Right To Be Heard: Chapter 15
Kris woke up early on the morning of the last week of tour. It wasn’t only that it was the last week, but that Adam had called and said he was meeting up with them today, and doing the remainder of the dates with them. He wasn’t singing yet, but he could speak consistently, which was awesome, as far as Kris was concerned.
But before Adam rejoined, Kris planned to have a serious talk with his friends about how to behave, so there weren’t anymore moments like last time Adam came back. Kris knew Adam didn’t need that, and honestly, neither did Kris.
So, when all of them were sitting around before rehearsals, Kris spoke up.
“Hey, guys? So, Adam will be back anytime. I don’t know how many of you have been in touch with him, but here’s what’s up. He’s talking now, but won’t be doing any singing. It’s gonna take much longer for him to recover enough for that. I know it’s the end of tour and we’re all tired and sick, but that’s no excuse not to treat each other well. So, lay off the immature behavior this time around.” He sent Megan and Matt meaningful looks. “Don’t take things that don’t belong to you, and don’t tease him about this, okay? It’s serious, and it could happen to any one of us.”
“Don’t look at me,” Matt objected lightly. “I’m super-human.”
Kris laughed. “Well, just acting human will go along way to getting us all through this in one piece. Deal?”
“Yes, Kris,” Alli said like a school-girl.
He looked expectantly at the rest, waiting for some kind of positive response.
“…I don’t think we can do it over here…” Michael said seriously.
“Why not?” Kris challenged, crossing his arms.
Michael gestured briefly to the man beside him. “Well, Danny’s not human, so how can we expect him to act like it?” He grunted as Danny’s elbow plowed into his gut.
Kris laughed. “All right. Let’s have a good last week.”
“Annnnd break!” Anoop commanded, sending everyone in different directions.
--
Adam had barely gotten inside the venue when he got a call that Jack wanted to see him. So, instead of finding Kris, Alli and the rest, Adam reluctantly went searching for the tour manager. He knew he’d have to talk to him eventually, he just wished he could have gotten five minutes to say hello to people who mattered first.
But instead, he tracked down Jack in a random room backstage, closing the door behind him when he was asked.
“So, you’re back,” Jack said unnecessarily, rubbing his hands together.
“Yeah, I’m back,” Adam answered, dropping into a chair. Jet lag was the worst, especially in meetings.
“So, anything special we should be aware of for your set tonight?” Jack asked, glancing up from some notes he was taking.
“My set?” Adam asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, you’re back. So, you’re singing.” Jack said matter-of-factly.
Adam fought not to roll his eyes. Did this man not check his e-mail ever? Or did he just not take Adam seriously? “No. I’m not singing. I won’t be singing for a long time yet. I can talk pretty consistently, but I wont be ready to sing for a long time.”
Jack nailed Adam with a hard look - his cold blue eyes unsympathetic. “If you can’t sing,” he said evenly. “Then what the hell are you doing here?”
--
Adam climbed the steps to the guys’ bus as Allison followed behind him, dragging his suitcase.
“Oh, my God. Okay. So you totally missed the grossest thing ever last week. Well, not like you would have heard it firsthand anyway, since you’re not on our bus. But anyway. My mom, Meg and Lil were sharing labor and delivery stories. I mean, my mother was talking to my friends about having me! I died. Seriously. I had no idea giving birth was so disgusting.” Allison made a move to heft Adam’s suitcase on his bunk and made a face.
“It’s a mom thing. My mom and Kris’ mom had that conversation and found out that they were in labor for about the same amount of time. What?” Adam asked. Somehow, probably because he got lost in hearing her talk, he had ended up behind Allison, with no idea why she stopped short.
“Somebody put their shit all over your bunk,” she reported, her tone disapproving.
“What kind of shit?” Adam wondered, intrigued and leaning in.
“Presents,” she tossed the word casually over her shoulder. “I think since they put them here, they should be yours,” Allison said, abandoning the suitcase and crawling in the bunk to toss things out, narrating as she went. “A heart pillow. Some knitted thing. A stuffed animal. An ‘I Love Danny’ sign,” she stuck her head out of the curtain, wrinkling her nose, and laughing as Adam flung it in the direction of Danny’s bunk.
“You know I missed you?” Adam called as Allison continued to pillage through what was there.
“Totally,” Allison replied, tossing out a Tarheels jersey of some kind that could only be Anoop’s. It landed on Adam’s head. “I missed you so bad.”
“Thanks,” Adam said, laughing and tossing the jersey toward Anoop’s bunk.
“Oh, my God! There’s brownies in here!”
“Hey, those are for later!” Scott called, climbing the steps to the bus.
