Kruppo

Chapter 29
The next day felt like the start of something new. Ty came into the Pacific Sunwear with a look of glee in his eyes, and tagging along behind him was Brian.
At first, upon seeing the latter, I felt awkwardness in the air, and after talking for a few minutes, I finally got my courage up to ask about him. “How’s things going, man?”
Brian smiled, to my great shock. “Things are going okay,” He said simply. “I’m in a new band, and it looks like we’re already writing something new that’ll be finished up real soon.”
This set the mood, and while I still felt weird about it all, we talked a little while more before Ty finally revealed why he was there. “I got an idea you’re gonna love. Why don’t you come jam tonight?” he said. “Assuming you get off early.”
“I doubt it.” I wasn’t lying either. Ted was running me like a madman. For the first time since meeting him, Ted was actually strutting around like a pain in the ass kind of boss, shouting at me if I looked like I wasn’t doing something.
“You serious?” Ty shook his head. “Dude, you gotta get off. I can do this with Jake, but just the two of us won’t get this new idea down. We need your opinion.”
“Have you already spoken with Jake?” I asked.
“Yeah man. We jammed last night, where were you?”
“I was at home spending time with Marvin and my brother.” I had to grin at his frustration a little. I knew it was starting to wear thin on the rest of Juggernaut that I was so busy while the rest of them seemed to have relatively easier weekly schedules. “Sorry Ty. I can’t get off, man.”
“You’re a nut, you know that?” Ty said. “Don’t worry. I’ll get Jake and David together tonight and we’ll get it done. We’ll send what we’ve got to you later this week; that is, if you’re not dead from work by then.”
They both said goodbye, and Brian even went as far as to shake my hand. “Brian,” I called to him before he left the store. He came back, and I had to ask him. “There’s no hard feelings anymore, is there?”
Brian shook his head. “If you’re still feeling guilty about what happened, don’t.” He said it so firmly, yet so friendly; it felt like I was being consoled. “I deserved it. Besides, kicking me out of Juggernaut did something good for me. I’m in a band I finally belong with.”
He vacated then, and things only got slower as the day crawled by. Minutes lasted as long as hours, and I thought I would never get off. A new start had come indeed; but was this start only for Brian, or could its grace be extended to me as well?
It appeared that there would be no mercy, no fresh start. Not right away.
-
The very next day I had shaken off the nagging doubts and caught up with both Jake and Ty. We met at my house, while Marvin was busy upstairs with business of sorts, we were in the garage, sitting in plastic chairs, talking things out.
Jake had excitedly bought, out of an impulsive spasm in his logic, the new Napalm Death album; after playing it in the old and cheap cd player that I had, we all found ourselves disappointed by how lacking the sound was.
“Wow, this thing sucks,” Ty said it for us. Jake just looked upset. Ty and I both laughed at him and turned off the cd.
“You guys wanna get drinks quick before we get into this?” I had purchased a case of Heineken earlier that day, having anticipated the meeting.
Both said yes, and as we made our way to the kitchen, Jake observed something. “You know, has anyone here heard from David in a while? What’s up with that guy?”
“I don’t know man; I don’t like it,” Ty said. “I called him twice last night, and all I got was the answering machine.”
This was a problem indeed. This meant most likely that David was off with Rachel, MIA while the rest of us were busy working on Juggernaut.
“Tell you what; you give him a call right now,” I nudged Ty. “We’ll get started warming up.”
He went to use my house phone while Jake and I took the case of Heineken back out the garage. We had one each, while I asked him, “So how’s the job search going?”
“Nothing.” Was all Jake needed to say.
“Still?”
“Still. Nobody’s hiring right now,” Jake shook his head and rubbed his recently-shaved head. He looked like a different person with no hair; he looked older. His goatee was the only sign of him that I recognized at such close range. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do man. I need cash.”
“Don’t we all?” I took another sip of my bottle, and Ty came then, looking pissed. “He ain’t answering. I’m gonna track him down and break his legs.”
Just then, the phone in Ty’s hand went off, and he answered it swiftly. “Hello? Well, why didn’t you answer the phone the first time around?” He rolled his eyes and mouthed David to us. Jake and I both grinned as Ty’s face got redder. I couldn’t figure out why, but Ty’s anger was amusing to see.
“Just get your butt to Palma’s, will you? We’ve got business to take care of.” He said before hanging up abruptly.
“Not cool, man.” Jake spoke for the both of us.
“Whatever,” Ty waved it off, his face red. “Let’s just get to it man. I’m tired of this.”
What I sat listening to for the next eight minutes or so was an incredible display of drumming and bass play. It wasn’t like what we’d been playing with Brian; it wasn’t smooth jazz. This was something different. Something John Zorn might’ve been proud of if there had been a sax thrown in.
Jake’s playing was fantastic, hitting mostly fills, and an occasional snare, keeping time perfectly. Ty fed off of Jake’s energy, improvising his section entirely, sounding good as he did so. In the end, it was a funk jam that was appealing on several levels, and one that I wanted in on.
I grabbed my guitar and brought it back down from my room, and we jammed at a slower pace, feeling the whole concept out. Jake kept playing the jazzy drums, but with more depth and feeling than he had when Brian had been playing with us. It sounded more alive now. Ty kept the bass play in a swinging groove, leaving me sitting there for a minute or two as I tried desperately to figure out what in hellfire I should be playing. I decided to keep it simple and play along with the sound, instead of tossing it into left field.
So I played the minimalist, keeping my role simple, strumming every now and then, maybe opening up a relatively quiet and slow solo, letting Ty and Jake speak out more. It was a great scene, and it stayed that way for a full thirty minutes. There was no real energetic or passionate display here; just the three of us in my garage, the door closed, the noise loud, but tolerable, and the small amounts of light peeking in from outside as the sun tried to pound its way through before the evening arrived.
David came through the door, from within my house, Marvin in tow. Both said nothing as Jake, Ty, and I were still working. When we finally wrapped it up, David shook his head in surprise while Marvin clapped his hands. The sounds of the clapping startled both Jake and Ty, who were both stuck in trances after the entire affair.
“Oh, whoa! Where’d you guys come from?” Jake’s response got everyone laughing, and Marvin left us with David.
He was looking bigger; like he’d been working out. He also wore sunglasses, despite how dark the garage was at this point. He removed them slowly, his eyes lined with red. “That was interesting,” he said. “I thought we were done with jazz.”
“Not really,” Jake admitted. “We’re just trying things out, man. The problem wasn’t that we were playing jazz when Brian was in this whole thing; it was that we were playing the boring kind of jazz, with nothing to go on, or any kind of interest. It was basically all played so that Brian could be heard above the rest of us.”
I couldn’t help myself as I glanced at Ty to see how he was taking this. To his credit, he didn’t even blink. David settled in, looking sicker as each moment passed. “You okay, man?” Ty finally asked after it was evident that David clearly was not.
“I’m fine.” He said with indifference. “I’m sorry I’ve been busy lately.”
“Not a problem. Let’s get to it, huh?”

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I'm so post-rock I shit sad birds