Rhythmic silence

Part 2

The concert was being held in a stadium that was a 10 minute drive away. Anthony, who lived down the street, met us where we were parked and then we were off.

I peeked at the front view mirror while parking, and saw the boys chatting excitedly. My brother looks so happy that whatever doubts I had about this go away. whoosh, vanished, gone.

When we got to entrance, I stood back while Jude and Anthony presented their tickets. Jude looked back at me, worried. I gave him a look that said, 'It'll be fine' and stepped up.

The man at the counter was in his 30's maybe, bald, muscly, and tattooed. I gulped nervously as he said something I didn't catch. I was kind of dark in here, which makes lip reading more difficult.

I made a confused look at him, and reached into my pockets for a piece of paper and pencil I usually keep in hand. Wait. I suddenly realized I was wearing pajama shorts and my little brother's avengers hoodie.

My sweet, amazing, life-saver of a brother stepped in as soon as he realized didn't understand. I know a lot of teenage boys would be embarrassed about having a deaf sister and having to interpret (especially in front of a friend), but Jude steps in anytime I need it, as if it's no problem at all.

"He asked if you're with us."

I thought for a second and then signed. "Tell him I'm with you, because you two are too young. I'm your guardian."

The man looked between us, and it took him a second to put together what we were doing. I wait for Jude to pass along the message.

The man sighed. "It doesn't work like that. You have to have a ticket guardian or not."

Jude gave me a look, asking if I got the whole thing. I nodded, and signed, "But they're only 13! And I can't even hear the music so it wouldn't make sense for me to pay."

He seemed to be thinking it through for a while, tapping his finger on the desk.

He looked me up and down. "I don't know... Are you over 18?"

I wasn't. I was only 16, but I still nodded my head vigorously.

A few beats more, and he opened his mouth again, I just didn't understand what came out of it.  It looked a lot like, "I can allow them to marry my goat, but you have to pay for its sin." But that probably wasn't right so I looked at Jude expectantly.

He looked unsure as he signed the words back to me. "He said we can maybe go in alone, but you have to pay for going in. It's not up to him."

You know what? That's good enough. I didn't come there to attend a concert, just to help out my little brother.

I gave the man two big thumbs ups and waved the boys away. Anthony, who I've known Since he was tiny, and had picked up a few signs from our family, signed "sorry" as they hurried away. As if I wanted to go inside anyway... Did I?

Maybe I did want to, to feel what a concert was like, for the experience. It didn't matter. I made my way back to the parking lot to wait in my car.

After a few minutes in the car, I wondered how long concerts last.

Another few minutes later, I was circling the stadium to look for a different entrance.

I found two, but they were both being guarded by security. When they eyed me, I made it seem like I was just taking a walk. A nice, midnight stroll.

When I stopped at a small door I had almost mistaken as the wall, I looked both ways to see if anyone was nearby and entered. It was not locked.