Page 48 of Dark Room Junkie

“No, that’s probably for the best,” he said and laughed, locking the door.

We walked to the tram station together. I was still amazed at how much Tom’s life had changed in the last two years, and I was happy for him. He was a junkie from a broken family, but he had managed to get clean and even snagged a position at the jazz school. And since he had been with Mia, he was more stable than ever.

“See you on Wednesday?” he asked, and I thought I detected a bit of concern in his voice.

I zipped up the parka to my chin and nodded. “Yeah, I have to show that double bass Dani how it’s done.”

When the tram arrived, we said our goodbyes, and I set off on foot toward Langstrasse. I didn’t want to go home, but somehow I felt obligated to stop by for a bit. So I was relieved to find an empty apartment. I did some laundry, tidied up a bit, and left the house around noon.

After a quiet weekend, the rehearsal room drew me in like a magnet. I wanted to play, specifically my songs. And that’s what I did. I spent all day and the next one there, leaving the band room once to get some food. I even stayed there overnight and continued working on my songs on Tuesday. Before the rehearsal with Nightrain started, I grabbed some food again, and when I returned, the others were already there, setting up.

“Hey, guys!” I said, sitting down on the couch next to Chris, who was still typing something on his phone.

“You sound hoarse,” Marco exclaimed in disbelief.

“Oh, that’s nothing new,” I said, biting into my sandwich.

“Are you sick?” Ramon asked.

“I’m fine. I’m back on my feet.”

“Maybe you should take it easy today,” Lukas said, concerned. “This way, you’ll be fully ready on Thursday.”

Taking it easy again, I thought wearily. I had taken off the bandage from my hand this morning. It still hurt, but it attracted less attention than if I had kept it on. “I thought we were playing the songs from the first album today.”

“But not if your voice is shot on Thursday.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Guys!” Chris exclaimed, holding up his phone. “We got the gig!”

“Cool!” Lukas, Marco, and Ramon cheered.

“What gig?” I wanted to know.

“On December 17th at the Exil. Together with two other bands. They’re having a rock night there.”

“Cool,” I said, secretly glad to have a date to look forward to, especially around Christmas time, which was always the worst.

“Isn’t that a Friday?” Marco asked, looking at me. “Then you have your gig at Hyde.”

Chris was already shaking his head. “No, it’s a Saturday.”

“There’s a concert break at Hyde over Christmas anyway,” I said, taking another bite of my sandwich.

“You have a concert break?” Chris asked in surprise. “When does it start? We wanted to come by soon.”

“No idea, but I think we’ll still be playing until early December.”

“We’ll definitely come,” Marco assured.

I finished my sandwich with a smile.

“So let’s play!” Chris said eagerly, sitting down behind the drums.

I had listened to the songs from the first album every chance I got and was therefore well prepared. However, I saved my voice and held back.

When we packed up around half past nine, and I glanced at my phone, there was a message from Sabrina. I hadn’t even thought about where I was going to stay tonight, but a shower wouldn’t have been bad.

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