Chapter 39 -- Wild Weekend I

Well, I'm a runnin' down the road,
Tryin' to loosen my load,
Got a world of trouble on my mind.
Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover,
She's so hard to find.

--Take It Easy (The Eagles)

On Friday, I talked with Mr. Proilet after band class.

"I have an idea for the talent show."

Mr. Proilet looked a bit surprised. "An idea?"

That look made me feel a bit sheepish. "Well, I was originally thinking about entering the talent show this year. When I told Sherry, she told me that if I entered, nobody else would show up. I think she was probably exaggerating, but she did make me think about it."

Mr. Proilet smiled. "It could be intimidating to others to know that you are on the schedule to perform. What's the expression? 'Nobody wants to follow Jimi Hendrix?'"

I protested that remark. "I don't even play the guitar!"

"You were saying that you had an idea for the show," my teacher said, bringing us back to the topic at hand. "Do you really want to perform?"

"Actually, I had an idea," I said. "What if we donated the services of the jazz band for the people who wanted to perform?"

"Donate?"

"The big problem I've seen with school talent shows is that you get a few people playing the piano, or a few of the musicians in the band or orchestra playing duets and stuff like that. There are a few people doing other things, like juggling or even telling jokes, but the majority of them do musical things."

"Uh, huh."

"I remember in elementary school, kids used to mouth the words to songs on a record. I think we might be able to get a few people to do that again... but with a band behind them, so that instead of just mouthing the words, they're really singing."

Mr. Proilet was quiet for a few moments. "Wouldn't that turn it from showcasing the talents of the students into showcasing the jazz band?"

"We could use the band as the glue to keep everything together. Put on a show like Ed Sullivan... you know."

Mr. Proilet laughed. "Maybe that could work. I don't remember you bringing this up at the rehearsal yesterday."

"I didn't," I said. "I had the idea last night."

"You may want to find out how the other members of the jazz band feel about you volunteering them."

"Actually, I figured that I'd just ask for volunteers and see who does. We have quite a few people, and this would be a good way to find out who really has the drive to play as opposed to simply being a part of something that's become popular."

"Hmm, that's a good idea," Mr. Proilet said, pondering that thought. "Let me talk it over with Mr. Ryan and Ms. Kendall. I think they'll love the idea of the jazz band getting involved."

Those two people were the orchestra leader and the chorus instructor, respectively. They, along with Mr. Proilet, were running the talent show.

I nodded. "Thanks."

I had some other ideas about the talent show, but I decided to keep them to myself for the time being.

I saw Sherry at lunch, and she didn't seem as disturbed as she was yesterday. I did notice some looks exchanged between June and Sherry when they didn't think I was looking.

Sitting in the cafeteria, I kept thinking about the previous school year when I had Patty and Kristen at lunch with me. I really missed those two very much.

"What's on your mind, Jim?" June asked, breaking me out of my reverie.

"I was just thinking about last year."

"You were frowning... does that mean you are missing Kristen?"

I think I must have blushed as June knew exactly what I was thinking. "Yeah."

June pulled me toward her into a hug. "Poor Oogie."

This generated some giggles from the other cheerleaders at the table.

"Thanks, Juicy," I said to June, as I got up from the table.

"Juicy?" Sherry asked, confused.

"Ask June," I said, suppressing a giggle myself. I wondered if June would actually tell Sherry about that nickname that, up until now, I had only used with her privately.

"Where are you going?" Sherry asked. "There's still another half hour."

"I'm going to one of the music practice rooms. I want to see if I can put together some music."

I could feel the heat on my back as a bunch of female eyes watched me leave.

Mr. Proilet looked up from his desk as I walked into the music room. I simply smiled at him as I walked to one of the practice rooms and shut the door behind me. I started to play, from memory, the piano intro to the song that had been playing in my head for a day or so now.

I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I barely heard the bell signifying the end of the period. I had music sheets everywhere all over the room.

