Fanfare (Country Roads #2) - Chapter 20

“Have you heard from your lawyer yet?” Kat asked when I met her and Hanna by the stands after baseball practice.

She’d already asked me the same question when we went to school that morning and I didn’t know why she thought I’d somehow received a call from him since then, but Kat had started to grow anxious, asking if I’d heard anything for the last four days in a row.

“No,” I said.

Pointing out how unlikely it would have been would have only made Kat feel bad about herself, and in her case that could have serious repercussions, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

“It’s been a week. What’s taking so long?”

“Chef said he was a highly rated criminal lawyer, so he probably has a lot of clients and he’s doing my case for free, so I don’t exactly end up at the top of his to-do list. I’m sure he’s working on it; I mean I thought he was doing nothing for those first couple of weeks and then randomly I got called to the office and told he got the restraining order changed so I could at least go to lunch and stuff. Just because we can’t see what he’s doing doesn’t mean he isn’t working on stuff. You just have to be patient.”

“Ha, look whose telling people to be patient,” Hanna said.

“See, I’m capable of growth.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, clearly not believing me.

“Anyway, I’ll call him and see, okay? I just didn’t want to call him too much, since he’s doing this for free and the last thing I want to do is to annoy him.”

“Okay,” Kat said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push. I was just all excited when I found the video, since I knew it could get you out of trouble. I’ll try to do better.”

“You’re doing great,” I said, putting my arm over her shoulders. “Without you, there wouldn’t be something for us to be impatient about, right?”

“Ha, yeah,” she said, finally smiling.

She did have a point though. I know he was doing this for free and everything, but he’d had the video for a while and this was the thing that could crack the whole case open. I would have thought he’d want to get this cleared up so he didn’t have a pro-bono client taking up his time.

I didn’t stick around Hanna’s after I finished at the Blue Ridge and headed right home so I could call him. It was getting late, but he’d called a few times after five, so I thought he might be available. If he wasn’t, I’d have to try again the next day at the Blue Ridge, since I’d have to use Chef’s phone. Once again I thought how much easier life would be with a cell phone, but even though Mom made sure I kept a little of my money every month, I couldn’t rationalize the expense when we had a home phone.

I realized I'd made a mistake when the number went to an answering service instead of to his secretary or whatever. They had a whole spiel that they’d only contact Mr. Eaves if it was an emergency, but otherwise would pass the message along when he called for his messages, which might not be until the next day.

Part of me wanted to say never mind and that I’d call back the next day, but I decided to leave a message, just in case. I made sure to say I wouldn’t be around during the day and my mother didn’t know why I was calling, so if he couldn’t call back before the next day that I’d just call in the afternoon.

I hadn’t actually mentioned the video to Mom yet. Even though we didn’t have the cost of the lawsuit weighing over our heads anymore, it still made Mom anxious to talk about it, so I decided to just not bring it up until I knew if it could help us or not.

Since I was home early I decided to sit down and try and write more, since my band’s first practice was four days away, and right now we had just five songs. Marco had made a comment I was missing a song that really showed off how my skills and I needed something heavier than what I currently had with a spot where the guitar could really shine, like a slightly longer lead-in.

I’d thrown out the idea of a guitar solo right off, because that just wasn’t a thing with most popular music these days. I didn’t actually get much writing done, instead just sitting and thinking. I was just starting to hit on an idea of writing about my dad, although focusing more on his life as a failing musician rather than his lack of ability as a father, when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Charlie, it’s Arthur Eaves. I’m doing the polite thing by calling you back, but I thought I made it clear that, because of your age, most of my communication needed to be through your mother. Your message mentioned that your mother didn’t know why you were calling me, which I will say I have a problem with.”

“You’re right and I have been trying to let everything go through Mom, but I wanted to find out about the video I emailed you. I haven’t actually talked to Mom about it, because I honestly didn’t know if it would help the case at all.”

