Chapter 44: The Entertainer

January 25, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

"You won't believe what happened on Sunday," Dale laughed.

"What?"

"You know Pam's roommate? The hot cheerleader chick?"

"The one you've been drooling over since day one?"

"Yeah, but I think I have to reconsider. Liking her appears to be VERY dangerous!"

"What happened?"

"Remember how I said she was dating a guy, even though she was hung up on a guy from Chicago?"

"Sure."

"I found out Pam dated him at one point, too! The guy is a legend! Anyway, he came up from Chicago to visit her, and I guess the chick's ex-boyfriend took exception and started calling her names and calling out the guy from Chicago. Gene, that's the guy who used to date Pam's roommate, took a couple of swings at the guy from Chicago and ended up flat on his back with a broken nose. The dude from Chicago is like a Kung Fu master or something!"

"I guess that's more effective in cooling your ardor than a cold shower?"

"Dude, no chick is worth getting your nose broken over, no matter how hot she is!"

"So what happened?"

"They called the campus cops, but they let the Chicago guy off because he really was just defending himself from the jerk who took swings at him. I saw the whole thing and told the campus cops what happened."

"That kind of excitement I don't need! It was bad enough here when Clark got rousted for no good reason a couple of times and when they busted a kid for selling pot."

"I also found out Pam dated this guy when he was in Sweden. And he used to play for the Milford chess team."

I laughed, "That guy again? Crazy."

"Have you talked to Jocelyn's parents?"

"No. Why would I?"

"I called them and told them what happened. I thought they should know. I'm worried about her."

"Me too, but I'm not sure what we can do about it."

"Me neither, which is why I called Mr. and Mrs. Mills yesterday. I think they're going to go to Purdue and see her."

"I'm not sure if that will help or make things worse," I replied, suppressing a sigh.

"I know. That's why I thought about it long and hard before I made the call. I thought about just driving down there and trying to talk some sense into her but decided that was a bad idea."

"I've been tempted a few times myself," I said. "But I think anything I do will absolutely make things worse."

"This sucks!" Dale declared.

"No kidding. How's Clara?"

"Pretty good. It's a college romance, you know? Lots of sex and some studying. Anything new by you?"

"I'm going to be ordained on the day before Pascha," I said.

"You were foolish enough to get close enough for your bishop to get his hands on you?"

"Pretty much."

"Whatever floats your boat. You know me. I'm pretty wishy-washy on all that stuff. Jocelyn was kind of in the middle. You're hardcore."

"True. Well, let me know if you hear anything from the Mills, and stay away from guys who practice karate!"

"Count on that!" Dale laughed. "You're still going, right?"

"Yes. I'll test for my next belt soon."

"Don't break any noses!"

"I'll do my best to avoid it!"

"Talk to you in a few weeks."

We said 'goodbye', and I hung up and went back to the study group.

January 27, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

"I was bummed on Friday," Milena said when I walked into the music room on Thursday afternoon.

"If me bringing a friend to dinner bums you out, I'm a bit worried about your mental health!"

Milena laughed, "I thought you knew all musicians were crazy! Same with thespians!"

"The thought had crossed my mind," I chuckled. "Were you afraid of Angie? Is that why you didn't have dinner with us?"

"That'll be the day!" Milena laughed. "But I can have dinner with my mom anytime. And besides, I wanted dessert!"

"We had a really nice apple cobbler," I said. "Homemade."

"Mom is a good cook and a divine baker. But I was thinking banana cream pie!"

"I didn't realize it was on the menu," I chuckled.

"Riiiigggghhhht!" Milena laughed. "Could I have been more obvious?"

"About what?" I asked, trying my best to sound innocent and naïve. "I must have missed it."

"Bullshit!" Milena laughed. "But if you need me to spell it out, I will!"

"Spell what out, Milena?" Doctor Blahnik asked lightly as she walked into the room.

"He's just being difficult," Milena said.

"Mike, if you're frustrating my daughter, you're doing better than most of the guys she's interested in!"

"I aim to please," I chuckled.

"I know where I'm not wanted," Milena huffed theatrically.

