Metal Storm

Night Comes Down

Dinner went swimmingly, despite the small elephant in the room that was Sebastian's attitude. Our first reunion after a separation that seemed like forever was a night full of camaraderie and our typical dialogues. It was like we'd never been apart.

Sebastian still made me a bit uneasy, but I had warmed up to him a little bit more by this time. The stink eye he occasionally flashed at Eric put me off,  though. I sometimes wondered if Astrid was right about him...

The next few nights were of a similar atmosphere, and I gradually eased into this new life of mine a little more with each passing day. It was starting to feel like another little family. An edgy fucked up family of outcasts, but still a family.

May 31st, 1987

I awoke to the ear-splitting sound of a thick, sludgy inverted B power chord resonating from Eric's Marshalls in the garage. Jumping out of bed and stumbling out of my room, I realized I was late for my job interview, at our local pet store.

"Come on, Marls," chuckled Ace as I slipped on my new Dr. Marten brogues: "you're the only one of us who still hasn't gotten a job!"
"Yeah, I know, Ace. But what can I say? I was busy flushing your shits."
"Hey, that was only once! And you know I had food poisoning. I don't trust local takeout anymore..."

Eric emerged from the garage, his hair wet and a little puffy from the hard minerals in our water. "Better get moving, Marlene. You're gonna nail this thing, trust me. Do it for the band. And for your quarter of the bills."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks Eric," I said as we bumped fists.

"Hey, where's Sebastian?", I asked. "Normally he's up by now."
"Oh, he's out picking up some groceries. Toilet paper and the like," chimed Ace.

I popped a breath mint and rushed out the door, skipping breakfast and later doing my makeup and lightly styling my hair in the parking lot after I stepped off the bus. I aimed to make an impression, as this was my first job interview since I moved, and since I'd heard great things about this place.

I entered and exited the place faster than the tremolo picking in Agent Orange, getting the job as a cashier with little effort, due to a labor shortage. I borrowed the front counter telephone to deliver the news to my house/bandmates. The phone rang for a few seconds, and then I heard Eric's soft voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Marlene. I got the job!"
"Hey!! That's fucking great! What're your hours like?"
"20 hours a week. Monday through Thursday, 12:00 to 5:00."
"That'll work nicely. You can keep taking the bus and not bumming rides off me like Ace."
I chuckled and asked if I should get lunch on the way home.

I arrived home, placing a box containing a deep dish pizza with pepperoni on the dining room table. I called out for my housemates, walking down the hallway only to hear yelling in the garage.

"You're out of your mind, man," I heard Eric say. "And you're out of the damn band if you don't get your priorities straight," Sebastian's deep voice shouted, bouncing off the mostly empty walls of the garage.

"What gives you more authority here than me? You just joined! You're lucky we let you stay with us at all. This band is a democracy!" "Well, maybe someone needs to be captain, 'cause this ship is gonna sink if things keep going this way."

My heart sank into my stomach as I realized what was happening.

Things had been going so well, or so I thought. But this bad dream of mine had leaked into the reality of this new life. Fuck! Weeks of tension I'd denied had come to a head.

The arguing continued for a few seconds. I took a deep breath and threw open the door. "What the fuck is going on here?!"

Sebastian and Eric were so close, they were almost touching. I could practically feel the breath on their faces.