Untitled

by Jackie Chanel

  Kat is right. It was stupid of me to leave home...this home. My family has turned their back on me but I’m not alone. I have Kat, Paulie, and my friends at Rabbit’s. They love and appreciate what I do. I’m not going back to Mt. Vernon. That would be stupid. I’m going to do what I set out to do. If the Tyler family can’t accept it or me, fine. They don’t have to. But I’m going to be alright. I’m going to be just fine.

  Chapter 15

  I pulled into the music store parking lot, happier than I’ve been in weeks. Paulie was with me and trying with all his might to blow my high with his negative attitude. He’s the main one who’s been encouraging me to record a demo. Now that I’m actually taking the steps to do so, he’s telling me that I shouldn’t spend my money on more recording equipment.

  Whatever.

  I’m tired of sitting on my ass, writing songs and playing at Rabbit’s again. Joey Clausen is on tour. PURE just signed with Sony Records, and I’m still opening for bands at Rabbit’s.

  An hour after pulling into the music store I left with $150.00 left in my bank account and the best recording equipment that I could afford. Paulie’s warning frown and grumblings are getting on my nerves. I refuse to let him damper my euphoria.

  “Will you please shut up?” I asked him nicely. “Why do you have a problem with me recording a demo?”

  “I didn’t say you shouldn’t record a demo. I said you shouldn’t spend all your money on more equipment. How are you going to pay your bills?”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  “And where are you going to sleep since you’re converting your bedroom into a recording studio?”

  I sighed. “Listen Mom, I’ll sleep on the couch if I have to. My room has the best acoustics in the apartment so that’s just where I’ll record. My bed will still be in there.”

  His sullen, “this isn’t a good idea” attitude changed dramatically when we got back to my house and started to set everything up.

  The set up is perfect. Laptop computer, new speakers, new amps, a couple of new pedals, one of which has such a sweet distortion that I almost busted a nut when I played with it the first time. Added to that were my three guitars and a new sound recorder...everything I need to record the five song demo CD I’ve recorded in my head for months.

  “What songs are you going to put on the CD?” Paulie asked. He was fiddling with the knobs on the recorder while I checked my guitar strings and tuning.

  I rattled off the list. “No is a Four Letter Word, Dreaming, Empty Kisses, Life Unexpected, but I can’t decide if I want to cover Wind Cries Mary on my demo or not.”

  “Put it on there. You saw how the crowd at Rabbit’s reacted when you played it the other night. Everybody loves Hendrix, you know that. If a record company hears you play Jimi, they’re gonna be like ‘If he can play Jimi, what can’t he do’? You’ll definitely get a deal.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Have I heard Empty Kisses?” Paulie looked as if he was trying to remember the song. I shook my head at him.

  No one has heard it yet. It’s the first blues song that I’ve really put some thought into and wrote. It’s not quite where I want it to be yet, either. It’ll probably be the last song I record.

  We walked into the living room and started to eat dinner...cold leftover pizza that Sunny had brought down this morning before she went to work.

  “What’s up with you and Sunny?” Paulie said out of the blue. “Does she like you now?”

  I almost choked on my pizza. I grabbed my Coke and took a large swallow.

  “Like me how?” I choked out.

  “Don’t even go there,” Paulie laughed. “You know what I mean. She’s always stopping by and bringing you food. Have you hit it yet?”

  I scowled and threw up in my mouth a little. “Come on, Paulie! I’m trying to eat. That’s just gross!”

  “What? Sunny is fine!”

  “So! If Satan was a woman, Sunny would be the spawn of Satan and Hitler...pure evil.”

  “She likes you,” Paulie insisted.

  “No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t like anyone. Sunny only acts nice when someone is paying her.”

  “So what did you give her in exchange for the pizza?”

  I sat my slice back on the plate and stared at it suspiciously.

  “I didn’t give her anything. You know, we probably shouldn’t eat this. She probably did something to it. Cyanide is tasteless, right?”