She gathered her things and left the room with a wink. I got out my sheet music and guitar and went to sit on my usual stool.

"I enjoyed last Friday, Mike. I hope your friend isn't too upset."

"She's fine, Doctor Blahnik."

"I'm sorry I made the assumption I did. It just seemed, well, obvious."

I nodded, "To most people, it is, but it's not. She's not even my girlfriend. Just a friend. And she's not upset with you."

"Good. Shall we begin?"

My répertoire was rapidly growing, and I was feeling better about playing for the gang, such that I'd agreed to play on Saturday night in the common area of the floor. Doctor Blahnik and I worked on the songs on my playlist, changing the order of a few of them to create a counterpoint, and by the end of the session, I was confident things would go well.

"Do you have a tape recorder?" Doctor Blahnik asked.

"No, but I could borrow one. Why?"

"Tape your session and bring me the tape. We'll review it together and see if we can improve on what you do, both your singing and your 'stage presence'."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not just about sitting down with your guitar and playing. You need to relate to your audience. Mostly, it's a monologue, but you talk about yourself and your music and what it means to you. Your performance makes a much bigger impact that way."

"I just want to play," I said.

"You've trusted me so far, right?"

"Yes."

"Then do it my way, OK?"

"I'll try, but I'm not sure."

"Come to dinner tomorrow night and bring your guitar. We'll do a run-through after dinner, and I'll help you. Derek is back from California, and you can meet him."

"Sure."

"Come alone this time, please. So there aren't any distractions."

"Except your daughter!" I chuckled.

"May I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"The more you resist, the more she wants you."

I laughed hard, "That's no secret! I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to understanding women, but THAT one I figured out all by myself!"

"I'm not suggesting a specific course of action, but you won't offend me if you and Milena get together for some fun."

"Good to know," I chuckled.

"Mike, I'm open-minded and very permissive with my daughter. She's run her own life since we came to the US. I know she took her first lover on her fourteenth birthday. That was HER business so long as she used proper protection. I think it's the best way to parent. I'd advise taking the lightest hand possible with your children."

"That's what my mom did with me, and things seem to have turned out OK. With my little sister, the same approach resulted in all kinds of hell."

"Let me ask you this: would strictness have made a REAL difference? Or would she have found a way around the rules?"

Sasha! Her parents were the least permissive I knew, and she STILL managed to find a way to be with the boy she liked. Katy's parents were permissive in a similar way to Doctor Blahnik, and she'd turned out more like me.

"I know someone like that," I said. "It turned ugly when she broke the rules."

"To what end? Do you see the point? Will she listen to her parents now? They'll clamp down harder, and she'll rebel even more!"

"I hadn't considered that."

"I've seen it, Mike. I realize you're years away from having children, but remember what I've said and what you just told me about your friend or whomever it was that happened to you."

"And my sister."

"What you'll learn, ultimately, is you can't control another person if they're determined to avoid that control. Teenagers, well, all children really, have minds of their own. I treated Milena as an adult from the time she hit puberty, and I think she's turned out to be a fine young woman. I believe your parents did that with you, too."

"My mom, at least, yes. My closest friends had more or less the same freedom and treatment. But we were a group of 'goody two-shoes'!"

Doctor Blahnik laughed, "Were you happy?"

"I'd say so, yes."

"That's really all that matters in the end. See you tomorrow for dinner and a rehearsal?"

"7:00pm?"

"Yes."

I packed up my things, left the music room, and then headed back to the dorm.

January 28, 1983, McKinley, Ohio

"Well, this is a good start!" Milena laughed when she opened the door of the house on Friday evening.

"Do you ever give up?" I asked with a grin.

"What's wrong with pursuing something I want?"

"Nothing," I laughed.

I walked inside, set down my guitar case and the small satchel with my sheet music, and took off my hat, coat, gloves, and boots.

"You could keep going!" she teased.

"Right here? In the foyer?"

"Mom has seen it all, trust me, so she won't care," Milena laughed. "Derek might be a bit put off!"

"He's not quite as open-minded as your mom?"

"Do YOU like to see naked guys walking around?"

I laughed, "Not particularly, no."

