Gonna Sell The Bitch's Car Ch. 06

Moira cried when I gave it to her as a wedding present and told her the history. Nobody, not even me, was allowed to drive it. If she was going anywhere alone it was her favorite transportation.

Life flowed smoothly. We were working on the next Faerie album and one night I noticed Jenny was looking down. Moira had to get Aaron and take him home, and the others drifted off. I asked her what was bothering her.

"Today would have been my fifth wedding anniversary."

I didn't know she had been married. She was about twenty five, and I really didn't have much contact with her after her guitar lessons.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked her gently.

"Not much to tell. We got married right out of high school. We couldn't find good jobs so Gerry got this idea we should both enlist. We could do our hitch and come back with a skill and some college money."

"The plan went to pieces when he couldn't pass his physical. Heart murmur. We had gone to different recruiters, so I didn't know until after I had signed the papers. I ended up in the military and he didn't."

"After basic I was assigned to a motor brigade and and shipped out. We cried our eyes out, him, me, and my best friend. I made her promise to watch over him because of his heart condition."

"I was a rear echelon driver, shuttling officers and VIPs around. At first the emails and letters came almost every day. Then they slowed, and then she stopped communicating with me completely. I started getting a bad feeling, but what could I do? I might have as well been a million miles away. When I got home from the first tour they met me. She was eight months pregnant. It was his."

Tears flowed freely now. I sat beside her and held her, feeling outrage at her betrayal.

"I loved him so much. Her too, we were closer than sisters. I sucked it up, did another tour, went home and finished my enlistment. But it still hurts, even after all this time."

We stayed together for a little while and she thanked me for being there, then went home.

I sat there alone in the studio, thinking about the unfairness of life, when it hit me.

I was above average as a songwriter. I even had a few articles written about me in several music magazines. 'I Got A Plan' 'Erins' Song' and 'My Truck Got Drunk Last Night', and a few more were successful. But every writer hopes there is a Monster in him somewhere. A song so strong that even if they never knew who wrote it, they would always remember it. Jenny gave me my monster.

I never went home. Moira called me about eleven and told me to get my ass home. I told her I was onto something. She knew how I wrote so she told me not to stay up all night.

Some songs take time. A lyric here, six months later one there, until one day it's finished.

Some songs are like mining for gold or jewels, you hope it's buried in there somewhere so you keep digging. And some just flow out of you like water from a spring.

'A million Miles Away' flew from me like a burst dam.

I woke Moira up about seven thirty the next morning. When the sleep cleared her eyes she looked at me.

"Jesus, Wiley. Did you come to bed last night?"

I was still on a writing high.

"Just got home. Here."

I gave her a printout of the lyrics and chord progressions.

"Tweak this, but not much. I'm taking a shower and sleeping for awhile. Wake me about noon."

I looked at her sleep tousled hair, her right breast partially exposed because of the way her gown was bunched, just her general beauty.

I gave her a deep, soul touching kiss.

When we came up for air her eyes were sparkling and her nipples were erect.

"What was that for?"

"For never being a million miles away."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

I resumed kissing her and was tugging her gown over her head when Aaron woke up crying.

She slid her gown back down.

"Sorry love, but somebody wants breakfast."

I picked her up off the bed and twirled her around before setting her down and handing her her robe.

"This will continue without interruption very soon."

I swatted her on her bottom and went off to shower and sleep.

.................................................

She let me sleep until three, then did the same thing I did, except she was naked.

"Aaron is with your mom, time for you to prove up on your morning promises."

We didn't leave the bed until five.

After we finally got up and got something to eat Moira started.

"It's powerful stuff, Wiley. Maybe the best thing you've ever written. I was almost in tears working through it. Where did it come from?"

"Jenny. It's basically her story."

I told her the story. It made her angry.

"Damn them! She didn't deserve that!"

"Nobody does, honey. But it happens, a lot. If it didn't a lot of country writers would be out of business."

We got Jenny to the side and asked her to stay after everyone left.

Moira played it for her. She burst into tears and ran from the studio. Ten minutes later, just when we were going to look for her, she came back.

