Part
3
Jake wandered into the house after school. He was still down from not winning the
talent search, but it was getting easier to accept. The band had been hired by a local all age club to play over the
weekend. This would be their first gig.
Jake took full advantage of the fact that his mother
wasn’t going to be home till late. She
usually left dinner in the Crock pot or money for pizza. Turning up the radio Jake made his way to
the Kitchen to check on the junk food situation. Pulling the pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey from the
freezer her began eating it straight from the carton.
He sat down at the island. The message light was blinking on the answering machine. He put his spoon down and hit play. ‘This is Corey from CMI. Please call me back at 222-555-0101. Thank you.’
“What the hell is CMI? And where’s area code 222?”
Jake wondered out loud. He
picked up the phone and dialed the number.
A young woman answered. “Chasez Music, this is Corey.”
“Good afternoon, this is Jacob Wagner and I’m
returning your call.” Jake was shocked
when he heard her answer ‘Chasez Music’.
“Oh hello Jacob.
I’m glad that you returned my call so quickly. Let me check and see if Mr. Chasez is free.”
Faint music came through the line and Jake waited
anxiously. What in the world would this company want with him and who the heck was
Mr. Chasez?
“Jacob Wagner?”
“Please call me Jake.”
“Fine. Hello
Jake. My name is Josh Chasez and I own
Chasez Music, a major music label.”
“Hello sir.”
“I’ll get to the point of my call. In a round about way I received a video of
your band, Y’s 1’s. I really liked what
I saw and wondered if I could make a meeting to talk to you and the others.”
Jake about fainted.
“A-a meeting?”
“Yes. Are you
free tomorrow?”
“I-I have to check,” Jake stuttered unsure of his own
name right now. He picked up the
calendar. “We’re booked this weekend at
a local club,” he said hesitantly.
“A local club?
Where is it you are from again?”
“Berne.
Berne, Indiana.”
“Oh yeah I guess Corey had mentioned that.” Josh looked at his calendar. With a bit of work he could clear his
schedule for the weekend. “Since you
can’t come to me, I’ll fly in and see you perform. I’m going to give you a call when I get into town tomorrow. I’ll see you at the club tomorrow night, if
not before.”
“Okay. Thank
you sir.”
“No need for thanks and please call me Josh.”
Jake hung up the phone and screamed at the top of his
lungs. This wasn’t the way it was
supposed to be. There were no grueling
club dates, demo tapes or rejections.
Jake quickly stopped and reminded himself that they didn’t have a deal
yet.
Jake called the rest of the group and had them come
right over to his house. When they were
all sitting around his living room Jake relayed the phone conversation he’d
just had with Josh.
“You’re kidding right?” Vic asked.
“This is some kind of joke,” Kollin added.
“No, no joke!
There is a record executive coming to hear us play tomorrow night!” Jake almost yelled.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Robbie said, looking
kind of green.
“Do we need more practice?” Wyatt asked.
“I think we’re fine.
Not a lot we can do this late in the game.” Jake was excited and scared all at once. His adrenaline level was high and at this
rate he’d never be able to sleep. “We
need a good nights sleep. Everyone home
and straight to bed. We’ll meet at the
club after school.”
Jake slept fairly well under the circumstances. He was already asleep when his mother came
home that night. As he made his was to
the kitchen the next morning he could hear his mother singing in the
shower. It made him laugh she was
anything but good. A trait from my father obviously.
He wanted to tell her about the good news but knew
she’d get upset. He still couldn’t
understand why him singing was such a big deal. Instead he poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and sat down at the
kitchen table.
“Good morning sweetie,” Cierra said kissing the top
of Jake’s head on her way into the kitchen.
“Morning,” Jake muttered through a mouthful of
cereal.
“You must have gone to sleep early last night.”
“Big night tonight.
Needed my rest.” Jake said
rinsing his bowl and putting it in the dishwasher. He looked at his mother as she made coffee. “You are still coming aren’t you?”
“Well, I was actually …” she started.
“Mom! It’s
very important to me! This is the most
important night of my life!”
“Okay Jake. I
was just playing with you. No need to
be so dramatic.” She stirred her
coffee. “This performance isn’t life
and death. It’s just a small club in a
small town.”
Sure it is,
Jake thought. A small club with one big record executive and a chance of a lifetime. “Okay Mom.”
He kissed her cheek. “Gotta
run. See you tonight.” Jake grabbed his books and headed off to
school.
The day flew by and before Jake knew what happened
school was over and he found himself sound checking at the club.
He was in the middle of their typical practice piece
when his mom walked into the empty club.
Once again always the cool mom she had her long hair
pulled up in a ponytail and was wearing leather pants and a tight black
t-shirt.
“That’s good guys.”
Jake said into his mike. He
jumped off the short stage and ran over to where his mom was. He gave her a quick hug. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Mom, I have someone I’d like you to meet,” he said
hesitantly.
Cierra
grinned. Maybe I’ll finally get to meet Mia, the girl he’s been seeing, she
thought. “Okay,” she said taking his
hand as he led her to the backstage area.
There was a man dresses in a black suit talking to the rest of the band.
“Josh,
I’d like to introduce you to my mom.”
Josh
turned and held out his hand for Cierra to shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh
my god,” Cierra uttered as the room grew dark and she fell to the ground.
