CHAPTER TWENTY
The weeks passed quickly for John. He and his band made their engagements to sold out crowds. His songs were topping the charts one after the other. It seemed he could record nothing that didn’t go to number one. Still, he had stiff competition every step of the way. Janice was his number one contender for the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award. John secretly hoped she won. To him she had overcome nearly insurmountable obstacles to make her mark in the Country Music business.
Pam had turned the restaurant/truck stop into a sensation. Every trucker and country western fan stopped hoping for a chance to see someone, anyone, famous. It was a popular dining place for the ‘stars’ traveling through on their tours thanks to John’s constant bragging on the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff there. Pam was already planning an addition on the restaurant to accommodate the growing crowd.
Josh and several of his fellow patients had received engraved invitations to the Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee and they were eager to accept. John, Judy, Pam and Janice made all the arrangements to make this dream come true for them.
At the Travis house bags were packed and waiting to be loaded in one of the three tour busses that transported the band and all the support staff for John’s shows on the tours. They had decided to take the busses to Nashville since they were built to accommodate comfortable living for months at a time on the road.
‘Old Billy,’ as he had come to be known since the birth of lil’ Billy was a package of released excitement and impatience. His mouth ran a mile a minute and he seemed to have an endless number of questions that had to be asked right now! The day they were scheduled to leave for Nashville was no exception. He followed John around like a puppy and fired every question that came to mind. They stood beside the bus, waiting.
“John,” he asked for the tenth time, “do you think you’ll win Entertainer Of The Year?”
“No,” he answered for the tenth time. “I think Janice will. She deserves it. Plus, she’s real talented, too!”
“Yeah, but so are you,” Billy argued. “And if it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t be there at all! She had given up, remember?”
“Just the same,” John replied patiently. “She should win--It’s really hard to tell, Old Billy. We’ll just have to see which way the fans vote.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a new car rolling down the driveway. It stopped beside John’s truck and the driver’s door opened. Pam pushed the door open and climbed out of the vehicle. She waved and yelled her hellos, then walked around to the passenger side in time to meet John and Billy. She opened the door and John reached in and lifted Josh out.
“Is this where you live, Mister Travis?” Josh asked, his eyes as big as silver dollars.
“I thought we were past that Mister Travis thing, Josh,” John chided him gently.
“But you’re famous,” Josh replied, holding to John’s neck tightly.
“I’m just a person, like you, Josh. That’s all. I just sing pretty good and folks want to play my recordings on the radio. It’s just what I do to make money to live on.”
“Them your busses?” Josh asked, looking at the tour busses, accepting what John had said as gospel.
“Yeah,” John replied. “You want to have a look around inside one of them?”
“Yeah,” Josh replied. “I can walk, you know. I’m not dead, yet.”
“Well, from what I’ve been hearing it’s gonna be a long time before that happens. I hear the cancer’s in remission.”
“Yeah, it’s goin’ away,” Josh said, standing on his own two feet, but clinging tightly to John’s hand.
“I’m glad ya’ll could make it, Pam. Old Billy said he would take care of Josh during the trip.”
“That’ll be good, John,” Pam said. “Josh is so excited he couldn’t sleep. Maybe he will on the bus.”
John kneeled in front of Josh and looked him in his large blue eyes, “Josh is it alright with you for Old Billy to help you along during this trip? It’ll be quite a long ride to Nashville.”
“Yeah,” Josh said, reaching over for Billy’s hand. “I’m okay, Mister Travis.”
“Josh, just call me John, please. I’m no body important.”
“You are to me and my mom,” Josh assured him, staring him straight in the eyes.
“We’re family, Josh,” John said with watery eyes. “That’s what family is supposed to do; help each other.”
“I love you, John,” Josh said, then stepped into John’s arms and hugged him tightly.
A tear slid from both of John’s eyes and down his cheek. He looked up at Pam and grinned wryly. “And I love you, too, Josh. More than I can explain in words,” he added.
“When I die,” Josh said honestly. “I’ll always watch over you. I promise.”
“Thank you Josh,” John said seriously. “You make me very proud to know you. Not many unselfish people in the world.”
“I know,” Josh agreed, then stepped back and went to Billy, who was wiping tears of his own. Billy led him to the bus, then helped him up and inside it.
“Well,” John said. “I’d give anything to make him well, Pam.”
“I know you would, John Travis. You’re the most unselfish person I’ve ever met.”