Jenny hugged me for about five minutes before reaching for Moira and hugging us both. Finally she stepped back.

"God Wiley, that's my life story. You came up with this last night?"

"Well, it took all night, actually. Took me that long to get it right. Even dreamed up the video for it while I slept. Enough about that. I want you to sing it, Jenny. Not as part of Faerie or Freddies band, but as Jenny Green solo. Can you handle that?"

Moira looked surprised, I think she wanted to sing it, but she told me later she couldn't have done the job Jenny did.

'A Million Miles Away' was a crossover hit. It went to number one on the pop charts, number one on the country charts, and was number one on the British charts at the same time.

The video was amazing.

The first scene was of Jenny, her husband and her friend saying goodbye when she shipped out. Then it went to a split screen for awhile, showing Jenny in Iraq on one side and her husband and friend on the other. It gradually showed the friend and husband getting together while Jenny was getting shot at.

Then it dissolved into one screen, whit her friend and husband in bed while she stood at the foot in her uniform with sand swirling around her, singing.

If you're gonna stray/ there's nothing I can say/ that would matter anyway/cause I'm a million miles away.

It dissolved into another scene where the best friend is sitting up in bed while the husband sleeps singing.

I know that it was wrong/when he started coming on/but I'm just not that strong/and we just keep on going on

The next scene shows her coming home, to be met by her husband and her very pregnant best friend.

The husband looks at her and sings.

There's nothing I could say/ that could take the pain away/ now I'll see you every day/ wish I was a million miles away.

The final scene shows Jenny sitting on her bunk in a green tee shirt and fatigues, picking out the notes on an acoustic guitar with tears in her eyes. She looks up and sees a poster hanging on the wall that shows three soldiers in full full combat gear with the logo "Army Strong".

She gets a determined look on face and it fades to her onstage with her black Les Paul, doing power chords and singing.

na na, na na na na, na na, na na na na, a million miles away.

That dissolves into a scene at a local army base where the soldiers are singing it in time as they march.

The whole video lasted nine and a half minutes, the actual song was only just about four.

It became the unofficial anthem of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict. Go on any base any where around the world, and you'll find it on the jukebox.

Suddenly I had to come up with an albums' worth of songs for her solo project. Jenny had a couple she wrote that were pretty good, we did a couple of covers, Bob gave her a song another writer he was working with and I gave her 'You Should Have Held On', my song about Sandy betraying me.

I've gotten long winded, sorry. I'll wrap it up.

..................................................

Moira and I were on the cover of Guitar Player

magazine, surrounded by our guitars, our two Grammys together, my three on my own, and our four CMA awards. She got a contract from Fender to furnish her guitars, I got one from Gibson.

Rolling Stone had Freddie, Jenny, Moira, and me on the cover with the caption 'Southern Dynasty'.

Faerie did two more albums, Dust, and a live album with three studio tracks, called Tales, before hanging it up.

Jenny still records and tours, as does Freddie.

I nagged Moira into doing a solo project which was well received. She actually opened up for

Freddie on one tour, but retired after that because she said it was no fun if I wasn't with her.

Horns for Hire made a good living doing studio work, as did Al. I use them quite often.

I pretty much retired to run my studio and produce new acts. I learned a lot working with Bob, and he sold me part of his business and pretty much lets me run it, while he scouts new talent as a hobby.

So there it is, all sweetness and light.

You really think so? Not all the tears we shed were tears of joy.

Every garden has snakes, and the larger and richer the garden, the bigger and slimier the snakes.

Frank and Amber divorced because the horn player I had warned away on the road decided that since we were home she was fair game. He dumped her afterwards, and she moved back home. Frank stayed and does session work, and is still a part of Freddies' band. The rest of the guys in Horns for Hire were so pissed they threw the guy out.

Jenny got married to a loser who tried to take her to the cleaners despite the prenups, saw he was going to lose, stole everything he could from her and disappeared. She's seeing someone now who is serious, a rapper of all things, who treats her like gold. We'll see if it works out.

