To Whom Much Is Given, Part 3

    As Lisa walked out of the cathedral, she was approached by a handsome, muscular man dressed in expensive leisure attire.

    “Ms. Raynor, my name is Mason and I’m the personal assistant to Ms…..”

    “Hey girl, that was some service. Even I cried,” Ellen cut in with a loud voice, as she approached from the opposite side of the court.

    “Excuse me please for one moment,” Lisa asked of the gentleman, then went up and hugged Ellen. “Your early, I wasn’t expecting you till later.”

    “Thought I’d check you out and damn girl, I’m glad I did. Like I said that was some mass. I haven’t been to one in years, but the church put out all of those fliers about you doing the service, well, I just had to come. The best thing is that I didn’t burst into flames as I entered the sanctuary. I‘ve been hanging with the band while you were gone, their almost as good as us.”

    “So, that’s the reason for the modest yellow dress, and the long sleeves to cover up your dragons. It really looks good on you, albeit seeing you in anything modest much less a dress is just weird. Thanks for coming out, let me finish with this gentleman and we’ll go see the kids, then I’ll introduce you to my family, Father O’Gara, the Sisters and all the rest that are here today.

    “All right then, carry on soldier,” Ellen said with a smile, then stood in a military at ease stance, with hands locked behind her back.

    Lisa turned back to the gentleman, “Ok, thank you for being patient, Mason, I did hear all that you said. What can I do for you, or rather her?”

    “She wishes to meet with you and discuss your nights performance.”

    “Ok, I’m gonna be here till I go to rehearsal, which will be around two o’clock. She can come here anytime before then and we’ll talk.”

    “No. She’s expecting me to bring you,” he replied, then looked toward the parking lot.

    Lisa and Ellen both looked as he peered over his right shoulder. They saw a glistening, jet black, Mercedes stretch limo sitting in the old St. Agnes parking lot. Lisa thought to herself that this was so wrong, A thing like that and what it stood far was an abomination to any house of God. To have this status symbol at a place that housed an orphanage, helped the poor, helped the homeless and brought people to God just made her sick to her stomach. It was going to take all the control she could muster just to keep her cool and stay civil. 

    “Sorry, I can’t leave, I’ve made a promise to the children here that I would hang with them and I don’t break my promises. Besides I’m more of a Jeep or truck girl, you know four-wheel-drives, mud boggin, all-terrain vehicles, mountain roads, that kind of stuff. She is more than welcomed to come here, but I’m not leaving. And if she does come here per chance, tell her that I would appreciate it that she show respect for this dear old church and what it stands for. To come in something more appropriate than a limousine or I won’t meet with her,” Lisa replied with an Icy edge to her voice. 

    “Very well then. I will give her your message,” he said, then abruptly walked off.

    “Who was that?” Ellen asked.

    Leese filled her in on who he was and who he worked for.

    Ellen let out a long whistle, “Do you know who she is?”

    “Nope, I don’t have a clue,” Lisa replied.

    “She’s the theme of the show tonight for the women and her boyfriend is the men’s theme. You picked a good one to blow off this time, she wields some power, as well as the typical affluences. Most anyone would drop what they were doing to join her, if she asked. And you just scolded her for sending a limousine for you. Your absolutely amazing girl, I think that God has a fireball in you. 

    “So sorry, but she can’t just send her minion here and expect me to drop everything, cancel my plans or break my promise just to meet with her. It isn’t gonna happen, I don’t play that. And to top it off she sends a limo to a poor church, she doesn‘t seem to have respect for anyone much less God,” Lisa replied with anger, crossing her arms, as she watched the limo speed off.

    “I need to change.“ Leese then took Ellen back to her room, where she did a quick change out of her dress into her black gym shorts and sleeveless black jersey with her number twenty-three on both sides in white outlined in dark purple.

    Next Lisa introduced Ellen to everyone, mom and dad were delighted to meet her and Kenny wanted to see her dragon tattoos, which she obliged. Then she was introduced to Tammy and her parents. Tammy had bonded with Stacy another overweight child about the same age. Tammy was getting along well with the students and her parents said that she had already lost four pounds. And though still stuttering, she was attempting speaking more and more.

    Afterward they met with the rest of the children, the Sisters, Mother Superior, Father O’Gara, the Monseigneur and Bishop Schulman.