“I appreciate that, Pam,” John said. “Judy and Misty are in the house if you wanna go say hi. I’ll put your suitcases in the bus.”
By three o’clock that afternoon the tour busses rolled in caravan to the north on 1-35 toward Dallas. From Dallas they would take 1-30 to Little Rock, Arkansas, then 1-40 into Nashville. Ross, Dempsey and John were taking turns driving.
At present John was laying back in a captain’s chair. Judy was beside him asleep. Pam and Misty were at the dining table talking softly and Billy and Josh were playing a video game on the entertainment center near the front of the bus.
John had drifted off at some point and was awakened by a gentle nudge on the shoulder. He opened his eyes, realized right off that Judy was gone. He was surprised about that. He would have thought he would have awakened by her getting out of the reclining chair. He looked up into the smiling face of Jake, “Your time to drive, Boss,” he said.
John got up instantly, noticed for the first time that the bus was stopped and that Ross was outside filling the tank with diesel. They were stopped at a truck stop.
“Where are we?” he asked, walking toward the front of the bus.
“Little Rock,” Jake replied. “You drive to Memphis and I’ll drive the rest of the way into Nashville.”
“Okay,” John replied. “Maybe you’d better get some sleep. Your eyes look tired.”
“Their crossed, John,” Jake laughed. “They always look tired.”
John laughed with him. He went to the front of the bus, adjusted the seat and mirrors for himself. When Ross came back from paying for the fuel, he started the bus, closed the door and they were off.
True to his word, Jake took over in Memphis and while he drove into Nashville, John sat in the back of the bus with the Martin D-10 and played it softly. While everyone else slept except him and Jake he thought about what all had happened to him in the past two years and wondered if he was destined to die like his father had; at the height of his career, with a son to raise and one on the way. He decided that if a person knew what lay just beyond the curve, no one would ever get on the road and try to reach a goal. He figured that was what his father was getting at when he wrote the song, ‘JUST BEYOND THE CURVE’. John smiled, deciding he was right. He laid the D-10 aside, then laid his head back and was soon asleep.
When he awakened again they were parked behind the Ryman Auditorium among a large parking lot filled with other tour busses and tractor-trailer rigs that had transported other country stars to the awards ceremony.
“We’re due inside in an hour, John,” Judy said from beside him. “You’d better get showered and dressed. Most everyone else is inside.”
John smiled up at her
, took her hand and pulled her down for a kiss. “What would I do without you, Judy?” he asked seriously. “You make my life.”
“I imagine you’d do just fine, John Travis, Junior. Now, get busy, you’ll be late.”
“Yessum,” he said with a salute, then stood and went to the back of the bus.
Two hours later John and his family and friends sat several rows back from the front. Josh and Pam looked around excitedly at all the stars and celebrities in attendance. Everyone who was anyone in the business was there in all their glory.
On stage the MC announced the names of Leann Rimes and George Straight to make the next presentation, “It is a common misbelieve,” the MC said, “that legends are not born overnight. That is a myth that may be broken tonight. These two superstars need no introduction; they themselves are legends in the country music field. “I’ll let them tell you in their own words.”
It was then that Leann and George came out on stage and walked to the MC. Leanne carried the envelope. She stood beside the tall good looking George Straight. He said, “The most coveted and prestigious award in Country Music is also the hardest to earn.”
“It comes to those who serve as a beacon; a guiding light; an inspiration to the rest of us,” Leanne said, looking all around the audience as she spoke.
“Only through hard work to overcome nearly impossible odds, dedication, a little luck and a battleship full of talent, can one hope to be nominated for Entertainer of The Year,” George said with a large grin.
“And the nominees are,” Leanne said, breaking the seal on the envelope and unfolding the paper in front of her and George. “Janice Reeves, for ‘Stranded in the Dark,” she said.
“John Travis for Just Beyond The Curve,” George said, above the uproar of applause and cheering.
“And,” Leanne said, “Steven Beyers for, I Almost Lost My Way.”
“And the winner is,” George said looking over at Leanne.
“John Travis, for Just Beyond The Curve!” they said together, as the crowd drowned them out in the uproar.
In the audience John stood slowly. He helped Judy to her feet, then turned and picked Josh up in his arms. The little boy hugged his neck and kissed his cheek, as they walked to the stage beside Judy. Misty, Janice and Old Billy followed two steps behind them with Jake, Ross and Dempsey behind them.
