Fanfare (Country Roads #2) - Chapter 32

The rest of the week was one of those weird situations where it seemed to fly by, not leaving enough time for me to get everything I needed to finish done before we left. All the same, time dragged on slowly as I counted the hours until we left.

Chef was okay with me taking the week off. I got Victor’s contact info so I could arrange to see where he worked out, on the promise that I’d get a little sparing in with him while I was there. Chef never was the type to let a good opportunity go to waste.

Mom had been a harder nut to crack, and it wasn’t until Friday that she finally gave me permission to go, although she’d ended up talking to Hanna’s Aunt first just to make sure. I’d already had the feeling we were going to go so I, or really mostly Hanna, had gotten everything set up for the gig on Thursday before she’d given permission, since that was the one part of the trip that required a bunch of moving parts.

We were taking Hanna’s car, since it was newer than mine and Kat wasn’t crazy about the idea of driving hers across the state if she didn’t have to. Besides, of the three of us, Hanna was the best driver. We left early Sunday afternoon and pulled into Hanna’s Aunt’s house just before dinner, which was good because we hadn’t stopped for food and I was starving. Even before the car pulled all the way to a stop Sam came shooting out of the front door, skidding to a stop next to the car.

“Hanna,” he almost yelled as soon as she was out of the car, launching himself at her and throwing his arms around her.

“Hey, Sam,” she said, hugging him back with one hand and tousling his hair with the other.

I went to the back and popped the trunk to grab our bags. Mine was just a small duffle bag and Hanna hadn’t packed much heavier, but Kat had a full-on suitcase that must have held three weeks’ worth of clothes. I turned around, my hands full, and almost tripped over Sam, who’d somehow appeared right behind me.

“Hey, Charlie,” he said, grinning up at me.

We’d only met the one time when Aaron, Harry, and Paul had been trying to take the money Hanna’s mom had given him that morning for some outing they’d planned. He’d run inside almost as soon as I’d gotten them off him, which was nearly the entirety of our interaction besides a brief phone call when he’d invited me to come to his birthday party and the comic convention. Apparently, that was enough for a nine-year-old to decide you were his friend.

“Hey, Sam. Excited about tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Did you know they were going to have Dean Hanley there? He’s supposed to do a panel about Force Twelve in Hall C, and I really want to go. I also got some birthday money already from Mom, and it says he’s taking pictures after for twenty dollars a picture, so I’m going to go get one with him. Do you watch Force Twelve?”

He managed to say all of that in under five seconds, making the entire thing come out almost like a single string of sounds with no break. The words I got didn’t really help that much, since I recognized absolutely none of the names he mentioned. I guessed that Force Twelve was a TV show, but I didn’t watch much TV and it must have been targeted at a younger audience, because I’d never heard of it.

“I like Viola Souza,” Kat said, coming around the car.

“Really?” Sam said, looking at her and wrinkling his nose.

“Sam, this is our friend Katherine. Kat, this is Sam.”

“Hi, Sam,” Kat said sticking out her hand.

He looked at it for a second a little weirdly and then shook her hand.

“You don’t like Lady Magenta?” She asked as we all started making our way to the door.

“No way! She’s so boring. Death Dealer’s the best one. Why would anyone like Lady Magenta?”

The two of them then began a detailed conversation that I didn’t even follow a little bit.

“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” I asked, falling back to walk with Hanna.

“It’s his favorite show. He’s got posters on his wall and like five models of their ship in his room. He’s made me sit and watch a couple of episodes with him. It’s so cheesy. The big bad guys use these guns that look like they have suction cups on the end. But, he loves it, so I humor him. At least this time when he wants to talk about it, he’ll be able to pester Kat instead of me.”

Hanna’s Aunt Shirley met us just inside, coming out of the kitchen rubbing her hands on a towel.

“Good, you’re here. Sam’s been bouncing off the walls all day; he’s so excited you’re here.”

“How are you, Aunt Shirley?” Hanna asked, hugging her.

“I’m good, I’m good. So you’re thinking you might stay in state after all?”

