Welcome Home, Rory Bender

With the sold out crowd screaming for an encore, Rory Bender unplugged his virgin white Stratocaster guitar and walked off stage staring at the path ahead.  Climbing in the backseat of the limo waiting for him, he handed the driver a couple of Ben Franklin's and croaked, "Drive me to Seneca Falls." 

"That's A three hour round trip." The driver stared at the money Rory Bender had given him.

"Got a problem with that?" Rory asked, glaring at the driver over his sunglasses. "There is more of that where that came from, pal."

"It ain't the money...I have a date after your show and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get lucky." He explained.

Rory, the lead singer of Devil's Cut, was exasperated as he blew air out of his open mouth. With unwavering conviction, he said, "If I don't get out of this zoo of a city, someone will have to die."

Known for his explosive temper documented in all of the tabloids, Rory Bender was on the verge of one of his legendary tantrums.  Fearing for his safety, the driver nodded, started the engine and kicked up the gravel as he drove to the exit with hundreds of reporters and fans left in the dust of their wake.

Seneca Falls in upstate New York was barely whistle stop, but the rolling hills and green landscape was rustic as well as picturesque.  Sitting quietly in the backseat with a tonic he had poured from the backseat bar, Rory began breathing in the memories of the place he grew up, before he became a rock icon.  It was still amazing that Devil's Cut had caught on fire in all the music charts by placing four consecutive number one hits on Billboard Magazine.  Since his last effort, "Standing on the Edge of Suburbia," was rising to be the band's next big hit, Rory was feeling the pressure of fame in places he had not expected.  He was feeling crushed under an avalanche he had no control.  He was the new rock bad boy, but his bag of tricks was almost empty.  He felt as if it was repeating some of his better ones.

"Are you from here, Mr. Bender?" His driver asked as he drove past a sign that read, "Welcome to Seneca Falls."

"For your information, Mr. Bender is my father and yes, I grew up in this peashooter of a town." His voice sounded like it had gravel in it.  He took another sip of his vodka tonic and cleared his throat.

"Never would have figured." The driver shook his head.

"You got a problem with that?" Rory snapped.

"No sir." He shook his head.

"Up ahead is the driveway." Rory pointed.

"Yes sir." He put on the blinker, but then realized there was no other traffic on the road.  It was just shy of midnight, so it seemed the town had folded up all of the sidewalks.  Pulling into the driveway, he saw a two story farmhouse and a barn absorbed by the shadow of a moonless night.

Rory handed the driver a few more hundred dollar bills, "Here you go, Ben.  When you get back, take that girl out to a very nice place on me."     

"Thank you, Mr. Bender." He nodded as Rory exited the car still carrying his tonic.

Rory did not turn around to see the limo pull out of the driveway, instead he squatted down and picked up A couple stones in the gravel driveway and chucked them into A fallow field.

"Who's there?" A worried voice called out from the wrap around porch where Tory's father held court with the other farmers of the area.

"Is that you, Cedric?" Rory smiled for the first time all day.

"Rory?  Is that you?" The shadow of his younger brother began to walk toward him.

Before another word was said, they embraced, Rory ran his hand through his brother's white blond hair.  Before he became A celebrity, Rory's hair was just a shade darker.

"What are you doing, Ced?  Are you smoking the evil weed?" Rory shook his head.

"It's my coping mechanism." Cedric ruffled Rory's hair.

"Easy.  That hair set me back A couple grand." Rory smiled. 

"I had a date." His evil grin took up most of his face. "Told her Rory Bender was my brother and the rest is none of your business. Including what I was smoking before you pulled up."

"Hahuh" Rory gave his brother an approving whack on his back.

"Dad's been getting worse." Cedric confessed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets of his overalls, "He's getting ornery and sometimes he takes it out on ma."

"Ah, he can be such a brute." Rory drained the rest of his tonic. 

"He don't mean it." Cedric shook his head. “Doc Cowsill says he's got maybe a year left before his mind shuts down."

"That's why I came home. I got the Europe tour followed by an Asian tour.  It will be nine months before I touch the good old USA soil again." Rory bent over and grabbed a handful of dirt by the side of the driveway as if to emphasize his point.

"Dad has an appointment with Doc Cowsill in the morning.  I want you to go with us." Cedric said.

Rory grimaced, "I'm not A morning person."

"Your choice." Cedric shrugged.

"I'll go." Rory rolled his eyes before grabbing Cedric by his thick neck and gimp ing him A knuckle head rub.

"Cut it out, Rory. That hurts." Cedric protested as Rory laughed.

Dr. Weston Cowsill's office was in his converted garage of his ranch that sat on four acres.  Rory drove as his father sat in the front seat glaring at Rory without saying A single word on the fifteen minute drive.  Cedric sat in the backseat, whistling which after ten years, still got on Rory's nerves.

