Chapter 6: Too Close to Home

Friday June 3

“What are you doing?” Bianca asked.

“Sketching you,” I said, and showed her my drawing.

The morning light and the image of her lying in my bed had inspired me to get out my sketchpad and pencils.

“Can I have it?” she asked.

I signed it and then tore it off the pad. It wasn’t complete, but you got the broad strokes. For goofing off, it was more than enough, as far as I was concerned.

I heard the door open and wasn’t surprised when Cassidy came in. She took in the scene and gave me a smirk.

“The movie’s back on. You need to get downstairs and eat. They want to get started right away,” she announced.

I shooed Cassidy out and then crawled back into bed with Bianca.

“What are your plans for the day?” I asked.

“I have a show tonight. Is it okay if I stop by after I’m done? It could be late.”

“You have a key.”

I took my shower and got dressed. She’d fallen back to sleep. Bianca was used to sleeping until late morning because she didn’t normally get to bed until after midnight. I was more of a morning person now. It hadn’t been that way when I was younger. The routine of getting up to run for the past three years had changed that.

The atmosphere on set, while somber, was much better; the tension level was way down from where it had been at before. I discovered that the venom Laurent had spewed hadn’t only been at me. He’d also verbally abused the crew who now seemed more focused, and you could tell they wanted to make Kitty look good.

The end result was that my acting was also much better. I’d thought I could put aside the insults that Laurent had thrown my way and still do a good job. What my performance today showed was that I’d been holding back due to fear of what he would say. Kitty Ellis and her directorial technique put me at ease and encouraged me to take chances.

She also wasn’t worried about Laurent’s wrath anymore. Her direction could be summed up in what she told Heath between takes.

“What I try to do is give you, the actor, whatever it is you need from me. Direction to me is about listening, responding, and realizing how much you need to know so you can figure out how to convey the message on screen.

“That goes for everyone,” she said, waving her hand around to include the crew. “Filmmaking is about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with. Give them direction and then let them do their job. The best lesson I ever learned was that you can never make any film by yourself. I think good direction is to set the tone and direction and get out of the way. If need be, I can always step in and guide us back on track.

“I assume you’re all professionals and know your jobs. I want to work with all of you to make sure we create the best possible result,” she said, now talking to everyone.

That little speech was the turning point. Laurent may have been a better director technically, but everyone would do whatever it took to help Kitty. She’d won us over.

We saw that she was open to suggestions. Laurent had a vision and he would never have strayed from that. Kitty was more willing to listen. She wasn’t a pushover, though. She seemed to know which ideas to try and which ones not to. I think part of it was she’d been an Assistant Director for several years. This was her chance to be the lead. Her prior experience allowed her to do what was right for the movie and not second-guess herself.

The cast and crew did give me a hard time about my sex scene in The Secret Circle. I volunteered to demonstrate how you did it but didn’t get any takers.

I was let go shortly after lunch since I wasn’t in any of the afternoon’s scenes. I’d been slacking off on lifting, so I went to the hotel’s gym and used what equipment they had. I talked Paul into spotting for me. Day in, day out, training hard, doing my cardio. Six days on/one off, five days on/two off ... consistency was the key to my exercise program.

I’d learned that your body needed to take a break every now and again. If I planned to work out the rest of my life, I couldn’t let it take over my life. It was the same way with my diet. I knew what I was supposed to eat. If I didn’t give myself a break every now and again, I would be fixated on each meal. That was how you failed.

You also needed to give your body a break every so often to heal completely. Anything that caused pain ... well, the pain was your body’s way of saying that you should stop. I knew that running and lifting did damage but in a good way. The pain led to gaining muscle, stamina, flexibility and many other benefits.

The physical side wasn’t the only part of it; there was also the mental aspect. Even though I took regular days off from the gym, the week after week pounding that my body took required more time off sometimes.

Baseball was coming up, and I knew easing myself back into lifting was necessary.

