Chapter 26: Final Judgment

Nashville, Tennessee
March, 1986

Track Life showed the project completion status at 98% on March eighth. Of the two percent left no original tracks remained, only overdubs and a re-take of Anita on a track that somehow picked up some noise. Tony had talked everyone into giving her one guitar track anchoring the rhythm to one of his 'boxes'. That would at least get her name on the album credits as a guitarist and not just a vocalist, something he knew she coveted after working so hard on her playing.

She couldn't do it. It was Tony who figured it out. He simply walked into the sound booth, took the old Framus out of her hands, and put his Ovation in her lap. The girl just hadn't stopped growing and now the small fret board on the Framus was too cramped for her longer fingers. He just smiled at her and told her it would take a few attempts on his guitar. It was like graduation day for Anita. It still took nine tries, but the ninth was perfect.

Nothing else was very taxing. Indeed overdubs weren't really a big deal. Many of those tracks were incredibly complex and overdubs smoothed out the tiny rough edges of playing an instrument to its absolute limit.

Sunday morning found Tony and Anita in church. It was important this time that they arrive late because they really hadn't brought anything close to church clothes with them. They both ended up in the clothes they wore to school on Friday. Neither had any real reason to be at the studio so Anita asked Tony to take her.

Tony's shirt was, at least, a button-up, but he had nothing but jeans to wear with it. Anita had a blue skirt and blouse that weren't too bad. The concierge pointed them to the nearest church within walking distance.

It was actually a Baptist church. It was a bit unlike the Methodist services they attended at home. While Tony did his duty as he saw it and simply held Anita's hand throughout the sermon, this time she was listening.

In a Baptist service there is always an appeal to the faithful to come forth and be baptized. You could go to a hundred of them and not see anyone step forth that particular day.

Anita pulled Tony to his feet, stepped up, and began pulling him down the aisle.

What followed was extremely awkward. Anita presented herself, "Hi, I'm Anita, and I think I'm ready."

Tony really didn't want what occurred next to happen, but it was inevitable. The preacher spoke, "And you young man?"

"No," Tony replied. "This is a personal decision and neither of us can make it for the other. I love my baby sister, but this is something she has to do herself."

Things were going to get really ugly if the preacher decided on a hard sell. At home the pastor understood, at least as much as a man in his position could, Tony's reluctance to give himself to a God he no longer trusted. Tony had no intention, until he actually met God, if He existed, of falling down and worshiping Him until He came up with a satisfactory reason for murdering Tammy. All anyone of faith in this life could tell him was that it was, in fact, part of His plan. Tony hadn't yet come up with an answer for just who should burn in Hell, him for not having faith, or a god that would do that. Church was for Anita, so that is what he did because he loved her.

"Tony?" Anita asked.

Tony kneeled down and smiled at her. He noted that kneeling down now caused him to look up at her. "Anita I love you. This is a very personal decision. I can't help you with this. If you know it here," he touched her chest, "and here," he touched her forehead, "then it is right for you. Of all things I know it's the one decision that must be made alone."

"But is Rebecca baptized?"

"Yes"

"Tina?"

"Yes"

"Cheri?"

"No little one, the one thing Cheri got from her mother, though it's kind of a secret because a lot of people don't understand it where we live, is that she's a Buddhist. So no, I don't think we'll see her make this choice."

"But it's OK, right?"

"It's more than OK Anita, it's wonderful, but it really is something you have to do alone."

She nodded and looked up at the preacher.

"Welcome, young lady. And what your brother says is completely true. It is a very personal commitment. I'll see you after services to make the arrangements."

"It won't be necessary sir," Tony said. "We are visitors today. I'll take Anita to Pastor Rob back home and I'm sure he will be happy to do all that is needed."

Tony didn't ask Anita if she was sure of her decision. It wasn't his place. He simply stood and took her by the hand and took her back to their seats.

"So that's it?" Tina asked.

"Nothing more I can do with it," Chance answered.

"It's like we should have a party with champagne and everything," Gwen said.

"Well it still needs to be sent off for mastering, have you decided on that?"

Tina looked at Tony who was also in the control room. "Well I'm told Gateway's master technician is good and they have a good facility, so it goes there for analog mastering. The second copy is going to an outfit in LA who's going to do it digitally. We'll take both and make a decision from there."

"First time I've heard of that," Chance said.

"Yeah, well it was supposed to be all digital from the start but we lost our studio. We thought we'd at least take a shot at having it mastered that way."

"Never worked with it myself; it's supposed to be the next big thing. I'd kind of like to hear how that works out. Doesn't matter, someone would have to do a pretty poor job on that to screw it up. Sometimes I'm wrong, but not that often. That's as good as it gets kids. Welcome to the big time, because that recording will definitely get you there."

