Page 26 of Verses

Aweek later, we were practicing in earnest at The Apothecary. Wolf had the night off from work and we had drawn up a loose setlist—but, first, we were all going to go through “We Die Young” together for the first time. I tried not to think about how autobiographical that song seemed to be, how applicable it was to our band. Maybe that was why Kyle had picked it.

On another level, I had to admit that Wolf’s plan was brilliant—and his smarts were even more evident when he suggested we learn one of Kyle’s chosen songs first.

It would keep him invested until his heart was fully in it again.

I missed a couple of spots singing, still not used to the song—but, worse, the playing was all over the map. Adrian was probably the one who performed the best. If Kyle said we sucked this time like he had a week ago, I would have agreed.

But he didn’t say a word.

As we all looked at each other, Pedro said, “I think we need to do that one a few more times.”

Kyle nodded, looking at the stage floor. “Agreed.”

At least none of the regulars were tossing tomatoes at us—or even stale pretzels.

As we’d discussed, Wolf played the solo—and, even though it didn’t sound exactly like the original, it was good. We played the song again and, the second time, it sounded much better.

“Fuck,yeah!” Pedro said. “That solo kicks ass, Wolf.”

“I’m a little rusty.”

“Fuck, man. If that’s you rusty, I can’t fucking wait to hear you on fire.”

“Practice is the key.”

Kyle said, “Yeah. I’m feeling lots better.” That much was evident. I could see it in his sky-blue eyes. “What about you, Hayl?”

That blew me away. It had been a while since Kyle had actually cared how I felt…aboutanything. Nodding, I flashed him a genuine smile. “I think a few more times, and I’ll feel pretty good about it.” I liked that I didn’t have to strain my voice to sing the song, because I didn’t have any formal training in my background and hoped to preserve my singing muscles and such until I could afford coaching.

“You guys ready?” Adrian asked, ready to tap his drumsticks to lead us into the song again.

After three more times through, I’d long since finished the glass of water sitting on the stool beside me. “Can we take a five-minute break?”

“How about ten?” Kyle asked, pulling his vape pen out of his pocket.

“Yeah, I could use a sec,” Pedro said.

Kyle had already stepped off the stage. “When we start again, how about we go through our setlist?”

Pedro said, “Are you even ready for that shit, Wolf man?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” he said—but he gave me a quick wink.

I couldn’t wait to hear him play now that he’d been gearing up for our first real practice session.

Adrian followed Kyle out back and I’d thought the rest of us were heading to the bar. Instead, Pedro made his way toward the restrooms.

That left just me and Wolf…and I was a-okay with that. “Hey, Marv,” I said to the owner, grouchy because he had to work a night shift. I’d kill the man with kindness. “Can I get a refill, please?” I asked, setting my glass on the bar.

“When are you guys gonna start actually playing again?”

“Soon,” Wolf assured him.

Marv grumbled unintelligibly, picking up the glass. As he filled it with ice, he said, “I’m gonna have to start charging you guys.”

“They buy plenty of alcohol.”

“Not tonight, they ain’t.”

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