The Artists live (a little bit longer)

Chapter 7

    They returned to the hotel around four o'clock in the afternoon. Hale (seeing them in wet clothes): "You went swimming? At least you could have taken your clothes off. (laughter)" Reydan (eyes wide open, looks at Hale): "What did I tell you, you see they tried to kill themselves together!" Alton (waves his hand): "I didn't try to kill myself." Reydan (looks at them, then turns to Hale again): "What did I tell you, you see Sage tried to kill herself again!" Sage (grabs the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes for a moment): "Everything is fine, there was just a minor misunderstanding, we resolved it after talking." Reydan: "Couldn't you have talked here instead of in the water? No, you two are really going to die one day." Sage: "Let's go change, then we're going to watch the football game. Where's Shade?" Hale: "He's in the room, playing games... (pause) Since when do you watch the football games?" Sage: "I don't, but we have to get Shade out of the room. I don't know what the teams are called like, but I know that one of them have dark blue jerseys, so I'm cheering for them. (smile)" Hale (laughs): "It's the first time I've heard someone choose who they're cheering for based on the color of the jersey. Come on, go get changed, we'll get ready too."

    All five sat in the stands and watched the game. Shade (pointing to one player): "The one with the bald head is rocking! You'll see, he'll be in a much stronger club one day." Hale: "You see this blondie from the opposing team? Watch him shoot, if he doesn't score - no one will!" Shade: "The one I told you is stronger - you want to make a bet? Look, I trained football for ten years, if I wasn't a drummer I'd be a football player, so you have in mind that I understand a lot about it." Hale (shakes hands): "It's valid, fifty euros for the blue team to win." Shade: "The reds are winning, they're playing better." Reydan: "We get the bet! Let's see who's going to win."

   The blue team led before the first half, but the red team overtook their score and won 3:1, so Shade won the bet.

   Shade (counting the money after the game): "I told you, I understand football well. (looks at the others) I'll save this, so I'll buy you some jam at Grandma Ruza's when we have a concert near my birthplace." Reydan (smiled): "Original! Everyone buys a drink, and you buy a jam." Shade (in a good mood): "I'll buy a drink if you want, there are also homemade syrups! (quieter) And grandfather Radivoje prepares homemade brandy, for you children who don't like juice... (wink)" Reydan: "Ha, ha, traditional man! (laughter) We will drink brandy at your place, and then wine in Sage's area... Will we be sober until the end? (laughter)" Alton (laughter): "As much as we've been performing lately, let's give ourselves a break, we deserve it." Hale: "It was about time to have a concert in your hometowns, Reddy and I are from where we live anyway, and we already had a lot of performances there. We'll also use opportunity to go around the country." Shade (looks at the phone): "It's only seven o'clock, let's go for a walk around the city, Alton will show us around. Those from the team that came with us have gone who knows where, let's get lost somewhere, too." Alton (nodding): "Let's go then, I'll take you on a tour."

   At the next concert, everything was like before, there was a great atmosphere again. After a concert near Shade's hometown, Shade fulfilled his promise and took them all to a peaceful village. It was clear to them that Shade had inherited his grandfather's sense of humor. Shade showed them where he used to play as a child, he was in a great mood as he reminisced about fond childhood memories and spent time with his grandparents who took care of him. The others were very glad about that, but they were aware that the situation would worsen when he returned home and faced Alice's situation again.

   There is one more concert left. They performed in the Sports Hall in front of an audience of different ages, Sage recognized some of the people she knew. Some of those faces hit her harder because of her memories, but then she turned and, seeing the guys from the band, realized that she didn't want those bad memories to ruin what she had now. She knew it was impossible to completely erase the heavy feeling left over from the past and that she would probably carry that burden on her soul forever, just like the boys carried their memories, but she wanted it to stop defining her. She was a mockery for these people before, and here she returns as someone they wanted to see, someone they are proud of. She found it ironic.