"Shit!" I said, grabbing all of the sheets and trying to get them in some semblance of order.

It was only after I got out of the practice room and saw the familiar people in the music room that I realized that my next period was Music Theory... I was already in the room that I needed to be in!

My teacher smiled at me and saw the stack of papers that were in my hand. "Getting a head start on classwork?"

"Um..." I looked sheepishly at the scores in my hand. "Yeah... I guess. I lost track of the time..."

Most of the room laughed at me, including my teacher.

Mr. Proilet nodded toward the practice room. "You can go back to what you were doing, Jim. I'll have somebody let you know when there's about five minutes before the bell. All right?"

"Um... thanks..."

I went back to the practice room and continued scoring and doodling on the piano. I made a mental note to talk with the Swifts--preferably Charlie--later this evening.

At the end of U.S. history, my last class of the day, I watched Sherry and the other students walk out of the room. I was about to go when I remembered a question that I wanted to ask my teacher.

"Mr. Stiles, do you have a few minutes to talk about something?"

The teacher looked at me and smiled. "Sure, Jim. What's on your mind?"

"I have a general question about history and wondered if you could help me."

Mr. Stiles raised his eyebrows and said, "Hmm. What's the question?"

"Actually, there are a couple of questions. First, have you ever heard the expression, 'With great power comes great responsibility?'" I recalled hearing Sherry use that expression the other day.

The teacher smiled. "Ah, Spiderman and the eternal loneliness of the super hero."

Ah, yes! That's where I heard it. I nodded to the teacher and decided to take an alternate track. "We've all heard the expression, 'Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.' Does history really bear this out?"

My history teacher looked at me a bit strangely. "Hitler had absolute power."

I was ready for that particular example. After all, I've spent many sleepless nights considering the power of the tickets and the repercussions of them. "It can be argued that Hitler was corrupted before he came to power. He wrote 'Mein Kampf' when he was in prison."

This impressed my teacher. "You have a good point there. Why are you asking these questions?"

"I was wondering if the expression is true. I mean, what if you had absolute power, but knew the expression and tried to avoid corruption?"

"Your question sounds like one that you'd hear in an intro philosophy course in college."

I smiled. "I took some college courses, but not philosophy."

"Ah, yes," Mr. Stiles said, smiling. "Jean Proilet and his music courses."

I nodded, not knowing what to say next.

My teacher looked at me thoughtfully. "I think history shows us that Peter Parker's dilemma does bear out. For instance, we have Leonid Brezhnev and President Ford as the world leaders with the most power. Each one has to walk on eggshells to avoid insulting the other too much. At the same time, they both have to appear strong to their constituencies, but not scare the rest of the world into thinking that another world war is about to erupt."

"I never thought about it like that."

"How familiar are you with the British?"

"Huh?" I asked, a bit surprised by the question. "You mean England?"

"Yes. They are ruled by a prime minister. However, they also have a queen: Queen Elizabeth. She was crowned in 1953, and before that, she was called the Heir Presumptive."

I interjected. "Presumptive? I've heard of the term 'Heir Apparent.'"

My teacher smiled. "If her parents had a son after she was born, he would have been entitled 'Heir to the Throne.' The titles are specific and are taken very seriously in Great Britain."

I nodded, not truly understanding the traditions and terminology.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of England, a position that is now relatively ceremonial. However, despite that, she has to act like a monarch at all times. When royalty visits her country, the official position is that they visit the Queen. In addition, the Queen has to give royal affirmation before any bill from parliament becomes law."

I nodded, not quite understanding where my teacher was going with this.

"In reality, the Queen's job is to remain neutral in political matters. The Queen signs all laws as a mere formality. The Queen and her family still act in public as they are expected to... something that we in the United States sometimes consider pompous. However, the nobility in Britain take their titles seriously. Her son Charles, the Duke of Cornwall, became the Prince of Wales in 1958, although the ceremony didn't take place until 1969 at the age of twenty-one. He is the Heir Apparent to the British Throne."

