A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) (8 page)

“
If
you don't feel wrong, then you
’
re
not wrong,
”
Terri said.
“
Okay? Trust that.
”

“
I
try to,
”
Emily said.
“
I really try.
”
She took a deep breath.
“
Well, I
’
m going to get back home, if that
’
s okay. I want to be near
Nicholas so when I get this call I can talk to him.
”

Before Terri could say a word,
Emily
’
s cell phone rang.

“
That
’
s my call.
”

“
Use
the office,
”
Terri said.

She hugged Emily and then left the
office.

Emily stood and answered the call.

“
I
have some interesting news for you,
”
Tim said.

“
Interesting?
”

“
Your
nephew is catching a hell of a break here.
”

“
How
so?
”

“
Mr.
Hacher is not going to pursue any charges, mostly because of you, Emily. He
understands your circumstances.
”

Emily closed her eyes and felt a
little relieved.
“
Okay.
”

“
As
far as the legal side of it,
”
Tim said,
“
your story comes
with some sympathy. It doesn
’
t
make what Nicholas did seem right, but it does seem wrong to go after him and
you. They do want you to pay the cost of the fire department to come out and
tend to the fire, but I
’
m
going to negotiate that though because it
’
s
unfair to go after your wallet.
”

“
What
about Nicholas?
”
Emily
asked.
“
What happens to
him? He can
’
t just
…
I can
’
t believe I
’
m
saying this, but he can
’
t
just get away with things like this.
”

“
He
’
s not. That mentoring program I
mentioned to you. He
’
s
forced into it. If he doesn
’
t,
he
’
ll be sent away. He has
no choice.
”

“
Okay.
That
’
s good. I can respect
that.
”

“
This
is where it gets a little more interesting though,
”
Tim said with a laugh.

“
Why
’
s that?
”
Emily asked.

“
This
may sound like an odd question, but do you know the band Fallen Tuesday?
”

“
Of
course. Why? What does that have to do with Nicholas?
”

“
Well,
it seems their bassist has had a little fall from grace and is going to be
involved in the same mentoring program.
”

“
Oh?
”
Emily nodded. That was kind of
interesting. A big time rockstar mentoring others. She wondered if maybe she
could get Nicholas to meet him. Maybe meeting someone successful with a little
bit of an edge would teach him that he didn
’
t
need to be so bad all the time.

“
There
’
s more,
”
Tim said.

“
More?
”

“
His
name is Trent Jensen. The bassist from Fallen Tuesday. He
’
s going to be Nicholas
’
s mentor.
”

“
What?
”
Emily asked.
“
Are you
…
?
”

“
I
’
m not joking,
”
Tim said.
“
Between you and me, this is the
best thing for Nicholas. Everything is in motion and he
’
ll be there soon.
”

“
Be
here? Where does he live?
”

“
Only
an hour away.
”

“
I
thought famous people lived in New York City or California?
”

Tim laughed.
“
I guess not all of them.
”

“
I
don
’
t
…
why? Why is he doing this?
”

“
Well,
he has his own problems to deal with,
”
Tim said.
“
He
’
s had a few troubles of his own
and this is his way of redeeming himself and giving back.
”

“
Is
that safe for Nicholas?
”

“
Yes,
”
Tim said.
“
It
’
s
safe. Nothing is going to happen, Emily. He will spend time with Nicholas. Talk
to him. Maybe he
’
ll be able
to get Nicholas to finally open up and talk. Can
’
t
do any harm. At least you
’
ll
know where Nicholas is and that he will be out of trouble.
”

“
Yeah.
Sure. Spending time with a rockstar can never lead to trouble, right?
”

“
Don
’
t make it sound so bad,
”
Tim said.
“
I can request someone else if
you want.
”

“
No.
If this is best for Nicholas
…”

After a few more minutes of
details, Emily thanked Tim for handling everything and they said goodbye. Emily
slowly paced around the office. She didn
’
t
want to put Nicholas in harms way, but maybe this was a chance for him to meet
someone he could connect with on his level.

But why did it have to be a
rockstar?

(7)

“
Man,
I didn
’
t realize this was
down here,
”
Jake said as he
looked around the basement of Mack
’
s
house.

“
It
’
s cozy,
”
Gray said with a smile.
“
It
’
s
where I crashed for a while.
”

“
And
where he brought his woman,
”
Mack said.

