Changing All Those Changes

4:

A hush falls over the barroom as the band takes their place on the stage. Paul looks out at the expecting crowd but strangely doesn't feel any fear. It's like he's perfectly confident performing with this group. He feels a gaze on him and turns to find Jape waiting. He nods at him and Paul nods back. The drummer crashes his sticks together and the room bursts into sound.

Jape leads the song with his guitar and Paul falls into the rhythm plain as day. His hand seems to know the notes by itself. The hair on his neck stands up excitedly as the Big Bopper's voice rings out beside him: "Well, in North Carolina way back in the hills... Me and my old pappy and he had him a still..."

Paul loses his cares for a moment and gets sucked into the music. His heart is racing. He hasn't had this feeling since the early days of the Beatles, when all they wanted was to play that music that had given them a drive. He never realized how much he missed the simple old rock and roll.

As they finish the song, White Lightning, the crowd explodes into applause. Evidently they're having the same feeling.

The band proceeds into That's What I'm Talking About, and then into The Big Bopper's Wedding. It was when the group coasted into the second chorus for the latter that Paul noticed the door open and shut. A shadow entered the bar and stood at the back of the room, observing.

The band played through the rest of the set, and then the lights came back on. It was only after the light flooded Paul's eyes that he could see clearly to the back of the room where the person stood. His face was clear then, too.

Suddenly Paul's legs went numb beneath him.

The room slowed down, and he looked out at the smiling faces strewn about the crowd. The applause was drowned out by his frantic heartbeat. He felt Jape's hand clap down onto his shoulder and shake him. Paul hazily looked towards him and saw that Jape was displaying him to the cheering crowd.

He gives a feeble attempt at a smile and nod to the crowd, but his eyes keep wandering back over to where... he is. It's like he's... in a dream. His heart desperately wants to believe it's true, but his mind, with whatever sense of reason is left in it, tells it not to get its hopes up. Still, with each continuing glance over to that corner...

The band takes a bow and one of the other men whose names Paul doesn't know leads the way back to the back room. Paul maneuvers his way through his bandmates to tug on Frankie's sleeve. Frankie looks up to Paul curiously.

Paul looks for a way to word it. "Buddy Holly," he splutters, "Buddy Holly is here."

Frankie slowly nods. "Yes, like he said he would be."

"You know him?"

"Don't you?"

"What's that you're talking about, son? You look like you've seen a ghost," says Jape from behind them.

Paul forces a laugh.

Frankie explains for him again, "He's just had a rough night."

Jape gives a hearty laugh. "Must've been some woman," he says, "to leave you all stutterin' like that."

Paul automatically nods in agreement and Jape, satisfied with that, walks past the two of them.

Frankie smacks him on the arm. "I thought you said you weren't with a girl," he says indignantly.

Realizing he's caught himself, Paul just chokes out a laugh again.

"Great show, fellas, great show!" Jape's booming voice cuts in, saving Paul from answering any further. He watches as the bandleader enthusiastically shakes hands with one of the other two men. "I told 'em we've got something worth boasting on. Paul, I don't think I've ever heard you play like that. Where'd you pick up those licks?"