Chapter 4 #2
“Wow, Mick, that’s great news!” Ray smiles, looking over at his brother. “Computers, eh? That’s super neat. I don’t know anything about computers. But something like that seems totally up your alley, you little nerd.”
Mick chuckles a little, but it doesn’t seem to ease the tension in his shoulders. “Thanks.”
“Do Mom and Dad already know?”
“Yeah, I told them a little earlier today,” Mick says. “Well, here’s the thing—here’s the bad news. You know, because I’ll be moving to Ann Arbor for school… that means… Uh, I’ll have to leave the band.”
Ray’s breath stops.
“Leave the band?” He gulps. His stomach flips.
“Um, yeah, I… guess with moving, you’d have to.
It’d be too hard to make it to gigs living so far away from the rest of us…
But—but what are we gonna do? I mean, I’m happy for you, of course.
But we just found another new member. If you plan to leave, I…
Well, I can’t force you to stay… gah!” He squints his eyes shut.
He almost tears apart the cardigan in his hands.
“Hang on, hang on! It’ll all be okay.” Mick puts a reassuring hand on Ray’s arm.
It soothes him, reminding him to take slower breaths.
“Me leaving the band isn’t the end of the world.
And it won’t be the end of the band, either!
If you were able to scout one new member, you can always scout another, right?
I’m not leaving until the end of August anyway, so that gives you a few months.
I wouldn’t just leave you guys hanging when I know we’ve got gigs coming up. I’m just… giving you a heads up.”
Ray takes a deep breath—in, and out. Mick is right; this isn’t the end of the band.
But that doesn’t make taking the news any less hard.
“I get it. It’s just… you’ve been with us since the beginning.
Me and Gene started the band but—you were our very first member.
It wouldn’t feel the same without you there. ”
Mick chews on his tongue. He moves his hand off Ray’s shoulder and onto the bed in front of him.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be the same. But… who’s to say that this change wouldn’t also be a good thing?
I have no doubt you can find a drummer who’s even better than me.
I just drum for fun, y’know? And because I like hanging out with you guys.
But I don’t think it’s what I really want to do with my life, if that makes sense. ”
“Yeah, it makes sense.” He nods. The Dusty Brooms have only been becoming more popular as the months have gone by, taking on at least one gig a week, sometimes with them traveling outside Grand Rapids to other nearby cities too (not to mention how they drive back home at the end of every night to cut back on costs, not renting motel rooms).
This sort of lifestyle isn’t for everyone, always traveling and performing.
And they’re only going to get bigger from here.
“When I imagine you in the future, you do look more like someone who’d be some fancy computer scientist, sitting in a room full of crazy machines,” Ray chuckles, and it gets Mick to laugh back.
“And you seem like someone who’ll be on top of the world, world famous. I guess that’s what getting older does to you—your path in life becomes clearer.”
“Mick, you’re only eighteen. You’re not old by any means.”
“I said old-er, not old.” Mick laughs. “But what I’m trying to get at is—you’ve got so much going for you, that me leaving the band shouldn’t drag you down. We’re simply branching off, and both of us have lots to look forward to in life. We need to follow our dreams.”
“Wise beyond your years, you are.” Ray smiles, putting away the cardigan he was holding into a box.
He grabs another piece of clothing on the bed to fold.
“Perhaps I was wrong about not calling you old. You sound like our parents.” That gets another laugh out of Mick.
He’s glad that what started out as a tense conversation has gone back to them being playful again.
“There’s nothing wrong with that; our parents are good people.
” Mick grabs another item of clothing as well.
“Are you ever going to settle down?” He puts on a fake voice, and chuckles.
“Actually, I’m not sure—do they ask you that sort of stuff?
They haven’t really with me, but I suppose that’s because I’m younger. ”
Ray shrugs. “They mention it every now and then, but they’ve been understanding, not really pushing the issue since I’ve been in school. But now that I’ve graduated… I’ll probably be hearing it a lot more.”
“You should have no problem finding a date with how popular you are.” Mick smiles up at his brother. “I see all those girls at the gigs looking at you.”
“Well, I’m the lead singer. Of course they’d be looking at me.”
“You know what I mean!”
Ray laughs, flattening a shirt on the bed.
“Yeah, I get it. I guess it’s just been a while since I’ve gotten together with anyone.
Hasn’t really been on my mind much since I’ve been so busy.
But now that I have more free time… it would be nice.
I could use a good lay.” He notices Mick’s face scrunch up from embarrassment, and Ray laughs harder.
“Though, I don’t wanna bore you with talking about my non-existent love life. ”
“Please, spare me.”
“Well, you started it.” Ray’s grin stays on his face as he thinks about the topic more.
It really has been about two years since he’s slept with a girl, hasn’t it?
When he’d started college, it was like the pressures of it sucked out any motivation for dating at all.
Yet he found comfort with forming the Dusty Brooms, with playing music, with spending time with Gene.
Gene’s become his closest friend, someone who he shares everything with, who makes him so happy…
but Gene isn’t a girl. Gene’s a guy. He’s not someone who he can date, so he shouldn’t even be entertaining that.
His hands feel all clammy, grasping onto a pair of jeans, sweat dampening the material.
Yeah, maybe I do need to get laid. A pretty girl would do me some good.
“Anyway,” Mick says, “Back on track. You guys’ll be fine, and I know you’ll find a new drummer sooner rather than later. And I’ll still play with you all until then.” He puts the shirt he was folding into a box.
“Sounds good, sounds good.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m gonna miss you playing with us, Mick.”
“Same here. But we can always just jam for fun, if you’re ever around, or when I come home for the holidays.”
“For sure.” That puts the smile back on Ray’s face.