Trent stood up from the couch. He
pointed to it.
“
Did you and
her
…”

“
Maybe,
”
Gray said.
“
Maybe not. Does it matter?
”

“
Why
the hell did you buy such a nice house?
”
Jake asked.
“
I mean, you
don
’
t have a secret family
or anything, do you?
”

“
Not
that I know of,
”
Mack said.
“
I liked the house so I
bought it. Maybe someday there will be other people in it. Maybe not. But I don
’
t think we came here to dig into
my personal thoughts.
”

“
No,
”
Luke said.
“
I think we
’
re here to play some tunes.
”

“
I
’
m ready to go,
”
Trent said.
“
Well, at least for a little bit
before I have to get my stuff together.
”

“
What
time are you out of here?
”
Mack asked.

“
Tomorrow
morning,
”
Trent said.
“
Going to meet the kid.
”

“
The
kid?
”
Luke asked.
“
Are you going to talk like that
around him?
”

“
I
have to be myself, brother,
”
Trent said.
“
He
’
s in a lot of trouble himself.
And he
’
s only ten.
”

“
What
kind of trouble?
”
Mack
asked.

“
He
burned down the neighbor
’
s
barn.
”

Mack laughed.
“
Damn. My old man would have beat
my ass raw if I did something stupid like that.
”

“
Yeah,
well, he doesn
’
t have a
father. Or a mother.
”

“
Shit,
”
Luke said.
“
He
’
s
in the system?
”

“
No,
”
Trent said.
“
He lives with his aunt. She has
a hard time getting control of him, I guess. I don
’
t know what I
’
m
supposed to do. I
’
ll just
talk to him, figure out what
’
s
going on. This is what Frank wanted.
”

“
It
’
s what you wanted too,
”
Luke said.
“
Don
’
t forget that, Trent. You could make a difference
in a kid
’
s life. Like you
always wanted
…”

“
That
’
s enough of that,
”
Trent said.
“
If we
’
re playing, let
’
s
do it.
”

Trent brushed by Jake on his way to
the steps. Part of him was really pissed off that Jake skidded by in all this.
Just like always. But Trent made a promise to himself that he would follow
through on this mentoring gig. He would try to help this kid out and maybe even
find peace for himself.

Upstairs, Trent marveled at the
music room Mack had created for himself. A normal person would have used the space
as some kind of formal dining room. Not Mack. It was nothing but instruments.
From drums to guitars to keyboards. It was a beautiful sight. They gathered up
the necessary instruments and started back downstairs. Luke was in front of him
and Mack was behind him with a bass drum and a kick pedal. In just a few
minutes, there was a basic drum kit in the basement and the rest of Fallen
Tuesday sat, tuning up instruments.

Trent held an acoustic bass in his
hands. It had been a while since he played onr like it and he was excited. The
strings were much thicker than guitar strings. Once he was tuned up, he began
to play around the neck of the bass, stretching his fingers and loving the
deep, hollow sound of the acoustic bass.

Mack perfected his sound as he
always did. Luke and Gray had guitars, each taking turns to make sure they were
in tune. Finally, Trent looked at Jake. Just like always, Jake was ready to
play. He nodded and Trent did the same.

“
Count
it,
”
Trent said.

Jake announced a song and tapped
his guitar pick on the body of his guitar. He and Trent began to play in
perfect unison. He wished it could just be this all the time. Just music. Just
playing. Why the hell did real life had to creep into the band? When they
played, Trent didn
’
t look
at Jake the same as when they weren
’
t
playing.

They continued to play and waited
for the rest of the band to come in. Mack chose a spot to come in on and the
drums sounded good in the basement. He used instrumental
brushes
instead
of drumsticks, which helped to muffle the sound and make sure the drums didn
’
t overpower the song. Mack
stopped a few seconds later and adjusted his snare drum.

Gray strummed a few chords and
watched Jake
’
s fingering carefully,
waiting for the right moment to come in with the lead. When he did, the song
had even more life. Trent found his foot bouncing on the floor, matching the
beat of the song.

The song continued to build as Mack
came back in and Luke strummed a few chords behind everyone else. Then he
started to sing and it was like life had suddenly become perfect again. Trent
knew life wasn
’
t just about
music, but damn, it would be great if it could be.

Fallen Tuesday ran through three
songs, two old, one new, and then stopped to take a break. Trent was smiling so
hard, it actually hurt.

“
Let
’
s try to piece some new stuff
together,
”
Trent said.
“
I don
’
t want this to end.
”

“
That
’
s a good idea,
”
Mack said.

“
Hey,
Mack, Gray, come upstairs for a minute,
”
Luke said.
“
See if there
’
s anything else we can use from
that music room.
”

The three guys hurried to leave the
room and, once again, Jake and Trent were purposely alone again.

