Rocked Up

“I’ll have the engineer set you up,” Arnie politely says to Lael.

“Thanks, but I’m good,” Lael responds, keeping her attention on the bass amp that’s taller than she is.

She takes off her small purse that’s the exact same shade of teal as her hair and pulls out a guitar effect pedal. Mr. Robson used to call those pedals dirt boxes. She gets down on one knee and plugs her guitar into the pedal that happens to be the exact same color as her purse and hair.

She then plugs another cable into the opposite end of the pedal and stands up to finally plug into the large amplifier. With a snap and crackle, the amp comes alive. Lael reaches up and twiddles the knobs on the amp.

Then she slams her foot down on her pretty little effect pedal and the sound that comes out is anything but pretty—a mean growl shakes the room. Her knees bend slightly every time she hits the top string of her bass. Her right arm rises up and slams down aggressively every time she hits the note. Finally, she turns toward us sitting at the edge of our seats, where we are watching her every move, and puts one hand on her hip.

Arnie knows very well who she is, but we agreed we would keep her lineage a secret for the audition at least. The band has never had to meet or deal with her before, and even if they did, it would have been back in the day. Arnie stands between us and Lael like a social referee and makes his introductions doing his best to ignore the strange energy in the room.

“Lael, meet Calvi, Switch, and Brad, collectively known as the band And Then. Gentlemen, meet Lael. She’s here to audition to be the interim bassist for the upcoming American tour. I will let you get acquainted.”

Arnie opens the door and walks out backwards, giving me a smile just before it closes.

“Hey,” Calvi says to Lael after an awkward silence.

“Hey,” Lael responds, just as casually.

“You have a pretty killer sound there,” I speak up.

“Thanks,” she says, trying not to smile.

“What kind of pedal is that?” Switch asks.

“It’s one of a kind.”

I stand up and walk toward Lael, extending my hand. She takes it, and while we shake hands and hold eye contact, she very briefly breaks away from the tough girl routine.

“Nice to meet you, Lael,” I say with a smile.

“You too,” she says almost shyly.

I’m tempted to wink at her but I don’t.

“Lets have some fun, fellas, shall we?” I say and walk toward the equipment.

Switch walks behind his drums and Calvi to his guitar. Switch does a few rolls and hits on his drums as he always does, as if to make sure they still make a sound when you hit them. Calvi tunes his guitar. I feel like if I don’t just count off the song they’ll be adjusting their instruments all day.

“All right. Rust in My Bones, in one, two, three, four.”

We’ve played the song a thousand times but it’s never sounded as good as it does right now, with Lael on the bass. She is fucking wild. Her overdriven sound makes the song meaner, heavier, while she adds notes, slaps and slides in the perfect spots. She holds a wide powerful stance, like she owns the room, owns the song, as her bass guitar hangs almost to her knees. Her entire upper body thrusts into each and every note. At every change in the song, Calvi, Switch, and I exchange a look of amazement and joy and begin to play with more enthusiasm, trying to match her. Lael’s over-the-top approach is infectious, and by mid-song the whole band is playing at full throttle.

Toward the end of the song it’s like we’re all competing to be the component with the highest energy. Switch is standing up when he rolls along the toms, and slams his drums harder than usual. Calvi has his foot on an amp, playing harder than he normally does. Rather than tapping my foot, my entire leg bounces up and down.

The song usually has a tight ending but this time we hold the last note for what seems like days, everyone building and building. Lael reaches down and makes her teal pedal go into oblivion.

Finally, with our guitars raised high in the air, Switch does his final roll on the drums and we all slam down and end the long crescendo. For some reason, as it sometimes happens when we’re jamming, we all laugh.

“Duuude,” Calvi says to Lael.

I’m still laughing, overjoyed and completely blown away as I reach for my beer. I take a long swig and exchange a look with Switch. It seems he feels the same way too.

“That was pretty bad-ass,” I manage to say to her when I’m done swallowing.

But Lael is already unplugging her pedal and putting it back into her purse, ready to go.

Arnie opens the door and addresses the room, “Thank you, Lael. That was fantastic. We’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks for having me. See ya, boys.” She smiles at each of us and heads through the door that Arnie is holding open for her with the same confidence she walked in with.

When it clicks shut, the air in the room changes.

“I never really thought about having a girl in the band, but why not, I think it’s cool,” Calvi says while he rests his guitar on a stand.

“I like her,” I tell them. I liked her before, but after seeing her actually play? Shit, we would be fools not to take her.

Well, aside from the messy complications of who she really is.

“Yup,” Switch agrees.

Arnie, however, doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. I can tell he’s being a little cautious with her, and for all the right reasons.

“You know,” he says carefully, brushing his long grey hair behind his ears. “She’s pretty young. Maybe she needs a little more experience. I mean, it’s a long tour and demanding as hell. I thought Beddis sounded pretty good.”

But in this moment, there doesn’t seem to be any choice. I choose to ignore Arnie’s warning as we all take our seats, open fresh beers, and look at each other with confirming smiles.

“All in favor of Lael say aye,” Calvi says, raising his beer, insinuating if we agree it will be a binding contract.

“Aye,” Switch says, holding up his beer. They both turn to me.

“Aye,” I say and hold up my beer. Then we bang our cans together.

“Majority rules, motion passed,” Calvi says with a laugh.

Arnie stands in front of us with his arms crossed, stroking his long grey beard.

“Oh boy,” he says under his breath.





Chapter Six





Lael




My life has come full circle.

Well, if full circle includes me with my hand over my mouth, feeling like I’m going to vomit. Because I might just do that.

I’m backstage with And Then, hanging around outside their dressing room at the Palladium Theater, just as I did back when I was fourteen at their very first show.

Only now I’m part of the band.

I’m officially their bassist.

I have been for a few weeks now.

And this is our first show.

It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve rehearsed with the band (not enough, in my opinion, it’s like trying to herd cats), or how many times I’ve done it on my own, I’m not ready.

How could I ever be ready for this?