Saturday, November 27, 2004
7.
7.
Kim was sitting at the kitchen table. She’d come out here to get some peace and quiet, as the band was still jamming away in the living room. She didn’t mind not having Doug around her during these things, because she knew that he was enjoying himself and she didn’t want to be a wet blanket. Besides, she was engrossed in an Inspector Morse novel that she’d liberated from Gary’s study, and this was the best place for her to read.
She was surprised when Bill came through the kitchen door, cursing and stamping his feet. She’d assumed he was playing with the band. This was an interesting development. It got even more interesting a couple of minutes later when Kat came in the back door. She’d been crying.
“Hey, Kat, everything okay?”
“No, everything is most definitely not okay.” Kat related the tale of what had gone on in over the course of the evening as best she could, breaking up when she got to the part about Charlie walking in on them.
“What did you expect to happen? You’ve been playing with fire since the start of the school year.” Kim disapproved of what Kat was doing behind Charlie’s back. She liked Charlie a lot. If it weren’t for Doug, she’d probably have taken a shot at Charlie herself. But that was neither here nor there, she thought as Kat dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
“Well, I thought maybe he’d fight for my honor or something.”
“Jesus Christ, Kat, you were screwing one of his best friends. It wasn’t like Bill was attacking you. Besides, Bill didn’t look to happy when he came through the door, and I’d say it’s only gonna get worse for him.” Doug was in a bad enough mood when it came to Bill as it was, and this would probably send him over the line. He and Charlie were tight, almost as tight as Gary was with Charlie. And now that the season was over, well...
“...but he didn’t have to treat me so terribly.”
“Well, maybe you deserved it.”
“Oh, thanks a lot. You’re my sister, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
Kim shook her head. “Not when you’re acting like some bubble-headed fashion model from the tabloids.” She loved Kat, of course, but what could you say in a situation like this? It wasn’t like she was going to pat her on the back and say “good job”. She got up and went over to the sink. She ran some warm water into a kitchen towel, and then came back over to Kat. Kat took the towel and rubbed the mascara off her face with it.
“Well, I’ve made a good mess of things, haven’t I?”
“If it were anyone but Bill, I would have said no. But this isn’t going to go away easily. Why don’t you go and have another drink? Normally, I wouldn’t suggest it, but I think you need one.”
Kat got up. “Maybe you’re right. You’re always right.” She left the room. Kim was about to dive back into her book when Audra came into the kitchen.
“Hey, chickie, what’s up? I just passed your twin in the hall. She looked upset.” Kim told Audra what had happened. Audra just smiled and said thanks, then headed back out of the kitchen. Kim shrugged and went back to her book. Must be the weather, she thought to herself. People around here are acting seriously weird.
Bill walked back into the great room just as the band was finishing their jam set. He saw Kevin playing his bass, and even before Doug saw him, he knew the writing was on the wall. He walked up to the stage.
“The great man decides to join us again,” Doug said sarcastically.
“Hey. I’m sorry. I just sort of got sidetracked.”
“Yeah, sidetracked.” Doug stepped on one of his pedals, then turned and set his guitar down. Kevin sheepishly removed his strap from Bill’s bass. “Look, we need to talk anyway.” Doug turned back to the band. “We’ll take a forty-five minute break, and then we’re going to come back and play the new stuff. Jack, thanks. That was an awesome jam.”
Jack smiled as he rejoined Keiko. “Thanks, man. I’m just happy you wanted me to play.” She whispered something in his ear, and then they headed off towards the second floor.
“Walk with me, Bill.” Doug hopped down off the stage. They headed across the hall to where the bar was set up. “Look, I know you don’t like the direction I want to go in.”
“It’s not that.”
“Yes it is. I’m no longer interested in playing covers for drunks who couldn’t care less what’s being played as long as there’s beer to be had.” He picked through a tub filled with ice and pulled out a bottle of Poland Springs water.
“Well, that’s fine. I just don’t think that sappy songs about how much you love your girlfriend are going to go over too well.”
Doug sipped the bottle of water. He’d worked up quite a sweat while jamming, and the water felt good. “Well, if that’s the way you feel...”
“That’s the way I feel.”
“Then I guess I’ve got no other recourse then to say this. You’re fired, Bill.” He drained the rest of the bottle. “Look, we’re friends, right? We’ve known each other a long time.”
“Doug...”
