Most people have some talent at which they excel. Me, I'm a maestro of the movie camera. I've been doing media studies and I found that I had an amazing knack for getting the best out of a camera. This led to me getting an offer I couldn't refuse.
Not from The Godfather, happily, but from a wannabe rock band at our school. They weren't too bad, actually, but I sort of doubted that they'd ever make the big time. The talent was there, but it was more of a talent to copy other artists, lacking that flare of originality that is so necessary for success.
The band had decided that they wanted to make a video that they could hawk to the video companies, hoping that a promoter would see it and fall all over himself in his endeavours to shovel the shekels in their direction.
I gently suggested that maybe a few gigs at local hotels and night clubs wouldn't hurt but they were mad keen for a video. Apparently in the music industry, if you didn't have a video you had nothing.
I would script the video.
I would have artistic rights.
I would direct and produce it.
My name would be on it.
It would be a smash hit and I would be famous.
In sheer self-defence and to shut them up I agreed to do a video for them. I knew damn well why they were agreeable to letting me script, direct and produce the thing. They didn't have the foggiest idea of how to do it or what they wanted. I also knew that their artistic temperaments meant that they'd try to take control but I thought I could handle that. It would be good practice.
I came up with a reasonable script and the boys were happy with it. They got to do what they did best, play and sing, and I got to do all the hard work. What could be fairer than that?
I arranged to borrow one of the schools recording studios for one Saturday. The professor was agreeable, saying the finished video would be considered one of my work assignments, so I was killing two birds with one shot.
It quickly became apparent that we were going to have a problem with the filming. Not from the band or their fans but from the parasites. There is a distinct difference between the fans and the parasites. The fans are there to cheer their boys on. The parasites are there to suck away the glory and the kudos, as well as any blood they can sink their teeth into.
The fans tended to do as they were told and kept out of the way. The parasites would tend to find ways to get into the video. That was OK. I'd expected that and had built in a few parts for some of the young ladies, subordinate to, but complementary to, the band.
Despite my precautions a small problem arose. She was only about five foot six but she had a sparking personality, looked really vibrant with her mass of red hair, and could project a sexual charisma just by smiling. She was also a cheerleader, and quite a good one, I believe.
Her name was Cherri, spelt with an I, and she had a narcissistic personality. She wasn't happy with the bit parts that the other girls were willing to do. She wanted to be a star. Seeing that she couldn't play and couldn't sing it was going to be hard to fit her into the band. I needed a place where she could be seen and not heard.
Have you ever watched the 'Married – with children' TV series? I quite enjoy that show. In one episode Kelly was included in a rock video. Her role was to be chained to a fence while the video was shot around her. Why they needed to chain her to a fence, I don't know. But the idea did stick in my head. So what the hell? I figured what's good for Kelly would also be good for Cherri.
I called Dan, the band leader, over and told him I had a little problem. I wanted, I said, one of the girls to be fastened to the rails, indicating some rails that ran along one wall of the studio.
"I want her to act as a focus as the virgin sacrifice for the heathen gods," I said. "I figured one of the girls in tattered clothes or possibly some sort of brief costume. Any suggestions as to who might be interested?"
As expected, Cherri had drifted over and was in earshot. Also, as expected, she didn't look too enthused at the idea of being chained to the side of the stage rather than central. Dave was looking around and naturally Cherri was the first person his eyes fell on.
"Ah, perhaps," he started, but I interrupted him.
"No, not Cherri," I said quickly. "Try someone else."
Cherri had already been opening her mouth to refuse the offer and now she snapped it closed, looking indignant. It was fine for her to refuse the offer. Not so fine to be rejected out of hand.
"Ah, why not Cherri?" asked Dan. "She probably has her cheerleader costume here and would seem to fit the requirements.
"Yes, why not Cherri?" I heard Cherri mutter.
"Too flamboyant," I said easily. "She'd probably draw attention away from the band. I was really thinking someone who'd be more of a background figure."
I could practically see Cherri's antenna twitching as she picked up the signal. She'd be apart from the others and more noticeable. All she had to do was agree to play it down. That didn't mean she couldn't milk it for all she was worth.
"Actually, Dan has a point," she said, sounding rather diffident. "I do have my cheerleader outfit in my bag. I'd probably do a good job. Why not try me out?"