That last part was a blatant lie, but he’d struck me as the type of guy who didn’t want to hear about keeping information from someone to spare their feelings.

“I can understand that, but if we discuss this your mother’s going to have to know about it, or we start getting into problematic territory.”

“I understand. I’ll talk to her about it. Has there been any kind of update on it?”

Another lie, which was unusual for me. I tried to keep from outright lying to people if I could help it because I’d seen that kind of thing tie my dad into knots, but in this case, I still had no intention of talking to Mom about the video until I knew more.

“Not yet.”

“Ohh,” I said, crestfallen.

“While we’re on the subject, I have some issues about the provenance of this video.”

“Huh?”

“The provenance. Where it came from. You mentioned in your email the name of the student who’d taken it, so I contacted his parents, and this student was very confused that I had a copy of this video. As soon as I realized this wasn’t something he’d given to you, I ended the conversation, but I am concerned about how this ended up in your hands. If he wasn’t the one who sent it to you, how did you get it?”

“Ohh, uhh … a friend heard he had it and managed to get a copy off of it.”

“Charlie, I’m going to tell you right now that trying to hide things from your lawyer is monumentally stupid. If I make decisions on partial information I could get blindsided in court by the actual truth and ultimately lose us the case, and I am not interested in that. You need to tell me what’s happening or you’re going to need to find another lawyer.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to lie to you. Let me ask you a question. What if I had to tell you something that wasn’t strictly legal? Would you have to report that to the police or something?”

“If it’s for something that has already happened, then no, as long as what you tell me involves you. You’re protected by attorney-client privilege. Things get a little muddy if this information involves someone else doing something not ‘strictly legal.’ I’m guessing from the way you said that, it involves someone else and not you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. As an officer of the court, I cannot tell you how to give me information in a way to skirt the law. All I can say is that, as long as the information only implicates you, you’re protected by privilege.”

“I see,” I said, reading between the lines and trying to think through how to tell him what was happening without getting Kat in trouble. “So, I found out that the student had a video and was able to get a copy of it without him knowing about it.”

“I see. So someone, I’m assuming an anonymous source that you don’t know, hacked into this kid’s phone and saved a copy of it that they then passed on to you. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” I said, nervous.

Mr. Eaves had struck me as a ‘buy the book’ kind of guy, and I was a little worried that this might be enough to cause him to walk away. I know he was a criminal defense attorney, so he worked with people who broke the law, but representing someone for a crime they’d already broken was different than being involved with a new crime. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking this through ahead of time. I’d been so excited when I learned about the existence of the video that I hadn’t actually worked through all the implications of sending it to him.

“This is a problem for us. I’m sure you didn’t know when you … acquired this video, but there are rules that tell us what kinds of evidence we’re allowed to submit and restrictions on how that evidence can be obtained. One of those big, glaring restrictions is using evidence that was obtained by illegal means or by breaking someone else’s rights.”

“So you’re saying we can’t use it?” I said, disappointed.

“That’s what I have been looking into. It is exculpatory, which means it proves your innocence and there are different rules associated with that, which is why this is taking time. For us to use this, we have to find an exception in the law that allows us to use evidence without having to prove where we got it, since I’m assuming you’d prefer to not talk about who you received it from.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then you’re going to have to be patient. Civil trials like this are scheduled pretty far out, so we have time to do this right. Since this isn’t my area of expertise, I have to talk to some colleagues of mine to make sure we don’t run afoul of any rules, because I can guarantee you Doug Campbell will jump all over any hint of criminal activity, which would open up a whole new series of problems for you and any anonymous friends you might have.”

“I understand and I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’d be just as anxious to clear things up if I was in your position. And please, next time let your mother be the one to call me, okay?”

“I understand and thanks for everything you’re doing.”

“Don’t mention it. Have a good day.”

He hung up and I let out the breath I’d unconsciously been holding onto. While I didn’t get the answer I was looking for, that could have gone a whole lot worse for me.