  Paulie burst out laughing but I noticed he dropped his slice on his plate too.

  “Wanna go to Taco Bell?” he suggested.

  “Sounds like a plan.” I picked up my car keys and the contaminated pizza. I shoved the box in the freezer.

  “Just in case we get sick,” I told Paulie. “They’ll find the evidence.”

  We both laughed and walked out of the door. As soon as I locked my apartment door, I heard Sunny’s door open upstairs.

  “Aiden,” she called.

  I put my finger to my mouth. “Shh,” I whispered to Paulie and took off running to my car. Paulie followed behind me. We peeled out of the parking lot before the Dragon Lady could catch us.

  ****

  “Damn it!” I yelled and threw my headphones across the room.

  After two weeks, only two of my songs are demo ready. This is turning out to be much harder than it looks. When it comes to music, I’m a perfectionist. If even one note is off, I have to scrap the song and start all over. That’s why this is taking so long.

  “What’s wrong with that one?” Paulie groaned. “It sounded fine.”

  “The distortion...” I tried to explain. “It’s making the notes sound weird.”

  “Isn’t that what’s it’s supposed to do?”

  “Yeah, but not like that. I have to redo it.”

  Paulie moaned. “Again? That’s five times we’ve recorded the same song. This is getting boring.”

  I disagree. Any minute with a guitar in hand is a fun time...for me.

  “You’re the one who offered to help,” I reminded him.

  “I didn’t know that you were going to hold me hostage while you play the same exact riffs over and over again.”

  “If you’re bored,” I said, “go home and study. That’s not boring at all.”

  “I’m not just bored,” he said. “I’m hungry. We’ve been in this room for hours. Not everyone is a machine like you, Aiden.”

  “Fine. Let’s go get some food. We gotta go to Rabbit’s though. The fridge is empty until payday.”

  “You just got paid,” he had to remind me.

  “That money’s gone.

  “How is that possible? You got paid four days ago.”

  “Lost a bet,” I said simply, not willing to elaborate.

  Paulie shook his head. “So you go to Rabbit’s to eat every day?”

  “Why not? It’s free.”

  We powered off all of the equipment and I locked the windows. Since I have to keep all of the recording equipment and my guitars in the apartment, Kat had an alarm system installed for me. She said it would be cheaper to get the alarm than having me come begging for the money to replace the equipment.

  I set the alarm and we walked out.

  “Are you Aiden Tyler?” a deep baritone voice said from behind me as I was locking the door.

  I turned around and found myself staring directly into the eyes of a Dekalb County Sherriff.

  “That’s me,” I said. “Can I help you with something?”

  I should have been terrified, or at least a bit nervous. I wasn’t. I was more pissed than anything.

  Stupid bitch in the leasing office!

  The officer handed me a folder piece of thin yellow paper, the kind that law enforcement uses...the yellow copy of the triplicate. I’ve gotten enough speeding tickets to know that at the bottom of this paper – in red- it’s going to say ‘Defendants Copy’.

  “Young man, this is an eviction warrant. You have seven days to respond in person at the courthouse.
”

  He turned and walked away. His hard black shoes echoed in the silent breezeway.

  “Shit!” My voice was low...and angry.

  “Damn man, what are you doing to do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  We started walking towards my car. Seven days to come up with two months of rent money isn’t impossible. I can probably ask Kat to loan me the money until payday.

  I didn’t think about the eviction notice again while we were at Rabbit’s. Paulie didn’t remind me either. He was too busy chasing after girls and I was jamming with the band. I hadn’t planned on getting on stage but there’s something about the music that makes me want to play any chance I get. We stayed at the club for a few hours then I dropped Paulie off at his dorm.

  Even though it was late when I walked into my apartment, slight tipsy, I knew that it would be a few more hours before I could actually fall asleep. I’ve developed vampire-like habits...sleep all day, up all night. Thank goodness I’m a musician. These kinds of habits aren’t conducive to having a regular kind of life.