    The day passed by quickly, two o’clock came and Lisa bid all farewell till after rehearsal. Leese rode with Ellen in her modified, silver cobra mustang, to the studio via her apartment for a quick change in attire. As Ellen changed, Lisa looked at all the different types of dragon figurines that she had displayed in her living room.

    “I see that you kinda like dragons,” Leese said, as Ellen came into the room wearing her typical black leather boots, matching leather miniskirt, with a white tube top.

    “I love dragon sculptures and after spending over a decade in the Army, it gave me an opportunity to collect them from all around the world. My collection isn’t expensive, but to me they are priceless.”

    “Do you miss the Army?”

    “Yea, but they gave me one hell of a deal to take early retirement, and I’m still in the reserves and can be recalled if needed.”

    “What rank do you hold?”

    “I’m a 1st sergeant. I was 1st sergeant of alpha company in the 7th air cavalry. Hell it was my company that dropped behind enemy lines to rescue John, Adam and Keith. While on recon their platoon got cut off and surrounded, they got themselves caught up into a horrendous cross fire. My company had special forces training, so we were sent when the call came in. After we saved their asses, I got to know them and found out that we all had the same interests in music, even though I’m older then they are. They each had enlisted for a one-up hitch and I was a long timer, but we all exited within a month of each other. We stayed in touch, met up and formed Crossfire, John’s idea. They used to call me Sarge, but after I threatened to cut their tongues out while they slept, they quit. Now you know the whole story.”

    “So, last week when you said that you had some hand-to-hand combat training, you totally down-played your abilities,” Lisa asked, in a soft voice.

    “Yea, kinda, I’m actually a master of three forms of martial arts and I teach them when I’m doing my reserves duty,” Ellen answered, then reached down and pulled a seven inch knife out of her right boot. “Most say that a diamond is a woman’s best friend, but as much as I like diamonds, this is my best friend. An Army of one is the slogan of the Army, I lived it and I believe in it. This day and age whether in the military or just hanging around the mall, a person has to stay vigilantly on guard against evil doers who are everywhere. I seldom leave home without this knife and in my other boot I carry four shurikens (throwing stars.) A girl has to know who to rely on when things go bad. Your doing the right thing by continually training and improving you self.” She sheathed the knife and looked at her watch. “We need to be going, you’re the only one using us tonight, so as soon as rehearsal is over you and I can go work out. I know this all girl gym, I want to see how good you really are. And right next to it is the best steak place that I’ve ever ate at, I’m buying.”

    “Sounds like a plan, but I must warn you I’m a hearty eater, I’ll give you a chance to back out of paying after we eat.”

    “Is that so, I think that I can cover the tab of one heavy weightlifting sixteen year old girl, this once. And, oh yes, I forgot to mention; all-state defensive captain and strong side cornerback.” Ellen said with a laugh, as they walked to her mustang.

    “Thank you. And thank you for not mentioning singing or anything relating to A.R.S.,” Lisa replied back.

    “Our contract is up after tonight, we’ve been paid well and I say this for myself as well as the others; it has been a sheer pleasure meeting you, getting to know you, and playing for you. After tonight John goes back to being lead singer and we will perform wherever we can get a gig,” Ellen mentioned, then fired-up the 435 horses of her cobra engine, bringing it to a rumbling, car shaking life.

    The ride to the studio equaled that of any ride that Lisa had rode at any fair. She now new what it was like to ride in a race car.   

    At the studio the two were escorted to a private, luxury lounge where a dozen people awaited their arrival. Lisa popped a tic-tac into her mouth then entered. She saw John, Keith and Adam with several scantly clad women all with drinks standing in the far corner of the room talking. Ian Campbell was standing with a bleached blond woman in an expensive, glittering, short black dress that left little to the imagination. Close behind her stood Mason, and next to her was a blond haired, handsome young man in black, tight fitting pants, and a tight blue button up shirt, that was only partially buttoned. There were several other women and men in business suits that finished out the entourage.

    Ian walked up to Lisa, Ellen mingled, but stayed close. No one offered introductions, no one was interested in shaking hands. Well, it appears that I’m suppose to know all that are here, Leese thought to her self. She was pretty sure that the two celebrities were the woman in the black dress and her boy friend in the blue half buttoned shirt.

    “It’s good to see you Ice,” Ian said.