“Yeah. They have a program I like and I was kind of thinking it’d be nice to stay near my friends. Kat’s a year behind me and Charlie’s only a sophomore, so they won’t be able to follow me to college for a couple of years.”

“We’re following you to college now, are we?” I asked.

“Hey, I know you two couldn’t live without me,” she said, giving me a grin.

“Charlie, it’s so good to see you,” Hanna’s Aunt said, hugging me before I could put the bags down. “Jennifer said you’re doing really well. I hear you’re in a band now?”

I knew that she still thought fondly of me after I helped Sam out, but I didn’t know that Hanna’s mother had been giving her updates on me, since we barely knew each other.

“Uhh, yeah. Well, the band’s kind of new. We just started getting it together. But I’ve been playing at the place where Hanna works on weekends for months. It’s been pretty fun.”

“I’m their manager,” Hanna said with pride.

We hadn’t actually discussed her managing us yet. We’d talked about a theoretical ‘one day,’ after she finished college but she’d framed everything else as just learning about the business. Not that I minded. I trusted Hanna and if she really did want to help keep things organized, I wasn’t going to say no.

“Really? I hadn’t heard that. It’s very exciting. I also heard you’re going to be playing that big festival this weekend?”

“Just the first day. We’re one of the opening acts.”

“Still, that’s very exciting. Are the rest of your band members coming down to meet you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, you kids get settled while I finish dinner. Hanna, do you want to come help me?”

“Sure.”

“Mrs. Prewitt, where should I take these?” I asked.

“First of all, it’s Aunt Shirley for you too. And Sam will show you where to put them.”

“Uhh, okay,” I said.

“You’re upstairs,” Sam called over his shoulder, starting up the stairs with Kat, going back to their conversation. “I don’t know, the Vatteran Assembly …”

Aunt Shirley had put Hanna and Kat in the guest room and while I stayed on an air mattress in Sam’s room. Hanna hadn’t been kidding about all of the posters and models. This kid absolutely worshiped whatever show he and Kat had been bonding over. Thankfully, they finally let the conversation drop and the four of us played board games with Sam until he got too tired to stay up, which was probably good because we had an early day the next day.

Kat had demanded we get to the convention when it opened at nine and we were tired from traveling half the day, so we all called it a night shortly after Sam conked out.

I woke up to sounds from across the hallway the next morning around six-thirty and tiptoed across, peeking my head in. I found a grumpy-looking Hanna still curled under the blankets glaring at Kat as she worked on a bunch of plastic and foam pieces she’d pulled out of her suitcase.

“It’s not even daylight yet,” I said to her back.

“She’s been up all night,” Hanna moaned. “I’m so tired.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I’d brought the stuff to recreate my Dark Taloness costume, although just using some foam I picked up before we left, but then Sam was talking about how all of Force Twelve would be there and I realized that might be easier. It’s still going to be kind of crap, because I have to live with whatever I can cut out of foam core and a repainted flat mask, but it’s the best I can do. When we come next year, I’ll be better prepared.”

“Next year?” I said, my brain still half asleep and fuzzy.

“Sam said they do this every year at spring break and we could come next year. I’ve only ever gotten to go to two cons, because Dad wouldn’t let me go without supervision and he didn’t travel to anywhere cons were being held,” she said, more babbling than actually answering the question before stopping and looking up at me. “Can we go next year?”

“Kat, that’s a long way off. Let’s just deal with today and we’ll worry about next year later.”

“Sure,” She said, undeterred, going back to her costume.

I watched her for another second, amazed at how focused she was painting patterns across on the foam she’d cut out. Finally, I shook my head and went back to bed, only to get woken up again what seemed like minutes later by loud voices.

Sam wasn’t in his bed when I got up this time, so I wasn’t surprised to find him standing next to Kat, the two of them talking at normal volume, which was pretty loud in Sam’s case. Hanna was still in bed, holding a pillow down hard over her head.

“Guys, y’all might want to take that somewhere else before Hanna kills you both.”

“Ohh, sorry Hanna,” Kat said, finally noticing how annoyed she was.

