Okay, so this one didn’t go where I thought it might. When you write by your coattails, you never know where you might go!

This piece was inspired by Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”

We will call this “I” part deux.

With You I Won’t Back Down

Eddie’s the guy you never reckoned on. Remember the Richard Gere movie where, in his dress whites, he picks up Debra Winger and carries her off into a HEA? That’s Eddie when he goes into the bar, sees you singing your heart out while no one pays attention, except he doesn’t pick you up. He claps so fervently after you stop singing that people stop talking.

You blush, try to refrain from a giggle because you’re not a giggler, except when you’re embarrassed or when Eddie’s involved. Eddie’s looking up at you like you hung that moon, regardless of how cliché that is. He makes you feel like you’re the only one in the room, in the entire effing world. You roll your eyes, giggle again, and try to remember what you were going to sing.

“Sing Tom Petty,” Eddie says.

“Tom Petty? I don’t know any Tom Petty,” you say, taken aback. He sang some song about a girl, right? You have vague memories of a weird, gruesome-seeming video.

“I Won’t Back Down.”

Your chin juts outward. “So?”

“The song, love, the song.”

“Oh.” You frown, while you think about the words and then you smile. “You sing it with me.”

Eddie shakes his head, his eyes saying he really shouldn’t.

“Don’t back down,” you taunt.

He shrugs. For the first time people listen. You don’t care that it’s because Eddie’s there with you, because, well, Eddie’s there with you and with him, you’ll never back down.

end

Sascha Darlington

If you’ve never seen this video before, look for Tom Petty’s guests, the drummer and the two guitarists, almost a super group. Woot! Tell me in the comments if you recognize them.