Chapter Twenty-Four
landon
The four of us were quiet after Janae made her grand entrance and exit. The tension I’d felt when I first walked in had been replaced by anticipatory energy about who would break the ice first so we could return to the easy camaraderie The Hollow Bones had always shared.
Charles sat back. “We’re a band, and we can’t let anyone get in the way of it.”
I protested, “Janae isn’t going to get in the way.”
“I’m not talking about Janae. So far, she’s been good for us. Each night, we’re getting better and better. Off stage, she loves to have fun and hasn’t been a diva. She cooks and takes care of us like a sister. From what I can tell, she doesn’t try to take you away from us.”
“Then what do you mean?” I leaned against the wall. Cedrick and I had yet to look at each other.
“I’m talking about the two of you,” Charles said. “Handle your business like the best friends you’ve been and not with this macho bullshit.”
I folded my arms. “He started it.”
Cedrick pointed at me. “I tried to talk to you one on one, and you didn’t hear me.”
“Did you talk to me or warn me like I’m some child?” I hit my palm with the back of my other hand. “Whether you like her or not, you have to respect her because she’s with me, and I care about her. She’s not a groupie or some random.”
“I do like her,” he muttered.
“What?” Charles asked, though I knew we’d both heard.
Cedrick blew a raspberry. “Janae’s cool. She’s grown a lot since the last time we worked with her.”
“Then why are you tripping?” I dropped down in the chair beside him.
Cedrick glanced at me before staring ahead. “You’ve been the constant in my life for fifteen years. The sun will rise and set every day because Landon Hayes is there to make sure it happens. I guess I never thought the day would come when that didn’t happen.”
“It was one day, Ced. I’m here now, and we can be here all night if we need to.”
His jaw tightened. “Yesterday was the start of everything changing.”
I quietly said, “That might be true because music was all we needed. You just never believed it would be me who would change first.”
Cedrick twisted his lips and then slowly nodded.
“You helped me get this far, allowing me space and pushing me when I needed to use my voice. I’ll always appreciate what you’ve done for me, and because you’ve been there when my parents didn’t bother.” I held my fist out. “I hope we’ll continue to be brothers, no matter what the future holds. The Hollow Bones, forever.”
The sounds of a violin drifted over us, and I looked back to see Brian playing inside the booth. “Figured you needed music to back up this cry-fest.”
Cedrick tapped my fist. “Fuck you, Brian.”
Charles laughed. “And we’re back. Now, can we please get it together? Nineteen days, and we’re on the road.”
“No more disappearing acts, I promise.” I smiled as I walked into the booth and picked up the guitar I kept at the studio. “I need to hear what you worked on yesterday. Where’s Santi?”
“Running late, as usual. But we can show you what we did. I even wrote your part.” Cedrick joined us in the booth. “Let’s try to hammer down more while we’re here. We’ll get Janae’s done by tomorrow and I figured we could get her crew to film us making the record. Pay them to edit it and drop the video and audio by the weekend. After that, we sit back and do what we do best.”
We all said, “Make damn good music.”
“When do you want Janae to come back? I need to tell her an hour earlier than we want her to be here,” I joked. Janae still didn’t seem to understand the concept of time. “On time” for her was at least fifteen minutes later than expected.
Brian chuckled. “Facts.”
Cedrick said, “Tell her to come back in time for lunch and bring us something to eat. She doesn’t have to get me anything vegan this time.”
Charles shook his head. “Bro, give it up already. You love cheese too much.”
“Yep. Stop following the trend.” I started tuning my guitar.
Brian hit the drums in agreement.
“Fuck every last one of you,” Cedrick growled. “Can’t you see I’m trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle?”
We all stared at him for a long second before howling in laughter.
Cedrick bit back his grin. “Fine… fine… I’m done with pretending. I do love cheese way too much.”
I picked up my cell and texted Janae.
She responded,
I’m bringing back turkey burgers and fries for everyone. I’ll be back in time, before lunch. We have too much work to do.
“She’s already on it,” I informed them. “Now, let’s run it.”
“Brian, play that violin again.” Cedrick squinted.
I smiled. “I know that look. You hear something.”
