Chapter 29
Wednesday finally arrives with Gavin bouncing off the walls in anticipation. He begs Jessica to let him spend the morning FaceTiming with Jacob, but keeping the Military Intelligence Officer’s advice in mind, she won’t allow him to sign in on the iPad she’s letting him borrow for the event. At least the game works on it. She spent most of the previous day sorting out the transfer of the Rainblocks account, which she’s more than a little proud of having accomplished without needing to call Andy. Her attempt to buy him a ticket came up short when the event was sold out, but she’s decided that’s just as well since the one time they were spotted together in public set the grapevine buzzing.
She gets everything they need for the outing packed while Gavin rewatches Rainbow Dave videos on an endless loop with his plastic lizard clenched in his hand like a totem. Jessica tries to be happy for him. He has something in his life that promises a little joy. Looking back on her own childhood in an effort to relate to the mania, the closest she can come is the memory of her best friend’s big brother taking them to their first concert when they were thirteen: Aerosmith at the Boston Garden.
Jessica and Lucy haven’t spoken much since their conversation at the shooting range, but they’ve agreed to carpool to the Scream Time show so the boys can geek out together in the backseat on the way to Boston. Jessica’s SUV is big enough for the lot of them to ride comfortably, so she’s the designated driver. They stop at the Gallo house at quarter past one, allowing for time to pick up food on the way, only to find that Lucy has made lunch for everyone. She hops into the front seat with a smile and a shopping bag from which she dispenses turkey sandwiches, juice boxes for the boys, and a bag of chips to pass around. They’re on 95 South by half past one and pulling into the parking garage around the block from the Berklee Performance Center in Back Bay by twenty past two.
The boys are eager to get in line right away, joining a crowd comprised almost entirely of white kids and their moms, with the occasional dad, teen, or awkward middle-aged Rainbow Dave fan mixed in. It strikes Jessica that she’s never seen so many rainbow tie-dyed t-shirts at an event that wasn’t a Phish concert. Even a good number of the young kids are sporting mohawks of one color or another. The buzz on the street is contagious and she soon finds herself smiling at Lucy, who’s feeling it, too.
Gavin and Jacob can hardly stand still. Fortunately, they don’t have to for long. The doors open at twenty-five to three, allowing ample time for the crowd to mob the merch table in the lobby. Official Scream Time tees, hoodies, and baseball caps (meant to be worn backward with a faux rainbow mohawk swept back toward the bill) are pinned to a high backboard so you can’t miss them. The big seller appears to be the green and yellow jersey featuring Lemon and Lime—the cat and lizard pair that even Jessica knows by name—chasing each other’s tails in a yin-yang configuration. Before the boys can even ask, the moms confer and plunk down the thirty dollars each for a matching pair, which Gavin and Jacob pull on immediately over the t-shirts they’re already wearing.
“Won’t you be too hot in both?” Jessica asks with a grin.
Gavin shakes his head, pulling at the hem of the shirt to stretch it out and get a good look at the art. “It’s air-conditioned in here,” he says before asking for the iPad back, which she held for him while he tugged the shirt on.
Beyond the sales table, there are two lines of velvet rope manned by ushers with handheld barcode scanners. Paper signs taped to the poles are labeled TICKET HOLDERS and LIZARD HOLDERS. The TICKET HOLDERS line is crowded, while the LIZARD HOLDERS line remains empty. The bored usher watching the crowd spots Gavin and Jacob carrying tablets fitted with docks and waves them over.
“Flip it over,” the usher instructs Gavin. “I need to scan the barcode. She with you?” He nods at Jessica.
“I’m his mom.”
He waves her through without so much as a bag search. “Your seat numbers are on the dock label.”
Jessica looks at the TICKET HOLDERS line and sees that security there is just as lax. Even with a capacity of only twelve hundred seats, she knows that searching all these purses and tablet carry bags would take all day, but she expected at least a cursory effort. As someone with both a child and a concealed carry license, the observation leaves her with decidedly mixed feelings.
Gavin searches the bottom of his dock and compares the letter and row number to those on his friend’s. “I didn’t know those were seat numbers on the docks. Are we sitting near Jacob?”
“I don’t know, Gavin. Give me a minute. Come on, we’re blocking the way here. Let’s just find an usher.”
Inside the theater, the stage is illuminated by fans of blue and yellow light. They cut through a haze of fog and splash abstract patterns on a giant darkened video screen. Jessica can make out the triangular shapes of some kind of stage set and what must be Rainbow Dave’s gaming station, draped with black cloth. Apart from the absence of cannabis smoke mingling with the fog, the hushed excitement has the same vibe as any concert she’s ever been to. The house lights are on, but set low, just enough white light from above for the audience to find their seats. Enough to establish the sense that the crowd still inhabits a mundane realm abutting the ethereal one in which their idol resides, and into which he will soon welcome them. There’s some music playing on the house speakers, but it’s barely audible over the din of a mob of kids wigging out in rainbow mohawk hats. She doesn’t see many of the lizard figurines, but the crowd is generously dotted with the bright green and yellow of plush Lemon and Lime toys.
A portly female usher with a flashlight approaches and checks the numbers printed on the docks. “Okay, you see those seats with stars on the backs?” she asks, pointing to the center section below the overhanging balcony. “Those are yours,” she says to Jacob and Lucy.
“And you two are up here. Follow me.”
Gavin and Jacob stare at each other for a moment. There’s disappointment on their faces, but they knew this might happen. They fist-bump and Gavin says, “See you on the other side.” Jessica feels an unexpected pang of grief at this phrase borrowed from Matt as the boys turn and boogie to their respective aisles with their tablets clutched to their chests.
The room is mostly full by the time they settle in their seats. Looking around, Jessica says, “You’ve been here before, you know.”
“Huh?”
“When you were in my belly, Daddy and I went to a concert here.” She points at a section off to the left. “Our seats were right over there. It was a good night. The first time you kicked.”
Gavin responds to this with an uncertain smile, though the idea must seem strange to him. Before either of them can say more, a chant goes up: “WE WANT DAVE! WE WANT DAVE! WE WANT DAVE!”