Fanfare (Country Roads #2) - Chapter 31

I didn’t get a chance to talk to Hanna, since she’d mentioned she was heading home right after school to find out what was going on with Kat. I still wanted to talk to her about the festival, but it could wait until tomorrow. We had a week until spring break and Mr. French had handled most of it, anyway.

I was just jogging out to the field, my head still miles away, when I almost tripped over my own feet. JV was practicing their fielding while varsity was over in the batting cages working on their swings, and standing on second base was Harry Torres, who should have been off the team completely after attacking me in front of two of the coaches.

I made a beeline for Coach Dean, who saw me coming and met me halfway, grabbing me by the bicep and leading me off to one far side of the field, away from everyone else. I didn’t take my eyes off of Harry, who was tracking me as I got hauled away, until Coach Bryant yelled at him to get his head into practice.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Coach Dean said once we were far enough away to talk without being overheard. “I know you thought Harry would be kicked off the team, but a decision was made to give him another chance. I get that seems unfair to you and probably makes you angry, but I think the best thing you can do is just focus on playing baseball. Harry’s still going to be on JV, so you aren’t even going to be playing together.”

“But how did he get a second chance, Coach? I’ve been almost kicked off the team twice, and I haven’t done anything but defend myself. I had to practically beg Mr. Keller to keep me in and I spent the first month training by myself and I’m still not able to do regular classes with the rest of the team. Harry clearly attacks me in front of you and Coach Cooper, and he gets a second chance. I’m not even sure I want to play baseball anymore if this is the bullshit I have to deal with.”

“If that’s your decision, then I won’t stop you, but I think you should take some time before you make any rash decisions. Is that what you really want? I thought you said Harry has been trying to get you off the team since you joined, wouldn’t this be giving him exactly what he wants?”

“But how did you let this happen, Coach? You said you were going to take care of it and make sure I got treated fairly.”

“I know, and I talked to Mr. Keller about it, but Coach Bryant and Harry’s father made a request to give him a second chance and demanded that if Harry was removed from the team that we’d also remove David Reid, since they both were suspended for the same offense.”

“David didn’t lie about me attacking him and he didn’t instigate it.”

“I understand that, but we are required to treat each incident separately and there are district policies Mr. Keller has to consider.”

“That’s bullshit. Mr. Packer argued that I be punished for my ‘continued disciplinary problems.’ How is that treating each incident separately?”

“In that instance, Mr. Packer was wrong and Mr. Keller knew that, which is why you weren’t penalized. Charlie, I just want you to think about this. You’re not playing with Harry and even if he’s off the team you’ll still have to see him in school. Is quitting really what you want to do?”

“No. I’m just tired of some students being treated differently than the rest of us, and being told I’m the trouble maker on top of it.”

“I know, I agree it’s not fair, and I will still do everything in my power to help you, so I don’t want you to take what I’m going to say next as me saying you don’t have anyone on your side. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ve heard a little about your background, how you traveled with your dad growing up. Did you see a lot of people worried about treating each other fairly? Was everything equal and based on just a person’s actions?”

“I … no, not really.”

“I wish I could tell you that life was all about people getting what they deserve and everyone treated each other as fairly as possible, but it isn’t. The older you get, the more you’re going to find that sometimes things are just unfair. You’ll find it in college and you’ll find it when you get out into the real world. You really don’t have much control over what kind of deal the rest of the world gives you. All you really have control over is how you react to what you’re given and what you do from there. If you quit every time you’re given a raw deal, you’ll spend a whole lot of time starting over.”

“That has to be the worst motivational speech I’ve ever heard,” I said, grousing.

He was right, of course. I’d watched Dad get screwed over plenty of times when he’d done nothing wrong, although it was hard to really keep track because I’d definitely watched him screw himself over even more often with bad choices and poor impulse control. I guess it was a solace to know that eventually Harry would screw up one too many times, or not have the right person in his corner, or screw up big enough that they couldn’t or wouldn’t give him third and fourth and twelfth chances.

“Wasn’t trying to motivate you. Your problem isn’t you don’t believe in yourself, at least not usually. Your problem is you’re sometimes naïve. It’s good to believe that people should follow the rules and do the right thing, but you have to expect people to do just the opposite, that way you’re never surprised. You need to learn that, and now seems as good of a time as any to start.”

“I guess,” I said, still grousing.

