Page 89 of Broken Chorus

“Until I was away from the plain way of life, I didn’t realize that most people needed a special occasion to get together, at least in the city,” Micah admitted. “And most times it involves checking calendars and rejecting a series of dates before something could get locked in.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the things that was always so special about the band,” Aaron said as he brushed a raindrop off his cheek. “We spent the bulk of our time together, on and off the stage. Half of our misadventures wound up as songs and the rest are somewhere in Hawk’s impressive collection of video footage.”

The weather report had claimed showers and thunderstorms were coming. Still, he wasn’t gonna move until Micah was ready.

“Music, the band…and Wells saved my life,” Aaron said softly. “I wasn’t there for Wells when I could have returned the favor. Was too busy putting as many miles between myself and that place as Ethan’s old rickey van could get us.”

The rain started coming down more, but it wasn’t pouring yet and Micah was showing no signs of moving from the spot he’d flopped in, so it looked like they were lingering there a little longer.

“We don’t have all the logistics worked out yet but Kelly and I have been talking about limiting practices sessions to three a week while we’re writing and getting the feel for things. He’ll arrange shows since we’ll need to polish the material before we can record it and Hawk says we can have sessions here whenever we want. He’s even been talking about building a second music room at the guest cabin, so we’d have the freedom to be up all night if we needed to. It won’t be easy and I’m sure there will be times when I’m frazzled and short tempered but…”

“We’ll make it work,” Micah said, sitting up, which meant Aaron did too and turned to face him. “Besides, nothing could be harder than that first week.”

“I am so…”

“Naa man, no more apologizing, I get it. Seriously. You and me, we’re cut from the same cloth, and I don’t just mean having families that didn’t approve of us making music. My best friend, Ezekiel used to cover for me all the time when I’d sneak off to practice my guitar instead of being in the dairy barn between our family’s farms helping to take care of the joint herd. I wasn’t there for him when he needed me, either. He died in a buggy crash delivering the milkIwas supposed to be taking to the cheese factory that day. It was the last fuckin’ straw for me. No way in hell I could forgive the idiots tear-assing around in their pickup when they couldn’t even be bothered to stop and help after they hit him. Maybe he’d have lived if someone had gotten there sooner and tried to stop the bleeding. I don’t know.”

“Fuck man, that’s bullshit!”

“My old man stood there preaching at me about how I was going to be shunned until I made amends and in the next breathhad the nerve to say that we must forgive the ones who’d killed Ezekiel and absolve them of their guilt since…”

“Everything is according to God’s plan and humans were never meant to know or understand the reasons of the exalted one,” Aaron said softly.

“What reason!” Micah howled into wind that had finally picked up and started lashing the rain at them. “How can there ever be anything fuckin’ understandable about someone losing their life before they’ve had the opportunity to truly live it! How the hell is someone supposed to believe in some fuckin’ plan by a creator that lets so much bad happen to good people!”

Aaron let him rage. He clearly needed it and those were the same questions Aaron had asked more than once? He also knew he could no longer let Micah set the tone for how long they stayed out here. He was deep in his emotions which meant Aaron would need to make the choice for them and potentially save Micah from himself. Couldn’t have him catching a cold, or worse, especially when they were going to be hitting the road soon.

It was more than that though. In Micah, Aaron not only saw himself, but Wells and everyone else who grew up being force fed a way of thinking and were thrown away when they challenged it. In his mind, words came together, emotions, pain, rage, all those things he’d never been able to fully express started forming together into a song and damn if he hadn’t been the guy who was worried about sending messages to their listeners and yet here he was, with a message he did want to send.

But it sure as hell wasn’t religious, that was for damn sure. It was more about finding your family, your tribe to belong to, and about finding the strength to be who you wanted to be, despite the hellfire and resistance others threw your way.

Maybe it would help Micah too, if he wanted to put pen to paper and help Aaron write it. Either way, they needed to get thefuck out of here and back to the cabins, because the storm had finally unleashed itself and those big, heavy drops pouring down were starting to hurt like hell.

“Come on,” Aaron said, grabbing Micah’s hand and holding on even when he resisted.

“No! God damnit, I’m not done! I’m not fucking done! I want him to hear me! I want him to listen and stop letting people get hurt for no good god damned reason! It isn’t right! It isn’t fuckin’ right!”

Micah was sobbing again, so Aaron yanked him into a hug and spoke into his ear, hoping to get through to him.

“Staying out here won’t make it right either,” Aaron said over the storm. “Nothing will! But maybe we can give the world a few more songs to help people get through it better and maybe someday, somewhere we reach someone just like us and show them that they can have whatever future they want as long as they’re willing to fight for it hard enough!”

Micah let out a snarled scream and hugged Aaron tighter, but at least he stopped resisting Aaron’s efforts to move them back towards the path. Branches whipped at them, leaves lashed at their faces, the rain pelted them, and they slipped, slid and tumbled on their way back down the hill, but they made it through the doors, spilling muddy and dripping into the kitchen to see four anxious faces.

“What the fuck happened to you two?” Kelly asked, not that either could answer with how much they were shivering and gulping in air. In the chaos of it all, he and Micah locked gazes and Aaron was willing to bet his eyes were as red as Micah’s were.

“Thank you,” Micah wheezed, rubbing his shoulder where his shirt was torn. The flesh beneath was bruised from where one of the branches had caught him.

“You good?” Aaron gasped as water dripped down his face.

“No…but because of you I will be,” Micah managed.

Slowly they caught their breath, while Aaron heard Kelly on his phone, telling Hawk they were there and looked to be okay.

Okay was stretching it…but in time Aaron they’d get there, together…the family they’d chosen for themselves…the only family that truly, truly mattered.

Chapter 21

Chasing the Dream

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