Page 320 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

Walli paused, making them wait, then he touched his shoulder-length blond locks and said: "Sorry about my hair."

They laughed and clapped again. This was just like show business, Walli realized. If you were a star, they would love you just for being more or less normal. At a Plum Nellie concert, the audience would cheer wildly at literally anything Walli or Dave said into the microphone. And a joke became ten times as funny when told by a celebrity.

"I'm not a politician, I can't make a political speech . . . but I guess you guys hear as many of those as you want."

"Right on!" shouted one of the boys, and they laughed again.

"But I have some experience, you know? I used to live in a Communist country. One day the police caught me singing a Chuck Berry song called 'Back in the USA.' So they

smashed up my guitar."

The audience went quiet.

"It was my first guitar. In those days I had only one. Broke my guitar, broke my heart. So, you see, I know about Communism. I probably know more about it than Lyndon Johnson. I hate Communism." He raised his voice a little. "And I'm still against the war."

They broke out into cheers again.

"You know some people believe Jesus is coming back to earth one day. I don't know if that's true." They were uneasy with this, not sure how to take it. Then Walli said: "If he comes to America he'll probably be called a Communist."

He glanced sideways at Beep, who was laughing along with the rest. She was wearing a sweater and a short but respectable skirt. Her hair was cut in a neat bob. She was still sexy, though: she could not hide that.

"Jesus will probably be arrested by the FBI for un-American activities," Walli went on. "But he won't be surprised: it's pretty similar to what happened to him the first time he came to earth."

Walli had hardly planned beyond his first sentence, and now he was making it up as he went along, but they were delighted. However, he decided to quit while he was ahead.

He had prepared his ending. "I just came here to say one thing to you, and that's: Thank you. Thank you on behalf of millions of people all over the world who want to end this evil war. We appreciate the hard work you're doing here. Keep it up, and I hope to God you win. Good night."

He stepped back from the microphone. Beep came up to him and took his arm, and together they left by the back door, with cheers and applause still ringing out. As soon as they were in Dave's car, Beep said: "My God--you were brilliant! You should run for president!"

He smiled and shrugged. "People are always pleased to find that a pop star is a human being. That's really all it is."

"But you spoke sincerely--and you were so witty!"

"Thanks."

"Maybe you get it from your mother. Didn't you tell me she was in politics?"

"Not really. There's no normal politics in East Germany. She was a city councilor, before the Communists cracked down. By the way, did you notice my accent?"

"Just a little bit."

"I was afraid of that." He was sensitive about his accent. People associated it with Nazis in war movies. He tried to speak like an American, but it was difficult.

"Actually it's charming," Beep said. "I wish Dave could have heard you."

"Where is he, anyway?"

"London, I think. I imagined you would know."

Walli shrugged. "I know he's taking care of business somewhere. He'll show up as soon as we need to write some songs, or make a film, or go on the road again. I thought you two were going to get married."

"We are. We just haven't gotten around to it yet, he's been so busy. And, you know, my parents are cool about us sharing a bedroom when he's here, so it's not like we're desperate to get away from them."

"Nice." They reached Haight-Ashbury and Beep stopped the car outside Walli's house. "You want a cup of coffee or something?" Walli did not know why he said that: it just came out.

"Sure." Beep turned off the throaty engine.

The house was empty. Tammy and Lisa had helped Walli deal with his grief about Karolin's engagement, and he would always be grateful to them, but they had been living a fantasy life that had lasted only as long as the vacation. When summer turned to fall they had left San Francisco and gone home to attend college, like most of the hippies of 1967.

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