Chapter 33: Flames and Scars

On Monday, I was very relieved to get summoned to the principal’s office. Despite the amused looks I got from my classmates, I was feeling pretty high. Dr. Kendall had been silent since our meeting the previous week, a bit worrisome since the time before May wasn’t exactly abundant. But I trusted in his promise, and now it seemed we’d be shifting into gear.

When I stepped into his office, another man was already sitting in one of the chairs. He looked vaguely familiar. I took the initiative and strode over to shake his hand as Dr. Kendall spoke.

“Matt, good morning! This is Ray, director of Parks and Recreation. I’ve already filled him in on your idea, but I wanted you to have a chance to talk to him.”

“Cool,” I said. “I think I’ve gone on some school trips with you.”

“Probably!” Ray said, grinning.

I felt overly mature at the formality of the meeting, but the director turned out to be pretty laid back. Even better, he was quite enthusiastic about the whole idea, being a guitar player himself.

“I’ll tell you up front,” he said, leaning in to grin at me. “Best part of my job is putting on the concerts for the summer series.”

“Do you play shows yourself?” I asked him.

“Sure!” He glanced at Dr. Kendall. “Ron and I play in a band together.”

I gaped at them. “I didn’t know that!”

Dr. Kendall spread his hands to reduce my expectations. “Ray is exaggerating. When’s the last time we got together?”

Ray grinned. “I told you becoming principal would cut into our fame!”

“Matt, we played one show, maybe five years ago for a faculty picnic. And once in a blue moon Ray and I get together to jam on a few tunes.”

“Still, that’s cool,” I said, finding new respect for the man.

“So you’re thinking of having three bands?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, if that is okay. Like about an hour for each band, a little break between to change setups.”

“Sure. I’ll need to know the stage layouts for each group, as far as microphones, direct boxes, things like that, so I can get it to the sound guy.”

I frowned. “Sound guy? We have a PA system we were going to use.”

Ray chuckled. “Okay, sure, if you want to use yours. The park is pretty large, though.”

“Are you really talking about setting up the stage and having a sound system?” I asked, incredulous.

Ray threw another glance at Dr. Kendall, who leaned in.

“I got a call from Mr. and Mrs. Peoples. They are very much behind this. You should know that they are covering the cost of hiring the sound and light crew.”

I was stunned into silence as Ray went on about how they didn’t have to set up the park PA, if we’d rather use our own equipment. I could tell he was joking around with me, though, having a good time at my expense and encouraged by my slack jaw.

“Wow,” I finally murmured. “This is crazy. But Carmen’s parents? I thought they weren’t, well, you know...”

“They are not wealthy, if that’s what you are getting at,” Dr. Kendall agreed, with a warm smile. “Which should tell you how much they are supportive of this idea, that they are contributing in this way.”

“You’ve been to shows down there, right?” Ray asked.

I snapped out of my sudden trance. “Oh, well, yeah, but it’s been a couple of years. My parents took us a few times.”

“We’ve upgraded everything in the last year. It’s a good system, don’t worry.”

“Oh, I’m not worried! Honestly, I came into this thinking we’d just be playing in the auditorium to our friends and classmates.”

“And now you can go out of here thinking much bigger!” Ray said.

“Jeez ... I hope we can live up to it now.”

“I’m sure you will,” Dr. Kendall said. “Now, let’s talk details, so we can make this happen. There’s a lot of planning to get the ball rolling on, if we’re going to pull this off for early May.”

The principal called his assistant in to take notes. I mostly listened as a number of things I hadn’t thought of were brought up. A table selling drinks and snacks, with profits to benefit the fund ... Where to set up the stations to collect donations, and who would operate them ... What time to have sound checks ... Did we want any special kind of lighting elements... ? Volunteers to help direct the parking – ‘and Robin, make sure those people know not to let cars park on the grass’ ... Sending a mailer out to the district parents ... Flyers for shops in town...

“Maybe we can get some past exchange students to speak during the two breaks?” I suggested.

“Excellent idea,” Dr. Kendall agreed, issuing a few names for Robin to follow up with.

I was already exhausted by the end of the meeting. I’m not going to sleep this month ... And for once it won’t be Heather’s fault!

Once we’d piled into Alice’s car that afternoon for the ride home, I spilled the news of the meeting. Everyone was as shocked and excited as I was.

“Damn...” Lara breathed. “How many people are going to come to this?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m a bit scared now.”

“We better get good,” Tommy said. “Maybe Gwen and Colin should move in.”

“Yeah, I’ll sleep on the fucking floor, I don’t care,” I said.

“You guys sound good already,” Alice chimed in.

“Thanks, lass, but ‘hundreds of people’ good?”

