It’s when a second spotlight appears, beaming down on a grand piano, and Easton takes the bench that what strength I’ve mustered starts to drain. The deafening roar of the crowd with his surprise arrival has instant tears threatening. Dad looks up at the jumbotron to see Easton smiling as the crowd’s roar reaches a thunderous level.
Behind the glass partition that separates us, the whole arena buzzes with electricity as Easton gets comfortable, adjusting the mic before looking over at his father with a grin. Reid smiles back at him, his face filling the jumbotron as he scans the stadium with reverence, giving himself a moment—clear appreciation in his expression for those screaming for the band, for his son.
“Thank you,” Reid speaks into the mic floating above his drum kit. “Thirty years ago… A Latina grenade stomped her way into my life and saved me seven minutes, so I promised her I would make the best of them.” Pandemonium ensues as the camera focuses for several seconds on all four members of the Dead Sergeants. Reflection and emotion flits on each of their faces as they stand in contemplation on the biggest stage in the world. As the noise dies down, the camera pans back in on Reid. “She’s the reason we’re here tonight, so I think it’s only fair we give our last seven minutes to her.”
Easton leans into the mic with a grin, his whisper low. “For you, Mom.” Easton begins to tease the stadium by repeating the opening notes of “Drive” on his piano keys. The uproar in response earns them one of Easton’s most genuine smiles. The song’s significance to fans and expected encore is no surprise considering the adoration and success of the movie.
Dad tightens his hold on my hand, and I glance over to see his shoulders have gone rigid, my whisper of his name getting lost in the noise of the crowd just below us.
Feeling his unease, I rack my brain for the reasoning behind his shift in demeanor. I thoroughly search my mental inventory. Well after the Sergeants’ rise to stardom, Stella stumbled into Emo’s and discovered Reid playing with the Sergeants at the end of one of their tours. They’d taken to the stage of the club to pay homage to their roots. Unbeknownst to Reid, Stella was at the foot of the stage, crying hysterically as Reid bellowed out the song in memory of her. As Easton continues to tease the stadium with the melodic opening, Dad’s words from the bar come back to me, stinging like a thousand needles.
“The night I found out was one of the most painful nights of my life. Seeing how much she loved him, how drawn she was to him, it fucking gutted me. I broke it off right then.”
Oh. My. God.
I turn to my father as the gravity of it hits me, his current reaction a byproduct of that monumental moment between Stella and Reid.
“You were there,” I whisper hoarsely, eyes filling as he keeps his focus trained on the field, on the stage. “You were there. You were there when he sang for her, that’s why—”
“Don’t let go,” he replies hoarsely, his grip on my hand tightening as I realize he’s being forced to relive one of the most painful moments of his life.
“Never,” I say softly, clutching his large hand in both of mine, apologies on the tip of my tongue as Easton’s voice breaks through and he begins to sing as my hopes of making it through the rest of this night intact are utterly obliterated.
Even as the revelation stuns me, I’m inevitably drawn back to the man who seized my heart so many moons ago, and the lyrics of the song begin to pummel me. Easton continues to play the haunting melody as scattered neon purple lights go up one by one throughout the stadium. Synthesizers sound off along with Easton as the camera closes in on him, capturing the details of his face while he poses intimate questions filled with longing.
He continues a slow build as my throat begins to burn. I’m drawn into Easton’s expression as he keeps his eyes down while the weight of our mistakes debilitates me. In these seconds, I become a firm believer that music is timeless. The proof of that almost tangible as years evaporate while my father and I are mutually bruised by a melody, in a front-row seat with a clear view, with history painfully repeating itself.
Even as I rebuke the circumstances against the injustice of what we’re feeling—and the consequences—I grudgingly identify with Stella in the minutes she watched the love of her life sing for her, thinking she was lost to him.
The burn of that truth sears into me further as Easton slowly lifts his head and stares directly into the camera, into me.
The world in its entirety disappears in the background as my supernova sings his parents’ love song, a song from one soulmate to another. The momentum continues to build as Easton casts his spell, enthralling us all just before Reid’s drums kick in and the rest of the Sergeants’ instruments ring out. The song draws heavy as an explosion of fireworks goes off into the night air. Reid detonates on the drums as Ben joins Easton in the chorus. Chills snake their way up my spine as every hair on my body lifts on end with the knowledge that I’m witnessing music history, and the man I’ve been breathing for is making it.