Chapter 29

Tank

I was sitting at a table close to the stage watching Lilly go through the rehearsal. I noticed all the guys let her take control. “ Goof. You have been to a few of these. Is Lilly always in control? Is it just today?” I can see the wheels turning in his head. “ You know now that I think about it. Lilly has always led.” They are wrapping things when I notice Lug stops Lilly. He is holding a guitar and Lilly is shaking her head. Neil, Connor, Dez, and Rick come sit at the table.” We are going to be a little long.” Connor says. “ Problem?” I ask. “ Yes and no. Lug wants Lilly to play. But she is scared.” I’m confused. I have seen her play. She is really good. Why would she be scared?” Dez answers “ She is afraid she can’t play without being able to see. We know she can. It is just a matter of convincing her.” I look up and see Lug is now sitting behind her. The guitar is in Lilly’s lap. I can see her hands shaking. “ Maybe we shouldn’t force her.” Connor says. I’m thinking the same thing. “ Lilly has torn down every wall put in her way. She can do this as well. She just needs a gentle push. Lug knows when to back off if she has had too much.” Neil says. I have to admit what he says has some truth to it. I’m sure about Lug Nut because they have been working together for a while so I trust him to know her limits.

That's when I hear it. The guitar. We all look over and sure enough Lilly is playing. Dez says “ She picked a good one.” Neil shakes his head smiling. He looks at me “ She is playing ‘God Gave Rock'n'roll To You ‘ by Kiss.” I’m going to have to look the song up later. When Lilly is done she screams “ I did it. Connor, I did it. I didn’t lose it.” “ No Lilly, you didn’t lose it. Remember it is just muscle memory.” I can hear the pride in his voice. I can’t blame him. Lilly whispers something to Lug. He stands and grabs the acoustic. Handing it to Lilly he sits down beside her. “ One more guys.” he yells. Fine by me I could listen to Lilly all day. She starts to play but Lug starts to sing. I ask Neil what this one is. He tells me it is’ When I Get To Where I’m Going’ by Brad Paisley. I’m going to have to write these down to check out later.

Lilly sings with him on the next verse.It is a sweet song and Lilly is beaming the whole time. “ Neil, let me ask you something? Do you always let Lilly lead the rehearsals?” I ask. I don’t know why I need to know but I do. Maybe I’m just trying to find out more about my girl. These guys are her band. They can share this part of her. “ Not in the beginning we didn’t. She was this shy little thing. Afraid to speak up. Then she would offer a suggestion. Organise a playlist. Then she became Connor’s dance partner. The ideas she was coming up with were great. Before we knew it we handed all creative control over to Lilly. We didn’t even release what we had done. It was so gradual. And it wasn’t Lilly pushing for it. We gave it to her. And frankly I am so glad we did. The things she does for us. We play smoother. Our fans are happier. Are shows go flawlessly. And it's all because of Lilly. She has made us better in every way.” Neil learns in “ And you know what. She doesn’t even have a clue.”

“ What do you mean?” I ask. “ She doesn’t see it. She doesn’t have the first idea how amazing she is. She is a natural performer and she makes us better just by being around her. This bar wouldn’t be packed every week if it wasn’t for her. We wouldn’t have a radio station coming in for Lilly’s come back show. Hell check out the web page Randy made for the bar. Most of it is Lilly. She is quite famous around here. But our sweet Lilly is blind to it. Has always been. I thank Lug everyday for bringing Lilly to us. Harry sings her praises. And he doesn’t do that. Lilly is a remarkable woman inside and out. If I wasn’t married and straight I would snag her up in a heartbeat. I told Lug he should but she is too much of a little sister to him. “

I sit there listening to their praises of Lilly. “ If she does find a guy he is going to have to go through the club to get to her.” Goof says. “ And us,” says Dez. I guess I have my work cut out for me to prove that I am worthy of Lilly. Not just to her but to the club and her band. And I respect that. And I’m happy Lilly has all these people in her corner fighting for her. Lug sits down. “ Cool down.” is all he says.” Cool down?” Lug just smiles “ You will see. I look up at the stage. Lilly is sitting there looking like she is lost in thought. Then she sings. Nobody moves. I swear a few stop breathing. And it is fucking powerful. It is so much she gave me goosebumps. She belts out the lyrics like she is trying to reach the heavens.

When she is done I want to give her a standing ovation. “ Mr. Lug. I’m getting tired.” “ Time to call it.” Lug says standing. I grabbed his shoulder. “ I got her brother.” He looks like he wants to object but doesn’t. “ Hey Lilly. You ready to go home?” Lilly nods “ Yea.” I reach down and pick her up. Lilly tenses for a second and I think she is going to tell me to put her down. Instead she wraps her arms around my neck and lays her head on my chest. Perfect. That's how she feels to me, just perfect. “ Did you like our rehearsal?” She asks as we walk out. “ Yea. I did. You are very good.” I place Lilly in the car. She looks up at me and smiles “ Yea. They are pretty good aren’t they?” Now I see what Neil was talking about. She really doesn’t see how amazing she is.That’s ok. I’m just the man to show her she is.