"OK..." I said slowly, very much confused.

"I'm sorry for rattling on about this. It's one of my passions, actually. Anyway, there is a term that is applied to people of noble birth. I forget the person that coined the term, but it's called 'Noblesse Oblige'--the obligation of nobility to act according to a noble code of conduct, just like the ancient knights--acting for the good of all the people without regard to yourself."

"Noblesse... ?"

"Noblesse Oblige," Mr. Stiles repeated. "It's French, and means, literally, 'Noble Obligation.'"

"Noblesse Oblige," I said, trying out the expression.

"I was explaining about power before, and it occurred to me that in order to wield power properly, you need to use it selflessly. Let's take you for example."

This last statement startled me. "Um... me?"

"You, Mr. Crittenhouse," Mr. Stiles said, smiling. "You are an extremely gifted and talented musician. Jean Proilet raved about you even while you were in junior high school. Last year when you took over the Jazz Band, you could have used it as a platform to show everybody think you were great. I've seen other students in similar situations do things like that. However, you allowed your fellow musicians take their solos, and made each member look great. I went to every one of your concerts, and to each performance of the school musical. Not once did you take a solo! You were just at the podium, letting every other student shine."

As usual, such praise from a teacher started to embarrass me.

"Now do you see what I mean by the responsibilities of power?" Mr. Stiles asked.

"Huh?"

"Instead of shining the spotlight on yourself, which would have been easy, you instead shined that spotlight on your fellow students." My history teacher put his hands together. "Everybody realized that it was you behind the scenes that was responsible for the spring concert. You were there arranging parts, helping your fellow students rehearse, and, if my information is correct, even helping an athlete learn to read music in just a few months. You may not have known the term 'Noblesse Oblige, ' but you were living it."

I didn't know what to say in response.

My teacher didn't wait for any comment from me. He said, "If anything, power incurs responsibility. If not, nature has a way of rectifying things. If a leader is powerful and does not act in a responsible way, the situation will eventually be rectified. In the example of Hitler, who did indeed experience close to absolute power in Europe, his irresponsible actions caused one of his country's allies to change sides, forcing Germany to once again fight a world war on two fronts. This directly led to his downfall."

There was some silence as my teacher allowed his words to sink in.

"Hmm," I finally said. "I'll need to think about that."

"That's never a bad idea. A teacher always likes to hear that his students want to think about something!"

The two of us laughed, and it broke the tension that started when my teacher was lavishing his praise on my talents. There was something embarrassing about having those kinds of things told to me by adults.

The time was getting late, so I thanked my teacher, and he surprised me by shaking my hand. "I'm glad we had this talk, Jim. If you ever want to talk, whether it be about history, the British monarchy, or just about life in general, feel free to find me and we'll set up some time together."

"Thank you, Mr. Stiles. I'll do that."

The school was mostly empty when I got out of the building. I saw June and Sherry standing over by June's car, patiently waiting for me to arrive. I saw them and waved as I walked over toward them.

Before I could get to where the two girls were, I was apprehended from behind.

"Jim! Can I talk with you?"

It was Roy, one of my closest male friends. I glanced back at the parking lot and saw the two girls getting into June's car.

I turned around and said, "Of course. What's up?"

"I have a personal question to ask you."

I instantly got the feeling of having done this the day before with Sherry. My mind instantly flashed an image of Roy under the influence of the tickets, but I quickly dispelled that idea from my head.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Roy looked around and pointed to a bench that was empty. We walked to the bench, and Roy said, "Your sister is going to have a birthday party in a few weeks."

"Merry?" I asked. "Um, yeah. That's right."

"The cheerleaders want to do something special for her birthday, and they want to make sure that you are involved."

"Of course," I said, smiling. "Kristen and I threw her a nice party last year at the park."