After I was done, I had Cassidy go out and run me through my drills. In my mind, I’d started the transition from acting to sports.

This was the last week I would be in Cuba. To be honest, Laurent’s accident took the fun out of it. I was ready to go home, see my boys and focus on football and baseball.

Bianca showed up after her show. I’d done some thinking and decided that what she and I were doing had to stop. I know I’m a ‘stupid boy,’ but while I liked her, it just didn’t feel right. My experiences with Sarita and Kimberly had made me examine what had happened since my arrival in Cuba.

Kimberly had traded her body to get a role. It sounded like she’d done it before, but I still couldn’t get past the fact that a fifty-year-old man would go there. Like an onion, I peeled it back and thought about a teenage almost man. Was I any better? My only defense was that I’d no idea she was that young. I somehow felt partly responsible for allowing Laurent to send her to my bed.

Logically, I understood that I’d done everything right once I found out, but that didn’t mean I felt good about what had happened before then. I kept wondering who else she had been sent to spend the night with. I really didn’t want to know the answer, to be honest. I liked the other actors and crew on this movie, and I didn’t want to think about any of them spending time with an underage girl.

Sarita had turned into a straight ‘pay for play’ deal. I felt silly for falling for it. I’d been warned multiple times to be careful of Cuban women. Not that they were bad people; I understood the realities of living here. When you were paid nothing, and only given rations for half a month, you had to be creative in how you made up the difference. I still thought that if she’d been honest with me, I wouldn’t have felt so put out. Then again, how do you tell someone that you’re with them to make money?

In the end, giving her money was my best option. A thousand dollars would go a long way for her if she managed it properly. I worried about the rift this had caused with her dad, but Uncle John always told me that actions have consequences. He also said not to take on other people’s burdens.

My time with Bianca, on the other hand, was amazing. Dancers had unreal body control, which can make sex creative, to say the least. Even though I enjoyed that aspect of her life, the age difference was a problem. I know that I’m not an average teen. I have responsibilities that most people don’t take on until they’re in their thirties. Her being a dancer at the top of her game wasn’t the issue. It was just that we were at different places in our lives.

Bianca had just gotten out of a relationship she expected to lead to marriage, a family, the whole shebang. Heck, I couldn’t even go as far as to have a girlfriend. I understood the need for meaningless sex to get over someone; I’d done it myself. I was her rebound guy and there was never going to be a future for us. I liked her and hoped we would be friends, but I didn’t like her enough to be more than that.

What made me decide that it had to end had to do with my change of focus towards getting ready for football and baseball. That reminded me of the girls I had at home. I liked Halle, Brook, Pam and Zoe just fine, and I realized that I’d rather wait a week to see them than continue to spend time with Bianca.

I felt a shudder go through my body. Was this the first step towards a commitment?

I needed to beat that idea right out of my head.

Friday June 10

Over the past week, I’d gotten serious about training. My security team had gotten smart and rented a cab to follow me around in while I did my morning run. At six-four, my stride was too long for them to keep up when I ran. I was unwilling to slow down to accommodate their pace.

I settled into a good speed and fell into the zone that allowed me to think.

Coach Conde and his team had worked hard with me. He used me as an example of the dedication it took to make it to the top. They even started doing sixty minutes of hell with me. I have to hand it to the Marine Corps; the Marines knew how to get men into shape in a hurry. Cassidy had borrowed many of their exercise routines to put our almost daily exercise regime in place. The baseball players didn’t know how out of shape they were until Cassidy got hold of them.

Coach Conde told me that the Cubs had contacted him about the pitcher I’d sent them a video of. Their biggest issue would be getting him to the States. In the meantime, Coach Conde reevaluated him and agreed to get him the coaching and training he needed.

Luis pulled me aside and told me that his sister had moved in with Paz. She wanted me to know that she was sorry for what she’d done. She had no idea I could speak Spanish. She’d been shocked when my interview appeared on local TV. Sarita knew the jig was up because she’d talked to her friends in front of me. I told him that we were good and that I only wished her the best.