    Lisa with a slight smile nodded her head once and thanked him, 

    “Well Ice, glad you could come here, since you were too busy earlier today to accept my invitation. And by the way I only ride in limousines when I travel on ground. As for me coming to you, well, that just wasn‘t gonna happen.”

    Leese stood a good bit taller than the celebrity, she looked down locking unblinking eyes with the woman and with a smile she answered, “I was very busy this morning and I had made a promise to the children to hang with them till my rehearsal. I don’t break my promises for anyone or any reason. And I think that I will ever be riding in any kind of affluent vehicle, you see, it‘s just not me.”

    The celebrity turned red with anger at hearing that, “I see, most would gladly have joined me, changing their plans, if invited.” She answered with ire, then looked away, taking a sip of her drink, breaking Lisa’s laser like gaze.

    “Sorry, I don’t play that, if I say that I’m gonna do something, then I’m gonna do it, only God or someone sent by God can change my mind.” Lisa replied in an icy voice, then moved the tic-tac around in her mouth.

    Ian quickly jumped in, “The reason for this meeting, Ice, is to go over some details about your performance tonight. You’re the only one using Crossfire, it would be very inconvenient to change out bands for the last performance which is yours. We were hoping that you would use her musicians instead.”

    Lisa crossed her arms and looked at Ian, “No, I’m using Crossfire.”

    “What’s the f@#$%^& reason for wanting to use them, our band knows the songs far better than Crossfire. Our dancers and back-up singers will work better with what their use to. Even our dance choreographer is here to help out with the dance routines,” the boy friend said, as he walked up to Ice, checking out her physique. “Their already set-up and ready to go for your rehearsal.”

    Leese was determined to keep her cool and still stand her ground. With a forced smile and a soft voice she replied, “Not meaning to be rude, but I am using Crossfire. I’m sorry, and I’m not singing any of your songs, their just not me. And I’m not using any dancers or back-up singers. I would like to get started, because Ellen and I have plans after rehearsal,” Lisa replied, then put her hands on her hips, as she sucked on the tic-tac.

    “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, THAT YOUR NOT FOLLOWING THE THEME, NOT SINGING ANY OF MY SONGS, NOT DOING THE DANCES. Do you have any idea how much money I’ve made on those songs and doing those dances. Here I am wasting my valuable time this week with want-to-be singers, common people with delusions of stardom and you have chosen to ignore my help. If not for Ian’s show non of you who have appeared on it would ever have set foot on a stage or ever have met or spoken to a true star, such as my self. And you dare not to follow the simple guidelines? When you win, you will go on to certain modest amounts of fame and fortune. While we, the real stars, will be forced through contracts, to work with you and treat your kind as equals.”

    “All righty then, thanks for the info, but I’m still doing things my way. And by the way I’m an athlete, I’m not a singer, songwriter, artist, dancer or anything the like, heck, I’m not even enjoying this. As for me winning, don’t count your chicks before they hatch. Or in your case, don’t count your money before you deposit it in your Swiss bank account. Now then, Ellen, are you John, Keith and Adam with me tonight, or what?” Lisa asked, looking at them.

    “We’re with you, if you want us, you got us,” Ellen answered back.

    “FINE! Do it your way! I’ll go clear out the rehearsal room now and tonight we’ll go to a long commercial while the bands swap out,” Ian remarked with some anger in his voice, as he looked up at Ice. “The public made it known last week that you were their choice by an overwhelming vote, that is the only reason that I’m giving in to you.”

    With the exception of Crossfire, the entire room was livid with Lisa. The star demanded a cigarette from her assistant. The boyfriend exclaimed that he had had enough of this bull s@#% and stormed out, deliberately shouldering his way through Lisa, or he at least tried to.

    Ice set herself, absorbed the impact and reacted with a strong, aggressive, driving counter block. She caught him off guard, knocking him backward over a chair and into one of the scantly clad young dancers, where they both ended up on the floor.

    “HEY! GIRL STANDING HERE!” she yelled. “And for your information I play against guys who are bigger and stronger than you, and they can’t block me,” Lisa barked out, as she went toward the two downed individuals to give them a hand up.

    Mason, who was busy getting her majesty a cigarette, only saw the part where Ice fiercely drove her shoulder into the rude boyfriend knocking him backwards. He immediately assumed the worst and went to the rescue (his bodyguard duties,) he pulled his concealed 9mm and then seconds later fell to the floor unconscious.

