Page 41 of Echoes of a Muted Song

“Oh, oh my god, thank you, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” I conveyed. “You might still find yourself fired or at least demoted after the letter I intend to send to the corporate office regarding their policy. It’s ridiculous. I’ll never understand how a place can so eagerly take a customer’s money, then make them jump through hoops to get it back when something goes wrong.”

“I-I don’t write the policies,” Dave stammered.

“No, but you enforce them, which makes you just as culpable,” I typed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a mess to fix and I’m sure Officer…”

“Hervy,” the man supplied.

“Officer Hervy would like to get back to dealing with real crimes and people who need help, not this nonsense.”

“You best believe it,” Officer Hervy replied. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I typed. “And thank you for not shutting it down. The guys in Blissfully Immune value their fans and they’d hate to have to disappoint anyone.”

He nodded, and we both went our separateways, Christine at my back as Dave remained behind his desk, muttering something about being out of Maalox. Pausing, I told Ozzy that we were extending the time by two hours and to let everybody know to do their best to move things along without being brusque. Then I hurried to find the crew, who were breaking down the boxes of merch that had already sold.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” I typed. “I need you guys around front to keep the line flowing without obstructing the doors of the neighboring business.”

“On it,” Whiskey said, immediately dropping the box he held to lead the crew around.

Uggggh.

I finished breaking down the boxes and stacked them in the back of the truck, with some help from Christine.

“What a fuckin’ moron,” she grumbled as we heaved the cardboard in.

Nodding, I couldn’t agree more.

Those two hours might not seem like much, but the guys still had a show tonight, and that was two hours of peace and quiet that they weren’t going to get now. I’d never thought to look into the refund policies of the places where I’d been booking the guys to appear. It had just never dawned on me that it would be something I needed to look out for. You always planned to attend everything you committed to, but when you’d been in the industry for as long as meand the guys had, you quickly learned that shit happened that was completely out of your control to avoid or fix. We hated doing it, but wehadcanceled before, but we always did our best to make it up to the fans the next time we returned to the venue.

Our old manager hadn’t been big on rescheduling anything, which seemed like a good practice, given the timetables we’d been working with. Now I made the timetable, which meant that I had the ability to slip something in to keep the fans from being shorted. I loved having the power to put space between the shows, too, so it was rare that the bands played back-to-back dates, even when we were hanging around a city. That day off in between to recharge was crucial, as was the opportunity to wander and take time to really see the places we visited, not just the inside of the bars and auditoriums. It made it easier to breathe, easier to create, too, and to feel like people, rather than desperate rats scurrying from one place to the next.

Shit, I might have to turn that thought into some lyrics and see what Robbie and the boys did with it once I’d fleshed it out more.

Okay, everything was picked up back here, so I locked up the truck and headed in to make sure things were still running smoothly for the band. As I expected, Sully was in the corner behind the door, where he could see the whole room, including anyone who entered. They’d never seehim there, but he’d see them and immediately know whether they had the right to enter that way or not.

Four additional guards were positioned around the room, with Cade standing beside a bin of records just behind and to the left of Johnny where he could easily get to him in need be. A thought hit, so I fired off a quick text to Robbie, to let him know what was going on here and to ask if he and the guys wouldn’t mind handling the after party the radio station was hosting later that night, since I’d only blanket committed to sending four guys, but had never specified which four I intended to send.

My original plan had been two from each band, whichever two were most eager to go, but under the circumstances, with Damaged Saints having the day free from obligations, I hoped they wouldn’t mind all going for a change. Mickey tended to shy away from those things when he was able to, while Jagger was always down to grab Keegan, so Robbie didn’t get stared at by the curious who were eager to see his scars.

It didn’t take long before I received an answer informing me that they’d do it, which worked perfectly, since they were the opening band. They’d have had the chance to sign autographs during intermission while their stage setup was being removed so Blissfully Immune’s could go up, plus eat, shower and change before the after party got started. Tomorrow, both bands hadradio appearances at the station, then we’d get the wheels rolling as we headed to do the next series of shows. Our soft launch had brought fans of both bands out in full force, selling out several venues while the numbers at others were climbing steadily.

All in all, things looked to be going as well as they could under the circumstances.

Rebel laughed with a blond biker who threw an arm over his shoulder as they posed with devil horns, then air guitared their way through a little video, before Rebel signed his shirt, shook his hand and turned his attention to the next person in line.

It seemed like the band had found a good rhythm, too. The line moved at a steady pace, no clumps in front of a single band member. Those in line, at least the ones in the store, were happy, snapping pictures, waving, and holding the CDs and posters that were selling like hotcakes off the table two employees manned. It didn’t look like they’d run out anytime soon, either. It wouldn’t have shocked me at all if Weasel Dave had put in a rush order for more of their CDs the moment last week’s event went south. He might not have expected a turnout of this magnitude, but he sure had the merchandise to support it.

The roadies manning our table were going through t-shirts and water bottles like crazy, too. Whiskey had positioned two members of the team behind it. They worked with practiced ease,like a well-oiled machine and never kinked up the line with slow transactions. The store staff didn’t, either. Looked like I’d been right in my assessment of Dave. The man had made sure the inside was stocked and staffed, with a clear path for the line to snake through the store and back out the double doors. Had he actually had the place open to shoppers, I’d have been tempted to strangle him, damn the consequences, only Johnny and I were just getting used to not having a court case hanging over our heads. The last thing I’d ever want to do is land myself in a jam when I had a job to do.

Was gonna be a grueling three hours, though, but that’s what happened when someone moved the finish line. An image formed in my head, and I quickly made a note of it so I wouldn’t forget to tell Johnny. It was of an open door beneath an exit sign, the band members turning to smoke as they passed through. Each and every one of them was going to reach for a vape or light up a cigarette when they got done here, leaving an epic trail of smoke to the SUV. I took a few pictures, too, for the website, and so Johnny would have a visual reminder of what they were all wearing. Whisps of smoke wearing shades and a black bandana, that’s what Rebel would be, while Johnny had a dark purple hoodie on today, pulled up so that only a fringe of hair fanned his forehead. I’d been shocked in Palm Springs, when Johnny resisted the urge to buy a fifth one afterhe’d already found four to his liking.

No room on the bike for another one.

Like there had been room for those four. Johnny had to buy another backpack, not that I’d done much better when it came to restraint. There was no resisting some of those slogans, and I had a fondness for sleeping in tank tops and shorts when I wasn’t home or in my room where I could sleep naked.

With Johnny beside me.

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