A Taste of Candor

Chapter 15

~Declan.

Tensions definitely seemed to be high in the days following my date with Tahlia. The band director's sickness dragged on day after day, and though smaller groups of us still met to practice under the guidance of our section leaders, everything would be a disaster if our director didn't come through to weave everything together. And as I'd learned from Madden, the big occasion we'd been preparing for wasn't just any old party for our patrons; it would be Phillip Paige's birthday. When I heard that, I instantly understood why everyone was so stressed, to the point where I shared their anxiety.

So I found myself sitting in a circle with the saxophone section 4 days before the big event. We'd reached what seemed to be the tail end of a long and productive rehearsal that ironed out many kinks. Even so, there was no sign of the director. Mr. Quill told us he'd called the director that morning, and the poor man could barely speak.

"Reminds me of this real mean and nasty flu I got many years ago." Pete said, shifting his baritone on his leg as he adjusted the reed on his mouthpiece, "Had to play the next morning, too. You just can't cancel on a wedding couple the night before."

Larry let out a hearty laugh beside me. "Guess you can't."

"I'm pretty concerned." Mr. Quill said gravely, "We can get each section sounding excellent in isolation, but someone needs to pull it all together and make sure we're all playing nice with each other. If he doesn't show up, we'll easily sound how a mismatched pair of shoes feels."

"Agreed." Pete replied, face getting serious. "I'd like to hope for the best, but we should also prepare for the worst. After all, you know how Mrs. Paige can be about germs."

Mr. Quill and I exchanged a glance. "How's that?"

"Oh, right, you two are new. Well, here's an example: A couple months back, Mr. Paige caught just a normal cold, you know how that goes. Mrs. Paige stayed at a friend's house for two weeks just so she wouldn't catch it. There's a good chance even if the director does recover, she'll take extraordinary measures and not let him come back for a while."

"That'd be the last thing we need happening. What could we do if it comes to that?"

"Pray." Pete laughed ruefully. "I have no idea."

I perked up and leaned forward. "What if we consider smaller ensembles?"

Mr. Quill raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we could play the same lineup of tunes, but in smaller groups that rotate throughout the evening. Just the piano, bass, and drums with two or three horns, maybe. A smaller group like that'll probably be a lot easier to manage if we don't get our director back."

"True. There wouldn't be that pressure of balancing several sections and getting them sounding perfect together. I'll have to talk to the other section leaders and see what they think of that idea."

"Sounds good." I said, pressing and releasing the pads of my saxophone, "Of course, what I really hope for is a speedy recovery for the director."

Mr. Quill knelt on one knee to tuck his instrument away in its case. "Well, don't we all? The Paiges will really wanna impress their guests, and I think they were hoping on showing their friends the very best their band has to offer. Not that smaller ensembles can't be impressive, but they don't fill a room quite the same as a full band."

"Especially among these wealthy folks." Pete interjected, "A lot of them see quartets and quintets as music 'for the streets', so to speak. Since it takes a lot of money to maintain a big band like this, that's what they'll be going for, and that's what'll impress their guests more often."