As a treat for the team, I gave Coach Conde some money and asked that he take them to Paz’s restaurant for dinner. It was one of the best places I’d eaten while I was here.

The movie was doing great, now that Kitty was directing. The plan was for my part to wrap up either today or tomorrow. It all depended on whether they needed to reshoot anything. Our flight left bright and early Sunday morning. I was already planning what I would eat as soon as we landed in Miami. Whatever it was would have hot sauce on it.

I learned how to make Cuban coffee, or ‘liquid crack’ as Paul was now calling it. It was basically espresso with sugar froth. That surely couldn’t be bad for you. I planned to add it to the menu at Granny’s West. I thought if we gave it away to start, we would soon have a legion of coffee addicts begging to pay any price to get it. The good news was it was legal. My only fear was it might kill some of the decaf drinkers. I thought about possibly making customers sign one of those death-thingy documents Devin always made me sign when he wanted me to try out one of his new toys. If we opened a place near State’s campus, Cuban coffee would pull them in in droves.

I had arrived at the entrance to the hotel, so I sprinted to the front door. Even at this time of day, you could feel the heat and humidity. I was drenched and needed about a gallon of water to rehydrate.

“Jesus, Dawson. Have you ever thought about competitive running?” Fritz asked as he got out of the cab.

I ignored him and began to stretch. He knew my routine and handed me a bottle of water. I nodded to him, chugged it and then went back to stretching. My breathing gradually slowed down to normal.

“Have you figured out who’s going with me to North Carolina?” I asked.

“Cassidy has decided to take some time off until you go to Japan. I was thinking about just sending Paul. Personally, I want to go to LA for a few weeks. With Halle starting to be recognized, we need to add to our staff to give her the same level of security as you and Rita are getting,” he explained.

“I doubt I’ll be doing too much while I’m there. It’ll be mostly baseball 24/7,” I predicted.

“That was what we were thinking. Plus, Paul likes working with you. He knows if the situation goes to pot, you can handle yourself. Not that I ever want you to do that,” he scolded.

“I promise,” I said, and gave him my best little-angel face.

I was disappointed that it didn’t even faze him. You couldn’t use a look like that too often or it lost its effect. I would have to perfect a new one. Maybe I’d try ‘lost puppy in a rainstorm.’ That might involve big sad eyes and some whimpering. Oh ... I knew what would really sell it: add the trembling lower lip. I could nail that!

“And cut! That’s a wrap, David,” Kitty said.

The crew all clapped, which caused me to blush. I hadn’t expected them to do that.

“Tomorrow night we’re having a going-away party for David. You’re all invited,” Kitty announced.

I went around and talked with each one of them to start to say goodbye. I couldn’t believe it had only been four weeks; it seemed much longer. When I was done, Kitty and Roger pulled me aside.

“You were so much better than I expected,” Kitty said.

“Don’t believe her. We thought you were perfect for this role,” Roger said.

“No, I mean it. I listened to Laurent complain for months as we prepared. I guess I just assumed he knew what he was talking about. You’d only done that space movie,” she explained.

“That ‘space movie’ only made five times what this movie will make,” Roger reminded her.

“Acting isn’t about making money,” Kitty said.

“It doesn’t hurt,” I shot back.

“No, I guess it doesn’t,” she admitted. “What I wanted to say is I was wrong about you. Even Laurent was happy with your acting, which you will never believe, but he was.”

“I think we’ll just have to disagree on that one,” I said.

“I wanted to say that you’re good at this, and if I were your agent I’d convince you to go full-time. The camera loves you and you take direction like a dream. When more people in the industry hear how easy you are to work with and what you can deliver, you’ll be set for life.”

“What she’s doing is preparing to lowball you on the next picture she needs to cast,” Roger teased.

“My agent is Ari Gould. Good luck with that.”

“David, this has been interesting. Thank you for not punching Laurent even though he deserved it,” Roger said.