    All were watching Leese and the two on the floor, no attention was paid to Ellen dropping the bodyguard like a bag of rocks.

    Lisa helped up the young lady first, then heard a loud grunt followed by a thud behind her. She looked and saw Ellen standing over the personal assistant. She was in the process of field stripping his 9mm and throwing the parts in a trash can.

    All turned to see Ellen’s stealthy handiwork.  “It’s good to see that one such as yourself, who constantly preaches against firearm ownership and is for gun control, provides your bodyguard with the best 9mm that money can buy. That is so hypocritical of you and all celebrities that speak out like you. And not only hypocritical, but the clip in this weapon is illegal, holding far more rounds than it should. And another thing ,this firearm is filthy, it should be kept clean, ” Ellen spewed venom, as she walked, ejecting shell after shell from the magazine letting them fall on the floor. With the clip empty, she tossed it onto a nearby table. She then looked at John, Keith and Adam, “get your asses in gear we got a rehearsal to do, get moving and I mean now.”

    The room was quiet and everyone seemed frozen except for the three that she had just given marching orders to.

    “Is he ok?” Lisa asked, as she walked up to Ellen.

    “Yea, gonna be awhile before he wakes though. It just makes me mad that most of these so called bodyguards carry illegal concealed weapons.” She reached down and pulled her knife from her boot and continued with a sensual walk as she cleaned underneath her finger nails. Ellen stopped in front of the celebrity, looking down at her and locking angry eyes. “Your musicians had better be gone by the time we get to the rehearsal room or there will be hell to pay,” she remarked in a soft voice. “And do you know there’s nothing like having the right tool to get the job done,” Ellen said with a smile, looking down at her nails and back up at the star. “Lets go Leese, nothing here for us unless you want an autograph.”

    “Noooo, I don’t do autographs, that’s definitely not me. I deem no one in high enough  standing for that,” Lisa replied in a voice that all could hear.

    They walked out the door leaving behind a silent, horror stricken room. The talkative star and boyfriend now sheepishly kept to themselves. And all backed away from the two ruffians giving them a wide berth to leave.

    As they walked, they talked and Ellen told  Lisa that she would give her some special lessons to add to her Taekwondo skills when they went to the gym.

    Upon entering the soundproof room the girls heard John‘s introduction, “and now enter the dynamic duo,” as John, Keith and Adam started playing the old Batman theme music.

    The girls stood with crossed arms as they waited for the music to stop. Lisa was laughing, but Ellen still had a bit of an attitude.

    “Let me ask you this, are you two gonna make a habit of this every time you get together?” John asked after they stopped playing.

    “Last night for me, remember. If I never see another celebrity, star, child star, rising star, superstar, falling star, person of affluence or any of their ilk my prayers will have been answered,” Lisa replied, still laughing.

    “What we do is non of your f@#$%&# business,” Ellen responded, then high-fived Leese. “Dynamic duo aye, I kinda like that. Although I’m more of a cat woman fan.”

    The rehearsal went smooth with much laughter and horseplay. All there knew that for each one, tonight was to be their last performance. Lisa collaborated with the band to make a mockery of the nights theme. To go out in style with all guns blazing, the final hurrah, to have fun  putting the finishing touch to her wretched journey through the world of egos, affluence and pharmakia. 

    After rehearsal Lisa and Ellen followed through with their girls only evening out. They talked about everything and got to know each other real well. Ellen impressed Leese with her martial arts skill. And Leese impressed Ellen with her weightlifting and appetite.

    “Why don’t you compete, I mean there can’t be too many at your age that can out lift you,” Ellen asked, as she watched Lisa gracefully inhale her food.

    “I don’t know, I really don’t keep up with weightlifting competition. I just don’t have the desire to compete, to prove my weightlifting capabilities to anyone. I do love head-to-head competition in football though. Football is my sport, in it I will compete to the best of my abilities. In it I will always prove my capabilities against anyone. In it we win or loose as a team. It’s the sport, the thing, that I have always loved since as far back as I can remember. Weightlifting is just a private thing that I enjoy doing for self gratification, I compete against the weights. The side affect is that it helps me to play and excel in a  sport that normally belongs to the boys,” Leese replied, then killed her third glass of milk.

