Savage Love (8 page)

     “I was living with my grandparents during my senior year of high school. They wanted me to get a regular diploma. When Mom and Dad were killed I stayed there until I finished high school. My parents will named Uncle Daffyd as my guardian. We were all pretty surprised…including him. Uncle Daffyd wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with us all. He was living his life so differently than we were. But he came to my graduation, what a circus that was…and I stayed with him until I started college in the fall. Now I visit whenever I can. He’s a great guy despite being stubborn and opinionated.”

     “Can I ask you something about your Uncle?” asked Seanna.

     “Sure…” said Bryce.

     “Is he James Savage the rock star?” she asked.

     “How did you find out?” Bryce asked with a worried look.

     “Well…he’s super rich,
he looked kind of familiar, but I guess I figured it out when you guys were talking about the ‘Uncle Savage’ t-shirt. I still wasn’t too sure. Right before I left, I asked Trisha if I could use her computer and I googled him. The article said he had pretty much gone into hiding. They were speculating everything from drug rehab to death. The pictures looked like him only with long blond hair. And just now, you said his coming to your graduation was a circus.”

     “Does your mom know?” he asked.

     “My mom doesn’t know anything about music other than Christian or Classical. She’s probably never heard of him. But she does think all rock stars are slimy drug addicts and Satan worshippers. So, no, I didn’t tell her. Obviously he isn’t any of those things.”

     “No, he never did drugs, but he did allow everyone to think that. That’s one of the things that
my he and my dad fought about. Dad didn’t understand why he would allow people to think he was someone that he wasn’t. He never got into the party and drug scene. The Tabloids had a hay day with him. Always trying to catch him with some groupie, or find some dirt to come up with. When they couldn’t and just started inventing stuff, he never said a word about it. Even his music lyrics implied a wild life style. He can sing and he can play just about any instrument. The rest of the family all believe that God gave him those talents to glorify Him. But Uncle Daffyd used them to get rich. He ended up wearing himself out and having terrible anxiety attacks. For awhile he couldn’t even leave the house. He hated being around strangers and in crowds, which is pretty hard in his line of work. That’s why I was so surprised that he asked you and your mom to stay.”

     “Yeah, I read some of the stuff they wrote about him, and that’s why I wasn’t completely sure that it was him. He just seems so opposite of all the junk they said,” said Seanna.

     “Now he just hides out. He didn’t want anyone to know he was sick. He didn’t even tell my grandparents. He fired his agent and all of his road crew and staff. The only one he kept was Trisha. She was just his personal assistant before. Now he couldn’t make it without Trisha and Leal. His life has gone from bad to worse. I’m all he has. He never married and, as far as I know, never even had a serious relationship. The worst part of it all is that really he is hiding from God and he doesn’t even realize it,” explained Bryce.

     “Have you tried to talk to him about it?” she asked.

     “He refuses. It was either drop the subject or not come home. I love him and can’t leave him, so we don’t talk about it. I still get preachy sometimes,” he smiled, “but I am hoping that between Trisha, Leal and I we can love him back to God.”

     “So how does he keep everyone around here from knowing who he is?”

     “Well, some of the people know him as Daffyd Sayvage. That’s his real name. His stage name is actually his middle name, James, and the Americanized version of our welsh name, Savage. Those that do know who he is keep quiet because he does so much for the town. He built a whole children’s wing on the hospital where he gets his treatments. He brought in all this playground equipment for this park and the local school. He gives into the community and the city father’s know to keep everyone hushed up. I guess you could say that he ‘buys’ their silence. Quite the family secret, huh?”

      “Wow, it’s all crazy. Do your friends know?”

     “Nope. How many friends do you think I would have if they knew who my guardian was?” He said as he shook his head.

     “Tons!” she laughed. “It’s kind of sad though
. Don’t you think?”

     “Such a waste of a life…” he answered. “So, how about you, is your big secret that your dad isn’t your dad?”

     “Everyone who knows us knows that. Not a secret at all. I was old enough to remember their wedding and everything. The only family secret is that my Dad, my step-dad, not my real dad, might have been gay,” she stated.

     “What. No way,” he countered.

     “I don’t think my mom knew. But I always thought something was different between my friend’s dads and mine. It’s hard to explain…but I am pretty sure he was. Dad was great. He really loved me and mom, but he was not very ‘manly’ if you know what I mean. Anyway, I guess I’ll never know for sure. But I
am
sure that if he was really gay, after he married mom that he did his best to live straight. He never looked at guys or anything weird. But he also never looked at women either. So that’s my big secret. But yours is more fun!” she joked.

    
“Yeah, a blast. Being the nephew of a super rich rock star does have its advantages though.”

     “Like what?” she asked.

     “Like spending vacations at the Mountain Home, having my college paid for, driving a nice car, not having to worry about money, you know all that stuff,” Bryce answered.

    “Now having college paid for, that would be nice. I am still trying to figure that all out. I did get some grant money and
one small scholarship, but Mom and I are both going to have to scrimp to make it work. Just my books alone cost more than what she makes in a month. I feel sorry for her, but she insists that not going to college is not an option. If Dad had been smarter about money, or just not been so soft with everyone with a sob story, things might have been different. By the time he died, the store was going under and he had even put a second mortgage on the house. We basically lost the store. There was only enough money to bury him, and for us to make this trip. We called this trip our last hurrah before tightening up the belt for fall.”

     “I am sure it will all work out. Just keep your chin up,” he said.

     “Wow, it’s getting late. We better head back,” said Bryce looking at his watch. “And, hey, can you just pretend that my Uncle isn’t anyone famous?”

     “Sure, to me he is just that rich good Samaritan that helped us in a scrape,” she said. 

    
     Samantha and Daffyd got to work cleaning off the table and putting things in order. Daffyd moved a little slower than Samantha but they worked side by side. Standing at the sink, one washing, and one drying, Samantha commented that Daffyd was looking better. It had only been two days and he already had some color back in his cheeks. There was something comforting about standing two at the sink and setting things right.

     “You are looking better,” said Samantha.

     “I feel better. Usually the treatments knock me down for a week. It’s nice to be able to be up and moving around. Even sitting by the pool yesterday was a treat. I’ll probably have to take a nap before we go out to celebrate, but that is better than spending the whole day in bed.”

     “How often do you have to take the chemo?” she asked.

     “I have to go back in two weeks. They have decided to be more aggressive with it.”

     “How long have you been fighting this?”

     “It’s been over two years since I first got sick. At first I just thought it was the flu. I was run down and just couldn’t seem to get over it. Trish insisted I go to the doctor. They did a bunch of tests, and the rest is history.”

     “Is it curable?” asked Samantha.