“Do you need me for tomorrow?” I asked.

“No. Enjoy your last day in Cuba. The party will be in one of the ballrooms. I expect you to save me a dance,” Kitty said.

It was finally over. Thank God.

I went back to my room to box up my stuff. Fritz wanted to have it ready to ship home first thing in the morning. The plan was to only keep out what we could carry on. That meant we wouldn’t have to wait at baggage claim when we got home.

Cassidy joined me when she was done with her own packing. This trip had been good for us. She was one of the best people I knew, and I was lucky to call her ‘friend.’

Saturday June 11

Today was a relaxation day. The plan was to take advantage of the pool, catch some rays and just hang out. Throughout the day, people stopped by to say goodbye. Word must have leaked out to the hotel staff. Cassidy just rolled her eyes at me because I really did talk to almost anyone who would listen.

Soon it was time to take a shower and get ready for the party. Fritz, Paul and Cassidy all came to my room when they were ready. I did a double take because Cassidy had worn a dress. I was smart enough not to make a wisecrack. It reminded me that she wasn’t just my buddy, but a young woman.

I’d found that someone had left me one of Rick’s costumes that I’d worn in the movie. I had on white skinny-leg pants and a button-up sweater with a white shirt and a bow tie. With my black glasses and period haircut, I looked like I’d stepped through a time machine.

“You need to see if you can land a role on Mad Men,” Paul said.

It was a television series set in the 1960s.

“I would if it was still on the air,” I said.

Mom had been upset when they’d canceled it after eight seasons.

“It’s kind of cool,” Cassidy said, checking me out. “This outfit has a vintage vibe that sets you apart.”

Fritz wasn’t about to be drawn into a fashion discussion.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go and see what they have at the party,” he weighed in.

It seemed the theme of the party was rum. I broke down and had a mojito or three. Paul told me that in the States they used peppermint to make the drink. Here they used spearmint. The combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus, and mint flavors hid the potent kick of the rum. After my third one, I was feeling it.

The good news was I was a happy drunk who wanted to dance. I had a blast at the party.

We had been there for a couple of hours when Kitty found a microphone to address everyone.

“Since young David is leaving us, I thought it was a good excuse for a party.”

“Like we need an excuse!” someone called out.

“I agree, but this one was better than most. Since David is done with his part, Roger thought we should have a ‘best of’ compilation of his scenes,” Kitty said.

Someone dimmed the lights as a big screen dropped. It started with my scene the first day. They showed me doing the same two lines over and over again. They only showed seven of the ninety-plus takes, but the funny part was that it was exactly the same each time. Roger must have had someone look at all of them to find where I did duplicates.

Of course they showed me jumping off the mast and into the bay. They also showed the crocodiles chasing me out of the swamp, and then they’d caught the one leaping out of the water to grab Cassidy’s hat. I was shown when I didn’t realize the camera was running making goofy faces at the crew to make them laugh.

Then it got serious and showed some of the scenes that would make the movie. Roger had edited together the different shots. I was never comfortable watching myself on screen, but even my critical eye was happy with what they showed.

When the lights came back up, everyone had smiles on their faces. I had a couple more mojitos and it was time to go to bed. I would sleep well tonight.

Sunday June 12

At around two in the morning, my phone made a terrible racket. My alcohol-addled brain took a moment to realize that someone had hit their panic button. I sat up to try to find it when the alarm went off again. That woke me up in a hurry.

I grabbed my phone, and the app asked if I was okay. I clicked yes and saw my dad had done the same, which gave me some relief. I looked to see who had set the alarm off; it was Trip and his bodyguard, Andy. There were two messages that chilled me to the bone.

‘Trip shot’

‘Many shot’

I threw on a pair of shorts, grabbed my key, and ran to Fritz’s room. Paul answered the door and Fritz was on the phone. It sounded like he was talking to Rita.

“I don’t know what’s happened. The app gave me their location and I used it to call the Orlando police. They assured me they’re aware of the situation and have dispatched people to the scene.”

