Rum and Coke

Ellie bounced around in one of the wings, stretching her neck out as she did so.

“Here, take this,” Adam said, thrusting a water bottle into her hands.

“Thanks,” Ellie smiled and slowly sipped out of the bottle. “what’s that look for?” she asked with a small smile on her face.

“It’s just- you’re doing it. You’re living out your dream. And I’m proud of you.”

Smiling widely, Ellie embraced him in a tight hug. “And I’m proud of you, Daddy.”

“Of what?”

“Living,” she whispered before running out on stage. “Hello, fuckers!” she yelled out to the crowd. “Having a good time?” She was met by screams from the fans. “That’s good. Now, I just have a few things to mention one thing before we start, Ryan’s trying something new out, so don’t yell at him if he completely sucks.”

“I resent that, Ellie,” Ryan said into his mic.

Ellie just laughed. “Now, as many of you know, Ryan and I grew up here. We have a lifetime of memories in this cold and crowded city. And we would like to dedicate this concert everyone who has ever stood by us, to everyone who has hated us, to everyone who has ever followed their dream and touched the sky. But, most of all, to everyone who has ever lost anyone close to them on their journey. Here’s Pigs on Wallstreet,” she said before placing the mic back in its stand and jamming out. This was a night that Ellie would make memorable.

Three songs into the set, Ryan had to stop playing from fatigue. Jimmy took his place (much to Ryan’s displeasure) and the show continued as if nothing really happened. Another two songs in, and Ellie couldn’t play her guitar anymore.

Now, it was drawing to the end of the set. Ellie could feel her fatigue coming like an avalanche, but she chose to ignore it. She had one more song to sing, and she was determined to sing it. She excused the band, save for Ryan, and asked for the keyboard to be placed in front of her twin.

“Are you sure you can do this? I’ll sing A Capella if I have to,” Ellie asked her twin.

Ryan shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I want to do this, Ellie.”

Ellie nodded her head and addressed the crowd. “You guys have been great tonight. Do you want to hear a new song?”

The crowd roared their approval.

“This song was one of the harder songs for me to write. Most songs take me maybe a month to get it all together, but this one…I’ve been working on it for five, almost six, months. I hate to end on a sad note, but this song deserves the impact it gets. I dedicate this song to my mother, Danielle Nicole Patterson, for giving me my voice and teaching me how to fly. This is My Heroine.

Eighty-eight keys strung before me
On this parlor Grand
Thirty-six Black and fifty-two white
Still, not a muse in sight
Not a note in hand

I wanted to show the world
How much you mean to me
I wanted to show them all
What being a mother means

But, then I failed
The words stuck in my throat-
My inspiration running dry
Oh how I long
To pry these cobwebs from my mind

What’s this? A story coming to light
It’s about a princess in a fairytale life
But there’s a dragon standing guard
And a thousand rough men
Who’s to save her?
But her own heroine

Oh, I see it now
My very own superhero
Though, she doesn’t wear a cape
And she cannot fly
She’s got the strength of her heart
And a daughter’s love by her side

Oh, whoa
Yea, you were a whore to the world
But to me you have always been
My Heroine

You fought noises in the dark
Demons of the past
And creeps under the bed
Oh you have been everything
That I need
Yea, you are
My heroine

When we lost our home,
I thought we’d die there on the street
But your strength and perseverance pulled us through
When the boys broke my heart
Your love showed me the light

Oh, when you were a whore to the world
You were always a hero in my eyes
Yea, whore to the world
But you will always be
My heroine

Yea, my heroine

“Thank you, you guys have been great,” Ellie said before quietly walking off stage and into Brian’s arms.

Brian immediately wrapped his arms around her, his tears mixing with her own. “That was beautiful.”

“I-I gotta go,” she whispered before pushing out of his arms and heading straight out the exit door.

“I’ll handle it,” Adam told Brian before following the girl. “Angel,” Adam called, looking for his daughter outside.

“Don’t call me that,” she whimpered. She was leaning up against brick wall and trying to light her cigarette. Her shaking hands weren’t helping much.

“I’m sorry. Here, let me help you,” he said, lighting the cancer stick for her.

“What? You’re not going to say how I’m ruining my lungs?” She asked him shakily after a few minutes.

“No, not this time,” he said, leaning against the wall next to her.

Ellie scoffed and took another deep drag. “You know, if these things were so deadly, then why the hell has the government not gotten rid of them yet?”

Adam chuckled. “Because, for once, someone read their history…but you already know that.”

Ellie slowly let the smoke out of her mouth.

“What you did back there, it took a lot of guts.”

“That wasn’t bravery- I don’t know what it was,” she replied dully, throwing her cigarette butt on the ground and stomping it out.

Adam watched her movements, noting that they were a little slow. “I saw the scans.”

“You have no right to see them.”

Adam shrugged, “but I did.”

Ellie sighed and looked at the barbed wire fence. Already, fans were gathering at the fence. “Stupid kids, missing a perfectly good show,” she muttered.

Adam followed her gaze. The fans were calling her over. “You know, for a teenage girl, you’re more complicated than you should be. But, hey, what do I know? I’ve only raised boys.”

Ellie sighed and managed to light another cigarette. “It’s because I’m a performer. I have walked a dozen worlds, lived in many times, killed hundreds, been born and died a thousand times. I have sung of sorrow and joy, danced to many-a-tune. But now, my time is finally coming to an end. The sand in my hourglass is dwindling. I fear that I cannot cheat death anymore.”

“Cryptic.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Do you blame us?”

“For what?”

“For making you become so many people that you lose the real you?”

Ellie laughed. “I don’t know if there is a real me. I can’t see where one character ends and the next begins!”

Adam sighed and shook his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have cast you.”

Ellie turned to face him, “Daddy, you cast me to be your daughter. That is the one character that I know I have done flawlessly,” she said with large, pleading eyes. “I have never had to memorize lines or blocking with you- I knew what to say with the correct intonation and how to go about living in our own little world.” Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. “It was never pretend for me.”

Adam immediately seized her in his arms. “I’m sorry. It was never pretend for me, either.” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

“Your mother and I tried to keep you away, but you were drawn to the stage. You could never stay away too long. I remember when you were five and your mom was choreographing for the Our Town revival. One of the actresses was having trouble with her lines. And you- you just put your coloring book and crayons down and marched straight up to her, recited her lines perfectly, and marched right off the stage. From then on, it kind of exploded. Once the media got wind of it, you were raised high as The Prodigy Child- the Savior of the Stage.”

“It’s okay, I have never blamed you guys.”

Adam smiled and kissed her head again.“No matter what happened, you will always be my Galway Girl…and no one can take that away from us.”

Ellie laughed. The nickname was old and rarely used. It originated from her very first production- when she was only six. The production was a straight play named “Galway Girl,” an homage to the Steve Earle song.

“Come on, Brian is probably worrying about you. I know I would”

Ellie laughed. “Okay, but tell me something.”

“Anything,” Adam replied, a smile starting to form on his face.

“Did you really lose your heart to me?”

“Yea, it was the moment you jumped into my arms. Your mother stole the rest of it as soon as she flashed me a smile.”

Ellie laughed and led him through the backstage area of the venue. “You’re too corny for words sometimes.”

“But I always make you leave smiling.”

“That you do.”