Chapter 8

I stood in the wings and watched Greg, Carrie and Kellie take their places on the opposite side of the stage. Kellie waved at us but Greg and Carrie seemed to studiously ignore us. I wondered if it was a pre-game ritual like the former NHL goalie who used to puke before each game.

I was about to comment when the lights went on and Trio took the stage. The Fleet Center had been sold out but since it was more than an hour before the main event was scheduled to start, the arena was one-quarter empty.

Still, the group lit into a song that I hadn't heard before. It was good, though.

Melissa still had hold of my arm but she had released me from her grasp. She was smiling now at least.

"Must be new stuff," I opined.

"Not really," Melissa told me. "It's off their first album. It was never a single."

She looked at me funnily.

"You didn't buy one of their CDs?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"How about the second album?"

I shrugged again.

"You didn't download it, shoplift it or borrow a friend's copy?"

Shrugs, like celebrity deaths, must come in threes. Who was I to break the string?

Melissa shook her head.

"Christ, you're hopeless," she said. "Well, at least some of the concert will be new to you. And I won't have to listen to you singing along."

A laugh lifted from Melissa throat.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just imagining you singing one of their songs," she said. "I mean, you're as uptight as any person I've ever met. I bet it would be hilarious."

"Possibly," I replied. "Although I have been told my singing voice is quite pleasant."

"And I've been told my ass looks fat in my favorite shorts," she said. "Don't believe everything you hear."

I elbowed her gently. I was aiming for the ribs but instead I felt soft breast beneath my arm.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "You must have shrunk in the last month or so." She grimaced, rubbed the offending spot and swatted my arm.

With the byplay with Melissa, I almost missed what was happening on stage. The Trio had finished their first number and Greg had come forward to stand beside Kellie's piano. Carrie had put down her guitar and walked over to stand beside him.

"We were so excited to be in Boston that we decided to start early," he said into the microphone. "Seriously, we had some miscommunication with the opening act. Rather than try to book another sound unheard, we decided to do some of the songs that didn't make it into our concert menu."

"But we are excited to be in Boston," Carrie said. "The fans here have always been great to us. We had to add another show tomorrow night. But we're excited for more reasons than that. One of our best friends lives here and is hearing Trio live for the first time. Well, not really. He heard us a bunch when we were younger."

"But we weren't called Trio then," Kellie said. "Mostly because there were four of us. A band called Trio with four members would seem a little strange. Of course, we were still a little strange but..."

The audience had stopped milling around and raced to their seats when they saw Trio was performing. Now they were listening intently. They laughed at Kellie's joke.

"We have developed quite a following over the last three years," Greg said. "I recognize some of you folks from Bangor, Maine, last night. We can't tell you how nice it is to see friendly faces when we walk out here. But there is a side to Trio that even our most die-hard fans don't know. First off, as Kellie said, we weren't always Trio — and we weren't always a trio. We started out as a garage band in North Olmsted, Ohio."

"And we've had a recording contract since we were 16 years old," Carrie added. "Our first song was on the radio almost 10 years ago. Not that you would know it. But I can almost guarantee that you've heard it. In fact, there are probably four or five of our songs many of probably know by heart. At least you do if you were a child 10 years ago or if you had children back then."

Melissa was tugging on my arm.

I shook my head and stared out at the stage.

"We were young and impulsive and naïve and arrogant," Kellie said. "And we got screwed by our recording label — big time. At least the three of us did. The fourth member of our group was wiser. He protected his interests and refused to let the prospect of fame go to his head."

"The rest of us resented him for it," Greg took over. "Because he refused to part with his dreams to go along with ours, we stopped being friends. I'm ashamed of the things we did back then."

"We all are," Carrie said. She was looking firmly at me. Melissa's tugging on my arm was more insistent. I looked at her. She mouthed one word: "You?"

I nodded.

"The recording label that owned our songs also owned our soul," Kellie said. "We couldn't perform the songs. We couldn't say publicly that we performed the songs and we couldn't perform under our original name because they owned that, too. But the person we pushed out of our band and out of our lives didn't give up on us. Before he left for Boston eight years ago, he gave us several songs to perform. Those I guarantee everyone in the audience will recognize. Tee, we treated you like crap but you are the reason we're up here. I hope you know that."

"But what goes around, comes around," Greg said with a smile. "The studio that owned our soul went belly up last year and it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of bastards. After much legal wrangling, we finally own the rights to the music I wrote and the rights to the name we recorded our first songs under. And we want to publicly try to make amends for the mistakes we made and the way we treated our friends those years before. Like Kel said, his words are the reason we're here."

