Spring Won't Come

Two: Isaiah

Isaiah plucked the string he had just replaced on the guitar, lipid pursed, full concentration on tuning the instrument by ear. He shifted his hold on the pick and plucked the string again, producing a flat and unsatisfactory note.

The dark fingers of his right hand clicked on the wooden body in a staccato rhythm, and his left hand turned the tuning knob to alter the note resounding from the guitar. Once he was satisfied with the sound he began working his way through the Dorian scale.

Manny entered the music room and dumped his backpack in the chair next to Isaiah. He then weaved through the web of chairs and music stands to the storage room where extra guitars were kept. He emerged a moment later with a chipped and faded guitar that had once personally belonged to Mr. Riggs.

"'Sup, dude?" Isaiah said when Manny sat down.

"Sup."

Isaiah pretended not to notice his friend's melancholic demeanor and began playing a riff that he had written last night. When he finished he tucked the pick between two strings and looked at Manny. "What do you think?"

"Play it again," Manny said as he put his guitar up on his knees. Isaiah played the riff again, this time at a slower tempo so that Manny could hear the notes and see his finger placement. Manny then played it back to him and gave a smile of approval.

"Not bad, right?"

"Yeah, not bad."

"It gets even better, man," Isaiah said with a toothy smile. He loved theatrics, an attribute likely inherited from his dad's preaching, and wanted Manny to press him for details; he wasn't disappointed.

"Are you going to tell me why it gets better? Did you write another riff?"

"No."

"Did you write bass and drum parts?"
"Nope."

Manny sighed and his voice rose an octave. "Did you write a song?"

"Nah."

"Well, tell me, man," Manny said, slapping Isaiah on the shoulder.
Isaiah laughed. "Alright, alright, alright. I found us a place to practice."

Manny raised an eyebrow. "But Riggs said we could use the room today."

"We could, if you want to be spending more time in school. Or..." he played a few notes on the guitar for dramatic effect, "...we could practice in this empty apartment building I found."

"Eh, sounds gross. Probably full of squatters and crackheads."

"That's what I thought but I didn't see anyone. Then I found an empty unit and everything works. Faucets, lights, the toilets. Dude," Isasiah's face shone with excitement.

Manny eyed his friend with a mix of distrust and amusement. "You're not serious, are you? You found a place with water and power but no one lives there, not even homeless dudes?"

Isaiah played another quick melody. "I know it looks weird but there's seriously no one there. I think someone bought the place for renovation but hasn't started yet. We might as well use it while we can, then we can go back to practicing here." He could tell that even though Manny seemed unsure he secretly was stoked to check the place out.

Manny mulled it over and nodded. "Alright, what about getting a drummer and bass player?"

Isaiah sighed. Manny could ruin any good moment by worrying about what was going to come next. "I'm going to ask Lu about playing with us, he's in my Spanish class." He had no idea who would play bass for them but he could figure that out later.