The two of them barely slowed down their conversation as they collected Kat’s stuff and carried it all out of the room.

“Thank you,” Hanna said.

“I hate to say it, but we’re going to have to get up pretty soon if we’re going to get there early.”

“How about I just stay here.”

“You are not leaving me alone with the two of them,” I said. “He’s your cousin and this was your idea, after all.”

“I didn’t realize she was going to be worse than he is about this crap.”

“You knew she’s a nerd. Besides, Sam’s found a kindred spirit and Kat’s about as relaxed as I’ve ever seen her. They both seem pretty happy.”

“Yeah. It’s great. Next time you stay in the room with her.”

After a couple of cups of coffee Hanna finally stopped threatening the pair with death.

The convention itself was … unique. Kat and Sam were far from the only people dressed up. If anything, Hanna and I were the odd ones out. We got our passes, which were a lot more expensive than I thought they’d be, and then Kat and Sam, who’d apparently arranged an itinerary for us when I wasn’t looking, started dragging us from panel to panel, listening to people I'd only vaguely heard of talk about shows and movies I’d mostly never seen. While I did enjoy seeing how excited both Kat and Sam were for each one, I was bored to tears.

I probably would have enjoyed it more if I’d been more into reading or watching TV and movies, but I’d never done much. Reading I generally just didn’t enjoy, because my brain couldn’t seem to calm down enough to focus on it. Movies and TV I did enjoy, but we didn’t have money for movies growing up and there hadn’t been a TV in the RV, so I’d missed most of the pop culture growing up.

Sam had a great moment early on in the day. We were just coming out of a panel and headed towards another one when two kids not wearing costumes came running up, followed by an exasperated parent. He was a little ahead of us, like he had been most of the day, since he’d been so excited to get a good seat, so we were apparently enough steps behind that it wasn’t immediately obvious we were with him.

“So where are all these friends of yours, Sammy?” one of the kids asked.

“Yeah. You said you were coming with high school kids. I knew you were lying.”

Kat surprised me with what happened next. I’d started to step up and come to Sam’s defense when she pushed me back with one hand and then moved in next to him, putting an arm behind his neck and resting her hand on his other shoulder. Since she was so much taller than he was, to me it looked like how a parent would put their arms around their child, but the two kids clearly thought it looked like something different, since both of their eyes went wide and their mouths opened in slight O shapes.

“Hey, Sam, who are your friends?”

“This is Kevin and Caden. They go to school with me.”

“Ohh, cool. Hey guys. How’s the show for you?”

“Umm, good,” One of them said.

“Cool. Sam, if we’re going to get the good seats, we gotta get moving.”

“Yeah. No problem,” Sam said, slightly off-kilter but staying on script. “Sorry, guys. Katherine wants to get going. I’ll see y’all at school next week.”

“Bye guys,” Kat said as they walked past, her arm still around his shoulder. “It was nice meeting you.”

I don’t think either kid ever noticed Hanna or me even though both of us were not doing great holding in our smirks. Their mom noticed and gave me a nod as we passed. I was happy she found it funny too, and wasn’t one of these parents who tried to protect their kids at all cost, no matter what jerks they were being.

Once we got lost in the crowd, Kat removed her arm and the two slowed down for us.

“Thanks for pretending you were at the show with me. Those two are always trying to find ways to make fun of me.”

“I am at the show with you,” Kat said. “You’re my con buddy. Do you think either of these two would talk to me about the panels? Look at them; they’re both so boring, wearing normie clothes and yawning the whole time.

“You’re probably right. Let’s hurry and get good seats. They said they were going to play the new trailer.”

The two then launched into another pop culture conversation that I didn’t follow, but that was fine by me. That little move was wildly out of her comfort zone and something I couldn’t imagine her doing just a few months ago. She wasn’t cured or anything, but being out of her father’s house was already having some positive benefits.

