Chapter 10

Over the weekend I followed Mr. French’s advice and slipped one of my new songs into our setlist. I’d already started brainstorming more songs, since I needed to get a bunch more written and didn’t have a ton of time to do it, but he’d also said I’d need to work them out a bit in front of a crowd to get them really ready. I didn’t want to have to play a bunch of new songs all at once, which meant I needed to start playing the stuff I had now, if I wanted to get them more or less locked by the time the others were ready to be played for an audience.

The band didn’t seem completely sold and made some suggestions I hadn’t thought of. I suggested pulling the song back out, but Willie told me to leave it in. He said even if it didn’t land all the way, it wasn’t bad and it would give us some variety.

I could see the argument. Even though we added in a new song or two every week, switching out with something that had been in the setlist the longest, the music still could get a little monotonous if you listened to it enough. That wouldn’t be a problem in bigger cities, where the audience mostly changed out for every show, but Wellsville was a small town. Even with tourists stopping in after seeing the music advertised on the sign, the audience was still mostly locals looking for some weekend entertainment. That meant they were mostly seeing us play every weekend, and were hearing largely the same setlist from one week to another.

We switched up the order and sometimes changed out a few more with stuff from weeks before that we still had down, but it didn’t keep it as fresh as I would have wanted.

Overall, I did think our shows were good and everyone seemed to have a good time each night, but I did want to keep things fresher.

I brought it up with Willie and he said, “Haven’t you ever thought why you didn’t ever see acts stay in one place, playin’ regular shows, until later in their life?”

“I would have thought it was because of the money. If they’re playing the same place all the time, they can’t draw the huge stadium crowds they would if they tour through a bunch of major cities and don’t come back every year. Scarcity and all that.”

“That’s the biggest part of it, no doubt, but it’s not the only thing that does it. Think about how you felt playin’ different clubs with me. It was excitin’ playin’ at a new place, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess. You know, you’re the first person I’ve ever known to have a home club to play at every weekend. When Dad played, it seemed like everywhere had different acts every weekend. Sometimes acts would rotate through the same places over and over, but they still spread their shows out so that one audience didn’t see them for months at a time.”

“Like I said, money’s the big reason for that, but it’s also the changin’ times that does it. It used to be a lot more common, in the old days when it was slower to travel around, I’ll give you that. It still happens though, and not just with ol’ timers like me. I guarantee you have heard of acts playing the same places night after night. That’s what they do in Vegas, after all.”

“Yeah, but the audiences there change out a lot, since it’s mostly tourists who see the show, so it’s okay to do the same set every night. If the audience is always changing, the show doesn’t need to.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. The band’ll get bored if you don’t switch it up enough, and the audience can tell if the band isn’t into it. There are more folks out there like me than you know of though, and all of ‘em have enough options to keep the shows changin’ up all the time. You’re just startin’ out, so the only way you can make that work is to keep doin’ covers, but that won’t be enough to get you really discovered. I think Kevin’s right; you gotta start gettin’ your own music ready if you want to break out. Let’s take a look at the songs you got and see if we can’t jazz ‘em up a bit.”

It was weird to hear someone use a teacher’s first name, but I was glad he agreed and wanted to work with me on them. Although I already had Mr. French working with me on them, it helped to hear someone else’s point of view, especially since Willie came from such a different point of view than Mr. French. While I didn’t want them to change my music into something that wasn’t me, I did want to hear different ways of coming at writing a song, to know what my options were.

He had a lot of thoughts on the new songs. Some would have taken them too far from the pop base and into blues for me, but others were interesting. I tried working out some of the changes Sunday night, but Mom had chased me off to bed when she got home and I didn’t get to fully work out everything he’d suggested, so it was still rattling around in my head when I got to school Monday. The office was on the busy side and the person who was supposed to escort me was in a meeting. I asked the secretary if I should wait and just get a tardy slip, but she told me he was almost done and to go ahead and go to class, and he’d catch up before I got there.

I didn’t think anything of it and started to class, not really paying much attention, until I heard Aaron’s voice. I’d been running late waiting at the office, so the halls were mostly empty. I was at one corner of the school, so I tried to just avoid him by turning and continuing down the hall to my class, which was pretty close. I must have really been in my head, because it wasn’t until then that I noticed Harry had gotten around me.

I backed up a step, looking down both hallways, trying to find an avenue of escape, and not having any luck.

“You think you can get in some cheap shot at me and get away with it,” Aaron said, edging towards me.

He’d learned his lesson from the last time and wasn’t just charging headlong. I could see him looking from me to Harry, apparently trying to keep me between them so I couldn’t get him locked up like I did last time. It just went to show how little Aaron knew about actual fighting, or he’d realize I couldn’t take him to the ground like I had in the parking lot without opening myself up to a beating from Harry.

“I thought we were supposed to stay away from each other,” I said, feinting towards Harry a step, forcing him to take a step back.

Aaron remained cautious, pausing to see what I was going to do instead of taking the opportunity to rush me as I feinted towards Harry.

“No, you’re supposed to stay away from me. Wait till I tell my dad that you got within five hundred feet of me. Maybe they’ll arrest you for violating the restraining order. That might make what you did worth it. I bet my dad can get the sheriff to put you in a cell with some big men who like little bitches like you.”

“You’re not very smart, are you?”

“What the fuck did you say?” Aaron snarled.

