I went back to the bar that very night. Natalie refused to give me a beer but I asked for a non-alcoholic which she was happy to hand over. My parents were back in town and joined me in a booth where we were sitting.
We were just chilling when my teachers came in. I got a grin from Claude who nudged his head towards them.
“Let’s do The wander. Sneak off real quick.” I said to them.
We went for brunch at an awesome grill near the mall. We chose the mall since it had the biggest music store with the largest selections on all instruments. And they never mind if we get into the window display and mess around with the instruments.The sales man smiled when he saw us walk in.“Don! The boys are back.” He yelled over to the manager who was sitting in a corner behind the desk.
My father typed up my schedule that night and pasted it all over my house and theirs. I had to wake up at seven am to get ready for Miss Preston. She was very surprised when she walked into my house at eight thirty and I was already hard at work on my Biology, one of the easier subjects.My mother called break at ten am when she brought snacks. She only frowned at the closed sitting room door. I grinned at her and winked but she did not get it.“Why is there a closed door?” she asked carefully.“It’s di
I spent the rest of the day looking for songs on you tube that we haven’t done yet. Instead I found a video of my band in the music store. I grinned when I saw how many people have watched the video. And the comments were piling up.I called Claude and told him.“I already have the playlist for next weekend. Do you want to go over them tomorrow?” he asked and yawned.“Are you
“You’re late.” A voice accused me in my dreams.“Late for what?” I muttered in my sleep.“Class.” I sat bolt upright in my bed, wincing at the sunlight pouring through the windows. “Damn it.” I c
I knew I was in trouble the second my mother walked into my house. “What did you do?” my mother demanded.I dropped the towel I was using to dry the floor and stood up slowly.“I kissed her.” I said.“Are you stupid? She
No one saw me leave. I packed my car, turned my phone off, stopped in town for cash and a phone and hit the road. I used the new phone’s GPS, to take me to a country resort, about three hours away.I followed the road to where I saw a sign that said office. It was a single building; no other buildings were in sight. I got out of my car and looked around.“Ass end of the world.” I thought and knocked on the door.
Three hours later found me sitting next to the fire drinking beer and watching the flames. My guitar lay on the ground next to me. I had brought it out but had not touched it yet. I reached down and got myself another beer. It was dark all around me. I grinned after a while and picked up my guitar. I started doing finger style songs at first but the more beer I drank the more I got into the mood for a proper song. I finally put my meat and the roast bread on the fire to start cooking. I stood there next to the fire and thought about my mother. I grinned then started to play while I sang to myself.
The drive home was way too short in my opinion. I pulled into my driveway with the Proclaimers blaring from the speakers. I got out with my sunglasses and grinned at my mother who was rushing towards me.“Hey Ma!” I said and gave her a massive hug and did a tiny dance with her.“Don’t you dare do that to us ever again you hear?” she yelled but returned the hug nonetheless.
We left the clinic early that evening, feeling elated. I was nearly drunk from the excitement. I walked into the house with a grin.“I assume things went well?” my father asked as soon as he saw me.“Dad, the song is almost perfect. Now, Geraldine said she is going to organise some kind of show, get the publics’ feelings then we are going to record it and send it to the sponsors, see if we can get piece of the action.’ I said excitedly.My mother came in and asked
The exams did not go too badly. But I have to say, my focus wasn’t solely on the exams, it was with the show that we were putting on. Geraldine was right about the orchestra. The conductor was a relatively young man, mid-thirties slightly balding, but he had a lanky frame. He was very kind and patient man, showing an obvious interest in what we were doing.I had met him in the reception area to have a chat while the orchestra went to set up in the room. He introduced himself as Roy Brown and we hit it right off from the start.
Geraldine and Brandy were waiting for me at the clinic. I greeted them and started taking everything out of the car. They were more than willing to help me get everything, including the six-pack of beer, into the music room. When I had everything connected and settled I gave them an expectant look and said“Thank you for your assistance, you may go now.” Brandy gave me a confused look and said“Surely you don’t expect us to eave you here? It would be more interesting to see how you wor
Time flew by that week. I had three places where I could be. At the clinic with Brandy or Joanie, who took turns to give me the exercises, at school writing my exams, or at home studying. By the weekend I was desperate to go out, just relax with someone who wasn’t involved with either the band, my studying or my health. The only option I had was either a drink or another tattoo, but I didn’t have the money for either. It was frustrating for me. When I was in that kind of mood in my own house I’d just lock the doors and hide my car in the garage, pretend I wasn’t home. The unfortunate thing about my current
Lara dropped me off at home at midday. I refused to go home with Carol and Gwen. Lara went in with me, spoke to my parents, and explained what had happened and then she left. My father allowed me two hours of sleep before waking me up to study again.I drove myself to school on Monday morning to sit through the two and a half-hour physics exam. It wasn’t too bad and I thought I had done really well. After school, I drove to the clinic for some exercise and spend some time in the pool. My back was starting to feel really good and I thought of dropping the physio but Brandy emphasising another two weeks. Things were not as awk
We had four acoustic guitars and we were ready to use them. Juan usually played the bass guitar but he was more than capable of playing the acoustic. Tom used his drum sticks to tap the beat out on the edge of the truck.“Ready?” I asked them and just started playing random chords. “Hang in there Andy! What are you playing?” Claude asked confused, trying to watch my fingers.“Nothing mate.” I laughed at him.
Turned out, my old boss did not mind at all. We set up outside the bar and made music. Geraldine’s band laughed at us the first ten minutes, until we got the cops called on us. Lucky for us, Tom had a friend in the department, so instead of locking us up, they closed a couple of streets, turning the road in front of the bar into one massive street party.It was nearing eight pm when I ran out of ideas and called for requests. The craziest thing happened when people called for things like 500 Miles and Thunder from Imagine Dragons. We tried to play the songs, as best we could.
I slowly walked through the hall, ignoring the calls from Joanie. Brandy was very quiet. I pushed into the music room. The band stopped playing immediately and stared at me as I limped inside.“You lot are out of tune, off-beat and are making a mess out of a damned good song.” I commented drily.“Well, that is why we need your input, are you ready for it?” Geraldine Jones stood up from her chair and walked towards me.
The alarm went off at six-thirty the next morning. I almost jumped out of bed and got my things together. I had my shower then went to the kitchen to join my parents for breakfast.“You’re up early.” My father commented over his cup of coffee.“Yeah, I want to get an early start. Doc said she’ll be there at seven-thirty so that I can get in before the first patient.” I replied with a smile.