Five Flavors of Dumb - Antony John [96]
Kallie reached out and touched my arm. “It’s okay if you want me to leave,” she said, and I swear she didn’t even look angry, just resigned.
“No, Kallie. I absolutely do not want you to leave.”
Josh spun around and punched the wall, releasing a tiny fountain of plaster dust. Then he smiled in that demonic Mr. Hyde way that made me want to employ a bodyguard. “You know what, Kallie, you’re out. I’m telling you because our manager is too much of a flake to do it herself, okay?”
Then Ed joined the fray, putting himself in my line of vision to make sure I could follow everything he said. “No, it’s not okay. Kallie stays.”
“Then I go!” Josh shouted.
The room was only still for a moment before Ed made it clear that was fine with him, and then Tash did too. Even Will didn’t seem bothered, just stayed out of the way, cleaning his bass strings.
“Let’s not be hasty, guys,” I interjected, aware that things were spiraling out of control. “We need Josh, remember?”
But Josh was clearly unnerved by the extent of Dumb’s mutiny. “No way. You guys want Kallie more than me, well . . . fine! I’m gone.”
“You can’t leave,” I reminded him. “You leave and I’ll sue you for a thousand bucks, and you know I’ll do it.”
“Okay. Let’s put it to a vote. Hands up who’s willing to let me go.”
Suddenly Ed, Tash, and Kallie had their hands high in the air, and Josh was smirking like he’d won the lottery.
“Good. Then the thousand bucks are off the table. But you’ll want to think about tonight’s contract,” he added, pulling a copy from his pocket. “It stipulates that all five members must be present onstage.”
Tash simply laughed. “You’re so full of it, Josh. If you wanted to leave, you’d have gone already. But then who’d give a crap about you?”
“Are you testing me?” He waved the contract for emphasis.
Will stopped cleaning his strings, blew hair out of his eyes. “Come on, Josh, cut the drama.”
“No, Will. I’m leaving for real. Dumb’s history, and Piper’s about to be sued for breach of contract unless we make a new deal right now. And the deal is that after tonight, Kallie’s gone.”
Suddenly no one was laughing anymore. We’d called Josh’s bluff, believing he’d never actually follow through on his threat, but here was an ultimatum. (Where was poker master Finn when I needed him?) Never mind the extraordinary and devious lengths to which Josh had gone to get Kallie in the band in the first place—he was tired of her now, so it was time to move on.
With the stakes so high, it was a no-brainer: Contractually, we’d get sued without him; musically, we’d be retaining one scene-stealing lead singer instead of an air-guitarist with limited acting skills. It was such an easy call that I waited to see which of us would fold first, swallow our pride and accept Josh’s terms for the greater good of the band. I just couldn’t bring myself to be that person.
The problem was, neither could Ed, or Kallie, or Tash, or even Will. And Josh didn’t wait for us to reconsider.
The second he walked out the door, I expected someone to run after him and drag him back, kicking and screaming if necessary. I even had half a mind to do it myself, only the other half was stronger. So instead of tracking down our dysfunctional lead singer, we looked at each other like developing Plan B was top priority.
For once, I knew exactly what it should be.
I pulled out my cell phone and speed-dialed Mom, then thrust the phone at Ed. “Who’s answering?” I asked.
Ed raised an eyebrow. “How the heck would—Oh, hi there, Mrs. Vaughan!” He turned an adorable shade of scarlet as he realized he’d just sort of sworn at my mother. “Actually, I’m not sure what I want,” he said, visibly deflating.
“Ask her if Finn has Dad’s cell.”
Ed relayed the question, then nodded vigorously. “Oh, good. In that case—”
I snatched the phone from him and hung up. There wasn’t time