Cherry's Dawn || Skipper and Monty

Cherry's Dawn || Chapter 15

Late December 1983 – California

SKIPPER

Whenever I feel like givin' up.
Whenever my sunshine turns to rain.
Whenever my hopes and dreams.
Are aimed in the wrong direction.
She's always there.
Tellin' me how much she cares...

My own voice echoed and the usual overlay of instruments echoed loudly though speakers. I imagined Monty strutting to the rhythm of a main guitar. Given work at Soul Train, I hadn't seen this woman since those awkward encounters with Michael. Even then, that wimp never stopped me from thinking about my baby.

Her sweet telephone voice echoed through my mind with every morning hour that passed here in the studio. How I longed to see her those brown eyes, regardless of our schedules right now. By mid-afternoon, I'd grown weary of bass for once and rolled my chair away from the mixing board.

Even my engineer Susan had drop to leave for lunch hour, but strolled to another part of the building. I laughed dryly to myself thinking of her possible plots of revenge for such overwork. We'd been locked up since yesterday evening. I hardly even remember days of the week at this point, but that unusual pattern wouldn't change if I always enjoyed the power of music.

I rolled over to the phone line and dialed with the biggest grin on my face. I wondered if Monty planned on celebrating New Year's this time. At least girlfriend knew limits when it came partying and favored times alone at the penthouse every now and then.

Most of my crew wanted to paint the town red tonight, but I rejected coming along given my distaste for Hollywood in general. There was a huge difference between real performers and the garbage spewing from radio waves now. Case in point, If I heard another Madonna record or even Billie Jean from Michael again, I'd puke.

"Hello, can I speak to the finest woman on earth?" I joked, but leaned back carefully in the roller chair. I watched the locked door in total silence and rejoiced during this time alone with her.

"What do you want, Skip?" Monty chuckled. "I'm not buying you another Corvette, dummy!"

My eyes narrowed jokingly. "Who is this? Fred Sanford?"

I'd never heard a woman laughed so sweetly in my life. A smile became glued to my face. We both calmed down after a while and even though this wasn't a nitty-gritty or serious conversation, I couldn't help tracing to the subject of New Year's Eve.

"You going out tonight? I'm not." I pressed my lips together.

"I know you not, but do you want come over? I'm already drained from the week, so I talked to my team asked for a day off this morning. The episode's done and you'll see me on television Saturday as usual." I knew Monty smiled on the other line.

"I could actually go for some company right now. I'll be over soon, mama." I chuckled again and we hung up in a friendly manner.

__

I chose Evian. She picked a Corona later that night. We watched festivities of New Year's with no sound on television. Infrequent kisses we shared left a bad aftertaste in my mouth from the alcohol, which made my baby laugh. Every time I recoiled, she cackled even louder.

Sadly, my ban against drinking for The Revolution worked to no avail. Drinking in and of itself prompted memories I never wanted to discuss openly. Despite my pleas, I couldn't personally convert someone, for a lack of a better word. People were just human in the end.

After one more water swig, I felt a hand gently touch my arm.

"Are you okay, baby? The ball's gonna drop soon." Monty pointed to the screen with that bottle in her other hand. All I could see had been the shine and flicker of this huge disco ball. I wondered if Don Cornelius mailed the design from Soul Train and negotiated with manufacturers in New York for this event. Droplets of my water bottle met her hand as soon as I turned to face those eyes.

"Nothing's wrong." I told her. She'd finally rid of the poisoned bottle. I slumped my head onto her shoulder and watched the screen again.

"10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Happy New Year!"

I'd blocked the hint of poison on her tongue and kissed my baby almost sadly. Of all places, she wanted to be with me and no one else. Heavens blessed me on the night we met, but I never even imagined this to be reality.

Every other woman I came across these days meant nothing in this moment. I became lost in her kiss. I became so vulnerable now that tears welled in my eyes. Monty gently pulled her lips away from mine and I would only concentrate on her. Our noses touched during this silence.

"I love you." I whispered for the millionth time. "Please say it back." To make an even stronger point, I refused her kiss when she leaned back in. "I've been a jackass, but I'll care about you for the rest of my life. I love you."

I could see the pain in those eyes once more. We both ignored the presence of television right across from us. I locked our hands and raised them for tearful kisses on her knuckles. She hadn't said anything by now, which I completely understood.