Pulling into the driveway of the doctor's office, Gavin Bender finally spoke, "So, you in rehab again?"

"Dad." Cedric snapped.

"Rehab?  Dad, I haven't been in rehab for three years. I've been a good boy." He spoke to his father as if he was talking to a rebellious child.

"Don't you patronize me, Rory, I ain't a child." He folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

"Dad, we have to go in." Cedric said as he got out of the car.

"I ain't going in there with a devil worshiper." He growled.

"Tell you what, I'll stay here." Rory stared straight ahead with his hands squeezing the steering wheel.

"Rory, I want you to meet Doc Cowsill." Cedric pleaded, "Both of you need to come in."

"My agent texted me.  Wanted to know where the hell I am. I replied he was right.  I am in Hell." 

"Get used to the heat, son." Gavin snorted as he got out of the car.

"Funny, dad, funny." Rory followed them inside Dr. Cowsill's office.

"Well, as I live and breathe, Rory Bender, so good to see you again." Dr. Cowsill hadn't changed one iota since he set Rory's broken arm in high school ten years ago.

"Pleasure." Rory faked enthusiasm as he hid his eyes behind his dark glasses.

"So, Gavin, how goes it?" He opened the chart.

"Fine." He nodded, "Can't understand why you keep having me come in."

There was A noticeable edge to his voice, but Dr. Cowsill did not give it much weight, "I've noticed they took your driver's license."

Cedric closed his eyes as his father spouted off an impressive list of obscenities.  Rory smiled as his father spoke words he had used in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago. Again, Dr. Cowsill gave it no weight, not batting A single eye at some of the more graphic adjectives Gavin spouted.

"I'm going to up your dosage." Dr. Cowsill sighed.

"You're a quack." Gavin waved his arms.  

"C'mon dad, we need to go." Cedric put his arms around his father the way they taught him to do at the clinic.  When he got into one of these jags, he would and could hurt people as he did with Odell, his wife.  Cedric took his mother to the emergency room while the police talked to his father until he calmed down.  

"Rory, can I talk to you?" Dr. Cowsill touched Rory's elbow.

"Sure."

"His prognosis is not encouraging." His blue eyes became crystal clear, showing his genuine concern for his fishing buddy, "Alzheimer's is a progressive and degenerative condition that eventually leads to death.  He talks a lot about you."

"So, I've been told." Rory shrugged, "I came here to be with him."

"He is not the man you remember." 

"I'm not so sure about that.  I left, because he kicked me out three months after I graduated high school. I went to the Big Apple.  I hustled and did what I had to do so I would not have to return to this place with my tail between my legs." He paused feeling his elevated heart rate as even ten years later, the emotion was still raw.

"But you became a successful musician.  I see your face on all the magazines at the grocery store." His bland face was animated as he spoke.

"Nothing has changed.  He doesn't love me and never has, doc." Rory sighed, "Have a good day.  After dealing with him, you deserve it." 

Dr. Cowsill's shoulders slumped as he watched Rory leave.  

"My friend, Evelyn, reads those music magazines."  Odell remarked as she sipped her tea, "She's always spouting off about you with Rory this and Rory that. She's such A card." 

"How about you?  Do you follow my career?" He was sipping on another tonic of which his mother did not approve. 

"I work for the church." She put her cup down on the end table on the porch. "Your music does not blend with those people."

"Are you ashamed like dad?" He cast a glance as her face betrayed her momentarily, "I love you, Rory, but your music is a bit much for me, to be quite honest."

"Mom, I always admired your honesty." He got up and kissed her on top of her snow covered head. There were other marks that he knew better than to ask about them. Sitting down, he took a sip of his drink.

"It's so beautiful out here this time of year, isn't it dear." She was blatantly trying to change the subject just like whenever anyone asked about Gavin. They got married after his dad came back from the war in Korea and with the GI Bill, they bought this farm over fifty years ago.  Gavin used his skills as his father's apprentice, to build the impressive wrap around porch where you could always find some shade.    

Cedric ambled out the door to join them, "Howdy."

"How is your father, dear?" Odell asked.

"Asleep.  Took his medications and nodded off in his chair." Cedric shrugged.

"I wish he'd lie down on the bed.  That chair always gives him such A back ache." She shook her head.

"He'll be okay." Rory assured her.

"How would you know? Have you been around when he soils himself because he forgot to go to the bathroom?" Her question hit the mark.  Rory was wounded.

"I never come around because I'm not welcome here." Rory shot back with his feelings wounded.

"And whose fault is that?" Her face conveyed her ire.

"What do you want from me?" Rory snarled back.

"Some understanding." She spat, "And forgiveness."

Rory turned his head toward the barn, unable to.take her accusatory stare any longer, "We have our history."

"And he had his history with his father." Her voice now had a calmer tone with A gentle, sympathetic ring to it. "How many times does he mention his service in Korea?" 