I explained to Kat on the way to school what was going on with the video, and from her expression, I knew she hadn’t thought about the ramifications any more than I had. I reassured her that I’d never give her up, although I didn’t point out that if a judge told me to tell where I got the video and I refused, I’d probably end up in jail. Her condition would make her just as likely to fall into a panic attack if someone she cared about went to jail, especially if it was to protect her.

After I’d finished talking to Mr. Eaves, I’d worked on my new idea for a song a little longer, since once something like that gets in your head, it’s hard to shake it. Besides, after a few weeks of practice, we’d be playing our first gig, and I wanted to give us enough material for a real set, even if we had to sprinkle a few covers in.

I’d brought my notes and bailed on lunch to go see Mr. French, who’d agreed to sit down with me when I asked him after choir class. I’d already explained after class the day before about having a band and the two guys I’d gotten added to it.

“So, what’s this new song you’ve got?”

“Marco suggested on Saturday that I should have a song that has the guitar featured more, so I was thinking about something a lot closer to classic rock, although still with enough newer pop sounds to keep it from getting dated, like no long guitar solos or anything. That got me thinking that I could do a song about my dad and what it was like watching someone’s music career slowly fade over the years. I thought it’d work well in the genre, and since my dad played classic rock mostly it’d fit with him as the topic.”

“Well, I’m not sure many people will make that connection. Your friend is right though, you are one of the best natural guitar players I’ve ever heard and the more you work at it, the better you’ll get. I think more of your songs need to have at least a little showcase of that talent.”

I’d mentioned Marco briefly when I’d talked to him the previous week about adding in a keyboard part to each of my songs. I hadn’t mentioned to him that they were going to come audition for my band, though, since I’d been worried about how that’d all go.

“That’s what Marco said. I didn’t tell you, but they came down and auditioned on Saturday to join my band. We played really well together and both he and Seth agreed to do it.”

“You should think carefully about this, Charlie. I know it’s exciting when you’re thinking about putting together your first band, but it very rarely works out when you just pick the first guys you come across. You need to remember that, if things work out, you’ll have to work with these guys for a while. You might be the headliner, but if you get a deal and you present yourself as a band, they’ll be signing all of you, not just you, and you’ll have to deal with everything that comes with that. This can be extra problematic when they are contributing enough to a song to get writing credits, or if you record one of their songs. You need to make really sure these are guys you’ll be in business with for a long time.”

“I know, which is why I didn’t take the third guy that played with us at the Wild Cat, because I knew he’d be a problem. I really get along with Seth and Marco and I think we could make it work. They’ve been a huge help in polishing my songs just like you and Rowan talked about.”

“What do you know about them?”

“I get where you’re going with this, and yeah, I don’t know much. I still think they were the right call.”

“Okay. I don’t want you to feel like I’m stepping on your toes or telling you how to chase your dreams, but you’re young and don’t have a lot of experience, so I wanted to at least give you a glimpse at some of the ways things could work out. I started a band right out of high school. This was before I got a shot at a contract, and we mostly played local gigs. Things were going good and we were making a name for ourselves, at least in our local area. We were about to make a go at a music fair that we heard a few talented guys would be at, when things fell apart. Jimmy, our drummer, was a good guy and we really got along, but none of us realized he’d started using pretty hard. He was smoking, snorting, and shooting up every dollar he made off gigs, and the pressure didn’t mix well with the drugs. He was bombed out of his mind at the fair and he actually passed out mid-song on stage. They had to rush him to a hospital and the band eventually broke up, since anywhere we went that’s all anyone remembered about us.”

“That sucks, but you said he was a good friend of yours. I’m guessing you knew him before you actually formed the band, right?”

“Yeah, we went to high school together.”

