Ultimate Justice (23 page)

“Like what? My aunt's town was hit by a tornado. She used to be a leading member of the local church until it was flattened. The pastor was a broken man. My aunt gave up going anywhere to worship after that. Mom always believed God looked after his own, but now she doesn't give Him house-room. The minister said something about punishment for sin and my mom said, ‘What sin?' My aunt was so faithful, always kept the ten commandments. She would give her last penny to support that church and what happened? God flattened it in just one minute! What had my aunt done to deserve that?”

“I'm sorry for what happened to your aunt. That must be hard for her.”

“So do you think if that happened to you, you would still believe in God?”

“I don't know… except it's hard to say someone doesn't exist, or doesn't care, if… if you kind of know She's there. My mum says it's like you're cross with God but She doesn't stop loving you. Maybe… well, I don't think God actually does the bad thing Herself.”

“But He doesn't stop them! Isn't that the same thing?”

“Maybe God
can't
stop them.”

“But God can do
anything
! He's ‘almighty, King of kings, Lord of lords, God only wise etc., etc.,'” chanted Zoe.

“I don't think my mum and dad believe God can do just anything She wants. She wants to make things and does, but I don't think She can always stop things, or stop people breaking what She has made. They have always taught me that God is there to love us when we hurt. And that is what I have found.”

“But what if your parents went through something. Something really horrible. It's OK being on beautiful Planet Joh!”

“But they
have
had bad things happen. Life wasn't really easy for them.”

“Like what?”

“My mum is an orphan, all her family except Grandma were killed in a flood when she was three… and she was raped when she was seventeen. Dad was blinded at the same time… it was pretty nasty for them. But they came back to believing that God loves them. In fact, Nan and Dad never did believe in Her much
until
then. It is the hard bits that got them to know God, not the easy bits.”

There was a stunned silence around the table.

It was Jane who broke the silence. “So you don't just believe in God because you were brought up to?”

“I did when I was little. But not now. It's not about believing what other people tell me. It helps of course to hear about other people's stuff, but you've got to try and meet Her yourself. I'm not very good at it, but then it's really just doing the best you can and She kind of says, like, ‘I know what you mean, I just need you to come with your heart open, don't worry about the words…'” The table was silent again. “Sorry am I boring you?”

“Far from it,” said Lucy. “It's like, having angels from outer-space, like in the Bible. You really do come from another planet don't you?”

“Yes,” said Kakko.

“I'd love to travel the universe!” said Lucy.

“She loves sci-fi,” said Beth. “You should see some of the books she reads. What've you got now, Carl Sagan or someone?”

And so the subject lightened as Beth and Lucy started to talk about the various merits of authors past and present.

Zoe reached across the table and took Kakko's hand. “Thanks,” she mouthed.

Amy Merton called over, “Beth. There's someone looking for you. Out in the corridor.”

“Oh. Who?”

“Don't know. Didn't give his name.”

Beth got up and went to the door and they caught sight of a well built young man that Beth quickly pushed out of sight.

“Joseph McArthur?” asked Lucy

“The very man,” said Zoe. “Ain't he a hunk?”

After a few minutes Beth returned with a look that was a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment.

“So,” said Zoe, “the sight of your panties paid off then!”

“Zoe, take these plates back to the hatch will you, and don't be rude!” said Jane.

When she had gone Jane apologised to Kakko and Tam, “I am sorry, Zoe is a bit outspoken. Not really a good advert for the YWCA. She's what you might call ‘a rough diamond'.”

“What you see is what you get with her,” said Beth. “I don't mind her. She's exactly the person to have around if something bad's going off. And actually if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have noticed that Joseph liked me. And don't believe her underwear comments. He's not like that.”

“Perhaps she wouldn't say it if she thought he was,” suggested Tam.

“Wise words,” said Jane. “I see that for all your quietness you are quite deep.”

“Oh, he is,” said Kakko, “and lot's of other things. But now I know he's also ‘cute' it seems…”

“Cute,” said Zoe as she came back with a tray full of the sweet course, “who're you talking about?”

“You,” said Tam with a cough.

“Why thanks,” she said making a pose, “I may be a lot of things but I ain't cute!”

***

Meanwhile Dah was getting on extremely well on her table. It was pretty obvious that John was taken with her.

“Just you wait until you hear her sing,” he said.

Dah smiled. She liked this boy. Yet he was a bit young for her she thought. A bit too cosseted too. Anyway, she did not expect or want to stay on a strange planet on the other side of the universe. No way. But to have a young fan, just one young fan, from outer-space, well that was something to put on your bio!

