Comet! (an Ell Donsaii story #5 ) (7 page)

Ell smiled but shook her head and slipped by the reporter, leaving him videoing the back of her head. They went into a “wrap shop” and had salads. Roger was feeling pretty full but Ell stopped at a street “taco stand” and got a small burrito that she ate as they walked further down the street. On the way
back she insisted they stop in
to Krispy Kreme where she had three glazed donuts “for dessert.”

“Wow!” Ell slipped her arm through Roger’s, “That was fun! I’ll have to eat
Franklin Street
more often.
What movie are we going to?”

“Uh, I wanted to see ‘Holding Fire,’ but
we’ve
eaten
Franklin Street
for
a lot
longer than I
expected
. I
t’s already started.
You
want to go to the Cat’s Cradle instead?”

“Cat’s Cradle?”

“It’s a live music
club
. Kind of like a
huge
bar. Different bands all the time
and they get some pretty popular groups
. It used to be in Carrboro but recently it moved over to
Rosemary Street
about 3
blocks from here. We could walk?
”

“Who’s playing?”

He shrugged,
“I don’t know, but we can probably hear them through the doors. If we don’t like the music we could try to figure something else out
…
”

When they got there
,
Ell thought the music sounded familiar
.
The bill listed a band named “Velos.”
She turned to Roger, “Hey, I think I’v
e heard these guys
’ music
some
where!
It’d be fun to
go in and listen for a while.
”

They paid the cover charge and wandered in. The big room was fairly crowded with enthusiastic fans
swaying or
jumping up and down
to the beat
, many with beers in their hands.

A ta
ll Asian man staggered into Ell. S
he steadi
ed him. “He
e
y
y,” his eyebrows rose
and he leaned closer to speak over the music
, “You’re beautiful
...
” his eyebrows rose further, “
really
beautiful
!
” He
smiled
pointed to himself with his thumbs. “
I’m Joe Chan.
Can I be your boyfriend?”

Ell’s eyes widened, it
was
Joe Chan from Gordon’s party last semester! Had he recognized her? She replayed what he’d just said
in her mind
.
No, he
doesn’t recognize me. He
just uses
this
same line on all the
girls he staggers int
o.
Still his drunken, good natured enthusiasm was infectious and Ell found herself grinning at him. Still steadying him with one hand and careful not to use
the
thick
“Belle” southern accent that she’d used last time she
spoke to
him, she
leaned toward him
, “Hi Joe Chan. I think you’ve had too much to drink!”

Joe’s eyes widened further, “You’re Ell Donsaii!!”

“Busted.”

“Oh wow! Stick with me, I’ll introduce you to the band.
”
He raised his eyebrows. “
I know
‘
em all.”

Ell’s eyes darted to the stage. It
was
Gordon
and his band!
Just then, having reached the end of their instrumental break, Gordon stepped back up to the microphone and started singing the chorus again.

That’s why
I
’d heard this music before!
Amused that Joe was using
all
the same moves and lines he had when she’d gone to Gordon’s party but unable to get mad at his apparently genuine enthusiasm, she winked at him, “I’ll look you up when they take a break, right now Roger and I are going to go get  some drinks.”

“Aww, you’re here with a
guy?
”

Ell nodded at him
, a serious look on her face
.

“OK,” He grinned at her, “but don’t bring
me
a drink, I’m too drunk already.”

Ell turned with Roger and they started making their way to
the
bar in the back.

Roger leaned closer, “Do you know that guy?”

Ell shook her head. She didn’t want to try to explain over the music.

Again Roger noticed people staring at Ell. He wasn’t sure whether they were staring at her beauty or her fame. They got a Guinness for him and a Coke for her and returned to the back of the crowd. They stood companionably
,
holding hand
s
and
swaying to the music. Ell thought that Gordon
really
was
an amazing singer
and wondered why
his band
didn’t try to make the big time
.

The song finished and Ell saw Joe Chan weaving his way out onto the stage to Gordon. He spoke into Gordon’s ear and pointed
vaguely
out
into the
room
.
The band started the intro to the next song as Gordon turned to look out over the crowd, shading his eyes against the spots.

Ell got a sinking feeling.

Gordon slung his guitar around behind himself and took the microphone off its stand. He turned to the band and made a circular motion with his hand.

The rhythm guitarist shrugged and started the chord progression again. It was a catchy beat that had Ell
twitching
her hips. She suspiciously watched Gordon and Joe move to the stairs at the edge of the stage and walk down into the crowd. She glanced up at Roger but he didn’t seem
to have noticed
,
or to be
worried.