"Of course the fourth member was smart enough to hold on to the rights to the words he wrote," Carrie said. "But while the three of us dreamed of being up here on stage in front of the fans and being on tour in wonderful cities like Boston, his dreams were smaller in scale — but far more worthwhile, in my opinion. He is an educator at a local school and, from what I've seen and heard, he is good at it. Those of you affiliated with Lake Howard Preparatory School know him as an English Lit teacher. But we remember him a little differently."

"To me, he is the best friend I ever had," Greg said with a touch of sadness.

"To me, he is the brother I never wanted," Carrie said with a chuckle.

Kellie walked over and stood 10 feet in front of me and Melissa.

"And to me, he is the one who got away," she said. "Tee, you can stay in the wings if you want. And I understand if you want to. But I would love to hear you sing your songs one more time. I've worn out the CD I have of you singing over the years. Even if you stand off-stage, please sing for us one more time. I hope you still remember the words."

Kellie looked toward the ground.

"I certainly do," she said as a tear glinted in the side of her eye.

Melissa was looking up at me expectantly. I walked out to meet Kellie. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. Greg and Carrie soon joined us.

"Standing up in front of 20 kids eight times a day for two years has lessened my stage fright," I said quietly to them. "At least here I don't have to worry about some little jerkoff nailing me with an eraser when my back is turned."

The laughter that resonated in the arena told me the mic was still on. Melissa was almost on the floor laughing.

Greg had a smile bigger than any that I've ever seen on him.

"Ladies and gentleman, performing live for the first time ever, I give you Todd Dumont on lead vocals, Kellie Clark on keyboard, Carrie McPherson on lead guitar and I am Greg Wyatt on drums.

"We are," he said then paused, "or at least we were, The Collection."

There was a small gasp from some in the audience who recognized the name and the media frenzy from a few years back.

Greg didn't hesitate. He whispered "Style over Substance" and away we went. I thought we would just go down the demo list. I remembered most of the words and had even sung a few of them in the shower over the years. But when we finished the first song, Kellie interrupted.

"If you heard my introduction of Todd, then you know there is a companion piece to the song we just performed," she said. "'Style over Substance' was written about me more than 11 years ago. The words are real and so is the story behind them. That's what makes it such a powerful song. Todd has written many of our songs over the past few years. It's a talent that he has that the rest of us up here don't share.

"I think we're getting a little better. Honestly, I think we were just too shallow to be able to craft a decent song. We could make the words rhyme but there was nothing to behind the words. Todd has the ability to take what he sees and what he feels and translate it into something more."

She smiled broadly.

"I'm sure that is what makes him a great teacher," she added. "Our first forays into songwriting were disasters. The first song I ever wrote was called 'schmaltzy' if I remember correctly. Honestly, the critique was accurate. The words rhymed but there was no substance. I have the honor of writing the only song from the three of us to appear on any of our CDs. It's on the charts right now, but since Todd is the inspiration behind the song, I hope no one minds if we sing it for him now.

"There is a real story behind this one, too," she continued. "And while I have the honor of writing it. I also had the heartache of living it. Todd, would you sit beside me on the bench?"

I walked over and sat down.

"It's called 'The One Who Got Away, '" she said and started in on a lilting piano solo. Greg picked up a light beat later and Carrie played softly on an acoustic guitar. It was the song Melissa had heard on the radio a month before. I'm glad I hadn't paid attention to the lyrics at the time.

'I always knew he'd be there

When I wanted him to be;

I kept him close enough

He'd never be truly free.

I saw the look in his eyes

And knew just what he'd do;

I knew he'd wait around

As I did what I wanted to.

I crossed the line too many times.

He saw me out that day.

And he became

The one who got away.'

Kellie's song carried me through our teen years and into the present. The song was symbolic. She viewed me as a guy she wished she had found time for but I was also the one who broke away from the group. I was the one who chose a different path.

I'll admit that I'm somewhat biased but I liked the song. I especially liked the feeling Kellie put into the lyrics and the haunting melody that Greg had written to be played behind it.

I touched Kellie's cheek when she finished wiping away a tear.

"I miss you, Todd," she said. "I really want to make sure we have time to talk this week."

It looked as if I was going to be doing a lot of talking that week. Who was I kidding? With Kellie and Melissa, I would be doing little talking and a whole lot of listening.