When the song ends, she hands the mic to Patrick, pushes her little nose in the air, and walks off stage, but then she stops and grabs the other guitarist’s face and lays a big-ass kiss on him.
I look at Patrick, who mouths, “What the fuck?” then looks into the crowd and gives the harshest look to someone who I’ve never seen.
Then I see Truth, Brisa, and Gabrielle stand and walk to the door.
When the applause dies, Patrick puts the mic in the stand. “Well, that was pretty bad-ass, right?”
Everyone claps, whistles, and cheers.
“Gonna be hard to follow that, but I’m gonna try. Before I begin, I want to thank you all for coming out tonight and supporting the first annual Seashore Sit Down and Listen Fundraiser and Talent Show. The people behind the scenes have been counting the money and have tallied the donations from tonight. I’m sure Savvy, Roach, and Ziggy would love to know that one, ten-minute discussion turned into a million dollars to help human beings who are less fortunate than many of us, but no less important.”
I am overwhelmed and overjoyed. Tears, happy ones, flow down my cheeks.
“This song I’m going to sing is my own little version of Joe Cocker’s ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’.”
Patrick doesn’t stay on stage, he hops down and walks around, singing from table to table, letting them sing with him.
Arm linked with Chloe’s, we sway to the song whose lyrics I’ve known all my life but never sounded so fucking amazing.
Patrick had plans tonight and had to leave right after the fundraiser ended, and I am absolutely fine with it. I’m sure I’ll see him in the morning.
Right now, I’m standing in the middle of a ballroom, looking around, feeling a huge sense of pride. Not so much for me. This did start out as a way to fluff up college applications, if I so chose to take that route.
When my phone chimes in my pocket, I reach in and see a message from him and smile.
11:49 p.m. - If you haven’t left yet, could you check back by where you were standing to see if I left my mug?
I nod as if he can see me and skip—yes, skip—to the back. But then I stop abruptly when I hear a guitar and turn around.
He’s sitting on the stage, looking at me as he plays.
“Heaven only knows where you’ve been, but I don’t really need to know. I know where you’re gonna go. On my heart, where you’re resting your head. And you just look so beautiful. It’s like you were an angel …”
God, I believe You’re real. I see Your beauty in places I never thought to look before. I know You’re not a genie who grants wishes, but I do know You’re all powerful. I want to ask You that, if he ever needs saving, please know that, not only did he save me, I don’t know anyone more deserving of a wish, or a miracle as him.
One more thing, thank You for making those pretentious assholes open their wallets for something important tonight.
Peace, love, and all that stuff.
It’s me,
Savvy Sutton.
Chapter 23
“Instead of putting others in their place,
put yourself in their place.”
~Amish Proverb
Patrick
The week before school ended, Savvy began talking about really wanting to find out where Liberty went after dumping her off here. She told me that, after her mother died, there were sometimes weeks when Liberty only left the van to pee. She admitted it was frightening, that there were times when she went without eating for a couple days. And now, instead of being angry, she thinks what Liberty did by leaving her here was the right thing. She is pretty sure she has a mental health issue and would like to see her get some help. She wants her to know that she wasn’t alone, and then she thanked me for showing her that she wasn’t either.
She is also considering trying to find out who her father is. She doesn’t want him or anyone else to know because, if he’s a horrible human being, which she suspects he is, she doesn’t want to carry that in her heart for the rest of her life. I offered to get help from my parents or my uncles —hell, they do background checks on everyone they hire, and my uncles are in the security business—but she was adamant that she would be furious if I asked them