All For You

Chapter 5

Reed |Present

I start to wonder whether it was a mistake coming to this small town. Beaufort, South Carolina – a place with a low country feel and southern charm; I know it's not a place for an almost famous musician. But maybe it is a place for someone who needs to get back on his feet in a place that no one knows about the things he's done and gone through.

  "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

I'm suddenly shaking hands with a middle-aged man in the center of an empty church. His hair is greying on the sides, his face has several wrinkles but he has a friendly smile. Also, his voice sounds familiar enough for me to know that he is the man I had spoken to on the phone.

  "Steve, right?" I ask and he nods. "I'm Reed Mason. Thanks for welcoming me into this-" I'm not even sure what I'm saying but it shocks me, how easily I'm able to make up bullshit.

  "Our community is very open to new members," he cuts me off and I'm glad that he does because I didn't know what to say next. "So you want to join our choir?"

I nod even though I'm not mentally prepared to give an audition. I mean, I learned and practiced some gospel music for over a week but who am I kidding, I'm never going to be ready to sing again. My only option is to not think and just do it.

He nods toward the front left of the church and I notice a very old sound system in the corner next to the stage. I follow him as he makes his way toward it and I silently pray that I'm early and lucky enough for no one to enter the church.

I'm taking my guitar out of its case when someone steps out from the backroom. He looks up and waves before he sees me. He's wearing pants and a shirt, just like Steve and I'm internally cursing myself for wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I should have dressed better. The other guy looks a few years older than I am, dark skin, black hair and brown eyes. I heard this town had a rich African-American heritage but I spent the one week I've been here locked up in my new house, trying to unpack so I didn't really notice anything – people or the historic views of this town.

  "Joseph, this is Reed Mason," Steve tells him and he shakes my hand.

He has a steady handshake and very warm skin. He smiles as he starts unpacking a keyboard.

  "Praise the Lord, Reed," he says to me and I mumble it back, unsure of how to respond. "It's nice to have you here. I've heard a lot of great things about you."

I look at Steve and he grins. I force a smile back, ready to internally combust. I'm not used to all this smiling and praising and people being nice. The music industry was harsh and maybe I'm not prepared for this. Maybe it was a mistake and I shouldn't have listened to my stupid manager who told me to come here and start fresh.

  "You know Kyrie Eleison, right?" Joseph asks me and I rack my brain until Lord Have Mercy comes to mind and I nod because it's a variant of that.

He starts playing the chords on his keyboard and waits for me to catch on with my guitar. I manage to play with him as he goes over it multiple times before he starts singing. I join in, going straight to the harmonies and his eyes meet mine. He doesn't seem unhappy with it, probably because none of the guys in his choir do them. I know because Steve told me that Joseph's cousin, Emma, is the only one in the choir who sings the harmonies.

We practice the other songs for the mass and by the end of it, people start piling in but he doesn't stop. Emma makes an appearance in the middle of our practice, along with a bunch of other people whose names I don't bother to remember. The choir sounds pretty decent and they allow me to work the sound system to make us sound better. Maybe it's an okay place to start singing until I can make music again.