***

That evening after dinner, in the dormitory Zoe approached Kakko.

“I have been told to come and apologise,” she said. “Apparently I was rude to you – and Tam – at the table… I didn't mean to be.”

“Nonsense,” said Kakko. “How were you rude?”

“Well, using three bad words beginning with ‘p' and then saying it was a pity Tam was your boyfriend among other things.”

“Goodness! There was no way I thought you were serious.”

“I wasn't. Except that Tam
is
rather good looking.”

“To tell you the truth, I thought you were rather fun. Mrs Dodge sounds a bit stuffy.”

“‘Miss', she never married. She fought for women and girls – demanding men respect them. So I guess we must give her credit. But things are different now. It's no longer just about respect, it's equality and freedom from people who want to put us in a special ‘female' place. And sometimes that includes
women
who insist on outward appearances of ‘purity'. I can't stand them – all lah-de-dah polite and reckon sex is a bad thing… while they still cheat and deceive if they get the chance.”

“But with you, Zoe, you get what you see?”

“I hope so… most of the time. I guess I'm not perfect – no-one is.”

“I see you as a young women who wants to be herself. The so called ‘rudeness' is defiance of those who want to restrict you.”

“I suppose it is. Anyway I've to apologise to Beth too.”

“Me?” asked Beth.

“Yeah. I'm sorry I teased you about Joseph.”

“Garbage! If it weren't for you, I'd never have noticed him. OK, I was embarrassed perhaps, but you're right he
is
a hunk. I got a date with him! Yay!” She danced around in a circle and did a high kick. (Her briefs
did
match her skirt – although Tam would never know!). “It's Jane isn't it? She's the one who got you to do this apologising.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, don't mind Jane. She can be rather sad sometimes… look, Kakko, would you and Dah like something a bit more, like, colourful for the concert this evening – seeing as you're going on stage? Perhaps Zoe and I could help out.”

The concert venue was just across the road. It was being hosted by the YWCA to raise funds for their work among disadvantaged girls in New York City and it was a sell out. The only thing that had concerned them was that they hadn't managed to attract the usual numbers of talented performers as in previous years. They had delayed finalising the programme hoping for something to turn up. At the last minute their prayers had been answered as Da'yelni and Kakko arrived out of the blue.

“We've put you in for two slots,” explained Amy. “Dah, can you find two songs to end our first half? Then if you and Kakko – ”

“And Tam,” added Kakko.

“Yes, and Tam. Can you lead us all in ‘Be Not Afraid', that's by Bob Dufford is that right?”

“I'm sorry I don't know who wrote it. My dad taught it to me.”

“I'm sure we've got that correct. You OK with that?”

“Yeah,” said Dah. “We've been practising. Just as long as Bob Dufford ain't here.”

“No. But we're covered for copyright. I've checked that… I see you've been helped out with some new clothes. Great. Tonight is going to be fabulous!”

***

When they got to the venue they found it already busy. Unlike the concert just a few hours before, the audience was a mixture of ages and cultures. There were men in tuxes and women in black dresses, boys in jeans and tank tops and girls with tattoos, bejewelled midriffs and short skirts of all colours. There was a high stage on the back of which was a large, orange logo with the letters YWCA on the left and on the right, the words:

Pursue justice

Rescue the downtrodden

Defend the vulnerable.

“What does that say?” asked Dah. Zoe read the words. “I like that.”

“I reckon it comes from the Bible somewhere – Isaiah, I think. Jesus said something like it too.”

“You follow this Jesus?”

“Yeah,” said Zoe, “there was nothing lah-de-dah about him. Stuck up for the weak, demanded equality, set people free from oppression and got done in for it.”

“Done in?”

“Yeah, killed… nailed to a cross… executed by those who controlled the world.”

“Tell me those words again,” said Dah. “I'll try and put them into my songs.”

“Sure. You're amazing! It says: ‘Pursue justice; Rescue the down-trodden; Defend the vulnerable'. That's what the YWCA is trying to do in New York City. You really are an ET ain't you?”

“ET?”

“Extra Terrestrial. Alien from another planet.”

“I suppose so. But in many ways it doesn't feel that far away. We have down-trodden and vulnerable people on my planet. And we certainly need justice. My songs are about that. But most young people ain't interested – they just want the rock bands and the sex symbols, and the old folk despise me because they don't want to hear my message. It requires
them
to change, to think of poor people, but they would rather believe that it is the poor people's fault that they are poor.”

