Part 2: Never been done before

Leaves trickled down from the brutish trees which stood tall in Central Park. Lily watched in awe as the leaves seemed to uniformly spiral downward in front of her eyes. Could it be? How magical. Is this the PCP cigarette kicking in? She stopped to admire nature’s majesty. For seven o’ clock on a Saturday morning, the park housed more occupants than usual. People carried on with their business, walking past her as if she didn’t exist.

A surgical mask covered the lower portion of her face, stifling her natural beauty. Covid restrictions were just easing up, but it was still a time where many people voluntarily chose to wear masks. She favored it because she didn’t have to worry about being recognized. That was one regulation that she didn’t fight against. She never fought it because it gave her an opportunity to remain incognito and evade the piercing stares from those that were subscribers of her explicit entrepreneurial online endeavors. With her Crows’ feet covered in foundation and eye drops diffusing the redness in her eyes, she stood there, still. For the first time in a while, she reveled in the stillness. Stillness doesn’t come often for Lily Ladyson. Stillness wasn’t a matter of her not moving, to her, stillness was a mental state – it was an escape, it was a shield. Despite a pigeon pecking at her feet, she remained still and uninterrupted… until … “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth!” The loud and obnoxious voice pierced her concentration. Like the sound of shattering glass startling neighbors entangled with boisterous car alarms, the voice disrupted her one chance for peace and sent a shudder to the essence of her being. Where is it coming from? Lily frantically spun around in circles trying to find the source of the cacophony, only to lock her eyes on a young girl running away from her mother. The girl fled full speed toward a fleeting pigeon. “You’re going too fast young lady.” The mother now winded and out of breath, ceased from her efforts and changed her tone to something fiercer. “Come back here, now!” The young girl immediately halted and turned around. She trudged toward her mother in begrudging obedience. Lily, now deviating from her previous mission of finding the pesky voice, set her sight on something more gripping.

“Hey, you can’t talk to her like that,” Lily snapped at the lady.

“Excuse me? Who are you?” said the mother.

Lily lowered the mask from her face. “It doesn’t matter who I am. That girl is just having fun.” The mother pulled her daughter in, and the young girl stared at Lily, smiling. “I don’t need some stranger, telling me how to handle my own child.”

 Lily crouched down to get closer to the young girl. “If your mommy is making you feel sad or angry, or if she takes things away from you that you want, just know you don’t have to listen to her.”

The livid mother shoved her daughter to the side and got closer to Lily. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you have no place in my relationship with my daughter.”

The PCP began to overpower Lily and the little girl that was once smiling at her, now resembled a toad wearing a polka dot dress and a hat. The toad stared back and began speaking. “I’m Lily Ladyson, and nobody can tell me anything.”

Lily squinted desperately trying to adjust her vision. The mother put her arm around her child and looked at Lily, worried. “Are you okay?” Lilly couldn’t break the gaze from the talking toad.

“I’m Lily Ladyson, and one day I am going to — croak!” The toad began laughing manically. Lily charged toward the toad and attempted to strangle it. The frantic mother pulled Lily off of the screaming girl and sheltered her daughter in her arms. She looked at Lily with disgust and sadness. “You need help young lady.”

As the mother walked away with her daughter, a young man, mid-twenties and scruffy looking approached Lily with a camera phone to her face. “Guys, you’ll never guess who I just ran into today. It’s Lily Ladyson, voted to be the hottest starlet of 2022, and I just caught her choking out a little girl. Is there anything you want to say to your fans?” Lily, still overtaken by the PCP appeared dazed and confused. “Oh, we have all seen that look before. Classic Lily Ladyson. Anyway, this is Pop-up Parker signing off today and I will see you guys on my next Vlog.” The man walked away, and Lily retreated to a park bench to regain her composure. Her chest tightened and every sound in the park was now magnified. What am I going to do? That was Pop-up Parker. He has nearly a million followers. Everybody is going to hate me when they find out that I choked some kid.

Pigeons began pecking at her Vans sneakers and she shooed them away. She shouted at the pigeons. “This is all your fault!” Lily started breathing fast and more heavily until she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“We can fix this Lily. Calm down.”

She turned over and noticed that the ominous man from her kitchen was now sitting next to her. Draped in an all-black peacoat and dark shades, he remained poised and collective, smoking his cigarette. He leaned over to offer her one. She pulled one from his pack.

“What do we do?” Lily said.

“I thought you don’t do partnerships,” said the man.

“I don’t, but you’re different. I know it. I can feel it.”

The man grinned. “Darling, your predicament is simple to fix. What motivates a person’s choices?” Lily stared at him, confused.

“Oh, poor dear, it’s clear that you’ll be the body and I’ll be the brains in this partnership.” The man leaned in to light her cigarette. “The answer my dear, is emotion. If people will start to resent you, then they’ll choose to boycott you. But if you can make them love you again … you’ll win them back.”