“I said, you’re not very smart, are you? I’ve already kicked both of your asses and now you’ve got me backed into a corner. What do you think I’ll do this time? Since I’ve already violated the restraining order, I might as well make the most of it. Since I’m already in trouble for permanently injuring your throwing arm, how about we do it for real, so I can get the most out of this.”

Aaron blanched and took a step back. I don’t think it occurred to him until that very moment that I’d fight back if he cornered me, rather than take the beating. He’d somehow imagined the restraining order protected him even if he already forced me to be in violation, and kept me from actually hurting him.

I could see him working through if he should run and lose face or try me now that he had Harry with him. He’d beaten me when it was three to one odds, so maybe he thought he could take me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if he was right or not, but I knew I could make it costly for both of them. I knew Harry was the weaker of the two and I’d seen him run at small injuries before, so I’d already decided to get in my first shots against him. He had his hands up, but wasn’t actually protecting himself in any way. If he did come in, I was pretty sure I could get a good shot in against his head and, if I aimed it right, maybe even break his nose. That would almost certainly take him out of the fight unless he’d grown a pair in the last several months, leaving me and Aaron one on one again.

I was just preparing to pivot and strike out at Harry when a voice came down the hallway towards us.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Looking past Aaron, I saw the teacher who’d supposed to have escorted me to class jogging towards us. Harry did what Harry does best, turning tail and running down the hallway away from the teacher and us. I don’t know what Harry was thinking. The teacher was close enough to see him, so running away would just get him in more trouble, but then Harry was never much of a thinker.

Aaron, always willing to double down on stupid, looked like he was going to try and have a go even with the teacher right behind him.

“Mr. Campbell, you need to go right now or I’m going to haul your ass into the office.”

Aaron gave me another hard look before turning and walking away past the teacher. To my utter lack of surprise, the teacher didn’t do or even say anything else to Aaron, instead closing in on my, finger already lifting to waggle as he lectured me.

I stood there and took it, since arguing back wouldn’t help my case. It seemed impossible to miss the fact that I’d been cornered by the two of them and clearly had not picked a fight, but I guess he needed to save face from telling me to go to class on my own and trying to catch up after the fact.

I also had bigger problems than dealing with him anyway. Aaron might be a blowhard, but he wasn’t bluffing about talking to his father. He’d probably call his dad before he even went to class, which meant by tonight or tomorrow at the latest I’d have to deal with violating the restraining order. I didn’t know if that meant getting expelled from school or going to jail, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

Mom was going to be pissed when she found out. At best, I was going to get my ass chewed out when I got home and at worst I might have to give up playing again until I was out of the house. Mom wasn’t unreasonable and I knew she’d listen to me when I explained how they cornered me, but that wouldn’t change the fact that we couldn’t afford to get bailed out if it came to that. My biggest worry was she’d just give in and call Aarons’ dad and tell them she wasn’t going to fight the lawsuit.

I kicked myself as I finally got to my first-period class. I should have just waited in the office for my escort. Aaron had almost certainly been waiting for an opportunity like this, and I’d just handed it to him like an idiot.

“I need some help,” I said to Mr. French when he met me after my English class to take me to lunch.

He listened as I explained what happened with Aaron, not interrupting me as I explained everything.

“I’m sympathetic, Charlie, but I’m not sure what I can do to help. I could step in and say something if he just reported it to the administration, but I can’t keep him from telling his father or their attorney about it.”

“I know we’re not supposed to, but is it at all possible I could make a phone call?”

Mr. French stopped and thought about it for a second. I knew if it was just up to him, he wouldn’t have a problem with it, especially under these circumstances. He had to keep in mind that, even though I was being forced to eat in the choir room, the work he did with me could be seen as a form of favoritism.

“Sure,” he said finally, turning the phone around on his desk to face me.

They were in the middle of the lunch rush, so I wasn’t sure if Chef would have time to talk, but he was the only person I could think might be able to help me. I didn’t know how busy weekday lunches were, but since it took several minutes for Chef to answer after Vinney went to get him, I guess it was busy enough.

“Charlie, is everything alright?” He asked.

It was a reasonable question, since he knew I was in school and never called during a school day. I explained, again, the run-in with Aaron and the possible trouble I was in now, since I technically violated the restraining order.

“Well, at least his timing’s good. I was going to talk to you when you got here this afternoon, but I think I have a solution for you. Do you have practice this afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible to miss it?”

“I don’t know. Coach Dean is pretty cool so if I explain it’s an emergency he’ll probably let me skip one practice, as long as I don’t make a habit of it.”

“Okay, then let Hanna know you don’t need a ride today. I’ll come by and pick you up after school in the parking lot next to the baseball field. Now, we’re pretty busy so I gotta go.”

He didn’t wait for me to answer, hanging up as soon as he finished speaking.

“Is he going to be able to help?”

“He said he had a solution, but didn’t say what it was. He’s picking me up after school.”

“He wouldn’t do that if he didn’t have a solution for you. You’ve had a tough morning, so let’s skip working on anything for today. Any work you do when you’re really unfocussed isn’t really good work anyway.”

He wasn’t wrong about being unfocused. I had trouble paying attention the rest of the day, to the point where several teachers said something when they called on me and I didn’t even notice. I was in my head about what would happen with Aaron, what Mom would do when she found out, and what the solution Chef had found was.

I doubted he’d actually found a way to get the restraining order or lawsuit thrown out. He could do a lot of things, but that seemed pretty far out of his area. My second thought was that maybe he’d found a lawyer or talked to Mom and convinced her to stop bringing up the idea of just giving in and declaring bankruptcy.