“Sure!”

“We can do better,” I said. “Anyway, even if Gwen and Colin can’t be there all the time, we definitely are there all the time.”

“Let’s get to work as soon as we get home,” Muireann said.

“I need to make a few calls, but yeah,” I agreed.

“You guys are so lucky,” Alice pouted.

“Lucky, or crazy,” Lara replied, laughing.

“Oh, it’s going to be a blast and you know it. Do you need, like, a tambourine player?” she asked, her voice full of hope.

“Um ... You’d need to ask Gwen about that.”

Alice widened her eyes at her for just a moment. “Ask Gwen... ? Hmm, on second thought, forget it. I’ll just hang out and dance!”

When we arrived home, I went to my room to take care of business. My first call to Patricia and Bud was short, mainly to thank them for their generous support with the technical needs, and to let them know how things were shaping up. Then I dialed a number that I still knew by heart but hadn’t fingered in some time.

“Hello?”

“Hey Pete.”

“Who is this?” He sounded groggy and voices were speaking in the background.

“It’s Matt. Do you have a minute?”

“Let me turn off the TV, hold on.”

Odd ... Pete hates television...

“All right,” he said, once the noise went silent.

“Were you—”

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. So I’m putting together a concert for May. It’s a benefit thing, for ... the foreign exchange program. Trying to raise money for travel and stuff.”

I’d forgotten about his crush on Carmen, so at the last moment I deflected the main reason for the show, unsure how he would react.

“Okay,” he replied.

“Do you guys want to play at it?”

“Like, The Nameless?”

“Well, yeah. You’re still playing, right?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“We haven’t jammed since the band battle. Or wait, I guess we did, once. Yeah, over break, I think.”

“Okay ... Well, do you want to do it?”

“I don’t know. You should call the other guys, man. I don’t know what they want to do.”

“Do you want to ask them? The show’s on May fourth. It’s a Saturday.”

“Call Bruno, and he can ask Skinner. It’s up to him mostly.”

“Up to Bruno?”

“No, Skinner.”

“All right,” I said slowly. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re asleep, or something.”

“Just hanging out,” he replied.

“Okay. I’ll give Bruno a call.”

“Good plan. Later.”

“See you.”

I hung up, feeling unsettled at Pete’s mood. I dialed numbers again, despite my waning enthusiasm.

“Hello?”

“Bruno, it’s Matt.”

“Oh hey man, what’s up?”

“I have a question for you. But first, what the hell is up with Pete?”

“Huh?”

“I just called him, and he seems like he’s on drugs.”

Bruno laughed. “Because he probably is high.”

“Really? Like right after school?”

“Yeah, well...” he said vaguely.

“Is he like a complete pothead these days?”

“I guess. He does go through his moods, though, so who knows.”

“All right ... It was a bit weird.”

“Always is with Pete,” he said matter-of-factly. “Anyway, what was your question?”

I told him about the park concert, giving him enough detail so he’d know that they’d have to take it seriously. Pete’s admission of their lack of recent practice wasn’t particularly inspiring, though. We were spending hours each day, and they had maybe jammed once a few weeks ago. I guess that’s why they’re playing first...

“Sure, we’ll do it,” Bruno replied. “That sounds awesome!”

“Okay. Do you want to check with everyone else?”

“I think it’ll be fine. Just put us in.”

“No, let me know for sure. This is a serious gig with a lot of people putting their time in, so I can’t have any half-assed commitment, okay? And make sure everyone knows that, especially Skinner.”

“Yeah, all right, chill. We’ll do it, though, don’t worry. But I’ll let you know for sure after I talk to them.”

“Cool. Sorry to be a bit prick-ish, but Pete was acting weird so I’m feeling a bit strange about it now.”

“Eh, don’t worry about him. You know he has his ups and downs. Once he hears more about the show, he’ll get excited about it.”

“I hope so. All right, I need to get back to stuff.”

“Take care, man.”

I hung up and started second-guessing the whole magnanimous thing. It suddenly seemed quite possible that they’d end up messing the show up somehow.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag now...

“Grand Central Station, can I help you?” came the oddly theatrical voice.

“Oh, sorry, wrong number!” I muttered, still distracted by the sheet of notes I had on my desk.

“No, Matt, I was just joking,” Heather said, catching me just as my finger was about to press the hook. “It’s just been non-stop today.”

I laughed, letting my brain catch up with reality. “You’re funny. I really thought I misdialed.”

She sounded amused. “Scarred for life by Wilbur’s ... Well, you would’ve really had to misdial to get a Manhattan number.”

“Yeah, well, right now it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s kind of crazy around here too.”