    Ellen was absolutely mesmerized at watching Lisa eat and drink. She watched as Lisa finished her third helping, then went to the dessert bar for two large servings of chocolate cake and her fourth glass of milk. “May I ask you some personal questions, Miss. Hulk.”

    “Ok,” Leese answered smiling, in between bites of cake.

    “Let me see, first, you stand six feet tall bare footed?”

    “Yea.”           

    “You weigh over two-hundred pounds.”

    “Yea, around 207 now.”

    “You don’t have an ounce of fat on that body of yours?”

    “I run and work out a lot.”

    “And from what you’ve told me, your taller, bigger and definitely stronger than your boyfriend.”

    “Yea, he also has a light case of asthma,”

    “Now then, I know from previous talks that you haven’t had sex yet and that you’re waiting until you get married.”

    “Yep,” Lisa replied with a smile, then took a drink of milk.

    “Now for my last question; are you preparing your boyfriend, Steve, for marriage? I mean, feeding him vitamins, building up his stamina, anything so that he’ll survive the honeymoon. I mean, you might just kill that boy” Ellen said laughing.

    Lisa blushed, then smiled, “I will be gentle and I know CPR and I’ll also make sure that we honeymoon close to a hospital.”

    They both laughed, as they finished their meal.

    “You still want to pay for my meal,” Lisa asked, then chugged down her fourth glass of milk.

    “No problem, I know a good pawn shop where I can take my mustang.” she answered laughing.

    Ellen paid the bill, while Lisa insisted on leaving the tip. Ellen then put her mustang through its paces on the way back to St. Agnes. There they hugged and bid each other goodbye till show time.

    At St. Agnes Lisa spent bittersweet time talking with everyone, not knowing when she would return made saying goodbye even more difficult. The last person she spent time with was Irene, they talked, laughed, and cried together. “So, this is it, you’re simply calling it quits tonight,”

    “Yep, my prayers were answered. I’ll do my three songs, announce my withdrawal, walk off stage and never look back.”

    “I couldn’t do that. Like I’ve told you, I wanted the fame, the money and everything that went with it. I really don’t think that anyone else could be in your position, at the top, almost guaranteed to win, with a huge following, and just walk away.”

    Lisa cocked her head to one side and looked Irene in the eyes. “I never wanted any of this. I promised to do this for Steve and that was my only interest. God saw fit to help me out, or at least I’m giving him the credit for getting me out. I know that in today’s world I’m considered a freak, or brainwashed, or just abnormal, but this is who I am and I like what I am. I may have a good singing voice and I do love singing in church, but I’m not a singer. I’m not into the celebrity scene and I’m not ruled by wordly influence. If by chance I were to make money singing, it would be done my way and the money wouldn’t belong to me, but to God. Excelling in this contest has in no way inflated my ego, which has and always will be the size of a mustard seed. Even my boyfriend, Steve, and dad has always said that I’m so low maintenance that I’m nearly a maintenance free young woman.”

    “That’s why I became a nun, for me to enter heaven one day I had to completely withdraw from the world. I had to find a way to worship God, help others and be rid of the worlds influence on my carnal being,” Irene spoke teary eyed and in a soft voice.

    “I have to get ready. I don’t know when we’ll meet again, but I know we will and until then I’ll stay in touch.”

    “Yes, we will definitely meet again, and we will stay in touch.”

    They hugged, said their final goodbyes, then Lisa went to her room to change.

    For her final stage appearance she would wear; black running shorts trimmed in red, a black sports bra also trimmed in red and black running shoes with red shoe strings. She had decided to change here instead of her dressing room at the studio. Because after she announced her resignation she was going to walk off stage and leave through the closest exit, not going back to the dressing room for anything.

    After more hugs, and last farewells, Lisa and family departed on their last voyage to the Hollywood studio and her last performance. Susan had been mostly quiet since they left Georgia. Jim was happy for Leese, but very observant, understanding and respectful of mom. Kenny was ecstatic because Leese was. Lisa had been radiant with joy all week at ending this trial and Kenny knew it and wanted her to be happy.

    Upon arriving at the studio, Lisa hugged dad and kissed him on the cheek. She lightly hugged mom who half smiled. And then she picked up Kenny holding him way up in the air, lowered him, tickled his stomach till he was howling with laughter. She then bid them all goodbye till after the show.       

 

           

                                                A work in progress,

                                                TO BE CONTINUED