The worst thing of all was what happened to my best friend and brother in law. Crystal wouldn't leave our home town, so Jimmy did a lot of commuting. Luckily the older kids were in high school and could help their mom, but things became strained.

Jimmy came to us after the last Faerie album and said he was retiring, the money he made he had invested with Moira's ex, of all people. Apparently he approved of the rock and roll lifestyle if it paid well. It allowed him to buy half interest in the guitar shop we used to do business with. They were going to expand and he was going to teach drums.

Things had been really tense between he and Crystal, and he was sure his career change and being home all the time would fix it. He had kept it secret to surprise her.

He walked into his house unexpectedly with flowers to give her the good news, only to catch her in bed with someone else. Enraged he started fighting.

The guy managed to get away from him long enough to get his gun and shot and killed him. Crystal was screaming and trying to get the gun away when it went off and shot her. She lasted for a week before passing.

The guy was a cop and shot them with his service weapon. He got convicted of two counts of second degree murder, he'll be sixty seven before he's eligible for parole.

Jenny and Freddie sang at the funeral.

We got the kids. One was just starting college, two were in high school. Jan was in middle school, and the baby was in the second grade.

We didn't have to adopt for Aaron to have brothers and sisters.

I had always been close to Jan, and after a year she and Suzy, the youngest, were calling us Mom and Dad. It was bittersweet.

There was a rift in the relationship between Fred

and I that took a long time to heal.

He had been living with Sarah for a few years, and bought her an engagement ring. Four months before the wedding the gossip magazines linked him with a young singer just twenty one. He denied there was anything to it until Sarah caught them together and moved out. The singer rode the publicity hard and them dumped him.

He stayed away from me for awhile because he knew I was pissed.

It kind of came to a head when Sarah, with no place to go and no money, moved in with us. She told me one night it came as a complete surprise to her, but even if she had known it would have still hurt as bad.

I thought about that for a few days and wrote 'If I'd Seen I Coming'. I gave it to a well known singer with a deep baritone voice. We did the video with him sitting on a stool singing while I played piano, Frank played a mournful steel, and Sarah and Nikki played violin.

It was powerful. As he sang the last verse, if you watch the video, you can make out the tears in Sarahs' eyes.

"You thought it was sweet/ your surprise was complete/ when I realized I'd been had

But who am I funnin'/ if I'd seen it comin'/ it still would have hurt just as bad/ yeah it still would have hurt just as bad."

It went diamond and I got a CMA for song of the year, my third.

Freddie was livid. He hadn't had a hit for over a year and felt his star was fading. He knew better to come to the house while Sarah was there, so he called and just raised hell.

"Goddamnit! Why didn't you give that song to me? I need a hit pretty bad right now. I thought we were tight."

I took a few breaths before answering him.

"We were tight, still are as far as I know. You didn't get the song because it was about Sarah and how hard she took the breakup. You're an idiot, you know that? It's been months and she still cries. No way was I going to reward you for doing what you did to her."

He sighed into the phone.

"You're right, I was and still am an asshole. I don't know what I was thinking. I've tried to apologize to Sarah, but she refuses to talk to me.

Can you help me?"

"Oh no, I'm not going to be your go between. Maybe she'll calm down and talk to you eventually, but right now you need to give her space. And don't try to rope Moira into this, she's pretty mad at you right now."

"Any advice? I know I don't deserve her, but I want her back bad."

"All I can say is you're still a public figure. Give an interview or two and bring it up. She still watches TV. Maybe she'll see it."

He was abject and miserable in the interviews. Told the reporter he made the biggest mistake of his life. He actually said me wished he was me, so he could write the perfect apology song. The most compelling statement he made was he wished he could see her one more time, just to say how sorry he was for causing he so much pain.

Sarah saw the interviews and came to us for advice. I gave the universal truth.

"Are you happier without him or with him? Can you forgive him? Does he deserve it? Do you think he'll do it again? Be sure about all of that and you'll have your answer."

She thought about it for a week and asked me one day if he could come over for our once monthly barbeque. Moira and I told her to do what she wanted, we'd support her.

