iv. The Six
THE SIX
Spring of 1975.
Addy: I like to think I was very mature about it. I knocked politely at the door, waved to his housekeeper, then sat on the couch until he came home. Like the mature adult I was, I waved the vinyl in his face and gave him my best poker face. Teddy looked back at me.
"That was my song. You can't just give it to some, some—" I looked at the cover, "rock band."
"Addy, the Six is practically the rock band. It gives you good publicity if you're just seen with them a few times."
I glared. "It's still my song!"
"Addy. Supermodel isn't you. You are the supermodel. That's your entire brand. Your album already has the green light, anyway."
Silence on my side.
"Like I said, think of it as publicity."
Billy: I expected her to be, you know, happy. Number three on the charts! What else could she want?
Eddie Loving (bassist, the Six): We're sitting around in the studio, then this girl with shaggy blonde hair walks in like she owns the place. White halter top, this checkered skirt that doesn't quite reach her knees, and a matching lounge jacket. She's put together. Not like us. Addy had that sort of energy. She knew what she wanted and you think you can stop her? [Laughs.]
Goes up to me so close, those blue eyes right in my face. I think I stopped breathing. Larger than life, was the word to describe it. When you're so close you're almost touching ... I, well, I think she's going to kiss me and then she goes and demands, "where's Billy Dunne?"
That's it. Another reason I could resent Billy. What am I, his agent?
Karen Sirko (keyboardist, the Six): Eddie looks like he's been punched in the gut. I wave at her, gesture at the door. Billy walks in right then, and this time, she does sock him in the gut.
Billy: Look, I see her, I recognize her from the magazines that have her name plastered over them. From her cover. I'm smiling, man. I'm about to thank her. Then she goes and punches me. What did I do?
Addy: I don't regret it. One of the most satisfying things I've ever done.
Eddie: I kind of fell in love with her right there and then. She was in heels, for Christ's sake.
Klara: Heels were Addy's thing. It fit in a lot with the whole vibe. [Laughs] I mean, you'd expect her to have Barbie feet from how often she wore them.
Graham Dunne (lead guitar, the Six): The look on Billy's face was priceless. I rushed over to help him up, of course, but there was this moment where we were all reeling from the shock ... Addy didn't look like she had much of a fight in her, at least not then.
Come on, she was practically a baby when we first met her. Sixteen. I was twenty-something. Hell, she wasn't even legal. Billy was almost thirty. She had guts, I'll give it to her. I hadn't the slightest idea where she'd gotten the courage from.
We find out later that she's been boxing since she was nine. Professionally.
Warren Rojas (drummer, the Six): I could tell from the moment she entered the room. She was light on her feet. Even in heels, there was a bounce to her step. The way her muscles were tensed up, the way her voice hardened when she said Billy's name. All signs of an angry woman.
Karen: If I remember correctly, I clapped.
Addy: Billy didn't even seem apologetic. He was all, "what the fuck, man?"
Like, hello? You steal my song, and you want me to what, grovel? At your feet?
Karen was laughing. She offered me the seat next to her and said, "I see you're acquainted with Dear Billy over there. I'm Karen. Karen Sirko."
"Addy. Adelia Lovey."
Eddie: I heard Adelia Love. Addy Love. I thought that was her name for the longest time. I didn't realize it was actually Lovey until we became friends.
Warren: I nodded, shook her hand. Asked the question we were all thinking: "So, why're you here?"
I thought she was some sort of pissed off groupie. Fangirl. Hot, yeah, 'cept we needed Billy to sing. Preferably uninjured.
Addy: "I wrote Supermodel," I said. No other explanation.
Graham: Until then, I'd never really thought about where the song had came from. I always thought it was something Billy'd cooked up, Teddy'd fixed, or some other place. Some songs we made together, some songs we didn't.
Karen: I'd never heard a second of Supermodel before Billy presented it to us. Almost perfectly polished. It was weird. I didn't ask about it, though, 'cause everyone was so excited to finally be working on something Teddy liked. Especially Billy. That's probably why he never bothered to tell us.
Billy sat up on the floor, looking wearily at her. "So why'd you punch me?"
Addy: "Because it's my song!"
Warren: Addy always had quite the temper. You wouldn't have thought it, really. She was such a contradiction.
Camila Dunne (wife of Billy Dunne): I loved Addy. We all did. She was the, I guess you could call her the baby of the band. Literally. She was almost a decade younger than Billy.
