The Rise and Fall of Calvin Comet -- Pt. VIII

    'It's hard to revisit them days, mate. You think everything's great, everything's fine again. Then it ain't, and you're just the biggest fool of em all.'

    
    PART EIGHT -- Ashes To Ashes

    Slice Rogers had finished his third "coffee" when he asked the interviewer for a ten minute break. Two hours later he returned, his eyes more bloodshot and his balance questionable. The interviewer offered to finish the conversation another day but Slice instantly shook off the suggestion.

    'Now'er never, mate. Only so many times a lad walks down this road.'
    'Very well. Can we talk about the release of "Last Train Around The Sun"? To this day it is the best selling, most successful album Calvin Comet ever made.'
    'I always thought we played an edge too safe on "Last Train", know what e'mean? Too poppy, radio friendly.' 

    Slice was gripping the table ledge to keep steady, though his eyes were intense and focused. 

    'Our first two records was when we was out there. From outer space right? Love them records. "Neptune" has moments but it's too acoustic for me taste. But yeah, truth be told "Last Train" is a bloody good one.'
    'And it was an immediate success, unlike Neptune Memories or SpacePort To SpacePort.' added the interviewer.
    'Yea, yea. Suddenly we was big again, which was great. Been a while, an we was older now. More mature. An not just innit for the fun of bein' famous rockstars again, but cause we made this record for the right reasons. For Galaxy. Course we had to tour it, record company demands and Cal himself wanting to. Don't think he'd have gone, though. If'in he'd known what'd happen.'
    'What happened?'

    With the instinct of a man who had done so countless hundreds of times before, Slice Rogers reached into yet another pocket of his jacket and produced yet another metal flask.

    'Join me?' Slice offered.
    'No thanks.'
    'Hmmmm. Might change your tune after this one.' Slice mumbled, unscrewing the cap and gulping in the smoothest motion he'd displayed the entire conversation thus far.

    'Well, mate. She didn't want 'im to go. On the tour. Least not as long as planned.'
    'She?'
    'Sorre! You been payin' attention? I'm ribbing ya. Not many blokes know bout her outside of the band so I ain't surprised. She was his woman... no... he was her man... more accurate. She'd worried he'd fall back into old habits, what with the druggin' and rockn'rolling. He'd been mostly clean for Last Train and it showed mate, sharp as ever. Man he was rollin'. But the tour beckoned an she wasn't happy, huge fight before Cal left. Fer weeks he'd call her after shows but never an answer. Nothin, every time. He stayed professional but all o' us knew it was eatin' him.'

    'Then word came of something just outside Brussels. Plane crash, week after the tour started. No survivors, 'pparently. We was in Oslo, sittin' in some tavern when a news report read the names of the victims. Cal saw her name and his face went pure white. Said nothin' and just walked out. Never showed for the gig that night or the next night. None of us could find 'im. He was nowhere. And that, that was the end of Comet and the Asteroids.'
    'Oh. Oh my...'
    'Everyone thought he'd just gone mental. Media hypin' the fame and the life was too much for 'im. Romantic fallen star and all that pisswater. But I knew Cal, mate. I knew what had really hit 'im. Bein' a rockstar had been kind to my wallet and I had no wife, obligations or anythin', so I spent a few months tryin' to track 'im down. Them other blokes in the band moved on and even ridiculed me in the press, that twat Banes callin' me "a crazy tryin' to find another crazy". But I knew I could find 'im. Knew I could find my friend. My best lad. And I did.'
    'You did?'
    'Yes mate. I saw 'im. Few years later. Early December, '82. Livin' in a shack out in the French countryside. To this day I ain't even sure how I found it. But somethin' pulled me there, and when I knocked and he opened I knew it. Despite the beard, the stained clothes, any of that rubbish. In his eyes I knew this was Calvin Comet, my best mate.'

    'Nice of you to meet me here.'   
    