He came, stayed away from her for awhile, then gradually worked his way over to her. They said hi, and just stared at each other for a second. We watched them pretty closely, and soon they were on a bench talking quietly. They talked for about an hour, and she went inside.

He left, but not before hugging Moira and me. He was crying as he thanked us.

I thought things went wrong, but Moira went in, then came back with a smile.

"They have a date tomorrow."

They went to a movie and dinner, then she insisted he bring her straight home. I peeked out the window when they got home.

Moira laughed at me.

"Don't worry, daddy. He's not going to hurt your little girl."

I couldn't help it, force of habit. I went from having one little boy to having him plus five girls. Three teenagers, a preteen and a seven year old who was always following her sisters around. Seemed like there was always one or two teenage boys hanging around the house. I spent many weekend nights not sleeping until the girls were home from their dates.

We were rich, not billionares, but very, very, comfortable. When we suddenly inherited five kids, we had to find a bigger house.

We looked, but couldn't find anything we liked, when an old friend gave us a call.

We met Mike and Shanna Hoage at a roadside peach stand. They were on vacation, driving aimlessly in his 1968 Firebird convertible. Shanna and Moira hit it off right away, and I liked Mike. He was huge, 6'6" at least, and probably weighed two hundred fifty pounds. He was in real estate out west, and was worth about half a billion. We didn't find that out until later. Moira and Shanna exchanged emails, and when we toured out west we invited them to the shows.

I usually read people pretty well, but couldn't get a fix on Mike. He reminded me of me when I was having compartmentalization issues, but I was guessing it went a lot deeper.

He did us a favor and found us a house locally that wasn't even listed yet. It belonged to some financial whiz who made some very bad investment decisions.

Moira gasped when she saw it the first time.

It wasn't a house, it was an estate. One hundred twenty acres completely surrounded by a six foot chain link fence. An olympic size swimming pool that could be enclosed, a hot tub and waterfall. A six car garage, a three bedroom guest house, a two bedroom apartment over the garage.

The house was three stories with a basement. Nine bedrooms, state of the art kitchen, formal living room, dining room, den, and library. Seven bathrooms.

Mike got it for about forty percent of what it was worth, and it was still more than I ever expected to make in my lifetime.

Mom and Dad moved into the guesthouse so she would never be too far from her grandchildren, and we used the garage apartment for guests.

Everybody had privacy, and we converted the basement into a media/playroom, where the kids could hang out and we could keep an eye on everyone.

There were two ponds and a large creek running through the property, and in the summertime you would find my Dad, Aaron, and often Suzy, fishing. A tractor and all the equipment came with it, and Dad would amuse himself with a garden, mowing the fields, and scraping the driveway when it snowed. We had professional help, he just enjoyed doing it. He lived happily for ten years before a heart attack took him. Dottie lived another eight years but was never quite the same.

I added one more accomplishment to my resume. I used to tell Aaron a bedroom story about a wandering minstrel and the fairy he fell in love with. I expanded it into a childrens' book, got a really good illustrator, and published it. It was very well received. I dedicated it to my own personal fairy, with all the love I had.

Moira and I had only one real problem our whole life together. Freddie got the acting bug, and did a few movies. Of course, he made sure we had bit parts, part of his superstition going back to the videos.

Moira loved it and started taking acting lessons, and gradually got bigger and bigger parts. Oddly enough, I was offered several parts in other movies, seems I was a natural, stemming from my early habit of morphing into whatever group I was with when I was younger.

I didn't like it when Moira had to go on location, couldn't stand the thought of being away from her. I did do an indie film once while she was on location. Double Shot of Love, about a middle aged bar owner who was widowed, and his twenty something gay daughter, who both managed to fall in love with the same woman. It was a hit at Sundance and Montreal, and actually made decent money. I got a few offers, but my heaqrt wasn't in it.

This was the only time in our relationship that we had serious trouble.

My personal snake was named Calvin. He was Moiras'

manager, and he had his sites set on her from the beginning. I didn't like him, called him Chipmonk, which pissed him off no end.

He worked her hard, often on location when I wasn't around. I told Moira, but she laughed it off, saying he didn't mean anything, it was just fun.