The only other really notable thing that happened all day was when we stopped at the Dean Hanley meet and greet, which was the thing Sam had been talking about most of the day. As far as I’d gathered, the show Hanley had been in was about a group of super-heroes, or robots, or something that battled an evil mastermind that may or may not have been assisted by giants. Apparently, it only ran for a year in the US but got really big in Japan, and then became a cult thing in the US again once all the people who loved Japanese shows and anime re-discovered it. I saw several people in approximations of what Kat and Sam were wearing, which suggested that among this set it was still pretty popular though.

Hanley was standing in front of a really large poster behind him showing a much younger version of himself in a more professional version of Sam’s costume, although the more I looked at it the more I realized it really wasn’t all that much more professional.

Hanley was in a leather jacket and wore sunglasses as each person came up, spoke to him for a few seconds, and then took a picture with him. Sometimes they handed him something to sign, which he’d scribble out before basically dismissing him. All the fans were incredibly excited, doing most of the talking, babbling on about whatever they loved about him most. That was probably why none of them seemed to notice how incredibly bored he looked. He was clearly not taking it very seriously, giving ‘yea’ and ‘uh-huh’ in response to most of the things his fans said, often at the wrong time.

From what I’d been able to glean, he’d had a minor direct to video career after Force Twelve and even that seemed to have dried up years ago. It seemed like his hard-core fan base was how he made all of his money, which made his flippancy to them seem even more incomprehensible.

We got up to next in line and a handler stepped up to Kat and asked, “How Many?”

“You sure you don’t want to be in the picture?” Kat asked us.

“No, we’re good,” Hanna said, giving a questionable look towards Hanley.

I think she’d noticed the same thing I had.

“Okay, just two,” Kat said as Sam practically bounced up and down next to her.

“Just a picture, or a picture and a signature?”

“Just a picture for me, but a picture and a signature for Sam.”

“Fifty Dollars.”

I’d already been told about the pricing, but it still floored me there were this many people willing to pay that much to basically be ignored by some washout. Kat seemed to think it was reasonable, however, and I wasn’t going to get in the way of her good time. She was as happy as I’d ever seen her as she handed her and Sam’s phones with the camera app opened over to the attendant.

Kat handed over the money and the two adolescent boys ahead of us finished and gave some kind of salute or something to Dean, who kind of handwaved them away and turned his back to the crowd for a second. The handler waited until he turned back around and waved Kat and Sam forward while Hanna and I moved off to the side a few feet away, outside of the camera range.

“Well, Lady Magenta, aren’t you looking in good form today. How goes the fight,” he said, finally seeming to notice one of his fans.

The cynical part of my brain couldn’t help but notice Kat was the only girl over the age of twelve in the entire line and think that might have something to do with his sudden interest.

“We fight the good fight, Commander. Live or die, heads held high,” Kat responded, giving that weird salute that the kids ahead of him had done.

“Look at you. You’re absolutely killing it. Ready for your picture?”

Without a script to go by, Kat got shy again, looking at the ground and nodding, while Sam gave the same salute and said, “We serve, Commander.”

Hanley completely ignored Sam and moved to stand next to Kat, turning her around and putting his arm around her, pulling her in close to his side.

“Come on kid,” he finally said to Sam, extending his other arm out and placing it on Sam’s shoulder when he joined them.

“Say protecting freedom,” the camera operator said and snapped a picture with Sam’s camera.

When she switched cameras and lifted up Kat’s, Hanley’s hand dropped off of her shoulder and down behind her back. From the way she tensed up and froze, I had no doubt about where his hand had gone. You could see the look of surprise and fear on her face as the flash on her phone went off and the picture was taken.

I didn’t even think about it and started to take two steps towards them. The look on my face and my body language were probably enough to tell the big guy in the black t-shirt with SECURITY written on it that I wasn’t just going up to say hi. For as big as he was, he moved fast and if they’d been in a ring he’d have put Victor to shame with how quick he was.

“Hey,” I yelled around the guard’s bulk. “Get your hands off.”

“Uh-oh,” Hanley said in a sarcastic voice. “Looks like your man’s mad. Calm down bro, this is a treat for her. All these girls want a little Dean action.”