“Good crazy?”

“Getting things ready.”

I caught Heather up on the concert preparations. In the telling of it, I realized we’d accomplished a lot so far, but also that there was so much yet to do.

“So how’s the fiddle tune coming along?” she asked, somehow latching on to my omission of it.

“Uh, good and bad,” I replied.

“What’s the good?”

“Muireann did write a tune, it’s really cool, and she and Tommy kick ass on it.”

“Nice. And the bad?” she asked, although her giggling suggested she knew what I was going to say, at least in spirit.

“She also came up with a snippet for her and me to play. And it’s cool too, but I completely suck at it.”

The giggling continued.

“I’m getting there,” I added. “But I’m not exactly used to playing a ton of notes without stopping. And there’s this little thing in there where you have to hit the same note three times, and it’s fricking impossible.”

“How long is this snippet?”

“Like ... fifteen seconds,” I replied, a bit sheepishly. “Maybe less.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine,” she consoled.

“We’ll see. How are you doing?”

“I guess the same as you,” she said, her voice deflating a bit. “Good and bad.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I talked to the vision center today. They’re going to have the gallery room done in a couple of weeks and move the photos in there.”

“That’s awesome, Heather!”

“Yeah, but ... Guess what day they’re going to have the opening event?”

My heart sank. “Oh...”

“Yeah, I know,” she said quietly.

“Damn...”

We sat in silence.

“Did you ask them if there was a different date they could do it on?”

“I thought about it ... But they’re already promoting it. Chip is going to have some family in town that weekend, and he wants them to see the new gallery ... He gave a lot of money to make this happen, so I’d feel bad about asking to change it now. This thing has gotten bigger than me.”

I murmured. “I know what you mean. The concert is turning out the same way. There’s stuff happening for it that I don’t even know about.”

“And in the end, that’s a good thing for both of us ... as much as I want to come up there for your show.”

“And as much as I want to go down there for your show!” I cried. “Ah, what bad fucking luck, in a way!”

“Yeah ... Even though I keep thinking I’ll just skip the opening night thing.”

I jolted in my seat. “No way, Heather! You have to go. Please!”

“I guess. Though I’m not sure why. It’s about the photos, if anything. Not about me.”

“People will want to meet you! It might be getting bigger than you now, but you started this.”

Heather murmured quietly. “We’ll see if I can finish it.”

“Oh, don’t say that! If I can play this snippet, then you can get this done. I know you can, Heather. Are you doing okay with the printing and everything? How’s the welding guy doing?”

“That’s going really well, surprisingly,” she said. “I need to work on the filter inserts with Leila this weekend and then try using it to make some prints.”

“How’s it going, working with her?”

“She’s amazing,” Heather said quietly. “She’s really into it, just like Tommy was. The lens filter is done, and she’s been taking some pictures already, some great shots...”

“That’s awesome. Are you printing at your teacher’s friend’s house still?”

“Yeah. I have to say, she’s so understanding. She’s letting me take over her studio until the show. I have a feeling I’ll practically be living there for the next few weeks.”

“That’s so nice of her. And hey, I’m here for you, if you need a night phone call. I can call her place, so you don’t run up her bill.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that, but there’s no phone in her studio. Hopefully it won’t come to that ... And besides, I know you’re too busy.”

“No, Heather, don’t say that! I’m here for you. And I’d just be sleeping anyway, right?” I joked.

Heather laughed gently. “You’re the sweetest, Matt.”

The four of us became brutally efficient at our schoolwork. Even Tommy agreed to use both the study hall and lunch periods for getting things done so that we had more time to play in the evenings. I was certain that Carmen not being around also muted his enthusiasm for horsing around, but I took what I could get. We were even ripping through homework in Alice’s car each morning and afternoon. My parents cut us some major slack on the chores. In fact, everyone was rather incredibly helpful about doing everything they could to give us time for rehearsal.

It wasn’t that we weren’t sounding good yet; on the contrary, we were sometimes scarily in sync as a band. Rather, it was almost an obsessive greed that set in, as we continued to add details to the song, shaping things. Practice led to progress, and progress fomented more practice. We all wanted more, since it only got better with each session.

Bruno soon confirmed The Nameless, and I reminded him again not to fuck it up. Even though he assured me they’d take it seriously, I was of half a mind to go to their rehearsals and participate in them, just to make sure. But as usual, I was likely overblowing things from the stress. Pete was more like his normal self in study hall and he was clearly getting excited about the concert, especially once he realized how closely it was tied to Carmen’s memory. From the sound of things, The Nameless was going to be a good addition to the show after all.

“Hey Ireland, what’s that little thing called that you do on the first lick?” Gwen asked during a pause in Horizon Lines.

