Press Release

44: Rotary Press

"Looking good, X," I encourage the younger man as he practices the two moves I'd taught him on Saturday.

We've both worked up a sweat, and there's a class starting in about ten minutes.

"Dude, I don't know if I'm ready for a class. This shit is hard. I'm drenched after just 30 minutes," Xavier can't seem to draw in a breath. "Are you trying to kill me as revenge for something I said 9 months ago during filming?"

I laugh, clapping the younger man on the back, "You can do this. The classes are fun."

A little over an hour later, Xavier is bent over at the waist, sucking air in as though he's summiting Mt. Everest.

Me? I am laughing uproariously, pulling my protégé along to the dressing rooms.

"Come on, X. Let's get you a shower."

Later, when Xavier is pulling on his socks, I sit next to him. "So anything you want to talk about?"

Xavier looks around the room, but there's no one else near us. Glancing down at the floor, he debates, but it seems he decides to trust me. "Did Minnie tell you about Lester?" he asks quietly.

"Lester?" I'm confused, having no idea who Lester could be.

But X is nodding, "Yeah. Lester Arthur. The sound technician who...."

When Xavier's voice trails off, I finish the sentence, "Who abused you?" For awhile, I'd suspected he'd been abused, and Minnie had given me broad strokes of their interaction at the interview on Sunday.

The younger man's eyes fill up, and he agrees, "She told you?"

"Actually, Minnie didn't tell me the guy's name. Lester Arthur, you say?" Internally, I snort. The creep has two first names. How hilariously dorky is that? No wonder he has to take his frustration out on kids. He's likely trying to get revenge for his name.

"Yeah." He clears his throat, leaning towards me, "He was the sound tech on 'Family Lies', and the first time he smacked me, I thought it was an accident. I looked around, waiting for someone to stop him. Or say something. Or protect me, you know? I mean, I was like 14, Harry. Fourteen!"

Sadly, this is not the first story I've heard of young actors and musicians being physically abused or mistreated in one way or another. Trying to channel Minnie, I put my chin in my hand and keep my mouth shut. Of course, my mum does that trick too. And it usually works. Today is no exception so maybe Minnie and Anne with an "e" are onto something?

"But when it became a pattern, and no one said a word, I realized that I was just a brat in their minds. Like I didn't have rights. People on the crew felt like they could treat me how they wanted because I was the 'naughty one'. I swear, that's what I was called. Go read my press from those days. 'The naughty one' is mentioned in like half of the articles about me, mixed in with comments about how talented I am." He's getting heated thinking about it, and the thought that comes to me is simple: GOOD! He deserves to be pissed about this situation. It was unfair.

Smacking his shoes on the concrete floor, he starts to slide his feet into them, lacing them up silently. I sense there's more to the story, though, so I remain silent, waiting patiently as he angrily ties his shoes, then stands up abruptly and stalks to his locker. Grabbing his light jacket, his shoulders droop before he turns to me.

"Finally it got to the point where I just decided to give them what they expected. They wanted me to be the naughty one, so I became the wild child. The bad seed. Their worst nightmare." He shrugs, and I think he's finally done with his confession to me.

Dejected, he sinks onto the bench next to me again, "The thing is, H.....there's nobody to protect new kids in Hollywood. If you haven't grown up around the business, nobody is watching out for you. I needed a proper manager or something. But we couldn't afford it, and my mom kept saying she could do it."