Chapter 9
For the next two hours his brothers gave Zac a hard time about his "girlfriend." "Y'know, Tay, if you don't leave me alone about her, I'm gonna have to bring up the shoe store girl."
"Oh! I'm glad you brought that up!" He reached in his wallet and got out the folded piece of paper she had given him that day. "Ike, man. In return for that blue sweater that you never wear anyway, and which so beautifully brings out the color of my eyes..." He batted his eyelashes at Isaac who was looking at him like he'd gone off the deep end, "I will give you the phone number of Lee, the shoe store girl who had the major hots for you!"
"You freak! Why didn't you give it to me then?!"
"I forgot."
"How about I forget not to hit you?" Isaac replied.
"Ike, you don't scare me. Now, do you want it or not?"
Isaac looked at his brother, his eyes were always blue but in the sunlight they were almost aqua colored and the glint that shone in them as he held the precious scrap of paper just out of Isaac's reach made him smile. "So, her name is Lee, huh?"
"Yep."
"Blue sweater?"
"Yep."
"Alright. Whatever, just give it here." Taylor laughed as he turned it over.
Walker came over to the table they were sitting at to let them know it was showtime. They had gotten lunch then gone back to the hotel to freshen up, rest or whatever and had gone down to sit in the courtyard near the pool which had been officially closed since September.
~~~~
When they got to the park, they found just enough fans there to keep it interesting, but not so many that security would be a problem. The girls had grown older along with them and screaming and such was kept at a minimum. Chelsea was there and she waved at them. The stage was very small, usually used for Shakespearean plays or small productions in the park. They weren't even using microphones because they didn't want to cause a stir. Only Walker, Jason and two others had accompanied them. Diana and the other children didn't want to get caught up in anything if it got crazy.
They decided to sit on the edge of the stage and the songs they sang and the way it felt was similar to the acoustic set they'd done on their first tour. The fans loved it and some folks who just happened by to see what was going on were pleasantly surprised to see three talented singers harmonizing together perfectly and being adored by about seventy five girls and maybe ten or so guys. When they were done, they took a bow and jumped down. Walker had gotten parental and told the girls they could come up but no screaming or grabbing and such.
In no time, they were surrounded and were shaking hand after hand. Some girls wanted to talk, some didn't. One asked Taylor why they didn't sing MMMBop as it was her favorite. "Well, it's a little bit harder to do without instruments" he answered. "Besides, we thought maybe you guys were sick of it."
They were greeted with a chorus of no's and we never get tired of its. Isaac looked at the other two. "Tay? Can you do it? It's been a while."
Taylor looked to Zac. "You wanna try? You probably have more trouble with the high notes now."
Zac nodded "Why not? If it sucks though, don't blame us."
They didn't bother to get back
on the stage, they just did it where they were. Taylor snapped his
fingers to get the beat and Isaac started to play the guitar. The
voices may have been a little different sounding, but it was still a glorious
song and though they had not played it in months, they didn't miss a beat.
Without all the accompaniment that usually went with the song it was simpler
and sweeter and Taylor's voice sounded as pretty as it ever had.
Their father watched and listened to his three sons and was reminded of
a time not so long ago when all their concerts were this small and intimate.
When he and Diana manned a booth selling t-shirts and cd's and they didn't
have to worry about security, or record labels or reporters. Sometimes,
he wished they hadn't been so successful. They'd been just as happy
before, they just didn't know it. On those long days of recording
or touring, the boys could be very stressed and it effected the rest of
the family as well. He guessed it could all go under the heading
"Be careful what you wish for..."
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