I groaned quietly. Oh great...

“This?” Muireann asked, playing the first bar of our snippet. “That’s a treble. An ornament we use in our music.”

“It’s a neat sound,” Gwen said, before turning to stare at me. “Why isn’t he playing it with you?”

“Oh, it’s tricky,” Muireann excused, giving me an apologetic smile.

Gwen picked up her drum sticks and played her usual hi-hat rhythm for Horizon Lines, but started adding trebles to the pattern as if she’d been playing them for years.

“Doesn’t seem that hard,” she said simply.

“Easy for you to say when you’re using two hands,” I retorted.

Gwen calmly held my gaze while she tossed one stick over her shoulder. As it bounced to the floor, she repeated the pattern with her right hand alone. The difference in sound was nil. I just rolled my eyes as everyone laughed.

Later that evening, Muireann and I lit the candles and settled into our chairs by the pool. Despite our name for it, ‘music in the woods’ was sometimes filled with more talking than playing.

“Gwen’s a fricking slave driver,” I moaned.

“Oh, she’s only trying to make us better.”

I pulled Colin’s old acoustic out of the case. “I know. I’m not complaining, just saying that she doesn’t hold back, you know? And now I need to practice my trebles. Ugh...”

“The best things take practice,” she remarked, giving me a little grin.

“Is that so? Are you sure that’s how you feel?”

“Aye...” She narrowed her eyes at me. “But why do you say it like that? And why do you have that smile on your face?”

I laughed. “Because I have a grand idea for the chorus. And it involves you.”

“And you, I hope?” she asked.

“Nah, I couldn’t play what I’m thinking of. But I think you could.”

“What is it then?”

I sat back and stared at the rippling surface of the pool as it caught the occasional reflection of the sea of candles.

“Last summer, Heather took me to a concert at a church down in Montauk. It was some classical music, and for some reason I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.”

“Was it some sort of symphony?”

“Yeah, something like that. I don’t remember what it was anymore, but I’m sure she would. Anyway, it was super interesting. Strange, but interesting. And the thing I remember most was how a lot of it made me think of the sea, and waves and water and stuff.”

“That sounds neat.”

“It was. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that I think it would be cool if you played something over the chorus that maybe sounded like flames.”

“Flames? What do you have in mind?”

I sighed. “I’m not even sure. But in this concert, there was a lot of stuff they were playing that went up and down like waves, and flames are kind of the same, you know? Flickering, like. I’m sorry if this makes no sense.”

“Can you sing something of the sort?”

“Hardly. But notes that go from high to low and back again.” I dragged my pick down across the guitar strings and then back up. “I mean, kind of like that, but much better!”

“So you mean arpeggios.”

“Uh, sure... ?”

Muireann put her fiddle to her chin and played the first five notes of the tune that she played with Tommy on Horizon Lines, and then cycled back down to the starting note. As she repeated this up-and-down figure and sped it up, I grinned.

“Yeah!” I cried. “That’s it, something like that. I guess I didn’t realize that your tune started with that kind of thing.”

“We don’t play it back downward.”

“No, you’re right. But okay, something like that, to go over the chorus.”

Muireann pursed her lips. “I could play the different chords, up and down that way.”

“Try it,” I urged. “I’ll play the rhythm.”

“Take it slow, so I can have time to think what would be best.”

“Okay ... Three, four...”

It was kind of awesome, really, how she could just play the notes she needed, on the fly. From idea to reality in sixty seconds... I listened, my insides crawling with excitement as she moved the pattern around through the changes.

“Damn, Muireann, that’s fantastic!” I cried when we finished the pass.

She gave a little giggle. “I’m glad you liked it, but it feels very pedestrian.”

“Pedestrian?” I blurted out. “From here it sounded great!”

“It could be made more interesting. Hmm ... Play it again. A little slower still.”

I obliged, repeating the chord sequence several more times as she tried variations of these arpeggios.

“Maybe I could start high, and go down and up?”

“Try it!”

Again we set off, and it had a different feeling, no less interesting.

“The notes, they’re too plain on the chords,” she dismissed.

“What do you mean?”

“It seems that we would want more, oh, I don’t know ... More tension.”

“Tension is good in this song, sure. But how?”

She leaned in and tried a new approach, and little by little she homed in on a neat progression that worked beautifully on top of my chords.

“I really like that,” I said, now rather impressed by how she’d built on my idea.

She shook her head. “It still sounds like a march.”

“A march?”

“Aye, so straightforward.”

We sat quietly, thinking. Well, she thought, and I replayed her recent attempt in my head, trying to imagine it at speed and over the sound of the full band.