  I fiddled around with the song I’ve been working on but I still couldn’t get it right. I don’t remember falling asleep but I woke up when the sun started to rise. I was lying on my bedroom floor surrounded by papers and using my guitar as a pillow...and I had to pee. I went to the bathroom then climbed into my bed, alone, for the first time in months.

  I woke up for good at my regular time, three o’clock in the afternoon. I fixed some cereal and planted myself on the couch to watch Maury. During a commercial break I picked up my phone to check my messages.

  “Aiden, it’s Jerry. The Georgia Boys cancelled on me. Call me if you can fill in for the rest of the week. I’ll double your pay.”

  Message two.

  “Hi Aiden, it’s your mom. I miss you honey. I really want to talk to you. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.”

  Message three

  “Aiden, this is Angela from the rental office. Please call us back regarding your rent payment.”

  “Fuck you bitch,” I said out loud, still reeling from the first two messages.

  My mother had called me!

  Her voice sounded tired but to me it sounded like liquid gold. My mom had called me! Obviously she misses me. Obviously, she’s not mad anymore.

  She hadn’t left a number to call her back though.

  I’m sure that’s my father’s doing. She was probably forbidden to give me the number. At least she made an attempt to speak to me. Her message said she’d be calling today. I hadn’t missed her call.

  I dialed Jerry’s number.

  “Jerry, it’s Aiden. I got your message. What’s up?”

  “Can you play this week?”

  “A solo set?”

  “Yes, Aiden,” he said, easily not happy about having to replace a headliner with me. “If you want to go on stage solo, I don’t care. If you want to play with your band, I don’t care. Just be here by ten.” He hung up.

  My band. A full set for the rest of the week.

  Things are finally looking up. This is my chance to shine and showcase my own music, maybe not tonight, and definitely not until I am completely satisfied that my band is comfortable with the material, but one day this week, I will play some of my own songs. The crowd at Rabbit’s loves me. They’ll love to hear something new.

  I picked up my notebook and started thumbing through the song pages, trying to devise a new set list. The phone started to ring almost as soon as I started. I answered it, hoping that it wasn’t Jerry changing his mind.

  “Aiden?”

  “Mom!” The unyielding joy I felt at hearing her voice almost brought tears to my eyes.

  “Hello. How are you?”

  “Mom, you’ll never believe this,” I gushed excitedly. “I’m going to be doing a full set this week at Rabbit’s! With my band! This is huge!”

  “What is Rabbit’s?” she asked with the same tired and uninterested tone in her voice that had been on her message.

  “It’s a bar.”

  “You’re playing in a bar?” she said, repulsed by the idea that her son would stoop so low to playing in bars.

  “It’s a blues lounge,” I explained.

  “If that’s what you’re doing, you do know that there are bars here.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

  The happiness I felt about her calling began to quickly fade. This isn’t a courtesy call, to say I love you and I support you.

  “Mom, are you okay?” I asked. “You don’t sound like yourself.”

  “Worrying about your child twenty-four hours a day begins to take a toll on you,” she replied wearily.

  “You wouldn’t have to worry if Dad hadn’t changed the phone number. I would have called you every day and told you what was going on with me.”

  She sighed into the phone. “Honey, you should come home. We’ll figure something out once you get here.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I told her. “I know that you and Dad don’t want me to pursue this but I am, because it’s what I want to do. You don’t have to agree with it. Just accept it.”

  I heard my mother sniff on the other end. She was crying. This time, I don’t feel like it’s my fault. It’s been over two months since I’ve heard from anyone in my family. Then she calls here with this crap.

  Sara’s going to be a doctor because it’s all she’s dreamed about since she was six. They have never tried to persuade her to do something else because a doctor is a highly respectable occupation.

  Good for Sara.

