is a former star. He knows how to gain success and he's showed us
how it's achieved. It's not hard if you stay focused. All you have to do
is keep your eye on the prize. Now, the main difference is he's been
through it. He's done all the bad boy gangster shit and he's managed to
save himself from it."


"Well, why don't you call Bandy over and I'll go to the children's
hospital. I'd like to see who I can help. I might be awhile because I
feel like reading a story to someone."


While I was talking, Chad was doing searches on YouTube, he did something
and then all of a sudden, he let out a yell. For Chad to do this, it had
to be earth shattering. He said, "OH MY GOD! GET THE GUYS! GET THE GUYS!
GET THE GUYS! THEY'VE GOT TO SEE THIS STAGE!!! I ran over and he had a
video on by Sabrina titled "Boys" and the stage behind her was awesome.
By this time, he was grabbing the phone and hitting numbers. "Bandy! Get
over here, you've got to see this, call Niles and I'll get Jill, get them
over here NOW!"


He got off the phone with Jill and said, "Jill, stop the presses, you've
got to see this. Yeah, come over now!"


He got off the phone and said, "I don't care how much it costs, we've got
to have it. That stage totally kicks ass! His excitement compounded by
what I was seeing was totally blowing me away. I was seeing us on that
stage and I was seeing a whole new dimension of show with us on that
stage. I could see fog machines and I could see us doing gymnastics and
us turning down the lights and getting it all dreamy looking for our
solos, but, the amount of money I saw on that stage was overwhelming. It
had to be a twenty million dollar stage.


Jill came in and said, "This better be good. I only came running because
it was you Chad. I expect this from him, but not you. Her hair was wet
and she was wearing a bathrobe. She clearly didn't look happy."


"Jill, take a look at the video and before you say we can't have it, I'll
tell you now, I don't care what it costs, we're going to have it."


She took a look at the video and said, "Oh man, where's this at! Let me
get RJ on the phone! You guys are going to have that by May, if I have to
kill people to get it."


She was hitting numbers on the phone and said, "Fucking phones, can't
dial out on the damned things."


I handed her my cell phone already dialing on speed dial. As soon as she
got through, she said, "Yeah, it's me. Yes, I realize I'm on Jordy's
phone, get to your computer man. We've got work to do!"


She waited for a second and said, "You there! Well, don't walk, RUN!
Jesus!!! ....Are you there yet! Well hurry!"


She looked at it and said, "Get me what you punched into that thing to
get that up there."


Chad said, "Tell him YouTube, and then do a search for 80's disco
avtoradio's Sabrina Boys, then he'll pull it up. It's the top one."


She looked at us, "He's typing it in. He's cussing us, but he'll be happy
in a second....he says he didn't pull anything up."


Chad was urgent, and said, "Tell him to remember the apostrophe s on the
avtoradio because he won't pull anything up if he doesn't."


She held up her hand and said, "He's watching it. Oh man, he's yelling.
Yes, RJ, I want it. The boys want it. Yes, you want it too, well whatever
you do then find it because they want it by May. No, we're not caring how
much it costs because that stage will have these guys working for the
next five years....Yes, it will cost a lot. No, I don't think they'll
mind the promotion by Sony to get it. Just get it!"


She got off the phone and said, "Guys, thanks for finding that. I'm going
to go get in the shower and finish rinsing my body. I thought one of you
was dying over here."


"Is he going to get it for us?"


"He said he'll get it even if we have to suck Sony's corporate dick to
get all those jumbotrons...is how he put it. He loves it too."


Chad said, "Tell him when he comes off the ceiling, I want to make some
changes to the stage because there are a few high tech add-on's I think
it will need."


She smiled and said, "Chad, I'm sure when he comes off that ceiling, he's
going to be apologizing to Roger. I think they were doing the wild thing
when I called!"


She laughed and headed out the door.


Just about the time she was leaving, the guys came running in. She turned
to them and said, "Guys, you've already missed the excitement. You snooze
you lose." She laughed again and left.


"What did we miss?" said Wend.


Chad pointed at my laptop and said, "Just press play"


The guys went over and when they were grouped around it, Wend hit the pad
and it started playing. As soon as it became clear, they were all jumping
around the room."


The looks on their faces were priceless and yet, the screams and giggles
were sinking in. Bandy said, "Tell us you got it for us and that's what
she was telling us....please....please....please!!!"


"She called RJ and interrupted Roger and him humping and made him run to
a computer so he could see the video. He was pissed at her until he saw
that video. As soon as he gets Roger back in a good mood, I think we've
got it or a copy of it."


