March 16.
To close the concert, what remained was to return to one of those slow songs. The crowd's energy was handled like a puppet. Billy's catharsis made them cry, jump, dance, and move all over the place. That was exactly what he wanted. The next concert was in a day and a half. As with everything, Seattle would follow, then San Diego, climbing up to New Mexico and taking a route toward Nevada, to bring life to Las Vegas, then heading farther north, where the cold outweighed everything else.
Billy saw how people held themselves together by sheer force.
Float On (Modest Mouse) — the last song of the night.
It was a comic song, no doubt about it, one he used for his third album, which was particularly sad, like a game to say: hey, even if bad things happen, everything will be okay. And that's exactly what they did: the band didn't refuse to give them that spark of music, nothing irreverent.
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
I backed my car into a cop car the other day
Well, he just drove off, sometimes life's okay
I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh, what did I say?
Well, you just laughed it off, it was all okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on anyway, well
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
As Billy sang, people backstage were already exchanging contact numbers; everything was leaning toward the idea that in the next twenty situations, everything would fall under suspicion. That the next concert would sell out completely, because many people were now considering that repeating a concert wasn't such a bad thing; many of the songs Billy sang were left hanging, and now he had room to sing two albums he hadn't played. Such was the power of having space in his repertoire to sing whatever he wanted. So many number-one songs that he was already competing with the very best; his life was wrapped in fame, only under the protection of a mega company. The photos and exposure were focused on him, and of course, on the paparazzi, who were completely deranged and paid different people, paid their way in, climbed fences, took photos under conditions that were absolutely out of the ordinary. Even if he went to the ends of the earth, he would be followed. Like a fact of life. Thankfully, social media offered some margin for improvement, and, of course, anti-paparazzi laws were becoming stricter every day.
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
A fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight of hand
Bad news comes, don't you worry even when it lands
Good news will work its way to all them plans
We both got fired on exactly the same day
Well, we'll float on, good news is on the way
Bring it on, here we are, win or lose, win or lose
Win or lose, win or lose, win or lose, win or lose
Win or lose, win or lose, I can't say
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, alright
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
A moment to open his eyes and let the screams wash over him. How delicious, Billy thought, taking in everything that settled on his shoulders. His team was taking photos; it was the only request, a recording of his life at one hundred percent.
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
Already, we'll all float on
No, don't you worry, we'll all float on, alright
Already, we'll all float on, alright
Don't worry, we'll all float on
(Alright, already) And we'll all float on
Alright, already, we'll all float on, alright
Don't worry, even if things end up a bit too heavy
We'll all float on
Alright, already, we'll all float on (I'm told don't function and listen everyday)
Alright, already, we'll all float on (The worlds' still going strong)
Okay, don't worry, we'll all float on (I lose hair)
Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on (while living here)
Alright, already, we'll all float on (Alright!) (float on)
Now don't you worry, we'll all float on (Alright!)
We'll all float on
🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎵
…
—Hey, I didn't expect to see you here. —Billy said, giving a warm greeting to Leonardo, who was holding hands with a new model, Bar Refaeli, a blonde in the style of Gisele, only different. She didn't have Gisele's presence, but she was far more beautiful, at least if you compared only the physical body, a woman made to measure for Leonardo, who was still at his peak.
-Well, a little getaway with this young lady. —Leo replied, holding the woman firmly by the arm, whispering into her ear.
-We're throwing a party after the concert, you can join us. —Billy invited, knowing well what was expected, though it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
Then many people came up to Billy, eager to meet him; many of them stayed just to see him. He did what he had to do: sign, talk, and let the crowd carry him along. Now there was only one situation that felt almost familiar to him: a small Zoë Kravitz alongside Lisa Bonet, all of them there, by his side, nothing that bothered him.
-My biggest fan. —Billy commented, offering a smile.
-Yesss. —Zoë whispered, left speechless. On the outside, she was a real handful; she already had that indie vibe, liked to go wild and have fun with her friends. Her mother came with her, because curiously they did many things together, and she had come to like Billy's music, which for her was better than her ex-husband's. That was a fact.
-Well, I hope to see you tomorrow. —Billy said, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. Lisa, though surprised, only nodded, but Zoë spoke up.
-We don't have tickets. —Zoë said.
Billy's eyes widened. - Well, I think that's a shame that you don't have them; you can stay for the party, I think they'll be handing out tickets. -
Billy replied, turning back to the other fans who were part of that wonderful crowd.