I started to walk away and then stopped, calling back, “Hey Coach?”

“Yeah, Charlie.”

“Do you think maybe next time you could save the brutal truths for like a Thursday or something? Mondays are tough enough without having to examine the harsh reality of life on top of everything else.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said, laughing.

I shook off my funk and joined the rest of the team, all of whom knew why I’d been pulled aside, since Harry’s antics the week before had made their rounds in no time. Thankfully, since I wasn’t talking about it they all decided to leave it alone too, which I appreciated.

My putting it to the side wasn’t in any way me coming to terms with Harry’s skating through the consequences once again, however. I was still incredibly pissed. Thankfully, Harry’s boundless capability for stupidity could be counted on once again, this time with an assist from Aaron when both of them found their way to my car after practice.

“You think you’re real clever, huh Nelson?” Harry called out as the two of them walked up.

“I mean, sure, but you’re going to have to narrow it down,” I said, dropping my backpack behind me and checking to make sure they didn’t have any friends trying to get around us.

Not that they were smart enough to think of that kind of thing.

“You know what I mean,” Harry said, both defensively and confused at the same time. “You think …”

Aaron put a hand on Harry’s shoulder for a moment in a silent gesture for him to shut up and said, “We’ve had it with you. Every time I turn around, you’re causing trouble for someone, and that’s going to end today. You didn’t learn your lesson well enough on the first day of school, so we’re going to teach you one today.”

Aaron reached into the gym bag he’d been carrying and pulled out a crowbar of all things as he dropped the bag. That changed things. Chef had gone over what to do about a variety of blunt weapons, including shorter ones like crowbars, but he’d repeatedly made it clear that the best option was to avoid the fight altogether if you could. I didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver though, and there were two of them, which would make it easier to get cut off and trapped between cars. There were other ways to avoid the fight, though.

“You two haven’t thought this through at all, have you?”

“Shows you what you know,” Harry said. “They told me Aaron couldn’t be suspended last year because it was after school and we weren’t part of any organized event. Well it’s after school and we aren’t in practice anymore, so I won’t get suspended this time.”

“That’s not what I was talking about. Look around you. There are already people looking this way and a couple of them already have their phones out now that Aaron has the crowbar. It’ll be easy to prove I didn’t throw the first shot this time and was only defending myself.”

“The only thing they’ll record is us beating you unconscious,” Aaron said, although he was making no move to come at me yet.

Despite it being cold out, beads of sweat were rolling down the side of Aaron’s temple.

“Could you two be any dumber? How many times have you come at me since the first time we fought? Four? Five? How’s it been going for you so far? All I’ve wanted this year is to be left alone and I’ve gone out of my way to keep from actually hurting you. It’s pretty obvious that’s not working, so I’m going to change things up. I’m sick of you two thinking I’m some kind of easy target to make yourselvesfeel less like losers. I’m not an easy target, and I’m not someone you can keep fucking with, and this time I’m going to make sure you both get the message for real. No more of this submission hold bullshit. Bones heal pretty good, but joints are a different matter. A shattered kneecap or torn tendon will give you a limp for the rest of your life, just so you don’t forget. I’m going to make sure neither of you ever walk without pain again. So go ahead. Take the first shot. I’m done playing games.”

Aaron and Harry looked at each other. Like bullies the world over, they were cowards. Even though I’d taken them both down several times, they kept thinking back to that first fight, the one that they’d won, and seemed to think they could get the same result if they kept trying.

“What? Nothing? You’re just going to stand there looking like the pathetic pieces of shit you are?”

Harry looked ready to run, but Aaron had more of a backbone about him, gripping the crowbar tight and licking his lips. I gave a quick feint to Harry, like I was about to charge him and pulled back, but that was enough for him. Harry turned and took off like a shot, leaving Aaron by himself.

“All alone now,” I said. “You know, after I take your knees from you, I think I’m going to take that crowbar and shove it up your ass, so you learn not to threaten people with that kind of thing again.”

I started moving to the left, forcing Aaron to circle, to keep me in his swinging arc.

“You’re looking a little sad here, Aaron. All those people taking video are getting you just standing there holding the crowbar, afraid to do something. Shit or get off the pot.”

For a second I thought he might go for it, but then he took a step back, lowering the weapon.

“Forget it. You’re not worth the effort,” he said, reaching down and grabbing his gym bag.