“And even though you were that tight, you had no idea what was going on or that he’d spiral like that. If he was a good friend you knew all about and you were caught off guard, then no amount of auditioning will let me avoid having that happen, since there’s no way to know what demons someone is suffering from. That really only leaves if you get along well enough to work together and if they can play, and you go on your best guess.”

He grimaced at me and said, “Okay, that’s a fair point.”

“I’m not trying to say no or not take your advice. Trust me, you are one of the main reasons I’ve managed to get this far, along with Chef and Willie. I get that it’s important to make the right choices about people to work with, and I think with these guys I have. We’re still trying to find a bassist, but Seth has someone coming to practice and we’ll see how that will work.”

“Okay, I guess that’s as good as you can do. I just want you to keep your eyes open and not to make snap decisions.”

“I’ll try. On that note, I guess I should mention something I was thinking about managers. Right now, if anything noteworthy happens, Mom’s going to handle it for me, but I don’t think she’s going to be able to do it long-term. I mean, she isn’t crazy about me following Dad’s path as it is, and this isn’t the kind of thing she does, so she won’t really know what my best options are.”

“So what were you thinking,” he said, hesitantly.

“Not that, not that I wouldn’t appreciate it, but I figured if you wanted to be back in that world, you’d have never left in the first place, right? No, I was talking to Hanna about what she was going to do for college, and the idea struck us, or my friend Kat at least. She’s considering going to college and learning how to be a talent agent or manager, or whatever you’d major in college to be able to be a bands manager. Once she finished, she’d come back and be my manager, since I trust her completely.”

“I don’t know, Charlie. I know it sounds great having all of your friends involved in your career, but you have to keep business and friendship separate. It’s okay to be friends with your manager, but they have to be your manager first, and sometimes that goes counter to what they’d chose to do as your friend.”

“Yeah, I considered that, which is why I didn’t jump on Kat’s idea right away, but I also know that Dad had some horror stories from when he still had his band and the way their manager ripped them off. Finding someone with the skills who you also trust seems like a tall order. I thought, maybe if someone you trusted went out and got those skills, maybe we’d be able to get ahead.”

“Does she even want to do that?”

“She’s thinking about it. Right now she honestly doesn’t have any idea what she wants to do and she had some of the same concerns that you pointed out. She’s worried she wouldn’t be able to separate business and friendship and she’s worried she’d make mistakes. She went with us to the Wild Cat though, to get an idea of what it was like and sat in on the audition. I don’t know, I kind of think it’s a good idea.”

“I honestly don’t know what to tell you though, other than you have to be careful. Your dad’s not the only one who’s had bad experiences with management. If I’m being honest, we never really found a manager that was both competent and didn’t try and screw us when they had a chance, so maybe I’m not the best person to judge what you decide to do.”

“What’s that old saying? ‘We learn more from our failures than our successes.’”

“Something like that. If you two go that route, just make sure she’s completely sure before she commits, because this is a tough business. Okay, show me what you have on this idea of yours,” he said, finally looking down at the music I’d scratched out last night.

We spent the rest of the time going over the song I’d been working on. He made some good points on how I could make the song like what I was going for. The biggest problem was I was still trying to ape someone else’s style, which I guess is a problem for a lot of new artists. He made some points about how I could make the song more in my voice while still keeping enough classic rock elements so that the message still carried through.

He did agree with Marco’s reasoning and helped me work out a great intro. I loved the way it slowly built both in volume and tempo until it got to the first verse and then just morphed into the overall melody in a way that seemed natural but didn’t make it seem like the intro was just the melody played slightly differently, which is the way a lot of intros sounded. The more we played it, the better I liked it.

I kept working on it that night after practice, since I really wanted it ready enough to bring to the band at our first practice. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been thinking about just making popular music and not focusing on the thing I really loved. Finally doing something that combined both my love for playing the guitar and moving forward on the plan to make it in the music industry had taken things to a new level.

I’d stayed up late practicing before and I’d stayed up late to work on a new song, but neither alone had locked into my brain like this. I was completely enthralled.