Lindsey led her around to the back of the house. They approached a room with the lights on, but the shades on the window were down. Lindsey turned around and looked at Kerry.

“This is her room. Her aunt’s room is upstairs,” she whispered.
Kerry began looking around. “What if she’s up?”

“She goes to bed early and leaves before Tammy leaves for school… But, shut up!”

Lindsey knocked lightly on the window. Suddenly the blinds went up and the window slid open.

“Hey Tammy, it’s me,” Lindsey said.

“Hold it down! Don’t wake aunty. I’ll let you in…” But before she finished, she stuck her arm out the window and pointed at Kerry.

“Who the fuck is she, Lindsey?”
“Kerry. She’s cool; she plays guitar too.”
Kerry nodded.
Lindsey reached up and handed Tammy the bottle of whiskey.
Tammy took it and set it on her desk. “I’ve got beer,” she said.

Then she stuck her arm back out the window and pointed at Kerry again. “She better be cool, Lindsey!”

Tammy went to a side door and let them in. She held her finger up to her lips, and then led them to her room. Kerry was shocked to see two very nice guitars with amps sitting alongside one of the walls of Tammy’s room. Tammy handed her a beer.

“Those are cool. How’d you get them?”

Tammy looked at them. “Yeah, they’re good for now. But I’ll get better ones! Aunty bought them for me.”

Kerry looked around. There were two twin beds separated by a dresser. Next to one of the beds was a desk. A cooler full of beer sat on the floor by the desk. Tammy’s diploma was sitting on top of a small bookcase. There was a sizable record collection on the other shelves. Several Jimmy Page posters were tacked to the walls. Kerry and Lindsey sat on one bed, and Tammy sprawled out on the other.

“Hey Kerry, I’m gonna be a star one day!” Tammy said. Then she stood up and held her beer up in the air. “You gotta drink like a star!”

Lindsey and Courtney fell asleep. Kerry and Tammy left the room and went down to the restaurant. After they ate, Tammy went back to her room. Nikki was sitting in the living area watching TV. Tammy walked straight past her without saying a word and shut the bedroom door. She picked up the phone and pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket. She dialed the number and waited as the phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Hey Erzsebet, it’s me.”
“Oh hey Tammy, what’s up?”
“Is Druvilia there?”
“Yeah. She just got out of the can. Here she is.”
“Hey Tamms!”
“I’m ready to join. But I get to play fast! Really fast! Get it!”
“As fast as you want. But you’ll need a new stage name. What do you think of Bathoria?”
Nikki walked over to the bedroom door and was listening intently.
“Who the hell is Druvilia?” she whispered to herself.
******************************************
Tammy kept playing until she heard Elizabeth reach the top of the stairs. Tammy played guitar very fast, her hand racing up and down the neck of the guitar. She preferred the heavy distortion setting on her amp. Randy noticed that she would suddenly play a really cool riff, followed by a short, explosive solo. He asked her once how she came up with the riffs. She told him that she didn’t know; she just played them. 

Tammy Hedrick: Guitar

Born Tammy Porter, she was adopted by a Baptist preacher and missionary named Douglas Hedrick and his wife Angela. Doug Hedrick disappears one day under suspicious circumstances. A serious car accident leaves Angela dead and Tammy with a head injury. Angela's sister Elizabeth takes Tammy into her home.  Tammy calls her "Aunty." She remains plagued by serious headaches for the rest of her life, though they are considerably alleviated by drinking beer, one of Tammy's favorite past time. She displays  a marked ability to remain unfazed by the things that happened around her, and she is convinced that one day she will "be a star." She is the "sort-of" girlfriend of a bassist she knows at school, Randy Larson. Tammy soon meets Lindsey at Randy's house. Randy disappears after his high school graduation, leaving his bass to Lindsey, who proves to be somewhat of a prodigy. Lindsey and Tammy jam together in Aunt Elizabeth's basement. Through Lindsey, Tammy joins the band that would finally feature the lineup of Courtney, Kerry, Nikki, Lindsey and Tammy. She is ahead of her time, playing a lightning fast guitar style that later becomes known as "shredding," often tossing the pick aside and playing with multiple fingers in a strange hammering technique.  Believing that you can't play fast enough, she remains unfazed by the band's break-up, going on to join a pioneering all-female heavy metal band. 

“I heard what happened. I’m real sorry.”

Tammy and Randy were sitting outside the back of the math building. He leaned over and lit her cigarette for her. Her cast had been off for a while by then. She inhaled, and then blew a smoke ring.

“Yeah, it sucks,” she said.
Randy paused. “I heard it was a drunk driver.”
“That’s what Aunty says.” 
Randy lit a cigarette. “What happened?”
Tammy kicked at the ground. “I can’t remember it.”
“Nothing?” Randy asked, giving her a puzzled look.
“No. Is that weird?”
Randy laughed. “I don’t think it’s weird. Maybe it’s for the best. Can you play guitar still?”

Tammy smiled. “Better than ever. You can’t let things get you down; not if you wanna be a star! And I’m gonna be a star! How’s your band?”

Randy looked away. “I’m quitting.”
“Why?”
“Because they suck! Especially our guitar player. You’re way better than him.”
Tammy shrugged. “Yeah, well, there aren’t a lot of chicks that play guitar. Not real guitar!”
“We should jam sometime,” Randy said, a hopeful tone in this voice.
Tammy smiled at him. “Sure. You can come over and play. I got two new bitchin’ guitars! Aunty bought them after I came home from the hospital.
“I’ll walk home with you if you want.”
Tammy got up and put her arm around Randy. “You know what Randy, you can be a star too! 
**************************************
Randy was waiting on the step outside the back of the science building. He was smoking a cigarette and throwing rocks toward the fence. Only one actually made it over the fence, the rest bounced off it. Suddenly the exit door flew open and he jumped in surprise. It was Tammy. She was carrying a large leather purse.

“Hi Randy,” she said, sitting down next to him. She put a cigarette in her mouth. “Got a light?”

He lit her cigarette and watched her reach into her purse. She pulled out two cans of beer. These were bigger sized beers, 16 oz. cans. They had the distinctive blue bull against the silver background. Tammy opened each one and set them down on the step. Randy picked one up.

“It’s kinda warm,” he said.

“Doesn’t matter if beer is warm,” she said. “Let’s see if you can drink like a star yet!”

Tammy grabbed one of the cans and drank it in one shot. Then she slammed the empty can down on the step, cocked her arm back and threw the can at the wooden fence. It sailed right over.

“Good shot!” Randy said.

“Yeah; I used to play softball,” she said, picking up a rock. She threw it, and it cleared the fence by several feet.

“Now it’s your turn...ready...go!”
Randy barely got three gulps before he stopped.
“You’re still a pussy!” she said laughing.