On stage John shook hands with George Straight, then kissed Leanne on the cheek. She kissed Josh on the lips gently. He blushed red, then grinned large.
John accepted the award from George and turned to the microphone. “I am honored,” he said shyly. “Thank you,” he added, to the applause, whistles and cheers. “Most of you know I’m not very smart...” he started, but was drowned out by more applause, clapping and whistling. “So you know I didn’t get here on my one. I would’a got lost!” Again the audience applauded him. “I had a lot of help and support along the way. Judy, my wife, who I love beyond measure, gave me a hand up to get started. This young man,” he indicated Billy,” Billy Rivers and a friend of his named Danny Floyd, showed me a way to learn what I didn’t know; which was everything. I ain’t real smart. And this beautiful woman, Misty Rivers, well, she gave me Judy and Billy, in addition to her unyielding faith and a good hard kick out the door to get me started...” Again laughter erupted. “And this beautiful young lady,” he indicated Janice Reeves. “In the midst of my darkest hour stepped in and pulled me back from the abyss...”
Applause and cheers erupted into a standing ovation that drowned out all other sounds for several minutes. When the noise level fell to near silence, John continued.
“This young man is my friend Joshua Jenkins. He’s been sick, but he’s been getting better. He and his friends from the Children’s Cancer Ward are big fans of country music and they desperately need our financial help. Not the hospitals or the research centers, but the families who are overwhelmed by the stratospheric costs. If you can help, have the heart to help; adopt a family and help them out of a terrible situation.”
When the applause died down once again, John stepped back to the microphone and said, “I also need to thank my recording team, band members, and a thousand others who were involved. Above all, after Janice pulled me from the darkness and showed me it wasn’t about me, my family, my parents or friends, but all about the millions of country music fans around the world. Without them, we, as artists, are a voice crying in the wilderness. So, I thank them above all others. It’s for them that we pour our souls out day after day, never knowing what lies just beyond the curve... Thank you from my heart...Goodnight,” John finished, then bowed to his audience, who stood and applauded him louder that any before.
John and his family made their way back to their seats. They accepted hugs, kisses, handshakes and congratulations until they were back at their seats and watching the stage to see what would happen next.
The MC stepped back to the microphone and tapped it gently with his finger. “Might have broke with all the noise in here,” he laughed when the audience laughed nervously.
“John,” George asked with a large smile. “An old friend of your father’s is here tonight and he insisted that I ask you to join him on stage for a salute to your late father. We know it’s asking a lot of a superstar of your status, but since your band is already making their way up on stage, could we coax a song or two out of you?”
On stage John’s band began picking up their instruments. John stood with a bow all around. A voice up on stage that John recognized caused him to turn around and stare in wide eyed surprise. He immediately placed the voice as that belonging to an old man who had given him a ride to 1-35 the day he set out for Austin and cautioned him that it was a long hard row to hoe.
“Hurry up John,” Cotton sang loudly. “It just ain’t the same without you singing and pickinnnn’ them stranggggs!”
John jumped up on the stage and picked up the Fender Stratocaster, dropped the strap around his neck, reached for the old man’s hand and shook it firmly. “You knew all along,” John accused with a smile.
“You’re your father’s son, John,” the old man said. “He gave you all his talent on the night he died. You’ve made him proud!”
John smiled and with tears in his eyes turned to the microphone and launched into Just Beyond The Curve, to a standing ovation.
THE END
About the Author
In 1991, Larry E. Huddleston, along with a close relative, was charged and convicted of numerous counts of bank robbery, armed bank robbery and use of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 292 months for the bank robberies, 60 months consecutive for the weapon and 60 months supervised release. In total, he must serve 29½ years before he is eligible for release in 2017.
From January 1992 until March 2006, he served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary at Leaven-worth, Kansas. He saw it turn from a maximum security prison to a “maximum security housing medium security inmates”.
After 18 months at Leavenworth as a medium security inmate, he was transferred to FCI Texarkana, a “low security” facility.
While incarcerated, Larry became interested in writing and has since written 29 completed movie ‘spec-scripts’ and twelve completed novels of several genres, from western to sci-fi, romance to war, comedy to horror.
You may write to Larry at:
Larry Huddleston #04147-010
FCI
POBox7000
Texarkana TX 75505
Other books by this author available now:
Sacred Curse
Original Intent
The Mistri Virus Coming soon:
The Cherokee Queen Street Sweeper
The Devil & Jenny
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS BOOKS
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