It was hard not to want to keep her safe. She just seemed too pure for the band, so much of the time. You'll see that in articles everywhere. Addy dressed differently, she spoke differently, and she just carried herself differently.
Karen: I cleared my throat and told her, "thank you." Billy dropped the smug look on his face.
Addy: I liked Karen from the start.
Graham: We all thanked her. Except Billy.
Billy: I think I was being very reasonable for a guy who'd just been punched.
Karen: [Rolls eyes] Sure, man.
Camila: Look, I was the first person who heard Supermodel. Besides Teddy and Addy, of course. Before Billy. It'd been mailed to the house and I took a peek.
I was curious, okay?
Whatever Teddy says. Her voice wasn't right, all that, whatever. Ignore it. I hear her voice and I'm just wondering why I don't know her name yet.
I'm not letting Billy throw a girl like that out of our house just because she punched him. Addy had potential. So much potential. Keeping him in line was just another bonus. Her energy was perfect for the rock scene.
Also. There'd actually be, you know, six.
Addy stood to the side, tentatively taking glances at the rest of the band. Like she didn't feel part of it yet. At least not properly.
Warren fidgeted with the camera, setting it on the table and squinting into its lenses. Addy was completely out of the frame, save for her shoulder and the sleeve attached to it.
He looked up. "Get closer, all of you."
The girl didn't move. But the rest of the band did. (Or, Karen moved first, pulling her closer. Eddie gave her a lopsided grin. Billy craned his neck ever so slightly to look at who was leaning on the back of his chair.)
Warren pressed the button, rushed towards the rest of them, and sat down next to Billy.
Click.
[ PHOTOGRAPH; THE SIX, TAKEN 04/03/95. FRONT ROW: Warren with his drumsticks in his hand, Billy who's leaning to the side and glancing at Addy, Graham shrugging at the camera. SECOND ROW: Karen mid-laugh, Addy's elbows propped on Billy's chair, chin on one knuckle, while she gives him an unamused stare. Eddie's standing right next to her. ]
Addy: I joined. It was very much a heat-of-the-moment, fuck-you-Billy-Dunne kind of thing. He was annoyed I was leaning on his chair. Ruining his shot or something. They wanted to take a photo to celebrate the occasion.
[Laughs] I love that photo. I have it framed in my living room.
Warren: It was a pretty good photo. The photographer tried to replicate it for the SevenEightNine cover. We're in mostly the same positions, but we're not so involved with each other. Staring right at the camera. Except Addy.
Addy: I accidentally pulled on Billy when they were taking the photo. If I look bug-eyed in the photo, it's because I'm trying to hold back a laugh.
Billy: My mouth was bleeding from biting it so I wouldn't make a face.
Addy: You look like you hate the camera.
Billy: I wanted to strangle Addy.
Addy: Billy was pretty annoyed with me after the shoot.
Billy: She pulled my hair! Not even in a kinky way. [Shudders] That would be weird. It was just straight up getting your hair pulled out of your scalp feeling.
Warren: Addy and Billy was something ... not quite the hatred Daisy and Billy had later on. It was mostly just that Addy despised him and he saw her as a younger sister. He was insanely protective of her.
That's why it was so weird that people thought something went on between the two of them, like romantically, because of Supermodel. There was a ten year age gap. Literally. We almost busted a gut laughing the first time a tabloid printed a rumor like that.
Eddie: A lot of the time, it seemed as if Billy and Addy were more like siblings than his actual brother. They had the dynamic down, at least.
Addy: And anyways, Billy was too old to even be considered. Two, he had a wife. Three, I preferred Graham.
Graham: He'd introduce her as his sister. To the whole world. And I was just Graham. [Shakes head.] Family loyalty, much?
Addy: I was sixteen. Songwriter, rhythm guitarist, and singer.
Billy: [sarcastically] Welcome to the fucking Six.
🖇 Author's Note: okay so the djats timeline is pretty messed up & inconsistent with the book sooo billy was born in 1947, addy was born in 1958. warren and graham around 1954. here, eddie will be born in the later half of 1955, so they're still in the same grade but the age gap between him and addy isn't TOO weird. i also used eddie's original name bcs wtf is roundtree and EDDIE LOVING & ADELIA LOVEY was too cute i couldnt let it slide
i imagine addy with the band is basically just ginny w/ her brothers. camila is fleur but they actually love her. karen is tonks! we <3 tonks.
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