“I know what you mean,” said Zoe, “they think that God has blessed them because they have worked hard and deserve what they have, forgetting that most poor people also work hard – with their backs up against the wall because the rich people have gotten all the goodies first… but the people here tonight, some of them may be rich but they really want to make a difference. They believe those words, so I guess they'll like you.”

And they did!

When Dah came onto the stage you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was fully attentive. Dah strummed her first note and introduced her song.

“I ain't from these parts. I don't speak your language, but I know what these words mean. I mean I
know
what they mean – I've seen the poor cheated, and the corruption of those in authority and only a few hours ago I knew what it was to be left out and unwanted. But since then I've found new friends, good friends that have made me feel special. So tonight I don't care whether you like what I sing or not – I got friends, and no amount of cheating, corruption and oppression is going to give you friends. So… let's sing…”

Out of the silence as she was about to begin a lone voice shouted from half way down the hall.

“You got soul, young lady, black soul. May God bless you!”

Some people turned to shush the old man, but Dah called.

“Mr Williams, is that you?”

“Sure is,” said the voice from the darkness.

“Then I ain't going to be singing alone! After the break when I do my next session, will you come up here?”

“Sure.”

Dah strummed her first chord again and began to sing. Her rich voice filled the hall and when she incorporated the words from the stage into the melody people applauded. When she had finished, some people at the front stood up and then everyone was standing.

“Please sit down,” she requested, “I have another one. This is my favourite song.”

The contrast between the reception she got from the concert on her own planet and this one was enormous. Dah fled from the stage and almost fell into Kakko's arms.

“I'm tired,” was all she could say as the people from the other acts crowded around her.

“Is there anywhere we could go and rest?” Kakko called to Amy.

“Follow me,” said Amy, and led them into a small room back stage.

“You OK?” asked Kakko as she and Dah sank into a comfy love-seat. “Can I get you anything?”

“You can get me some water. I'm OK. Just tired. It doesn't seem possible that that disastrous concert was only twelve hours ago; and I haven't been in a bed since.”

Amy called for water.

“You OK for the second half?” asked Kakko, concerned.

“Yeah. No problem. It's your song this time. I invited Mr Williams to come up. Was that OK?”

“Perfectly,” said Amy. “You must have met him this afternoon.”

“Yeah. He's got a lovely baritone. I don't know what this ‘black soul' business is really about; I hope that's OK.”

“He's a proud black man who has come to live in New England having spent all his life in the South. I guess he's looking for allies, and your music moves him – resonates with his culture.”

“I don't know why. I never thought of myself as ‘black'. We're all about the same colour in my world. We don't have people with pale faces like yours or black ones like Mr Williams'.”

“It's not so much your colour as your songs. It's the style that counts – and the sentiment. That goes for most people here. We're mostly here because we want to provide more opportunities for disadvantaged young people – in this case New York City – and they will be of many colours and languages.”

“Is that far from here?”

“Not so far. A couple of hours by road without hold ups.”

“Is it a big place?”

“New York City? Eight and a half million I believe.”

“Eight and a half million in one city!” exclaimed Kakko.

“Nearly twenty million in the metropolitan area.”

“Amazing, we only have a few hundreds of thousands on the whole of our planet! So the money you get here, this evening, won't make that much difference.”

“A drop in the ocean!” replied Amy. “But hopefully it will stimulate other things. It's an attitude shift that is needed. Even if we don't raise much money, we will have helped to raise awareness. Look what the YWCA has achieved since the nineteenth century. We need to keep at it.”

“But you still have poor people?” said Kakko.

“We do. More than ever. But that doesn't mean we have to give up. If we can give just one person a life changing opportunity that they otherwise might not have had, that is worth it – but the truth is, we achieve more than one. And girls are far more likely to be disadvantaged than boys in the US. We are really grateful to you Dah for agreeing to sing tonight. Some of those people in evening dress are quite influential.”

“Thanks. I'm getting a second wind now. When are we on again?”

“About fifteen minutes. I'll call you. I'm going to arrange to get Mr Williams on the stage.”

***

In the privacy of the back room Dah, Kakko and Tam practised ‘Be Not Afraid' once more. Dah discovered Tam picked it up very quickly. “Can you harmonise?” she asked.

“What's that?”

“Sing the low notes. You could sing this.” Dah played a base line in Tam's range. He sang it.

“Now sing it while Kakko and I sing the tune.”