“How do I do that,” she asked.

 “You’ll get people to love you again, by being entertaining. By being bold. By being daring. By giving people what they want. More specifically … by doing something that has never been done before.”

She turned to look at him. “I always thought to get people to like you, you need to be relatable.”

The man busted out into laughter.

“That’s madness. You think you relate to these people, or they relate to you? There’s a reason why you’re in front of the camera and they’re not.”

Lily takes a drag from her cigarette and tries to listen intently but lingering effects of the PCP cause her to massage her temples.

“You have two groups of people, those who perform and those who watch. The watchers would never relate to the performer. The trick is to make them think they do, then you regain control and maintain the hierarchy by doing something that they could never do, and that’s where the respect comes in. The man knelt down to feed a pigeon. A bird furiously pecked at his hand. “You see, entertaining is all a game Lily.”

Lily ignored the pigeon and stared at the man.

“What can I do that’s never been done before?” I had just slept with twenty-four guys in one day for my 24th birthday?”

“You’re thinking small Lily.” Suddenly the conversation was broken up by a loud voice.

“Boast not thyself of tomorrow.”

Lily angrily looked around. “Where is that coming from?”

The man garbed in black grinned and pointed to a man in the distance, wearing a tie and dress slacks, and a black jacket over his button-down dress shirt. The loud, dressed up man stood on top of the park bench while holding a Bible.

“For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

The man in black looked at Lily. “You want to do something that’s never been done before? That’s your guy. Conservative Christian. Preacher Jack Hartwrong. Everybody knows him.”

“I know who he is. I saw a clip of him that somebody uploaded on social media. I can’t go anywhere without hearing his stupid voice in the back of my head.”

“Well, he’s your ticket to securing your fans and to keep people loving you.” Preacher Hartwrong used his Bible to direct his voice. People walked by him with disgust. Some used their middle fingers and yelled profanities at the man.

 “Think about how many people would be relieved to see the downfall of the most hated preacher around. What if you use your talents to record the most must see video on the web. Lily Ladyson and the loudmouth preacher?” Lily clenched her fists at the sound of the preacher’s voice.

“You never know which day is going to be your last. Where will you go, Heaven or Hell?”

Lily stared onwards and kicked an empty soda can. “So how will we get him to sleep with me?” Lily turned back to where the man in black was sitting, only to find him missing. Lily turned around, searching for the man, but still couldn’t find him. Suddenly Lily felt a jolt in her body. Her countenance became darker, and she fixated her attention back on the preacher. “What’s never been done before is anybody refusing me.” Lily wiped her mouth and smiled as she watched the preacher from afar. She went to put her mask back on but then crumbled it and tossed it to the pavement.

Jack Hartwrong slammed the doors of his 2016 Ford cargo van after packing up his duffle bag filled with Bibles. He was acquainted with Lily, standing right next to him after he closed his doors.

“Is everything okay?” Jack said. Lily grabbed her shoulder and began sobbing.

“My boyfriend has a temper.”

“Oh, young lady I’m sorry, but I am not the police.”

“No, but aren’t you supposed to be a representative for God? Wouldn’t God’s representative be warmer toward somebody who just been abused by their boyfriend?” The man paused and nervously looked around.

“How would you like me to help you?”

“I don’t have anybody that I can trust here, and I need somewhere to go.”

“Well young lady, I’m not sure that I can help much. I am not from here. I am just passing through New York. My next route is heading toward Colorado.” Lily walked past him and jumped into his passenger seat. She stared at the back of the van and noticed a pull-out couch and a cozy setup. The man walked to the driver side and opened the door, without getting in.

“Are you homeless?” Lily asked.

Jack frowned. “I consider myself to be God’s free agent. I am not tied down to one specific place.” She looked at him with intrigue.

“I’m not tied down either. Take me with you.”

“You are at least thirty years younger than me, and you are an attractive young lady; people’s minds would start to wander,” said Jack.

“You’re telling me that you are more concerned about what people think rather than helping out somebody who is in danger?” The troubled man looked down and appeared as if he was scrolling through a log of memories in his mind. He hopped inside and put on his seat belt.

“You can’t stay with me for the entire ride, at some point you’ll have to find your way.”

Lily grinned. “Don’t worry, it’ll be like I’m not even here.” She winked at him and fastened her seat belt. Jack started the vehicle. He entered an address on his GPS system and heard the voice from his phone speak — Starting route to Standstill Colorado.

She looked at him. “I never been there before,” Lily said. Jack steered skillfully and navigated around the pedestrians in the street that were ignoring traffic rules.

“Neither have I,” he said.

“Fun. A first for both of us.”

Jack saw a yellow light and sped fast to beat it. Without taking his eyes off of the road, he responded. “No. Just for one of us.”