"Let's go to the living room. Dinner's almost ready."

"What? We aren't going to just drop down on the floor right here and do it?"

"I'm game if you are!"

"For some reason, I believe you!"

"I told you I'm crazy! But fucking on the tile here might be a bit much, not to mention VERY cold!"

We went into the living room, and I just shook my head, having won a bet with myself.

"Hi, Mike!" Deb called out as she got up from the couch.

"Hi, Deb," I grinned. "I should have made an actual bet instead of just a mental one with myself."

She came to me and gave me a light hug and peck on the cheek.

"Hi, Mike!" Doctor Blahnik said as she came into the room with Derek, who I recognized from the photo on the mantle.

"Hi, Doctor Blahnik," I said.

She came over and gave me a light hug and kiss on the cheek, which surprised me a bit, and then introduced her boyfriend. He offered his hand to shake, and I suppressed a grimace from the very firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you!" he said. "Anicka says you're her star, non-music pupil!"

I laughed, "That'll be the day!"

"Mike is too modest," Doctor Blahnik said lightly. "Dinner is in about five minutes."

She and Derek returned to the kitchen, and I sat down on the couch, with Deb and Milena quickly sitting on either side of me.

"Why do I feel like I'm being ganged up on?" I asked with a silly grin.

"Don't you want to be?" Milena laughed. "It's just some fun! And, from talking to Clarissa the other night, I KNOW you aren't dating anyone seriously!"

"Clarissa talks too much," I replied, still smiling.

"Mike, we like to have fun," Deb said. "But cheating creates WAY too many problems. I thought maybe you and Angie were serious at first."

"So did my mom," Milena said. "I guess most of the dorm does."

"It's complicated," I said. "But we're not even dating."

"Then you're a free agent!" Deb declared.

"I'm here to have dinner, then practice for tomorrow night. Well, rehearse, your mom called it, as if it's some big concert. I'm just playing for my friends and other kids in the dorm."

"There's playing, and then there's 'playing'," Milena said. "It would be the difference between Deb going on stage reciting her lines monotone, just standing there, versus showing emotion and really playing the part. That's what Mom is getting at. And even if you're just playing for your friends, you want them to enjoy it, you want to enjoy it, and you want it to have an impact. Otherwise, why play?"

"To entertain them?"

"But they'll enjoy it more if you put your unique spin on things and have a fun stage presence. That's one thing you learn in music and drama — develop a rapport with your audience. That's what brings people back to hear you play, even if you mostly play the same songs every time. There's a difference between a singer and a showman."

"I'm not exactly a showoff," I said.

"I didn't say 'showoff'; I said 'showman'. Be The Entertainer."

"I'm sure that's EXACTLY what you want!" I said with a laugh, then sang, "'I am the entertainer; Been all around the world; I've played all kinds of palaces; And laid all kinds of girls'!"

"I was thinking more of 'But if I go cold, I won't get sold; I'll get put in the back in the discount rack; Like another can of beans'. What's he talking about there?"

"The fans losing interest."

"Have you been to a concert?"

"Just High School band concerts and musicals."

"If you have a chance, go see someone like Billy Joel or Prince and watch their stage presence. It's more than just singing a popular song."

"But I'm not performing; I'm just having fun."

"You can do both," Deb said. "I act and have fun. Milena plays the piano and has fun."

"I suppose."

"That's what Mom's going to help you with," Milena said. "Of course, there's the OTHER way to have fun with music."

I chuckled, "I got that drift from you before."

"Would you like to make a wager?"

"I think that depends on the wager!" I chuckled. "And what we're wagering."

"Tomorrow night, when you sing, pick a girl, any girl really, who you don't know or at least don't know well. Sing to her the way you sang to me when Mom first taught you about emotion in your singing. She'll gladly go to bed with you at the end of the concert."

"Hmm," I smirked, "If you win, I win! But what if the girl I pick has a boyfriend?"

"Don't pick someone who has a guy sitting with her, obviously. And you don't HAVE to sleep with her. My bet is just that she would, if you wanted. And she'll make it obvious. Remember what happened with Jennifer and Laurie when you sang at my party?! And there were other girls, too."