“Hear me out. You’re a talented bassist. Your fingers are good, your playing is sound, not too technical, not too loose. You do a hell of a job laying out a good bottom end. But you’re getting sloppy. You’re a pothead, Bill. Whether you know it or not. And it’s beginning to affect you. And if it affects you, then it affects me. I can’t have that.” He pulled out another bottle. “I’m sorry it’s got to be this way. But if you don’t want to play the new material, and more to the point, if you don’t believe in the new material, then I don’t need you around anymore.”
“I’m not just going to walk away, Doug. This is my band too, you know.”
“I don’t think so. What have you brought to the table the last few months? Slipping performance and a tendency to only be showy when it suits you. I need a bassist I can count on to be rock solid, and play what I ask. You’re not that guy anymore, Bill.”
“But...” Bill was getting more agitated.
“Look, I want to keep you in the band, I do. But the combination of your sloppy play, your distaste for the new material, and now your apparent decision that getting laid is more important then playing music, well, that doesn’t give me much of a choice. Kevin can do a good job of stepping in while I look for a permanent replacement. You and me, we’re done.” With that, Doug turned and started to walk away.
“Don’t you walk away from me, you little cocksucker. You can’t just dismiss me like that.” He grabbed Doug’s shirt and spun him around.
“You gonna hit me, man? Big man, aren’t you. You’re a foot taller them me easy, and you’re gonna hit me in front of all these people.” Doug laughed in Bill’s face as he realized that a crowd had gathered at the edge of the living room. He dropped the fist that he’d cocked and stormed off. Gary walked over to him.
“Well, that’s one way to defuse a situation.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s over yet,” Doug said as they heard yelling from across the hall. They pushed their way over through the crowd to see Bill standing over Kevin, who was dazed and bleeding from the mouth. They ran up as Bill turned around. Gary went low and tried to chop Bill down, while Doug aimed for Bill’s midsection. Kim, who’d heard the commotion, screamed, then fainted as Bill tossed Doug off of the small stage. He bounced to the floor, and went to stand up. As he did, though he noticed a flash go by him and the next thing he knew, Bill was out cold on the floor, Jack standing over him with a broken pool cue.
“I think I hit him harder then I should have.” Jack dropped the pool cue. He’d only intended to dissuade Bill from any further attack on Kevin, but he’d swung from the heels.
“That’s okay, Jack. I think it wass the best thing you could have done.” Gary stood up and went over to Doug. “Okay, Doug?”
“Nothing a stiff shot wouldn’t cure.” He noticed Audra and Kim sitting on the floor in the hallway. Audra was fanning Kim. “Kim? Honey?” He went over to them and knelt down, caressing her face.
“She’s okay, Doug. She fainted when Bill tossed you aside.” Audra smiled at him. “That was something. You and Gary been working on that dog and pony act a while?”
Doug snorted. “Football. Best way to stop Bill is to...”
“Chop the bitch down!” Gary finished for him. He had helped Kevin to his feet. Kevin walked over and kicked the unconscious Bill in the ribs. “Hey, let’s get you some ice, Kevin.”
Audra watched Gary and Kevin head off, then turned back to Doug. “All this and we haven’t even heard the songs that Bill was so pissed off about. What are they? Are they some kind of evil New Kids On The Block type stuff or something?”
Kim opened her eyes. “What happened? Where’s Doug?”
“Right here, baby, right here.” He hugged her tight to him, then smiled. “They’re not really New Kids songs, Audra. They’re just not, well, rocking enough for Bill. But they’re probably going to get me a record deal.”
“When do I get to hear them?”
“Well, we’ll have to see how Kevin’s feeling. Then we’ll have to drag Bill off to somewhere where he’s not going to bother anyone until he cools off.” He pulled Kat up to her feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m better now.”
“Where the hell is Charlie anyway? He should have been here for this.”
Kim was sitting at the kitchen table. She’d come out here to get some peace and quiet, as the band was still jamming away in the living room. She didn’t mind not having Doug around her during these things, because she knew that he was enjoying himself and she didn’t want to be a wet blanket. Besides, she was engrossed in an Inspector Morse novel that she’d liberated from Gary’s study, and this was the best place for her to read.
She was surprised when Bill came through the kitchen door, cursing and stamping his feet. She’d assumed he was playing with the band. This was an interesting development. It got even more interesting a couple of minutes later when Kat came in the back door. She’d been crying.
“Hey, Kat, everything okay?”