“What, at the same time?”

“Yes. It'll complement what we sing. That's what harmonising means.”

They tried it and Tam got lost.

“Listen again,” said Dah. Tam sang his bit three times without fault.

“Got it in your head?”

“I think so.”

“Let's try it again from the top.” To his, and Kakko's, amazement it worked and sounded great.

They were practising it for a third time when Amy came and asked if they were ready.

“I think so,” said Kakko.

“We're ready,” smiled Dah confidently.

***

As they came onto the stage again the audience applauded with anticipation. Mr Williams was helped up and given a chair. He sat beaming. Dah explained that the song was Kakko's and handed over the introduction to her.

“I learnt this from my dad,” she explained. “It means a lot to him and mum because it reminds them that God is, like, there for them… erm, whatever…”

Dah began to play and the trio hit the first note spot on. After that it was plain sailing. Mr Williams joined in the first chorus with the tune and never stopped. At the end Kakko invited the audience to sing too. Many of them already knew the words it seemed and soon five hundred people were belting out the chorus. Standing next to him, Kakko was impressed at just how well Tam stuck to his bass line throughout.

“Didn't know you could sing!” she shouted in his ear as the audience applauded.

“Neither did I,” he mouthed.

When his carers came for Mr Williams, he reached out and grabbed hold of Dah. “One day you'll be famous… change the world my girl. You change the world!” He was helped off the stage and the trio dived for the safety of the little room.

“I want to sleep,” sighed Dah.

Tam looked out into the corridor and spotted Zoe.

“Zoe, we're really tired. Do you reckon we could get back to the hostel?”

“Sure,” she replied. “You know where to go. There'll be someone on the door. They'll let you in. Sign the book to say you're in. I'll let Amy know you've gone… that was really, really brilliant. Dah,” she called, “you're a star!”

“Thanks,” said Dah.

Zoe ushered them to a back door. Go left, down the alley.

Never had a strange bed felt so welcome.

***

Meanwhile, back at the venue, everyone was looking for them. People wanted to know everything about them. They were clearly just as impressed with Da'yelni as Mr Williams had been. Was this girl a member? Where did she come from? One man said that he would welcome her to sing in New York at his club and another leading personage from the YWCA wondered if she would front a national campaign.

Lucy told them that she would pass on the cards and that her agent would be in touch. No, she didn't know who her agent was but she was sure she would have one.

***

On their way back to the hostel Zoe asked Lucy how she knew that Dah had an agent.

“I don't. But what I do know is that with her talent she will need one. There are a lot of people out there ready to exploit young people. You gotta be smart.”

“But suppose she ain't got an agent?”

“We'll find one.”

“Who're you going to get? Do you know someone who could be her agent?”

“No. But
we
can do it to start with. Us. You, Beth, me. We'll watch her back.”

“And be paid for it?”

“No! That's just it.
We
won't rip her off. And, I've been thinking, we'll have to keep all this extra-terrestrial thing in check. I mean, we don't want Homeland Security sending them to ‘Area 51'.”

“Ouch! Got ya! If they haven't got proper visas that'll be bad enough.”

“They won't have. You saw them. They don't have
any
luggage. Not even a purse between them – unless they've got their passports sewn into their underwear…”

“They haven't. I shoved the whole lot into the washer when they were in the shower. Nothing.”

“So. When these folk come snooping tomorrow we'll give them my number and get them to ring me. I'll pretend to be their agent from the West Coast.”

“Sounds cool. We'd better check it out with them first of course. They're proper jet-lagged. They'll be out for the count tonight.”

***

The next morning seemed to come round very quickly. Their new friends woke them.

“Breakfast finishes at eight-thirty,” called Zoe. “You getting dressed?”

John was up with the lark. He was determined not to miss Dah and hung around all through breakfast until she and the others staggered in, still half asleep but feeling rested.

“Needed that,” said Tam. “Slept like a log.”

“Me, too,” yawned Kakko, kissing him on the cheek.

“Morning,” said John bouncing across the room. “You OK Dah?”

“Yeah. I'll do. I'm hungry.”

“Sure thing. Help yourself – there's all sorts of breakfast things. Do you want some toast? I'll make you some fresh.”

“Toast? What's that?” said Dah half to herself. But John had already gone in his eagerness to please. Toast with peanut butter and jelly appeared to be the standard fare at breakfast.

“What's this?” asked Kakko.

“Peanut butter and jelly?” smiled Zoe. “You never had PBJ before, honey?”