“
I
guess we
’
re either here to
write or to work out our differences,
”
Jake said.

“
Yeah,
right,
”
Trent said.
“
Stick to the music.
”

Trent traded his acoustic bass for
a guitar. Jake showed him a concept for another song. It was a basic four chord
song, but Jake played variations of the chords to give more sound. Trent
accented Jake
’
s playing by
thickening the sound, even giving it an echoing, reverb kind of sound.

“
Now,
hold up,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s the main part for me. I have something for the
chorus. I
’
m still piecing
it together.
”

“
Show
me,
”
Trent said.

He watched as Jake struggled to
come up with the right concept and sound. He would strum a few times and then
stutter step his way up the guitar neck, lost. Trent watched and tried to hear
what sound Jake wanted. When it came to him, he followed Jake as he started to
play the chorus again. When Jake broke off, Trent kept going. Jake looked at
him, his eyes wide.

“
Damn,
that
’
s it,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s what I wanted.
”

“
We
still got it I guess,
”
Trent said.

“
Yeah,
we do.
”

The room became quiet and even more
uncomfortable.

“
I
hope you don
’
t blame me for
what you
’
re doing,
”
Jake said.

“
Should
I blame you?
”

“
No.
I don
’
t know what you were
thinking, man.
”

“
Thinking
things I shouldn
’
t,
”
Trent said.
“
Letting it all get to me.
”

“
I
’
m not getting involved with her,
”
Jake said.
“
If that
’
s what you
’
re
worried about. I
’
ve been
down that road, so have you. I can
’
t
do it again. But I can
’
t
just turn my head when she comes around. You know what I mean? There
’
s so much history there
…”

“
For
all of us,
”
Trent said.
“
I don
’
t know, maybe this will be good. I
’
ve had so much bottled up inside
me. The only thing that
’
s
ever worked out in my life is this band. And there were times, Jake, when I
should have maybe walked away. I should have stuck up for myself when it came
to you and Chloe, but I held back. For the band. And it exploded in my face,
over and over.
”

“
I
hope we can get through this,
”
Jake said.
“
You and me.
”

“
I
just need to do what
’
s
asked of me right now. I need to mentor this kid and show everyone that I
’
m not some drunken rockstar. I
agree that once the new album is done, all this will become another piece of
our past.
”

“
We
can only hope,
”
Jake said.

That was the extent of the
conversation and as deep as Trent was willing to go right then with Jake.
Whatever the guys expected from the two of them, they wouldn
’
t get. Trent wouldn
’
t hug Jake. He wouldn
’
t laugh with Jake. Their respect
came from the band and the music.

The band convened upstairs and
while they didn
’
t play
anymore music, they stood in Mack
’
s
music room and talked for hours. There was a fresh energy between everyone, an
energy that excited Trent but also disappointed him. He did want to help out
this kid, but he didn
’
t
want to leave the band.

Mack left the room and returned
gripping the skinny necks of five beers. He handed them out and held his in the
air.

“
This
is for us,
”
Mack said.
“
We drink, celebrate, and think
about our lives. We think about this music, the fans, and the new album. Soon
enough, we will be back on a tour bus, back on a stage, and back to doing what
we love best.
”

The five bottles clanked together
and Trent drank his beer. He couldn
’
t
thought about everything that the five of them had gone through together
already in life. Trent
’
s
life had begun the moment he played that guitar
…
and his life gained meaning the moment he had that first practice with Luke,
Mack, Gray, and Jake. Trent refused to think about anything before that day.
And maybe that was something else he needed to fix.

He probably needed to work out his
past before it stole his future.

*

Nicholas sat in the passenger seat
next to Emily. She had no idea what kind of dress code there was for this kind
of thing, not that she wanted to pick a fight with Nicholas over his clothes or
how he looked. She considered it a victory that he had woken up today and took
a shower without her reminding him ten times to do so. Emily wasn
’
t one to really talk either
since she was in workout clothing. Sitting in a parking lot, she felt self
conscious and considered hurrying back home to change.

She had spent as much free time as
she could listening to Fallen Tuesday songs. She felt foolish becoming such an
intense fan of the band while this was all meant to somehow help Nicholas, but
she had hoped it would intrigue Nicholas at least a little bit. He had no
interest in who Trent was.

“
So
what do I do now?
”
Nicholas
asked.
“
Go inside and
…
what?
”

“
I
’
m not really sure,
”
Emily said.
“
You listen and talk.
”