STP

Being In The Band

        Brian placed the receiver of the phone back on its cradle and immediately felt like hitting himself in the head.
"Dammit, Tommy!" He yelled.
        "Whoa, why are you cursing Tommy?" His cousin Kevin asked as he walked in the house and to the fridgerator.
        "Because he did something stupid, that’s why," Brian said, standing up and walking out onto the patio. The rest of his bandmates, Nick, Howie, and AJ met him. They were all at Kevin’s house for a barbecue before they continued their world tour, the tour that was considered the biggest of the year. They were currently taking the long weekend off, relaxing in Florida until they had to fly to Michigan in two days. Everyone had gone their separate ways as soon as they got off the plane from Maryland, but as usual, the band’s keyboardist and guitarist, Tommy and Dennis, went off together and decided to stick together for the break. They had a bit of a reputation on tour for horsing around, though it never got too serious.
        "Its serious, now," Brian said to himself under his breath as he sat down. He waited until Kevin came outside, then took a deep breath.
        "That page was from Tommy," he started.
        "What did he want, another prank?" Nick asked, trying to wrestle AJ into the pool.
        Brian shook his head. "No, not another prank."
        "What, was he complaining about Guido again?" AJ asked, darting around behind Nick and pushing him closer to the pool.
        "No, not about Guido," Brian said, starting to continue.
        "Then what is it, Frick? Spit it out!" Nick demanded.
        "If you’re quiet long enough, I’ll tell you!" Brian exclaimed. He took another deep breath. "Tommy’s not playing with us for the rest of the tour," he said quietly, looking down at his lap.
        "What did you say?" Kevin asked, turning around from facing the grill.
        Brian cleared his throat and spoke louder. "He and Dennis were fooling around and Tommy broke his wrist, he won’t be able to play until after the New Year sometime, he can’t play for the rest of this year, he can barely move it."
        He heard gasps all around, then a splash as AJ finally managed to push Nick in the pool.
        "You mean, we don’t have a pianist for the remainder of the tour?" Howie asked, speaking up first.
        Brian shrugged. "I’m not too sure, he said he was going to call around and ask some of his friends to cover for him, but he’s not too sure if he can get anyone to, we might have to postpone some dates."
        "Just where are we going to find someone who knows the music well enough to join us in two days? Of course we’ll need to postpone, it can’t be helped," AJ said, sitting in a lawn chair and eyeing Nick warily as he hoisted himself out of the pool.
        "There’s a meeting for everyone tomorrow, at Jive, conference call connecting everyone. Mindi’s in New York and everyone else is scattered across Florida, so we’ll have to have one of the longest and most costly meeting in terms of phone bills," Brian stated.
        "So do we know what’s up? Is there a chance that we can have someone who knows the music well enough to join us on tour on such a short notice?" Nick asked as he walked over to AJ. He squeezed out his hair and extra shirt over AJ’s head, getting him wet.
        "Tommy said he had a few people in mind, he hoped that one of them would be able to do it. He told me that he’d get back to us all at the meeting tomorrow," Brian said.
        Kevin sighed and turned back to the grill. "Sheesh, of all the times," he muttered.
        Brian looked out at the setting sun as AJ and Nick started another scruffle again, this time ending with AJ going in the pool.
        ‘God, please tell me that we don’t have to drag this out longer than need be. Please let one of Tommy’s friends be able to do this,’ Brian prayed silently, turning his attention back to Nick and AJ. He smiled and laughed as AJ pulled Nick back into the pool and dunked him under, the two battling to get the other to stay under longer.