I didn’t taunt him or say anything after he turned to walk away, since I wasn’t actually trying to instigate a fight. I’d thought maybe I’d overplayed my hand a little, since Aaron was the kind of guy that, if you made him mad enough, he’d lose all reason and charge regardless of the odds. Had there been kids around us, watching the fight directly, he would have almost certainly gone for it to keep from losing face.

I watched him walk away for another minute until I was sure he wasn’t going to come back when I turned my back before collecting my bag and leaving.

I hadn’t actually been trying for any outcome other than avoiding a fight, but the next day I kept catching kids staring at me all morning when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. Despite how much I liked being on stage, that was different than attention directed straight at me.

I wasn’t used to people actually noticing me for me, and I was a little unnerved by it.

“What the hell is going on today?” I asked Hanna when I got to lunch. “Everyone’s been staring at me all day.”

“You haven’t seen the video?” She asked.

“What?”

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach what video she meant. I’d hoped that the people recording would just hold onto it like the kid that got the fight between Aaron and me before Christmas. I’d only pointed them out to Aaron so he’d realize he couldn’t try to blame me for attacking him like last time.

“It’s awesome. Aaron and Harry walk up and are all ‘I’m gonna kick your ass,’ and Aaron whips out this crowbar and you didn’t even flinch,” Megan said. “You just dropped your bag and was all ‘I’m going to break your legs.’ Harry just turned and ran for it. If he was a cartoon character, he would have left behind a little outline of himself, he was out of there so fast. It was pretty awesome.”

I hadn’t realized the people recording had been close enough to actually hear us. I went through the fight in my head, trying to see if I did anything that might get me in trouble. I did threaten them, but I made it clear only if they attacked me and I hadn’t actually made a move toward them.

“Why didn’t you call and tell us that happened,” Kat asked, looking concerned.

“Because it was nothing. I wasn’t actually planning on breaking anyone’s legs,” I said, defensively. “I was just trying to get them to back down. The last two times I’ve tangled with Aaron or Harry, I’ve been the one to get in trouble for it. I didn’t want to have to convince people I was just defending myself again.”

“You didn’t sound like you were just pretending,” Hanna said. “Your voice was kind of scary, actually.”

“No kidding,” Andrew said. “It was all single tone and you were just staring at them, barely blinking. Dude, you were on it.”

“I had to make them believe it. Shit, I wonder how long until the video gets to the administration?”

“Do you really have anything to be worried about? They came at you, Aaron brought a crowbar for Christ’s sake, and you made it clear you were only defending yourself,” Hanna asked.

“I mean, they’ve gone at me for defending myself before. I don’t know if it’s because Aaron’s dad has so much pull or what, but they bend over backward to try and seem like they aren’t coming down on Aaron, even though he’s the biggest problem this school has.”

“I know. It’s bullshit,” Cameron said.

“Tell me about it. So this video is all over the school?”

“Yeah,” Hanna said.

“Do you think Aaron’s seen it?”

“He has. Someone showed it to him in first period and he threw their phone across the classroom. I don’t think anyone’s actually said anything to him about it, but he’s definitely seen it.”

“Great,” I said, putting my face in my hands. “Just great.”

“What? People finally get to see what kind of guy he is,” Fatima said. “Isn’t that good?”

“No. Aaron’s all about his rep. That’s why he does half the things he does, because he thinks it’ll make him look better. Imagine what he’ll do once people start whispering about him backing down from a fight behind his back. He’ll try and find a way to turn it around, and that’ll probably mean coming after me again, and he isn’t going to back down next time.”

“It’s always been going that way,” Hanna said. “Ever since the first day of school. I’m not sure anyone’s ever really stood up to him before that, and he’s been trying to recover from it ever since. It’s why he’s always after you.”

“You do one good deed,” I whined.

“No one said being the white knight was without its risks,” Kat said.

Thankfully, after a few more comments about the video, the conversation shifted, since teenagers had nothing if not short attention spans.

“So I’ve been thinking about something ever since Mr. French got us that gig,” I said to Hanna while the rest of the table continued to talk about whatever new gossip was going on. “I was wrong about not needing a manager. Apparently, next weekend is a big week for gigs, and I almost completely missed it, ’cause I didn’t know it. It’s only Mr. French knowing people and us getting lucky they lost one of their opening acts that kept us from missing out altogether.”