He listened and then continued.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything,” Fritz said, and then hung up.

Paul had his laptop open.

“Andy’s log shows that they planned to go to dinner and then to a nightclub. They were with Craig Wild and Kent, Craig’s manager,” Paul said.

There was a knock on the door, so I got it and found Cassidy.

“Do you know what’s going on?” she asked me.

“It looks like Halle’s brother has been shot at a nightclub in Orlando,” I said.

“Oh my God! Is he going to be okay?” she asked.

“We don’t know. We can’t get ahold of him or his bodyguard. It sounds like several people were shot.”

“Crap! Look at this,” Paul said.

He had the Facebook page for the nightclub up.

‘Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.’

Pulse was the name of the nightclub.

Unfortunately, Cuba didn’t have a 24/7 news channel, so we were in the dark as to what was going on. That didn’t mean everyone at home didn’t have news. My phone started to ring. I excused myself and went back to my room. Fritz promised to send Cassidy to come to get me if he found anything out.

An initial report was that gunfire erupted in the nightclub shortly before two in the morning. It was thought there were as many as 300 people in the club when the shooting started. It was feared that many people were either dead or injured. The problem was that the gunman was still in the club and shots could be heard.

None of us had gotten any sleep, so it was no surprise when I fell asleep on the short flight from Havana to Miami. The plan was for Cassidy and Paul to return home. Fritz and I would fly to Orlando where we would meet Rita and Halle. Fritz had tried to get me to go home, but I knew that Halle and Rita would be a mess and wanted to be there to support them. I also hoped that Trip had survived.

When we arrived in Miami, we received an update on the situation in Orlando. After a three-hour standoff with police, the gunman had been shot and killed. Initial reports were that 40-plus were dead and just as many wounded. That would mean nearly a third of the people at the nightclub had been shot.

There were also reports that the gunman had called 911, pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. I admit it, I had to Google ‘Islamic State.’ Turns out it’s another name for ISIS. I wish these terrorists would pick a name and stick with it.

Getting through customs was excruciating. They wanted to account for everything we bought in Cuba. I think they wanted an excuse to confiscate the cigars I bought, but I had receipts for them. Thankfully, Caryn had organized it all before she left.

When we finally got through customs, we hurried to catch our flight to Orlando. Cassidy and Paul had to rush to make their connection to Chicago, so we didn’t get a chance to talk before we split up.

I was in such a daze that I didn’t even notice when we had to sit in coach. That was before some ten-year-old decided he needed to kick my seat for the entire flight. I’d forgotten that Orlando was the destination for the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’—Disney World. That explained the number of children on the plane.

When we landed, we grabbed a taxi to Orlando Regional Medical Center. I’d done a Google Earth search for the nearest hospital to the nightclub. What we found was chaos. The cab had to drop us off a block away. Friends and family were milling around, waiting for information.

Being six-four and determined, I put on my best Adrienne persona and just cut through the crowd. Fritz fell in behind me and we worked our way to the entrance. When we got to the door, police officers were there to stop us.

“Sorry, only family is allowed in at this time,” one of them announced.

I just walked past him into the lobby and got in line at the front desk. Fritz had been stopped, leaving me on my own. It took me several minutes to get to the front of the line. It was clear the woman who waited on me was on her last nerve.

“Has it been a rough morning?” I asked.

That seemed to startle her. I think people had been upset and taken it out on her, up to this point.

“The worst part is we don’t have any information for anyone yet,” she said.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“We haven’t been able to identify many of the dead.”

I closed my eyes and let that statement sink in. I didn’t even want to think about what that meant. It had been nearly twelve hours since the shooting had started, and you would think they’d be able to figure out who was who ... unless ... I didn’t want to think about what that meant.

“Do you know who made it?” I asked.

“Are you a family member?” she asked.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“I’m David A. Dawson. I did a movie you might have heard of, Star Academy, and another that was just released called The Secret Circle. The producer for The Secret Circle is Rita James. I’m sure you’ve heard of her?” I asked.