    'He let me inside, showed me around. The place was shambles, no lamp or anythin', jugs of milk, burnt out candles and rotten spinach everywhere. In the corner was one bit I recognized, the only thing kept care of. The Red Nova. Its strings was still pristine, shine on the body flawless, even surrounded by grime no spot of dust on it. He caught me eyes starin' at it and laughed aloud, a scary laugh. That's when I knew. And I cried, mate. Yea I admit that. I cried. Broke down big time. Cal smiled, yea he did, then grabbed me shoulders and whispered.'

    'Lets jam soon my friend, after the space voyage. I've got some songs.'

    'I left that shack to never return, never ta tell of it. Till now it seems, mate. Time has passed and my best fellow is near the end of his voyage, I sense.'

    Slice Rogers pulled out his flask one more time and held it out for the interviewer.

    'Join me?'

    The interviewer snapped PAUSE on his recorder and accepted the drink while Slice pulled out a similar one from his jacket.

    'To Calvin Comet! And his trip to planet Earth!'
    'To Calvin Comet.'

    
    ***

    This was not the best holiday season ever. My inability to talk to anyone until the worst possible moment birthed a cloud of awkwardness that fogged over the rest of my family. Whether she was impressed or not, Aunt Pam has hardly glanced at me since my outburst at the dinner table. Her husband much the same, nevermind the looks of demonic contempt from both my father and my despised other aunt. 

    It was to my great horror learning Aunt Jennifer would be accompanying us on the trip back to the city, and driving no less. She looked square into my heart when we loaded the car and directly ordered me to make a case why I shouldn't just be left behind to find my own way home. But my broken spirit refused to break any further simply for her delight. I said nothing and took claim of a quiet backseat corner with my bundle of papers, alongside my sister Laurie. She had been quiet to me also, and I resolved to force myself asleep so to make this nightmare ride seem quicker.

    'I'm turning on the radio.' announced my father. 'Classic rock okay?'    

    I was inbetween sleep for a little while, a pillow covering my face, but awake enough to hear Aunt Jennifer loudly belittle me and "young people these days" while my father wordlessly adjusted the dial. Just as I felt genuine blissful dreaming coming upon me, a sharp poke came to my shoulder. It was Laurie, holding a large pad of paper and a black marker. She'd written something down in large letters and handed it to me, pad and pen.
    
     THANKS FOR STICKING UP FOR ME. YOU'RE A GOOD LITTLE BROTHER

    I glanced at my sister and she gestured me to write something of my own. After looking over the front seat, I jotted down the first thing in my mind.

    I JUST WANTED TO STOP YOU FROM SAYING SOMETHING YOU WEREN'T READY TO SAY

    Laurie took the pad and marker back from me, ripped off a new page and wrote again.

    I KNOW WHY YOU'VE BEEN SO WEIRD AND DISTANT THESE PAST COUPLE WEEKS

    My insides twisted about. She wrote more:

    IT'S WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE. I'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE

    We passed through a couple of identical farm towns, neither of us speaking and and hardly looking at each other. Eventually, she grabbed the pad and marker again, writing:

    PLEASE DON'T SHUT YOURSELF AWAY LIKE THIS. I'VE ALREADY LOST ONE BROTHER. I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THE OTHER ONE I ACTUALLY LIKE

    I looked at her and she looked right back, powerful concern from jawbone to jawbone chiselled on her face. Serious business. My sister knew me enough to know that. There was no future for me on this road. 

    I BROUGHT A DECK OF CARDS, STECK. CRAZY EIGHTS?

    The rest of the trip back to the city delightfully ignored the cloud that had set up shop over my thoughts for a seeming eternity. Two siblings in the backseat playing cards to happily distract the time, two other siblings of another generation in the front with one mostly silent and the other unstoppably belligerent, with a car radio frequency drifting from station to station.

    'That was Milky Way Waves off of the great Golden Planet record. What a cut. And today does sadly mark the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the great Calvin Comet, found alone in the French countryside. The exact cause of Comet's departure was never discovered by doctors, remaining one of the great mysteries in music history to this day. To honour him, we'll be playing his songs and those of the Asteroids all afternoon. Lets continue with one of my personal favourites, "Our Time Will Come Together", from the beautiful Neptune Memories. Everyone out there listening on planet Earth, hope you all enjoy this timeless tune.'

    (xxxv) -- The Rise And Fall Of Calvin Comet