Potluck
it was so cold out you could see the vapor from your breath drop in little ice cubes to the ground every time you exhaled. I found my way down the long winding road in the dark. My car careful not to slip off this mountain way to fast, hoping my every move was just right. Cars were parked all along the driveway and down the line of evergreens. There was a car from New York and Connecticut.
I made my best vegetarian lasagna to share with my new found friends. This was really the kind of crowed that I needed to surround myself with. Nestled in the middle of the woods these open minded artists. My kids followed my lead as we tried to make it on the safe side of the cars instead of the winding road. We stepped carefully on ice until we made it to the safe reprieve of the driveway until we found our way to safety. Outside the warehouse was a fire lit in a round copper fireplace with people surrounding it smoking cigarettes trying to stay warm? Archie smiled at me and came up and asked for his donation and pointed me into the facility stating "There were a lot of people inside plenty of tables and one full of food. The show will start at 8:00 make you comfy. The kids are welcome to play there is a treasure chest of toys and dress up clothes. "
"Thanks, it's bitter out here"
"Ah yes but the stars are out and bright tonight, my dear." He told me his face was red from the flame and his eyes were glazed from sentiment or something else maybe.
We walked in and there was at least 50 people inside it was warm and the lighting was illuminating. Azaria's family was there and instantly put my children at ease. They played whole heartedly in the big room while I gathered food for their plates. There was enough food for an army all placed in nice serving pottery dishes, a great selection of wine. We sat down and got ready for the show eating from this super amazing mix of food.
Demimondaine got up in the middle of everyone and started introducing the players of the night. A published poet rolled his wheel chair into the mix and read one of his poems challenging society to open their hearts to obstacles of biodiversity. Mystical music played from the dark skinned man I saw my first day here. The boy rolled off and selected music began with hard gypsy beats and the wailing of an ancient music. Azaria came in dancing with covered completely by scarves in blue. She wore a shimmery indigo costume and danced around the audience swaying and shimming to the beat. She smiled her best smile when a few drunkards started hooting and hollering she moved away from them.
Azaria danced her way to the puppet theater where Demi was hiding to become the puppet master. She held her puppets high and performed the most bizarre puppet show. Before I know it she is screeching and hysterical in some puppet performance dedicated to the goddess of the dancer. Ok.
Other girls come out and dance and she slowly fades into the background. One girl came and did a very Goth belly dance with heavy makeup and then there was a cane dances overall there were at least 10 dancers from all over. I was mesmerized.
The poet boy got up and spoke a good poem. Demi got up and announced different classes taking place and then everyone started dancing. Wow. Then Mona came through dressed clad in leather showing all her curves she announced she would be doing poi. We all followed her outside and watched her surround herself with fire. Spinning all ways around she was hot and so sexy the way she spun she made evolution gain momentum. What a great place to be.
Goddess Rock Fest.
After the next class I asked Archi if I could hold the second annual Goddess rock fest here. He thought that would be a great idea. I just needed him to find out about insurance. We had sat down on the couch together reasoning about the event since it was a fund raiser for tree's we wanted to keep the costs down. He told me that he would let me use the facilities inside and out for the event for a hundred dollars.
The spring found its way upon us I went about my business of trying to get the Goddess rock fest up and running for June. I had fourteen musicians and 7 acts including dancers and the fire goddess Mona.
The fliers were ready to print and I still couldn't really get the answers that I was looking for out of Archi. He just kept telling me it would be fine. I had gotten my grant of a thousand dollars, which doesn't sound like a lot of money to do a festival but it is manageable. Over a thousand fliers were posted we had every performer and vendor advertise through their fan mail. A week before the show I had scheduled a meeting at the Art Bridge and went to talk to Archi and Demi about the event.
I knocked on the door and Mona answered. She had been staying there. She told me I would have to wait Archi was getting a treatment of some sort Demi was singing Oprah from behind the door. Meanwhile I looked around the kitchen it was small but nice, a lot of wood work. The center island was covered in these Mexican looking tiles. Mona offered me some tea
. "How’s it going?" I asked her. She started testifying her story to me. "I had gotten my car taken away because of drinking and driving. I was at a party and some boys started hassling me and I didn't want to be raped or something if passed out there so I drove off and got stopped by the police. I’m regretting it now that s I had a few more months and I had been stuck up there for half the winter. So I had only got away when I was working or when Tommy could take her away. A half hour late he stumbles out of the back room and pours himself a coffee. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"We set a meeting so we could go over all the fine details."
"Oh" he says. So we set out the door and he informed me that no one would be allowed in the main hall because the insurance wouldn't let anyone be in there. Then he said that he order a port-a- potty and that would cost me an extra $500.00"
"I wasn't prepared for that. Why didn't you tell me? This is why I had asked you in the beginning what it would cost so I could be prepared. I sunk all my cash into advertising. "
"Oh well, you can give it to me later. These are just extra costs that sometimes get in the way" and he scurried down the sidewalk.
We discussed parking and where it would be. I wanted the vendors blocking the house and I didn't want the swing in action. We decided that the stage would be great up against the building up front. Where people would be enticed in from the road knowing that there is an.
Friday before the show I went to drop off a carload of stuff, I started unloading. The kids got out and started to play with the little girl. She was at least nine years old with a baby bottle hanging out of her mouth. Her front teeth were rotted down to stumps. My daughter Giai went to grab her necklace so she could get a better look at it and she started crying. "No one can look at it is mine it is a secret no one can see it. "A big sniffle and scared eyes tears started running down her face.