“Yes, the actress. I’ve liked most of her movies.”

“Her son, Trip James, was shot last night, along with his bodyguard. Technically, the bodyguard is one of my employees. I also want to check on Craig Wild, who was my co-star in Star Academy, and his manager,” I explained.

She gave me a frown but looked at her list. I gave her Kent and Andy’s names so she could check. When she looked up, I knew she didn’t have good news for me.

“Trip James was brought in at 5:15 this morning. From what I can tell, they were able to stabilize him and he’s now in surgery. I have no word on Craig or his manager, but I am sorry to tell you that Andy didn’t make it.

“Leave me your number and I’ll call you when I find out anything,” she said.

I wasn’t allowed to wait for Trip to get out of surgery. They had too many actual family members here to allow that. I thanked her and went to find Fritz. He was on the phone with Rita.

“He just came out. Let me put you on speakerphone so you can hear what he has to say,” Fritz said.

“David? David, are you there?” Rita asked.

“Yes.”

“Hang on. Let me put you on speaker so Halle can hear,” she said.

When she had me on speaker, Halle almost shouted at me.

“How’s Trip? Did you find out anything?”

“He’s alive,” I said.

“How bad is he? What do you know?” Rita asked.

“They didn’t want to tell me anything, but I was able to get some information. He was brought to the hospital early this morning. They were able to stabilize him and he’s in surgery. I have no idea about the extent of his wounds or anything else.”

“Oh my God, I’d hoped he hadn’t been shot. I’d hoped this was just a nightmare,” Rita admitted.

“What about Craig, Kent and Andy?” Fritz asked.

I looked him in the eyes, and I think he knew.

“Andy didn’t make it.”

Fritz looked like I’d just punched him in the stomach. He handed me the phone and walked away to collect himself.

“What do you mean, he didn’t make it?” Halle asked.

“Honey, he means Andy died protecting your brother,” Rita said.

I’d never met Andy before, but Fritz had known him for years. When my career took off, he’d hired him to manage the LA group so that Fritz could focus on us. Fritz told me that he was more of a manager, but with Halle’s recent exposure, they’d had to shuffle some people to give her more protection. He admitted that Trip hadn’t been the highest of security concerns and that was why Andy had volunteered to come to Orlando with him.

Craig had been asked to come to a comic-book convention as a guest speaker. Trip had come with him to spend time with his friends. Fritz didn’t have any idea why they had gone to the nightclub or why they were there at 2:00 in the morning.

I’d watched many of the newscasts by now and they kept emphasizing that the nightclub was a gay bar. I didn’t understand why they thought it important to make that distinction. I had a good idea why they were there, but my gut told me that Craig would have some serious problems when everything came out. He’d been careful not to out himself, and I expected the media not to care and to smear him.

“David, what about Craig and Kent?” Rita asked.

“They didn’t have any information on them,” I admitted. “When will you be here?”

“We have about another hour of flight time. Can you see about getting us hotel reservations and a car?” she asked.

“I’ll get Caryn on it. You might want to call Frank Ingram.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. Can you call him for me? I’m not sure what good I would be for him right now,” Rita admitted.

I wrote down their flight information. Rita had hired a private jet. I called Caryn and told her what I needed. My next call was to Frank.

I spent nearly forty minutes talking to him. He grasped the danger for Craig, but there wasn’t much he could do for him. His concern was Rita, Halle, Trip and me. He said that once the press got wind of a celebrity connection, it would be a big deal. He assured me he would get his people working on talking points. Frank threatened to kill me if I did any interviews before he got to Orlando.

I took Fritz to the hotel Caryn had booked for us. I turned on one of the 24/7 news programs. The death toll was now 50, with 53 injured. This made it the largest terror attack on US soil since 9/11.

The President came on and gave a speech to the nation. Here are the highlights:

“Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder—a horrific massacre—of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. And as Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people...