Finding His Voice

4) Those'll Kill You One Day.

        I roll over and look at my clock; 12:47 p.m--later than I expected--earlier than I would have liked. The house is eeily quiet and then I remember that mom is working and I have the day off... And Catch A Case will be over later. 
        I stretch and then head to the bathroom. I'm in need of a shower and then a smoke. I mean hey, smoking can't do much else to me now can it?
        I step out of the shower as my phone vibrates. I sigh and unlock the screen.

                                                        New Message
                Derek: Still on for today right?
                Me: Yep. 
                Derek: See you then!
                Me: Okie dokie then. 

        I cringe as I send that. Perhaps, "Okie dokie then," wasn't the best response. God. Communication is so counterproductive. Perhaps that's why I'm mute. I grab a pair of black skinny jeans and an old Paramore cut-off and then head outside--cigarettes in hand. 
                "Hey you!" 
        I turn and come face to face with the drummer James. I raise an eyebrow and he chuckles, "The others are like right behind me. We got bored and decided why not be fashionably early. Is that okay?"
        I shrug and take another drag off of my cigarette. 
Derek emerges from the shadows with Luke and Sam on his heels. Sam's eyes widen, "Those'll kill you one day."
         I shrug and mouth, "Everything will kill you one day." I watch Sam's eyes and chuckle. It's always been amusing; watching someone read lips, that is.
  "So what do you do here," James asks, his eyes surveying the suburban area.
    "I'm sure there are plenty hot girls around," Derek chides, raising an eyebrow, "I mean,         you're a good looking guy.
         I flick my cigarette out and pull out my notepad and a pen, "Yeah, but none with a thing for a mute. And thanks."
        I motion for them to follow me inside and once they're all in close the door, discard my jacket, and lead them to the kitchen. 
        "Lovely house. Jesus, your mom must make bank."
                Derek and James roll their eyes and say, "Typical of Sam to compliment something and then ruin the moment right after." 
        I grab my whiteboard and marker, "Talking to people is so tiresome. Are you guys thristy or anything?"
                Luke chuckles, "You're not even talking, but I get what you mean. We'll all have Dr. Pepper, if you've got any."
                "Yeah," I write, "But this is the most I've ever interacted with people ever and I didn't realize how much effort it takes to do so."
        "Just wait until we get famous, Evan," James comments, "Just wait."
                The boys and I continue talking until my mother comes in, carrying groceries, drinks, a chair she found at Goodwill and a letter from her parents. She smiles at the guys in Catch A Case and shakes their hands. 
        She clears her throat and says, "It's nice to meet you guys. You're a good looking group of kids. Any of your parents single?"
        I groan and shoot her a didn't-you-just-go-on-a-date glance and she puts her hands up in defense, "Sorry, honey." 
                "Do you guys want anything to eat? I brought pizza," She asks, turning back to the band.
        Luke, James, Derek, and Sam happily agree and dive head first into the two large pepperoni pizzas. Mom brews a pot of coffee, pours herself a cup, pours me a cup, and takes a seat at the kitchen table, newspaper in hand. 
        James leans over, grinning, "Your mom is hot, by the way."
     "Thanks," I mouth, rolling my eyes and then smiling--to let him know I'm joking, of course. 
"So," my mother says, "How long have you all been together?"
"Middle school really. We've been friends for as long as I can remember," Luke comments, looking up from a now empty box of pizza. 
     "I just remembered that I forgot to tell you all my name. Call me Jenny," my mom says, smiling. 
James leans forward and kisses her hand, resulting in another groan from the rest of us. My mother blushes and pats his head, "You're too kind." 
  I turn to the rest of the group, whiteboard in hand and write, "So what about practices and what not? I'll have to tell my job about my schedule change."
       "Well," Derek starts, "We practice on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's from about 4 p.m until 8 or so, depending on certain variables and on Tuesday's and Thursday's, we practice from 2 p.m until 5 p.m give or take. Weekends are our breaks from practicing. We used to do shows on the weekends, but when our guitarist split that stopped. However, hopefully once you've learned the songs, we can start doing shows again."
     Luke leans over and taps my arm, "You any good at song writing?"
   I shrug and mouth, "I guess."
  Sam chugs his third Dr. Pepper and then says, "Never had an audience to judge? Excuse this insensitive little shit."
         Luke puts his hands up in defense, "My bad. Don't get your knickers in a twist, Sammy-boo."
    Sam rolls his eyes and then Derek stands up. The others follow suit. 
      I grab my whiteboard, "I'll talk to my boss tomorrow and get him to change my schedule around. I'll tell you guys when that happens."
     Derek smiles and shakes my hand, "Sweet."
The four walk out of the door, waving goodbye to my mother and me and once again I realize how different life can change from one day to the next.