Duncan restricted his drinks to fruit juices, IBC root beer (“because it’s the best!”), and Virgin Mary’s.  He even had himself stamped as Under 21 to set the example.  He even admitted he was turning 21 in late September - which wasn’t so very far off.  But he gave no other explanation as to why beyond the letter of the Law.  (He didn’t want to dampen the mood.)  Aliyah, however, already knew the truth by now.  His natural father had abandoned him and his mother when he was 3 and a half years old and dying in the hospital of spinal meningitis.  He had arrived at the hospital so late that the doctors, with all their medical know how, still recommended prayer and offered a very poor odds of survival with a high probability of brain damage.  His father had been an alcoholic.  Two years later his maternal grandparents had asked him to make a promise.  Age age 5 he swore never to smoke, drink or do drugs.

Duncan took his promises very seriously.

When it came time for him to step up he grinned.  “Hello everyone.  I am Public Enemy #1, the guy absconding your Aliyah.  I am Duncan Moran.  For those who were wondering if I am THAT Duncan Moran, the answer is yes.  I wrote science fiction.  And yes, if any of you are fans of my books and want me to autograph one, just say so.  I’ll leave my number with your managers just in case you didn’t know.  We plan to be in the area a bit longer taking care of travel arrangements.  We plan to visit every continent on Earth.  And who knows, we may even take a trip into outer space.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that one to Aliyah.”  He laughed.  “I am almost certain I mentioned planning to say hello to the Penguins.

“I have been traveling my whole life as a military brat.  For the past 5 years I settled down to concentrate of college.  Now I wanted to travel again.  But there is no real joy in seeing the world alone.  The best way to see the world is in the eyes of another.  I met Aliyah here and … “ he flushed a little.  It took him a moment to recover.  “Truth is she swept me off MY feet.  Not literally.  She’d have thrown out her back trying to do that.  But in her I found someone I wanted to show the world.

“Now I could come up with a zillion songs and take up the whole evening - for as long as my voice lasted.  But I limited my selection to a few.  The first is one I sang for a school play in high school.  Yes, I did all the dance moves, painful as they are.  A am going to do a modified version as I don’t have a football team here to catch or pick me up.  I did, however, bring my very real football jersey.  I was a Kicker.  Lots of stories there, but I’ll keep this short.  Okay … let’s do this.  For those who know the parts the crowd takes up, feel free to join in.”

Ridiculous - Descendants 
https://youtu.be/U4WPjBZy-7s

Duncan had fun with the song and even wore his old football jersey so he could remove it and toss it to her.  Afterwards he laughed.  “Yes, I took some entertainment classes in school.  Now this next one will be a bit more serious.

All of Me
https://youtu.be/450p7goxZqg?list=PLZo-A9S0Yz9YLACPZoYeHxtzfGnkF70ir

When he was done with the second song he took a bow and smiled about as comfortable as he could be.  Then he smiled impishly, that devilish look in his eyes. “But I am going to need you all a lot drunker than this if I am going to sing Loving Feeling …”