  I couldn’t be happier for her. But I’m going to play guitar and write songs. Whether it’s respectable or not, it’s what I’m going to do. They can either hop on board or leave me alone.

  “How’s Sara and Dee-Lee?” I changed the subject.

  “Sara’s doing great. Delilah...well, she’s just being a teenager. She reminds me of you at seventeen. She thinks your father and I are the weirdest people in the world. Your sisters really miss you, Aiden.”

  “Is Delilah home?” I asked. Talking to her would be more fun than this painfully awkward conversation with my mother.

  “Um...” my mother hesitated. “No. She’s at practice.”

  “What time does she get home? Six?”

  “Around then.”

  “Then I’ll call her when she gets home. What’s the new number?”

  My pen was poised over the paper, ready to write but my mother didn’t answer.

  “Mom, what’s the new number?” I repeated.

  “Aiden...” her voice trailed off.

  “You’re not allowed to give me the number, are you?” I guessed.

  She sighed heavily. “Your dad doesn’t want you to have it,” she finally admitted.

  “And you?”

  “Believe me, Aiden, I wish things weren’t like this. But this is between you and your dad-”

  I hung up the phone. Fuck it. If my own mother doesn’t have the decency to stand up to her husband over the mistreatment of her child, then she can go to hell right along with him.

  Chapter 16

  My depression came back after the conversation with my mother. I think I handled it better this time, though. My parents’ abandonment only led to one thing...better music. Everyone, from Kat to Sunny, has been telling me that I’m getting so much better. Even Jerry has been impressed. That’s all that matters to me now. As long as my music is good then I don’t have anything to worry about.

  Even my own songs have been well received. I played Empty Kisses the other night and the crowd loved it. Kat actually had tears in her eyes when I finished.

  “Aiden, what we doin’ tonight?” Wild Mike hollered across the stage as we were packing up our equipment.

  We’d just finished our final set...the last of a very successful weekend. But after performing for two and a half hours for the last seven days, I was exhausted. All I really want to do is go home.

  “Man, it’s two in the morning
,” I laughed.

  “Bars don’t close until four,” he reminded me. “We gotta celebrate a good run. Don’t go soft on us now!”

  “We’re already in a bar,” I reminded him. “And I’m going to go get some food out of the kitchen and have a few drinks. Then I’m takin’ my ass home.”

  “With the red-head who’s been eyeing you all night?” Eddie snickered.

  I looked over my shoulder at the girl he was talking about. I knew who she was.

  Julie Devin.

  I only remembered her first and last name because that’s how she introduced herself when we met a few months ago. At that time, she was hanging out with Seth; the band leader in PURE.

  I saw her when she walked in with a group of girlfriends. They took one of the tables closest to the stage. She had smiled at me and made her intentions clear. Julie Devin had crossed over to the black side for one reason...me.

  But I’m not settling for Seth’s sloppy seconds. If she hadn’t been hanging all over him at my apartment that night, she might have had a chance. Not that I’m not tempted.

  Julie is gorgeous. The first thing I noticed when she walked in – the first thing that I’m positive is the first thing that everybody noticed – was her thick, ass-length, fire engine red hair. Julie’s hair looks like a red satin sheet. It’s literally straight as a board and hangs down to her ass. Coupled with her pale skin, forest green eyes, and striking figure, she’s like a walking orgasm inducing sex kitten. The way she glows when she gets into the music...she looked like she was on fire from the inside out. What a turn on.

  I tried to ease past her while she was talking to her friends. It didn’t work.

  “Hey Aiden,” she touched my shoulder as I walked past.

  “Julie, what’s up?” I greeted her but kept walking. She kept up.

  “You were fantastic tonight,” she smiled, showing a brilliant set of pearly whites.

  “Thanks.” I didn’t want to come off as rude but I didn’t feel like chitchatting with anyone. The only thing I want to do is eat.

  “Your guitar,” she pointed to the case. “Is that an original Standard?”

  I stopped walking. “Huh?”