“So what do you want to do? Are you saying you need to go out and get a manager now?”

“I don’t know. Everything Mr. French said about the nightmares he went through with his own management has made me nervous about just letting some random person in, and it’s not like we make enough money to give someone a cut now.”

“Have you talked to the rest of the band?”

“Not yet. I’m going to this weekend, but they didn’t bring it up either, so I’m not sure how much experience they have setting up their own gigs. I know they’ve been working for a while, but I think all three have just been filling in for other bands, getting work through word of mouth, and haven’t been booking actual shows before. I mean, they would have brought up next week if they had, right? When I called them to make sure everyone was good with a gig in Raleigh, none of them were like ‘oh, it’s spring break week, we were wondering about getting some gigs for it.’ They were just happy we had paying work. I’m just worried we’re missing out on something.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Charlie. I’ve spent some time reading up about it on the Internet and I’ve gone to see Mr. French a couple of times while you’ve been at practice in the afternoon, and I do think you need a manager, but to get one, you either have to know them, or you have to afford it. It’s one of those catch-22s that makes it hard for people to break into the industry. It’s like actors needing to have landed work, to get an agent to be able to land work.”

“Yeah, that was the sense I got of it. And it’s not like we’re going to be able to book a ton of gigs, since I’m not around to work most of the time, but summer’s coming up. I know the guys would like to start making some actual money, instead of scraping by on just working the Blue Ridge every weekend.”

“I don’t know, from what I’ve read, the Blue Ridge is a pretty good gig. They’re each making between five hundred and seven-fifty a weekend. It’s not get rich money, but they can afford to pay for their apartments and food on it at least.”

“Sure, but we need more than that, right? Like, we have the summer coming up, where I can work on weekdays and even travel some. But how do we go about doing that? Beyond having Willie make some calls for us and try to get us in clubs, I have no idea where to start, and I’m not going to be able to make a career out of this by just asking Willie and Mr. French what to do.”

“I’ll help you,” Hanna said.

“Hanna, you don’t have time for that, and you’re heading into college soon. I don’t want you to use what time you have trying to figure out how to get us gigs and what we’re missing out on.”

“But I do want to do it. The more I go with you to stuff, the more interesting I find it. I think I do want to do this as a career, so everything I’d be doing would benefit me as much as it would you. Besides, you said this is a problem for every new group. How do they go about getting work while they try to get discovered? One of the members or someone they know does the legwork, right? I mean, they can’t afford managers either.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So I’ll be the person to do the leg work for you and you can focus on making music. I’ll have Kat help me. She’s smarter than either of us ever will be. Between the two of us, we’ll be able to make sure you don’t miss out on anything. Besides, this isn’t the nineteen-eighties. We have the Internet and cell phones, so I can keep helping from college, and Kat can handle the stuff that needs to be done in person.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, turning to Kat. “I know when you have a bunch of responsibilities hanging over your head, it starts to trigger your anxiety. I wouldn’t want to add to that.”

“I have to start finding a way to deal with my anxiety and at least with this if it gets too much I can go back to Hanna,” Kat replied. “She’s going to be dealing with most of it. I’m just here for the in-person stuff. Besides, she’ll be around until the end of summer and Mrs. Phillips already scheduled an appointment for me this week with Doctor Rothstein. I know he’s going to want to talk about … the stuff he talked about before with me, but I’m going to mention my anxiety too. Maybe he can help me out with it.”

“I’m glad you’ve got the appointment scheduled and if you think it could help push your boundaries, then, of course, I’m fine with it, but is this really something you want to do?”

“Yes,” she said, putting her hand on top of mine and nodding vigorously. “I really want to help.”

“Okay, then I guess you two are in charge. I’ll check it through the guys, but they’ve already started clearing stuff through Hanna anyway, since she’s been making notes and keeping track of everything. I think Seth and Marco are just glad not to have to remember everything we need to do, and Lyla’s just happy for the eye candy.”

“Stuff it,” Hanna said, and then hit me with a piece of a roll when I didn’t stop smiling, before continuing. “I know this is just for right now and eventually you’re going to get big and need real management, but until that point, I think it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, me too. Hopefully, you two can teach me everything I don’t know about the music business so I don’t end up screwing myself over one day.”

“We’ll all figure it out together,” Hanna said.