That's when the screaming really began. They were jumping and dancing
around the room and then, I said, "Guys, here's the bad news."


They calmed down and I said, "Jill said the bad news is we'll probably
work five years if we have a stage like that because of the crowds it
will pull in."


They started dancing around the room again and Bandy said, "Guys, hook
that up to the tv and let us see it larger."


"How do you do that?"


"You mean you don't have a cable?"


"What cable?"


He ran from the room and in about thirty seconds, he came running into
the room with a cable that hooked from the back of the laptop to the back
of the television. He turned on the plasma and made it into an external
monitor for the laptop.


"Cool"


He hit play again and suddenly it was a lot larger.


Chad went over to the plasma and said, "the neon around the stage isn't
going to work. We'll need chaser lights. Those circular thingys should be
stars and they should have l.e.d. flash pop lights in them. They can be
ones that change colors and do strobe effects that way.


We did another search for anything with that stage on it and we found
some others. When we found one, we watched it and there was an excellent
shot of the stage from the air. He froze the scene and all the guys were
up close to the screen.


Chad said, "Someone get a piece of paper, I need to list what we need to
change it. This is going to rock!"


As they looked at the shots of it, they began to make changes to the
design and shape of it and then started making a list of what they
wanted. They wanted air jumps and they wanted fog, that's for certain.
They then started looking at it and saying what they didn't want and by
the time they were done, they'd made a whole different stage but with the
same effects.


Chad slowed down and said "Guys, you realize what this stage is and you
realize what I'm just now seeing?"


They said, "What!"


"If we had this stage, it'd take at least twenty semis to haul and that's
on a good day. Then, it'd take a week to set up if we had trained crews
to do it. So, we're going to need at least three of them. I'll tell you
now, RJ's generous, but he's not going to go for that. So, what we're
looking at is a permanent set up and that means the only way we could do
that is if we have a variety show. That means we'd be stuck in one spot
and money from a summer concert wouldn't happen. That's a 'wait to the
end of our career' stage and either get it when we go to Las Vegas, or we
get it on some sound stage in Hollywood. This sucks guys."


I said, "Guys, take another look at it and then tear it down into basic
parts. What do you like? and what don't you like? Then think about what
you can deal with having and what we can do without. Let's not look at it
as something we can't have. Let's look at it as something we can have if
we scale it back."


Chad looked at me and at first he had a total dejected look. As I spoke,
the hope returned to his eyes and as fast as he could, he was sitting
down with the guys all around the table and laying out pieces of paper.


The last thing I heard him say to the guys before I left to go to the
hospital was "Guys, we've got work to do. Bandy, we've got another video
for you to watch and I want you to practice it until you can't practice
anymore and then, Jordy's going to work on it with you."


Notes From Retta:


As you can see, this chapter is forever long, but we've covered a lot of
territory. What's exciting, this chapter does is it acts as a spring
board for the upcoming tour. If you've thought we've had fun now, just
wait, we're nearly half way there! Yes, twelve chapters for the twelve
days of Christmas. What else would I give you as your Christmas gift!


Well, it's off to another fun filled chapter for me as I'm typing my
little hands off. Three chapters today and it's a marathon of Jordy!
Editing editing, editing....what fun.


If you want a job editing, give me a yell. In order to qualify, you have
to edit fast because I type fast. That means at least a chapter a day.
The advantage is I'm using spell check to try to keep the mistakes at a
minimum, but the grammar in it sucks, so you'll have to know how to make
a paragraph that's one long sentence into something that it's not. What
fun, but that's the way this one's brain works.




From My Keyboard To Your Heart,


Retta


RettaMichaels@Gmail.com


Copyright Notice - Copyright © December 2007 by RettaMichaels

The author, RettaMichaels copyrights this story and retain all rights.
This work may not be changed or duplicated in any form, media, ( known or
unknown) without the author's expressed permission. All applicable
copyright laws apply.



Disclaimer: All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance
to real persons is purely coincidental



--
From My Keyboard To Your Heart
Rhett

Here is a list of stories I've written and where to find them:

With Love - Nifty - Beginnings Section
Rural Love - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com
Write Me A Love Story - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com
To Love Him - Author Heading - DeweyWriter.com
Military Zone - Nifty - Military Section
Evan - Nifty - Beginnings Section
Jordan - DeweyWriter.com
If I Could Give It All Back - DeweyWriter.com