Thunderbowl - Lesley Choyce [5]
“We’re just worried that you might be getting into some bad habits,” my mother said.
“And you are staying out way too late,” my father added. “When I was your age, I had to be in bed by ten o’clock.”
“Look,” I said, “at night is the only time we can get together to practice. Drek and Al don’t get off work until six-thirty. And we’ve come so far together. You may not believe it, but we are getting really good. I can’t let them down now.”
There was no way I could tell them the news about our gig at The Dungeon. “But I promise I’ll spend more time on my homework. I’ll bring my grades up in everything. Even math.” I made it sound like I had it all figured out.
My parents looked at each other. Some unspoken message passed between them. “We’ll give it a try,” my mother said. My dad looked like he had heartburn.
“Great. Thanks.” We were just one big happy family again. For now.
I juggled the late nights, the band and school pretty well for the first week. Then the homework and a looming math test got me unglued.
I mean, I never really liked school. I was terrible at math. English was totally boring. French was as much fun as throwing up. And then there was Modern World Problems. Oh yeah, like we were really going to learn to solve it all. So there I was at midnight, sitting at a table in The Dungeon, hunched over my homework.
“What are you doing?” Suzanne asked.
“Unreal numbers,” I answered.
She looked at me like I had just arrived from outer space. “Huh?”
“It’s a hobby of mine.” I wasn’t going to admit I was still in high school.
Suzanne smiled her kind-of-cute, kind-of-goofy smile. “Yeah,” she said, “me too.”
I had a math test second period and I was trying to figure out what an unreal number was. But it was awful hard with her looking at me like that.
“You really are… different,” Suzanne said.
I thought she really meant I was a bit of a nerd. She was hooked on the Germ who played guitar on stage. And she didn’t know what to make of the Jeremy who studied unreal numbers.
I really liked Suzanne, even though she was older than I was. And I was flattered that she was coming on to me.
The break was over. As I headed back onto the stage, Suzanne blew me a kiss. I picked up my guitar and threw my math book into my guitar case. Then I flicked on the amp and in a flash we were blasting into “Traction.” It was a loud metal song.
“Kick it!” Drek yelled at me above the roar. He meant for me to get a little mean, a little crazy.
So I got a little mean. I got a little crazy. I gritted my teeth and scratched at the strings. I kicked on the flanger pedal and bent the strings to make them cry. The music was all about something very powerful. I didn’t know what. But I was good at playing like I was a wild man. Up on stage I could act any way I wanted. And it felt great just to cut loose.
Chapter Five
And then there was Richie Gregg. After the big discussion with my parents, Richie showed up to give me some advice too. I was outside the bar, trying to find the strength to heft my amp into Al’s van. Drek and Al were inside wrapping up wires.
“Come here, jerk,” I heard a voice from behind me.
I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. Maybe if I blinked he would vanish back into the shadows.
Fat chance of that. A bony hand grabbed my collar and twirled me around. I tried to keep the amp from cracking onto the sidewalk.
Richie pulled me close. He was right in my face and he spat as he talked. “Twerp, you are about to quit your pissy little band,” he said. It was some sort of threat. Richie had this crazed look in his eye. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was on something.
I set the amplifier down hard on his foot and he backed off. “You can’t make me quit,” I told him.
Richie smiled a perfect scumbag smile. “You quit or I’ll bust your face.”
I was tired, really tired. Everything was such a major hassle. School. My soft-hearted parents. All I wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. Now this.
Richie was baring his teeth, like the mongrel dog that he was.