"I've been asked to see if we could throw her a party at your apartment."

I was a bit surprised by the question. Why were the cheerleaders asking me through an intermediary--and why Roy?

The cheerleaders were known to go to parties on a regular basis, but aside from their initiations and special parties, they were usually pretty tame. Was Roy implying that Merry's birthday party wouldn't be tame?

"Like the Halloween party last year?" I asked, remembering the off-duty policemen Kristen had hired to ensure that the party wouldn't be too rowdy.

"Yeah, like that," Roy said.

"That shouldn't be a problem, but I'll run it by Lynnette and Kris when I see them."

Roy smiled. "Thanks, Jim."

"Oh, by the way, my own birthday is on Thursday. Kristen and Lynette have something special planned for me after school that day."

Nodding, Roy said, "Yeah, I figured that."

"I'm just telling you that because I may leave rehearsal early."

"I think people will understand."

I got up from the bench and shook Roy's hand. "OK. I'll see you on Monday."

Roy's expression changed for a fraction of a second before he said, "Yeah. Monday."

June and Sherry were over by June's car. They both smiled at me as I approached them.

"Hey, Oogie!" Sherry said.

"Hi, Sherry... June."

June smiled. "Hey. Sherry's mother gave her permission to stay with me over night tonight."

"Oh?" I asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Would you mind if we use the Recovery Room tonight? Sherry's never been in a water bed."

The pronoun that June used made me uneasy. I turned to Sherry and asked, "Do you want to be with June tonight?"

Sherry shrugged and didn't answer.

"I don't see any problem if the two of you want to use the Recovery Room tonight. Of course, I'd have to ask Kris and Lynette..."

"They don't mind!" June said, hurriedly.

This confirmed my suspicion. "Then I guess it's a done deal."

Sherry smiled and started to get into the passenger seat. Just as I was about to get in, I saw June's eyes narrowing at me. I don't think she expected me to accept the idea of Sherry spending the night so easily.

After I got into the car, I turned to Sherry in the back and nodded at her gym bag. "Is that your overnight stuff?"

"Yeah," Sherry said, sounding a little bit nervous.

I decided to take it easy with Sherry. After all, she wasn't completely under control of the reasons that she wanted to be with me today.

June started the car, and gave me another quick look before backing out of her parking spot and headed toward the house.

Well, since June wasn't going to level with me about Sherry, I wasn't going to let her know that I was in on the secret.

When we got to the apartment, I excused myself from the girls and instead headed for the main residence. Harry greeted me at the door.

"What's up, Jim?"

"Are Charlie or Daniel in?"

"Mrs. Swift is in the living room. Should I announce you?"

"No need for formalities unless she's entertaining."

Harry smiled. "She has guests. She's planning one of her charity events."

"Could you let her know that I would like to borrow something?"

"May I tell her what you need?"

"A record." I told Harry exactly which one and he shrugged and left me in the foyer as he went to tell Charlie my request.

In about a minute, Harry returned with the requested album.

"Thanks, Harry! Tell Charlie I thanked her, too!"

"Of course, Jim."

I left the residence and got back to the apartment. I took the album into the music studio. I had some cassette tapes that I wanted to integrate into a recording and this record was going to help. To get the cassettes onto the open reel tapes meant that I was going to have to reverse the hookups between the cassette and the four track. I knew from experience that recording from tape to tape added noise, but I hoped that the added noise wouldn't detract from my recording.

I knew that I was going to need a good saxophone player to help me with some of the instrumental parts. There was an instrumental bridge in the song that was mostly a duet between a saxophone and trombone. I could play both instruments all right, but between the two of them, I really preferred the trombone. Then there was also a heavy bass riff on the piece. I was lost in thought trying to figure out who was in the band that I could enlist in this duet. Despite the fact I could play both parts, there was a give and take that two live performers could do that really couldn't be duplicated by recording the parts separate.