"And Blaine," I chuckled.

"He has good taste in men! It didn't bother you?"

I shook my head, "I have some gay friends. I told Blaine I was flattered, but I was straight. He was cool because I was cool."

"No walks on the wild side for you?" Deb asked.

"Absolutely not my thing, but I don't care what other people do."

"Dinner!" Doctor Blahnik called out.

The three of us went to the dining room table to join Doctor Blahnik and Derek. As before, the meal was excellent, and dessert was a wonderful peach cobbler, rivaling the apple cobbler we'd had the previous time.

"Your desserts are out of this world, Doctor Blahnik," I said.

"Thank you. And while you're here, it's OK to call me Anicka. We're all just friends."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing that."

"My graduate students do that at my request, and while you're not a graduate student, you also aren't in my undergrad classes. We're pretty informal here."

"I'll try," I said.

"Good. Girls, would you clean up so I can sit with Mike and go through his playlist with him before we begin rehearsing? I promise to wait for you before we start!"

Milena and Deb agreed, so Doctor Blahnik, Derek, and I went to the room with the grand piano and sat down, Doctor Blahnik next to me on the couch and Derek in a wing-back chair.

"You need to tell a story," Doctor Blahnik began. "It doesn't have to be oral; it can just be with the music and a few lines here or there to get people thinking about the story you're telling."

"It's just a collection of songs," I said.

"Is it? Or did you select them because they mean something to you? Even just selecting them because you 'like' them says something about you and about the song. I'm going to cut right to the chase — why did you decide to sing She's Always a Woman as your last song in your first set?"

I sighed, "Because all the songs in that first set are ones I listened to with Jocelyn."

"The girl who hurt you, which led to Deb finding you on the bench during the snowstorm."

"Yes."

"So..."

I laughed, pulling out of the melancholy mood I'd been slipping into, "My mom does that! One-word questions which have obvious answers. It must be a Slavic thing!"

Doctor Blahnik laughed, "Or a 'mom' thing! So?"

"I was telling a story."

"Yes, now arrange those first seven songs in an order that tells your story, ending with She's Always a Woman."

I looked over the list, and in an instant, the order became obvious. Take It on the Run had to go right before Always a Woman because of the line 'I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend you been messin' around', which was what the Polaroids had implied. The first song had to be Sweet Caroline, the very first song I remember listening to with Jocelyn and Dale. Air Supply's Every Woman in the World had to go second, then REO's Keep On Loving You, followed by Air Supply's All Out of Love.

I scribbled numbers next to each song in the first group, then looked up.

"OK. It starts with the first song I remember hearing with my two best friends, then tells the story of Jocelyn and me."

"Good; a bit depressing, but good. If you say a few words between each song, the impact will be much greater. I do have to say I was a bit surprised to see you select songs by Air Supply!"

"They tell the story, even if they aren't my favorites."

"You're learning! Now, your second set, what's the theme?"

"Learning to play the guitar and sing!" I chuckled. "That should be obvious from I Write the Songs, The Entertainer, and Piano Man! I added in Horse with No Name because that's really the first song I learned to play. The other songs — The Gambler and Yesterday — are ones I really like."

"And when they ask you to sing one or two more songs, what will you sing?"

"Good question. I hadn't thought about it."

"Well, let's practice your chosen songs first. But before we start, may I show you a videotape?"

"Sure."

She got up and went over to the TV and a VTR, turned them on, and put in a tape.

"This is probably the best example of stage presence and interacting with the audience I've ever seen," she smirked, starting the tape.

I immediately recognized Chuck Berry, but I had no idea what he was going to sing. But he didn't start singing; he started talking. Five minutes into the tape, I was laughing hard, and it only got worse as Chuck Berry and the audience sang My Ding-A-Ling.

"I've NEVER heard this," I said, laughing so hard I was nearly crying.

"Radio stations refused to play this back in the early 70s," Derek laughed.

"I can see why!" I said, unable to stop laughing.

The tape ran just over ten minutes, and when it ended, Doctor Blahnik turned off the TV and the VTR.