At the bottom of the stairs Gordon handed the mike to Joe and unslung his guitar. He started a low distorted lead line on the guitar as he walked
in
to the crowd. The people
parted to let him pass through, his eyes
roaming around. The crowd had begun clapping enthusiastically in rhythm
with the b
eat, some jumping up and down.
Everyone was
at least tapping their feet.
They
continued to move aside
as Gordon walked through
.

As Ell had feared Joe leaned over Gordon’s shoulder and pointed at her.

Gordon’s eyes tracked to her and he smiled then headed her way.

Ell glanced up at Roger who was now tracking them suspiciously. Roger
let go her hand, put his on her shoulder and
leaned down to her. “I think they’re coming for you,” he said over the music, “do you want to try to escape out the back?”

Ell shrugged
,
thinking “yes”
but
then Gordon was in front of her. He’d just finished a cycle through the melody. He dropped the guitar and took the mike from Joe. He lifted it to his lips and his voice boomed out over the club, “Hey folks. For those of you who haven’t noticed
,
Ell Donsaii
is
in the house
!!
” He pointed at her and turned to be sure everyone had seen her.
“
I’d like to personally express my gratitude to her, for bringing our country those gold medals
… stopping those terrorists,
” he looked around at the crowd and thrust a hand in the air. Many of the crowd imitated the gesture.
“A
nd
now
for rescuing our astronauts!” He tucked the microphone under his arm and started clapping along with the crowd, then broke the rhythm and
led
an enthusiastic round of non rhythmic applause.

Ell blushed and inclined her head.

Gordon turned his eyes to the back of the club and found the sound engineer. He made a pushing down motion and the sound of the band, still cycling through the chord progression, faded
somewhat
. He put the mike back to his lips, “Thank you so much from the very bottom of my heart. I think I speak for everyone here. We’d all like to express our gratitude!” He started another round of applause. As it faded he said, “Do you have any words of wisdom for us?” and held the microphone out to her.

Ell leaned closer to the mike and said, “I was just
one
small
part of a couple of great teams. Both at the Olympics and when D5R pulled together to rescue the Station. But
I do
thank you for your appreciation.” She made a little wave at the crowd.

Gordon put the mike to his lips and said, “
I
think a very, very important part of the team! Can you do a few dance moves for us?
Perhaps inspired by Olympic gymnastics?
” He lifted a hand at the sound engineer and the pulse of the beat began throbbing heavily again.

Ell resumed moving her hips to the beat, then did a little twirl.

Gordon put the mike back to his lips, “Come
on
girl! Show us what you’ve got!”

Roger angrily thought
,
T
hey can’t expect her to do gymnastics; she hasn’t done any for years!

But then Ell did a flip!

The crowd went crazy, cheering wildly. Ell, caught up in their enthusiasm thought,
what the heck, they know Ell Donsaii can do this stuff. No need to hide my capabilities from
them
.
She did a back flip.

Gordon began chanting, “More, more, more…” and the crowd joined in, hundreds of voices and the powerful throb of the bass and drums creating a more and more compelling rhythm.

Ell looked at Roger who was staring wide eyed. He didn’t seem to be upset though. Finally she shrugged and dropped to the floor
to do
a breakdance style helicopter
that went on and on
.

The crowd cheered wildly.

Ell
flipped to her feet
,
alternating
backflips with front flips
in
time to the music. Gordon had resumed playing the melody using a distorted lead guitar patch and improvising more and more wildly. When the chord progression cycled back around to the beginning
,
Ell did a double, stopped, and bowed
deeply,
hand outstretched to Gordon.

The crowd went insane.

Ell and Roger tried to go back to listening and drinking their drinks but it appeared that it was going to be impossible
as more and more people came up to ask for autographs and
to
try to start conversations
. Finally Roger had his c
ar meet them near the back door. T
hey snuck out to it
and
head
ed
back home.

“Wow Ell! I had no idea you could still do that stuff!”

“It’s
kinda
like riding a bicycle, knowing how doesn’t go away
just
‘cause you haven’t done it for a while
.”

“Hah! I think a lot of people would find that, even if they remembered how, their muscles
just
couldn’t
do it
after a while without practice
!”

Ell shrugged, wondering if Roger was right.
Is that another freaky ability of mine? Not to lose it after a couple of years?
Allan, h
er AI
,
spoke in her ear. “There has been a big spike in net activity with your name attached.”

Ell sighed. There was always some net activity that referenced her name and of course it had gone up
enormously
after Sunday’s NASA announcement. But a spike at this time of night? “What’s it about?” She looked up at her HUD (Heads Up Display).

Donsaii out on the town-

Ell
Donsaii seen with man. Boyfriend?

Donsaii
blows off steam-

Legs! Ell Donsaii shows hers off!

Donsaii
d
ances!

Oh my God!
Ell slapped a hand to her forehead.
I forgot about the reporters. How could I have been so stupid as to dance like that with
them
following me around!