"Never." Rory grumbled.

"That's right, but the doctor at the VA said his unit had a very high casualty rate." She sipped her tea, "I did not feel it was my place to dig any further."    

Rory sat there suddenly feeling quite guilty.  He glanced at his brother who just shrugged helplessly, unable to offer him any brotherly support. 

"Sometimes you forget that his life was full of hardships and disappointments." She said, tilting her head to one side. 

"That doesn't excuse him from hitting you." Rory countered.

"No, but the man who struck me wasn't him." She blinked and turned her head away. "It would not hurt you to make amends with him.  He deserves the benefit of the doubt."

She rose to her feet and walked inside with her empty cup.  Rory sat there with his hands folded between his knees.

"Welcome home, Rory Bender." Cedric chuckled.

"Aw, shut up." He rubbed his eyes with his hand.

Where the hell are u? Dennis.

It was his manager, Dennis Mylos.  He was not happy that the lead singer from his top grossing band had left the concert without a word. From past conversations, no one would have ever thought he would wind up in Seneca Falls. Not the way he talked about his boyhood home. 

"Dennis?  It's Rory." He held his cell phone to his ear.

"Rory, where are you?" He sounded pissed.

"In Seneca Falls at home." He answered.

"What on earth are you doing there?  We are leaving in three days for London." Dennis replied.

"I'll be there."

"Your track record isn't exactly stellar, you know." Dennis reminded Rory of earlier times when he was having trouble with substance abuse. What Dennis didn't know was Rory's abuse was rooted in his relationship with his father.  

"Let me repeat, I will be there." Rory said with a bit more force in his tone.

"This is the big time, Ror, don't screw this up." The dial tone followed. 

"Dad, what are you doing?" Rory asked as he found Gavin pulling weeds from the front yard in the dark.  Rory was amazed at how dark it would get out here after sundown.  Without his flashlight, Rory would not have been able to find his way.

"What does it look like, smart guy?" He did not look up when he answered.

"Dad, it's a bit nippy.  We should go inside. It's late." Rory ignored his father's sarcasm.  He reached down and put his hand on his father's bony shoulder, but he shrugged it off, continuing to pull the weeds.

"You go on and leave me alone." He growled.

"No dad.  We need to go inside." Rory insisted.

"What are you, my mama?  Since when do you care what I do? Leave me alone.  Go back to your satanic friends and play your devil music.  You are beyond redemption.  My blessings will not save your miserable soul." Saliva foam formed at the corners of his mouth.    

"Look, it was hard for me to come home-" 

"Then go back to the hole you crawled out of." He pulled up some more grass, "Damn, didn't get the roots." 

"Look at me, dad.  Look at me." He grabbed his father by his shoulders.

"What do you want from me?" His nostrils flared. 

"I want you to tell me that you love me, dad." Rory was trembling as he spoke.

"Love you?  Love you?" Gavin panted, "I gave it to you, but you turned your back on me and left."

"I left because you told me you could not stand to look at me anymore." Rory felt the sting of his tears rolling down his cheeks, "I came home to reconcile our differences once and for all."

"Why now?  Is it because of Dr. Cowsill?" He huffed like A feral animal.  Standing up, Gavin's face was red and twisted in anger.

"No dad, I texted Rory.  He came because I asked him to." Cedric walked out the door. Odell followed her son.

"Leave me be." He raised a finger as a warning.

"Dear, your sons love you and want you to come inside.  It's chilly out here." She put her hand gently on his cheek, "You are cold.  Come in and warm yourself."

He nodded in compliance, muttering, "It can wait until the morning, I suppose."

"Yes, the morning...do it in the morning." She kissed him on the cheek. "First thing."

"Yes dear, first thing." He walked inside the house with her hand draped around his shoulder.

"Aren't you glad you came?" Cedric asked as they sat on the porch.

"I am leaving early in the morning." Rory announced to his brother.

"Are you going to tell him goodbye?" Cedric asked.

"You saw.  You saw him.  You heard what he told me.  Naw, it's best if I leave without saying goodbye.  I don't want to aggregate any more.  It will be my way of saying 'I love you, dad.'" Rory wiped A tear from his eye. "I'll stop by on my way out."

"Aw man, you will regret that." Cedric embraced his brother as they sobbed into each other's shoulders.

"I doubt it." Rory whispered into his brother's ear.

He kept his promise.  He gave his brother one last hug before walking out the door, getting into the cab waiting for him in the driveway. Cedric stood on the porch waving as the cab backed out of the driveway.

After several shows in Europe, Cedric texted his brother to inform him that their father had passed away an hour before Devil's Cut took the stage in Vienna. 

"You okay?" Robert, the drummer for the band, asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  Let's rock." He chuckled as he slapped Robert on the shoulder.  Together as they walked toward the stage.  They could hear the audience cheer as the lights came up.

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