“I … uhh …” Kat said, starting to look like a deer in the headlights.

I was working through how to get her out of there, when Sam did it for me. He was just leaning more into Kat, looking like he was about to start getting a little more handsy when he yelped in pain. I think I was just as confused as he was for a moment, until Sam kicked him again, hard.

“You little …” he started to say, drawing his hand back, until he noticed Hanna recording him on her cell phone.

“Smile jackass. I’m sure your fans will love seeing this.”

Now that the attention was off her, Kat got hold of herself enough to grab Sam’s hand and walk out. Dean didn’t even notice now that he was focused on Hanna.

“Grab her phone,” he told one of the security guys, who started to reach out for it.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said, stepping in between Hanna and the security guy.

We were starting to draw attention, both from the people in line to get their picture with Hanley and from people who were just walking by. There was a good chance the security guys worked for the Con and not Hanley and had maybe just reacted out of instinct before thinking through what Hanley was telling them to do, because they took a step back.

“What are you doing? Get her phone.”

“Mr. Hanley, I think maybe we should get you to the green room,” the guard said, finally trying to deescalate the situation.

“Goddammit, I’m not going anywhere, now get that …”

That was the last thing I heard, since as soon as it was clear the guard wasn’t going to do anything, I grabbed Hanna by the hand and dragged her away, shooing Kat and Sam to get moving. Hanley was still causing a commotion and when I looked back to make sure no one was chasing after us, I noticed a bunch of people leaving his line, which served him right.

“What a piece of …” Hanna started to say before glancing at Sam and pausing.

“Shit,” he finished for her. “I can’t believe I liked him. He’s so mean.”

“It’s okay to like him on the show,” Kat said. “What we see on TV isn’t just him, it’s writers and directors and all kinds of people that make him fun to watch. It’s okay if you still want to watch the show even though you know he’s mean.”

I wondered if Kat had some kind of experience with the whole “don’t meet your heroes” thing, but this wasn’t the time to ask. Besides, it was pretty good advice.

“I won’t be going as Death Dealer again, that’s for sure.”

I was actually impressed with Sam. I’d assumed he might fall apart a little bit learning who Hanley really was, but he didn’t ask the things I would have thought a kid would ask in the same situation. There wasn’t the ‘why did he do that’ or being upset that he’d lost a hero. He was just mad, annoyed, and ready to write Hanley off entirely.

“A lot of people won’t once I post this video.”

“That’s probably not a great idea,” I said. “Right now, it’s over. He’ll realize in a few moments how many people were watching him throw a tantrum, get himself under control, and will probably have his hands all over someone else in thirty minutes. If you post that, he’s going to have to protect himself, if for nothing else than to keep the money flowing in. We don’t really want to have to deal with that.”

“What about the people who need to know what he’s like, so they don’t have him groping them.”

“Do you think they’ll see the video, or take the lesson from it? You didn’t really start recording until Sam was kicking him, so that isn’t even on the video. Sure, we could tell people on the video or whatever what happened before it started, but then it’d be our word against his, which means even fewer people will believe us. It’s not worth all the trouble we’ll get into.”

“Especially since the studio will have to help protect his image, since he’s worth so much money to them,” Kat said. “He didn’t do anything permanent. Let’s just let it drop.”

Hanna grimaced but said, “Fine, I won’t post it. I still don’t like that guy.”

“Me either,” Sam said. “Can we go home?”

“Sure,” I said. “Sorry your convention got ruined.”

“It was still fun,” Sam said. “All the panels were great, we got to see some new trailers, and Kevin and Caden aren’t going to be saying anything else for a few weeks I bet.”

He was right, even with the little encounter, it was still fun. I’d come in looking at the whole thing as an obligation to Sam and had been making snarky jokes with Hanna about it. I’d ended up enjoying watching Kat and Sam have a good time and seeing Kat stand up to someone, even if it was a pair of little kids. Except for a brief moment with Hanley, she’d been the most outgoing I’d ever seen her, talking with Sam and even some strangers without her normal hesitance.

Overall, it had been a good day.