Page 12 of More Than Scars
“Tony dragged me up to Seattle for an audition the other day,” I began. “There were some folks up there looking to put a band together from scratch. I won the lead guitarist spot, and the next day, when they held auditions for a singer, Tony landed the spot after a string of seriously shitty auditions, so now we just have to find a bassist and a drummer, and the band will be complete. Hang on, let me pull the logo up on my phone and show it to you. It’s seriously badass. I can’t wait to get it tatted on me.”
I turned it around for them to see it, and Morrison let out a longwhistle of appreciation.
“Damn dude, that is sick!” Daltrey declared. “Imminent Danger. I like it. It suits you.”
“Bowie, honey,” Mom said, a hesitant note in her voice. “Who is this management company? I’ve never heard of anyone building a band this way. Have they explained why they are doing it? Are they offering you guys contracts to take part in this, or will this be a pay-by-the-show thing? I can see you’re excited, honey, I haven’t seen your eyes sparkle like that in a long time. I just want to make sure that no one is trying to take advantage of you and Tony.”
She’d grown as protective of him as she was of my siblings and me, and if there was one thing you did not do, it was fuck with one of my mama’s cubs. She was a lioness when it came to us, complete with the claws andI’ll eat your faceattitude. She also knew the music scene inside and out, and not just the classical side of it either. She made sure Dad and Uncle Rick’s band didn’t get screwed over in their bookings and rained hellfire down on anyone who tried.
“Mom, I hope you’re sitting down, because my head is still reeling over the way this all turned out. Tony and I just signed with Masterson.”
There was a collective pause, I’m talking pure silence, then Mom squealed over a chorus ofHoly shit! Dude, that’s fuckin’ amazing, and dammit all, son, when you win, you win big!Yeah, my family knew who Masterson was and what contracts like the ones Tony and I had signed meant in the Heavy Metal industry.
“Forget everything I just asked!” Mom said. “Darling, that is fabulous! When you boys get home, we are going to have a celebration the likes of which this family has never seen.”
Considering some of the past parties she’d thrown, I had no doubt that this one would be a doozy.
“Kid, you hit the jackpot with this one,” Uncle Rick said when the rest of the voices had faded to a dull roar. “I’ve heard they run a tight ship, but I know that won’t be an issue for you. You’ve always put the music first and the extracurriculars second. Just remember that we’re always here for you and Tony if you’re feeling overwhelmed or need to vent about something. You should have had his ass down here on the chat so we could congratulate him too.”
“I asked if he wanted in on it, but he opted to pass and go out and get us both a couple more boxes for the odds and ends we hadn’t packed yet.”
I didn’t tell them the real reason he’d opted out, which was that his nerves were so twisted up into knots over the prospect of visiting his old man this afternoon that my usually outgoing friend was anxious and snarly. One would think we’d changed personalities for the day, with the way he’d been glowering at everyone and everything since we got back to Portland this morning. There was a knowing look on my mom’s face that said she had a good idea of what I was keeping from her. Judging from the matching looks on my dad’s and uncle’s faces, they did too.
“Well then, we’ll just have to make sure he knows how happy we are for him when you guys drop in for the holidays,” she said, as several heads in the chat nodded.
I wasn’t the only one who’d taken to viewing Tony as family, my siblings had too, and I knew Nicky would give him a big hug when we dropped in on her later.
“I’ve got to get the packing finished,” I told them. “But we’ll let you know when we’ll be able to come home. Our band already has a manager who will be working on bookings for us, but I’m sure, with how family-oriented they all seem to be, that we won’t have bookings that keep us from making it to Eugene.”
“Perfect,” Mom replied. “I look forward to hearing all of your stories when you get here.”
“Seriously!” Bon said. “And no holding back either. I’m excited for you guys, bro. I know how much you’ve longed to be part of a band again.”
“Thanks, bro. Talk to you guys soon.”
After a chorus of goodbyes, we ended the video chat, and I went back to packing, carefully placing my cactus, in the padded box I’d placed her in for added stability, on the table. I’d cut the lid flaps off so they wouldn’t bump her during the trip and fully intended to buckle her box in the middle seat for the drive back to Seattle. I’d never had a plant before my prickly Percilla, but Tony had given her to me when I’d still been in the hospital, this tiny, prickly little nob of a cactus that had now grown to over eight inches tall. Maybe somepeople would find it weird, but I loved that damned plant and told her so on an almost daily basis. Each time she grew, I figured that it was her way of telling me she loved me back. I’d given up on finding a human who’d feel that way about me from the first moment I’d seen my face after the bandages had come off. So far, I’d been able to keep Stoli, Wolf, Joey, and Pressley from noticing, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to keep that up with them working in such proximity and us a day away from moving into Pressley’s spare rooms.
Great, now I was anxious.
Fortunately, Tony showed up as ready as he ever was for a visit to his father’s place, and just like I expected, the stop at my sister’s was brief and filled with hugs. If nothing else, it put a brief smile back on Tony’s face for the slow drive across town, though it faded the moment we walked up the steps to the front door. When he lifted his hand to fit the key in the lock, I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, a reminder that he wasn’t going in there alone.
We found his old man where we usually did at this time of day. Already in his work clothes, in his easy chair in the living room, with the sports channel on the television featuring the upcoming pregame highlights.
“Hey pops,” Tony called out as he stepped into the room with him.
“Hey yourself,” his father replied. “What do you need? I’ve got to get to work soon.”
“I know. Just wanted to come tell you that I was leaving the city and heading up to Seattle permanently. We’ve got a moving truck coming tomorrow, and I don’t know when we’ll be back down here.”
“Seattle, huh? Still chasing that goddamned music, I bet. When are you gonna do like I keep telling you and get a respectable fuckin’ job. They’re always looking for guys down at the docks, steady work that pays good money too. Get yourself in the union and you’ll be set for life. Stop fiddlefarting around with that goddamn guitar. I never should have bought it for you in the first place. Worst goddamn mistake of my life.”
“Pops, I just landed a gig that will ensure I’m set for life,” Tony explained, desperate to reason with him while I stood there wanting to yank him the hell out of there before his old man could say anything more hurtful than healready had. “Signed a contract and everything. I’m gonna be the frontman too, that’s the singer. They even paid me a signing bonus.”
“Sing? Boy, I’ve never heard anything that sounded like singing come out of your room! Just a whole lot of screaming played way too loud. You’ve truly got shit for brains like your mother, always dreaming and thinking you’re gonna be somebody instead of knuckling down and working hard for what you want. Fuckin’ singing? What the fuck makes you think you can sing, let alone in front of people who pay their hard-earned money to go to a show? That’s got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of dumb shit from you over the years.”
“And on that note, we’re out of here,” I said, reaching out and snagging Tony’s arm.
I could feel him shaking beneath my fingers, and not once did he resist as I started tugging him towards the door.