"Mainly because I've seen you in that uniform," I told her. "I know how good you look in it. Let's just say you fill out the top a little abundantly."
I looked at her, considering.
"I think it might work with a little change," I said, stroking my chin and trying to look thoughtful. If you work the cheerleader skirt with your current blouse, that should do the trick. You'll be showing a bit of cleavage but you wouldn't be as distracting as in the full uniform."
I was still shaking my head with a dubious expression on my face. Cherri hopped in before I could turn her down again.
"OK," she said quickly, "that's settled. I'll just go and get changed."
"Ah, Cherri," I said hastily, "where the blouse is concerned only two buttons."
I tapped the top of my chest to indicate which buttons I meant, trying to give the impression I wanted cleavage, but not too much cleavage. Cherri gave me a cat with the cream smile and flitted away.
I dug out a couple of pairs of handcuffs and gave them to Dan. (It's amazing the things you can find in the prop box. Especially when you make sure in advance that the things you want are there.)
"OK, Dan. When I give you the nod I want you and one of the others to drag Cherri over and fasten her to the rail. Please remember to fasten her with her arms wide and facing the band."
I'd already found that I needed to be pretty explicit when explaining what I wanted. Dan was quite capable of just handcuffing her ankles to the bars and leave her facing away. After all, as far as he was concerned, Cherri was incidental to his music.
The next session went quite well and I signalled Dan to bring on the virgin sacrifice. He and the drummer stepped out and came back with a genteelly struggling Sherri, who they proceeded to fasten to the wall.
Little bitch, I thought admiringly. She had followed instructions but permitted herself the leisure of getting them wrong. Two buttons, I'd said, tapping the top of my chest and two buttons it was. Fastened. She'd done up the button at her throat and the one immediately below it with the rest unfastened. With her attributes this provided some quite amazing cleavage while still leaving her covered. Which was fortunate, as she seemed to have dispensed with her bra.
Also, I was quite sure that the cheerleaders skirt wasn't normally that short. I'd seen my sisters pull that stunt. They'd leave the house looking sweet and demure. Once out of sight they'd roll the waist band over a couple of times, knocking a couple of inches off their hem line. Cherri had done the same on an already short skirt. She looked great and she probably knew it.
At least, she was out of the way where she was and a few shots of her weren't going to hurt the video. She was continuing her mild struggling and wriggling, but I'll admit that she was at least doing it in time to the music. Several times I caught myself looking to see if that blouse was going to slip too far to one side and display the forbidden fruit. I wasn't the only one doing that.
Anyway, I wrapped things up and told Dan that he and his boys needed to pack and depart as there were other people needing the studio. It wasn't long before he and his entourage were packed and heading out the door. The only hiccup in the procedure had been Cherri.
As soon as we had finished the video she had wanted to be let loose again. A reasonable request I suppose. I told one of the hangers-on to get the keys from the prop box and let her loose then turned my attention to chivvying Dan along.
I was quite annoyed when my volunteer came back with the news.
"No keys? What do you mean no keys?" I asked.
"I checked carefully," she protested. "I found another pair of cuffs but there aren't any keys."
As you can well imagine this went down real well with Cherri. Not that she could do much about it, fastened to the wall that way. Still, she did get her message across.
"Calm down, Cherri," I said soothingly. "It's not the end of the world. There'll be someone in the maintenance department. I'll give them a call and have them bring over some bolt cutters. A couple of snips and you'll be free."
She calmed down a little but it was plain that she was unhappy. I guess she shouldn't have volunteered. I made my phone call, told Cherri they'd be there in ten minutes, and turned to chasing away Dan and company.
"Don't worry about Cherri," I reassured everyone. "I'll wait right here until the guy from maintenance gets here."
With everyone gone I strolled back to Cherri.
"Well here's a fine to do," I murmured, putting my hands in my pockets. "Comfortable?"
She just glared at me, while I jingled my pockets. Then I looked a little startled.
"Hey, what's this?" I said, taking a set of keys out of my pocket.
"Well, how about that," I laughed. "I must have put these in my pocket instead of back in the prop box. I guess I won't need to ring the maintenance guy now."
"Undo me. And what do you mean you don't need to ring him? I thought you already had."
"I did but the line was busy. I just told the others that he was on the way so they wouldn't worry. I was going to call again."
Strolling closer I lifted the side of her blouse slightly.