“For Janae’s song. We start with the violin.”
“I see it… then Santi comes with the trumpet. I can also blow the sax with him if we want more of a chorus sound,” I said.
Brian raised his hand in victory. “Number one.”
Cedrick beamed. “Nothing less.”
May 5
Del’s jaw would be sore by the end of the night. He’d grinned from the beginning of “Fallen Star” to the end. We replayed it five times at his request in the studio. Janae sat next to him, her leg shaking sporadically as we waited for his opinion of the song we’d stayed up all night to finish. We were so into the music that the cameras didn’t seem to faze the group and they didn’t bother me.
Janae asked anxiously, “What do you think?”
He clapped. “It’s a hit. You made the right decision to release independently again.”
Janae hugged Del while Cedrick and I dapped each other.
“The guys will drop the video and audio tomorrow. We already posted a hint on our social media,” Cedrick announced.
Del leaned back in his chair and looked at all of us. “Once this song hits, people are going to be asking for more appearances. Are you ready? Austin wants you. Next year, Jazz Fest in New Orleans is considering The Hollow Bones and Janae as a headliner.”
“We’re not a band,” Janae interjected. “This was just a way to get me back out there.”
“Well, it’s working.” Del shrugged.
Cedrick glanced at me before speaking. “Are you still selling us separately or as a combined band? Our album won’t feature Janae, and she’ll start working on her own stuff again soon, right?”
Del rubbed his hands. “Listen, I am trying to book you separately. Right now, everyone wants you both. We can spin it how we want. We can have a tour where we switch the headliners every night. One night, Janae closes. The next, The Hollow Bones.”
I sighed. “Except Hollow Bones will be on stage the whole time. No one wants to see Janae with any other band but us backing her.”
“Before everyone gets bent out of shape, let the song hit and tour more as a team. Grow your fanbase, and next year, you can tour separately. By then, Hollow Bones will have dropped album number two, and Janae will be signed with a label and done or almost done with album number four.” Del searched our faces again. “It’s a win-win, and it seems like you gel well. Am I wrong?”
Cedrick answered first. “We gel. Just don’t want our brand to change where we’re Janae and The Hollow Bones.”
“I don’t want that either, and I mean that respectfully.” Janae squeezed the hand of Brian, who stood nearest her.
I shrugged. “Then we don’t let it happen. Now, can we go eat or something?”
Everyone started moving around, and Del said near my ear, “Can you and Janae stay back?”
Cedrick narrowed his eyes, and I waved him on. “We’ll catch up. We won’t take long.”
The crew started putting away their equipment, and soon the studio was empty except for the three of us, sitting in a small circle.
“I’ve arranged a few promo stops for you outside of the band. We want to get a photoshoot, so we have some publicity photos featuring the two of you. The photographer wants to capture you in love in New York.”
“No, Del,” I replied.
Janae picked up my hand. “Hear him out.”
Del leaned forward. “The shoot can be intimate. Just you and the photographer. Your relationship is the buzz. You’ve been spotted out and about during the tour. Everyone wants to know more about you. Whatever happened between you and Cedrick the day you arrived in New York was captured, and the world is in a frenzy. Is there trouble in paradise already? We have to jump on it and make sure that the narrative stays positive.”
“I don’t want to use our relationship to sell records.” My chest started to tighten.
Janae rubbed my hand. “We’re not. We’re selling Black love in all its beauty. I want the world to know how crazy I am about you.” She implored me with her eyes. “Baby, we can keep you comfortable. Your hat can partially block your face, and you can have your guitar. We can request that we do it in a studio and not outside. If the photographer wants it to be around New York, he or she can edit it later.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to do a shoot without them. These photos might seem like the first step to a solo career.”
She gazed up at me. “Trust me. This gets you out of the shadows. People need to see the genius you really are and that real men are more than the alphas of the world. Think of the boy you were and how you can inspire those who are still the way you were. This isn’t about breaking away from the group. This is you showing us who Landon Hayes really is.”
I inhaled and slowly exhaled. “Okay.”
I never knew love would make me expand my comfort zone, and maybe that was what Cedrick was really jealous of. Janae could convince me to do things for the sake of my career that he never could.