Page 29 of Voice to Raise
Perhaps one thing. Maybe now, I could get Malik Forestal out of my system once and for all.
Or so I told myself.
Chapter Eight
Malik
Mama Murthi glared at me over her cup of tea.
“What?” I had to feign ignorance. That might at least buy me some time. I was better off just leaving, but she’d said she wanted to talk to me. So I sat in her kitchen on a rainy afternoon, waiting for her message from on high.
“Creed showed me the concert footage.”
Of Grindstone.
At Rocktoberfest.
The quality hadn’t been great and, of course, the sound had been hard to hear. But I’d watched the footage dozens of times.
Mesmerized, I’d followed each song carefully—trying to figure out why they put each song in the order they had. Trying to divine how they were so successful while Razor Made languished in near-obscurity. Then they’d brought the house down with their new song, “In Another Life”. At the end, their lead singer Axel, had looked out into the crowd. Someone had shouted something at him, and he replied they were all taken.Does that mean he’s with his teacher? Are they going to come out?
Axel and Ed, the bassist, had cultivated personas of men who liked women. They were certainly seen with enough of them. Now Ed was with documentary filmmaker Thornton, and Axel apparently was with his former high school teacher, Hugo.
In a way, that blew my mind. Otherwise, it simply confirmed someone could come out as gay and lose almost no fans. Since I’d always been out, I’d worried we might not get fans in the first place. We had some loyal ones, though.
Mama continued to stare at me.
I continued to sip my coffee. “Did you enjoy the show?”
“Big place. Lots of noise. Disreputable.”
Two years ago, a rocker had died of an OD. That had cast a pall over the event and, even though I hadn’t been there, I’d heard. “I’m not disreputable. Grindstone isn’t disreputable.”
“My friend Renee is best friends with Hugo Threadgold.”
I wracked my brains. “Axel’s former teacher? The one who’s back in his life? The guy from that kiss video?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Ah, so you do pay attention. Good to know. Yes, Axel and Hugo are…circling each other.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You need to find a nice boy and settle down. Renee said Ed and Thornton are married. It looks like Axel might get together with Hugo. Meg and Big Mac are together. Even Songbird might be with someone. But that’s hush-hush.”
My eyes widened. “How do you know all this?” I snapped my fingers. “Right, friend of a friend. I won’t ask how you know each other.”
“She’s a teacher. I represented one of her students in a court case. She gave testimony. Darn good stuff. Got the kid acquitted—which was good, because the girl hadn’t done what she was accused of.” She took another sip of her tea.
I tried to digest her news. I was single—as were Creed, Reese, and Freddie. We took our music seriously, and that meantno permanent attachments. Didn’t mean all of us didn’t have hookup apps on our phone. Well, except Reese. I could never be certain where she found partners for herliaisons—her word, not mine. She didn’t brag about her conquests, but she often smiled and said she wassatisfied.I took that to mean well-sated. “What are you saying?”
“You all need to find permanent partners. People who will support you in your music endeavor, but who will also keep your egos in check.”
My knee-jerk reaction was to argue. I didn’t need a partner. I didn’t need a keeper. I certainly didn’t need a husband. “I think you do a great job at keeping our egos in check.” I rose, pressed a kiss to her cheek, dumped the dregs of my coffee down the drain, put the mug in the dishwasher, and waved my farewell.
“You be a good boy.” She wagged her finger at me.
I pressed my hand to my chest, imitating being wounded. “I’m always a good boy.”
“Ha.” She barked out her laugh just as Papa Murthi shuffled into the kitchen. The married couple were almost the same age. Butt while Mama was spry, intense, and wicked smart, Papa had lost a step or two in the couple of years I’d known him. He shuffled more, spoke less, and he wasn’t always coherent.