After that there really was no fanfare. There were three copies of the final mix labeled 'Chaos – State of Chaos', the band's selection for the album's name. One went to the vault (something no one had thought of for Cobblestone Digital) at the new Nashville studio, and one each to the two mastering technicians. Mastering wasn't a long process. They expected to have both copies back in little more than a week. After that the group simply packed up and went home.

Something none of them had imagined just eighteen months before was done. Chaos had recorded a record album.

On the plane Tony stood and asked Riley to come back a few rows with him. Both Tina and Rebecca were in window seats on the same row. He pulled Anita from her seat and sat her next to Tina and had Rebecca move over so the three could talk. "OK, talk to the girls, Anita, about this morning. I'd like to think I could help you with just about anything, but they definitely know more on this subject than I do." He left the baffled older girls and went back to talk with Riley.

It wasn't the same. Some things were, but like the parade the previous year seemed so far removed from a bunch of teenagers crawling around the floor in the mall, this year's parade was almost surreal. It had gotten too big. There were wheelchairs everywhere. The final count would reach 182. Judging had grown into fifteen categories and, quite frankly, the newness had worn off. The only really bright spot was Edie. Once again she was along for the ride in the parade, with Tony as her locomotion. Her nonstop chatter about just about anything never failed to bring a smile to Tony's face.

Everyone put on bright faces and made all the right noises and speeches, but the whole thing looked like a commercial operation to Tony. Then it hit him. Tammy's Wheels was a commercial operation. Sure it was non-profit, but it was a business just the same. Right then and there Tony decided to put Alice almost solely on the franchise idea. Savannah wasn't big enough to expand the idea there anymore.

He spent the next week in the air as much as possible. It was spring break from school and he used the time with Barry to complete the required time under the hood training for his instrument ticket. They would start multi-engine training the following week.

By the twentieth both master copies had arrived. Master glasses had been cut for both and they had two compact disks that Tina simply numbered one and two. Everyone gathered at the Smith house that Saturday and listened to the two disks repeatedly. By the time no one could stand to listen to their own music any longer, a consensus was reached. Everyone agreed on number 2. They were all shocked to learn that it was the analog master from the mastering studio at Cobblestone Nashville. Still, no one wanted to change their opinion, so the decision was made. The feeling was that most likely the difference was that analog master engineers had been around for decades and simply knew their craft. Digital engineers by their very title had to be fairly new at the trade. Eighty thousand compact disks, 190,000 cassette tapes, and 250,000 albums would begin production the following Monday.

Unknown to Tony, the day before Scott Wainright had filed a petition in the Superior Court of New Jersey for the permanent adoption of Cheri Michelle Harris by Tony Christian Smith. It had been done that day so that the case would be put on the docket for hearing the following Friday by the Honorable Judge Cauthan. Scott still liked playing with a stacked deck and if it was a few days earlier than expected it didn't really matter. Tony only had to be eighteen at the time the ruling was handed down. It did have to sit for public review for a week though so that anyone who wanted to object could attend the hearing.

The court appearance was more formal this time. It was in an actual courtroom but it was closed to all but the parties involved. Scott, Tony, and Cheri sat at a table to the judges left. A lone man in a suit sat at the table across from them. Rupert Winslow had explained that because Cheri was technically in temporary custody of the state that the man was an attorney representing her interests on behalf of the Sate of New Jersey. Mr. Winslow sat with Rebecca in the audience chamber behind Tony. The only other people in the room were a bored bailiff and a court stenographer.

They actually had to rise as Judge Cauthan came in to be seated. It was a formality that added a certain weight to the proceeding. Once the case number had been read, Judge Cauthan began. "OK, this hearing is to rule on a formal petition of adoption for Cheri Michelle Harris, a ward of the State of New Jersey, filed on behalf of Tony Christian Smith, her current temporary guardian." He looked quickly at his notes and at the man seated at the other table. "Mr. Callahan you are here to speak to the petition on behalf of the State?"

The man stood. "Yes, Your Honor."

"OK, then please proceed."

"Your Honor the petitioner is an eighteen-year-old male seeking adoption of a sixteen-year-old female. That in itself is most unusual and almost unheard of in cases not involving siblings. I cannot believe the young man can provide proper care."

"Mr. Callahan assuming your case to have the petition denied is accepted by this court, what other remedy would you suggest?" the judge asked.

"Returning her as a ward of the State Your Honor. Perhaps in time a better solution can be found, or her natural mother can again qualify as a competent parent."

"Do you have any evidence that her natural mother has made any attempt to do so? Has she sought counseling? Has she attended state approved education on child-rearing?"

"Not that I'm aware of Your Honor."

"So it would seem doubtful to the court then that she seems to be making any attempt at all. What would another possible remedy be to the court?"