"I'm sorry I didn't know" Giai said
Archi came running up to me after I was done unloading and had called the kids back into the car. "I hope that you lit a white candle and pray to your goddesses because the insurance fell through." My jaw dropped "How could the insurance fall through? You were supposed to have it set back in January?"
He started mumbling something about parking and then scurried off. I was left with no choice. I could only do the festival here and hope no one got hurt. So when I got home I let my white candle and prayed to the Goddesses.
I called Azaria when I got home to check on her. I hadn't seen her in a month or so because everything just got so hectic; being the coordinator for the festival there was a lot to do.
" I don't know, Ixchelle, if I can be there or not. My daughter has her sixth grade graduation. Ya know I haven't really been there since the last time I danced. I was made to feel really uncomfortable, the cat calls got worse the next potluck and Archi was in the lead. When I talked to Demi about not serving alcohol she got all weird on me. I have to protect myself and my girls. I won't dance there anymore. All winter long, there was no heat. I was paying money every time I went there and volunteering at the potlucks and they wouldn't even share the costs on advertise or lower the price for studio space for the advertising that I did. My friend John that you met there at the potluck, he was interning there this winter. He has four kids and was doing all this free work for them. He set up this website for them and one potluck a bunch of people including a reporter were standing around talking about the progression of this dream coming into light. The web site came up and Archi took all the credit and when John went to say something and he got belittled to no end. So John told him he could take the work he did and never looked back, I was there it was horrible. I knew how hard he had worked on it."
" Hey... do you know what the deal with the little girl’s necklace is? Giai went to touch it and the little girl freaked out she got really scared."
"New, it's probably some kind of black magik talisman."
"I am getting so nervous, things are really getting weird."
"I am sorry, I wish I knew what to say'
Day of the fest... I got there early. Archi comes out all scatter brained. "I haven't slept for a few weeks trying to make it through to the moon. My back hurts; I just don't know how we are going to make it through. The old lady who had given us funding before said that she would give us another allotment because she believed in what we are doing but it hasn't come through yet and our electricity is going to get shut off. "
Ok. So I went about my business and he changed the parking so it would be on the side in the back and put the stage on the backside road where no one could see it. Then he moved the vendors to the back where no one could see them either. When Dazed and Confused went to hang up their sign he went over and started yelling at them." You have to take it down now!! I don't want people driving by thinking that I am getting high< You have to take it down now!" It was all I could do to keep them here for a day. My fortune teller got there unpacked her stuff than packed it back up again and said that she had a bad feeling about this and went home.
The festival started, the music was great. No one was really coming; hardly anyone except Demi's and Archie’s friends who got in for free and my volunteers and it was small less than a hundred people. Demi thought that she would be nice and let the kids play with the wooden tree swing. Then my son, Soul came running up to me. With blood flowing down the middle of his forehead, he had gotten hit by the swing right in the middle one more inch below and it would have broken his nose. It was a bad hit he was defiantly going to have two black eyes.
Everything was going on, great music played throughout the day, the numbers stayed low though and I was getting concerned. Not only that, but Archi must have passed out because he was gone for the day. People wandered in and out and all around. The Henna lady packed up and went home because there wasn't enough business to keep her happy.
My friends played my favorite tune together "Broke down palace" in perfect harmony. It was the highlight of the day for me. They had a perfectly painted life size Jerry in the background. I took my minuet to breath.
"MommyMommyMommy" Soul comes running up to me with his hand over his head blood dripping down his arm covering his neck. Tears on his staining his black and blue eyes. I couldn't tell how bad it was there was so much blood an ambulance had to be called. I had to excuse myself, five more acts to go and the clouds rolled in.
In the Hospital they stapled my son up with seven staples, and gave him a shot in the but. (that would later spawn a nasty staph infection that took the summer to get rid of) and sent us on our way three hours later. According to the schedule one act to go and the day was over. We went back to the venue and the last speaker was going on the wagon from The Stoner band. They had cleaned up when it started to sprinkle. The belly dancer kept everyone preoccupied while they cleaned up the stage. Thankful my little Soul man was alright we hugged and said good night. I watched the vehicle pulling a trailer full of equipment out of the awkward driveway.
Archi comes running out of the house" Do you have my Money?"
"Dude, seriously? I just got out of the hospital and all you can ask is where my money is?"
I went home and tucked my munchkins into bed. Sat in front of my computer and tried to compose a letter. First of all I didn't have $600.00 dollars to pay him I barely had 400. I thought maybe I had a right to sue him, but I really didn't have it in me. I just kept hearing that voice over and over again. Do you have my money? I had just come from the hospital and he didn't even ask how my Soul was. The Mother part of me wanted to retaliate the business part of me wanted to chew him a new hole to dribble his shit out of.
Dear Art Bridge.
With everything all said and done, I have consulted with a lawyer before I wrote this Carefully considering the ethics surrounding this day of the Goddess Rock Fest. Here it goes. I have a case, I could sue and get a decent sum of money, but I won't. I could give you the money you ask for which is five hundred dollars more than what you originally quoted me, but I don't have it. I forgot to pray to my goddesses before the festival. Oops. So I will give you the amount that we had originally agreed on because that is what I have allotted for this festival.
Ixchelle
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