Adam made quick work of diving into the messy bunk with Allison, the rich chocolate scent immediately making Adam sure that this was heaven.
“Here,” Allison whispered, taking a bite and shoving the plate at Adam. “Take one.”
“Alli, I totally hear you,” he sniffed experimentally, immediately detecting Adam’s cologne - a blessing in the mess of rank smells. “Adam, too, huh? Well, if I find you, too, I’m gonna beat you with my cane…” Scott grinned.
Adam was silent, choosing instead to take a bite of Allison’s brownie. Whispering was one of the worst things he could do for his voice, so Adam just chewed thoughtfully, before he thought belatedly of all the things he had flung around the bus, and how many were going to be in the way for Scott.
Scooting out, Adam made quick work of picking up the fallen items and shoving them back where they had been. “What’s in the brownies?” he asked, as Scott came down the aisle. “They’re amazing.”
“Katy made them and dropped them off the last time she was here.”
The bus quickly filled with the rest of the guys all looking for one another or stopping in to say hi. Everyone was cool now. At least it seemed that way to Adam. They all welcomed him back and told him how missed he was. Before he knew it, it was time for the show to get underway.
--
Adam hadn’t counted on it still being so difficult to sit through shows without actually participating. It was worse now than it had been the last time, because now he had a voice but he just couldn’t use it.
But he was done with the pity-parties and set out to help wherever he could, even though watching everyone else do what he loved made him sort of depressed.
The first night, the others surprised the crowd by inviting Adam out to wave and say something to the audience. And Adam found himself explaining his situation - that he was getting better, and could speak now, but wasn’t quite up to singing yet. Still, he told them, he wanted to let them know how much their love and support and understanding meant to him during this time.
By the next night, they decided that would be a fixed part of the show for the final week, and brought him onstage during Don’t Stop Believing, so he could prompt the crowd to show the band some love, just like he always had. And Adam had to admit, that felt really good.
Still, there was enormous pressure from Jack. The fans didn’t understand why he was back but not performing. If he could talk, why couldn’t he singing? What was so different? It did no good to explain that Adam was still susceptible to fatigue if he spoke too much. But Jack insisted that as long he was there, Adam would go out before and after the shows, to sign autographs. Adam got the unspoken message. That as long as he was there, he might as well do something productive.
Adam didn’t say that he would have volunteered to do it anyway. He hated feeling useless as much as Jack hated seeing him as useless. But Adam found himself missing Tyler, the girl he had met in the airport. He had yet to meet someone as genuine and real as she was. Most of his fans were demanding. Few even said thank you. And all of them wanted to engage him in long conversations about why he’d been gone, or address some ridiculous rumor that had grown out of his absence. He kept it short and sweet for the sake of his voice, which made them even more upset, accusing him of “forgetting who put him where he was,” and “being ungrateful.”
But Adam forced a smile and made his way through as many of the people as he could .
--
“Hey, Adam,” Kris whispered, poking his friend.
It was the next afternoon, and Adam was making good use of his free time, sprawled in a chair, sleeping backstage. It wasn’t easy getting back on a touring schedule once he was used to getting as much rest as he needed. They were in the same city as the night before, which meant they all had a little more free time and less press to worry about.
In the boredom that followed, someone, maybe Michael mused over how funny it would be if they had to take over Adam’s set. And that, somehow, birthed the idea for what they were about to do.
“What?” Adam grumbled.
“Come out onstage for a second. We have something to show you.”
Irritated, Adam followed Kris onto the stage where Scott and Lil were holding a huge gaudy cardboard sign. It read: TOUR IS NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU…SEE FOR YOURSELF…
Adam choked on a laugh, as Allison made her way onstage, wearing his jacket and glitter in her hair. She sang Whole Lotta Love as convincingly as she could manage, but Adam still cracked up. He laughed until tears rolled down his face, as she stomped around the stage and wailed.
Next, Lil and Megan turned Starlight into the duet he never knew it could be. The problem was, neither could remember the words as well as she remembered his choreography and poses. Adam applauded, trying not to laugh.
Kris was out next on guitar, doing a…well…strange version of Mad World. He’d transposed the key a bunch so it was low enough that Kris could sing it, but he did a nice job, with it. Like with Falling Slowly, Kris got the message behind the song, and performed it brilliantly, though he abandoned the guitar-playing halfway through.
Finally, it was time for the medley. Adam cringed as Anoop opened with Life On Mars in his Austin Powers glasses. Scott joined in and gave the performance a bit of reserve. Danny and Michael warbled their way through Fame, complete with choreography, and Matt closed with Let’s Dance, insisting that Adam get up and clap along.
It was crazy, but it had the desired effect, because Adam’s spirits were lifted and he knew that he had been missed.