“No, everything is most definitely not okay.” Kat related the tale of what had gone on in over the course of the evening as best she could, breaking up when she got to the part about Charlie walking in on them.
“What did you expect to happen? You’ve been playing with fire since the start of the school year.” Kim disapproved of what Kat was doing behind Charlie’s back. She liked Charlie a lot. If it weren’t for Doug, she’d probably have taken a shot at Charlie herself. But that was neither here nor there, she thought as Kat dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
“Well, I thought maybe he’d fight for my honor or something.”
“Jesus Christ, Kat, you were screwing one of his best friends. It wasn’t like Bill was attacking you. Besides, Bill didn’t look to happy when he came through the door, and I’d say it’s only gonna get worse for him.” Doug was in a bad enough mood when it came to Bill as it was, and this would probably send him over the line. He and Charlie were tight, almost as tight as Gary was with Charlie. And now that the season was over, well...
“...but he didn’t have to treat me so terribly.”
“Well, maybe you deserved it.”
“Oh, thanks a lot. You’re my sister, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
Kim shook her head. “Not when you’re acting like some bubble-headed fashion model from the tabloids.” She loved Kat, of course, but what could you say in a situation like this? It wasn’t like she was going to pat her on the back and say “good job”. She got up and went over to the sink. She ran some warm water into a kitchen towel, and then came back over to Kat. Kat took the towel and rubbed the mascara off her face with it.
“Well, I’ve made a good mess of things, haven’t I?”
“If it were anyone but Bill, I would have said no. But this isn’t going to go away easily. Why don’t you go and have another drink? Normally, I wouldn’t suggest it, but I think you need one.”
Kat got up. “Maybe you’re right. You’re always right.” She left the room. Kim was about to dive back into her book when Audra came into the kitchen.
“Hey, chickie, what’s up? I just passed your twin in the hall. She looked upset.” Kim told Audra what had happened. Audra just smiled and said thanks, then headed back out of the kitchen. Kim shrugged and went back to her book. Must be the weather, she thought to herself. People around here are acting seriously weird.
Bill walked back into the great room just as the band was finishing their jam set. He saw Kevin playing his bass, and even before Doug saw him, he knew the writing was on the wall. He walked up to the stage.
“The great man decides to join us again,” Doug said sarcastically.
“Hey. I’m sorry. I just sort of got sidetracked.”
“Yeah, sidetracked.” Doug stepped on one of his pedals, then turned and set his guitar down. Kevin sheepishly removed his strap from Bill’s bass. “Look, we need to talk anyway.” Doug turned back to the band. “We’ll take a forty-five minute break, and then we’re going to come back and play the new stuff. Jack, thanks. That was an awesome jam.”
Jack smiled as he rejoined Keiko. “Thanks, man. I’m just happy you wanted me to play.” She whispered something in his ear, and then they headed off towards the second floor.
“Walk with me, Bill.” Doug hopped down off the stage. They headed across the hall to where the bar was set up. “Look, I know you don’t like the direction I want to go in.”
“It’s not that.”
“Yes it is. I’m no longer interested in playing covers for drunks who couldn’t care less what’s being played as long as there’s beer to be had.” He picked through a tub filled with ice and pulled out a bottle of Poland Springs water.
“Well, that’s fine. I just don’t think that sappy songs about how much you love your girlfriend are going to go over too well.”
Doug sipped the bottle of water. He’d worked up quite a sweat while jamming, and the water felt good. “Well, if that’s the way you feel...”
“That’s the way I feel.”
“Then I guess I’ve got no other recourse then to say this. You’re fired, Bill.” He drained the rest of the bottle. “Look, we’re friends, right? We’ve known each other a long time.”
“Doug...”
“Hear me out. You’re a talented bassist. Your fingers are good, your playing is sound, not too technical, not too loose. You do a hell of a job laying out a good bottom end. But you’re getting sloppy. You’re a pothead, Bill. Whether you know it or not. And it’s beginning to affect you. And if it affects you, then it affects me. I can’t have that.” He pulled out another bottle. “I’m sorry it’s got to be this way. But if you don’t want to play the new material, and more to the point, if you don’t believe in the new material, then I don’t need you around anymore.”
“I’m not just going to walk away, Doug. This is my band too, you know.”
“I don’t think so. What have you brought to the table the last few months? Slipping performance and a tendency to only be showy when it suits you. I need a bassist I can count on to be rock solid, and play what I ask. You’re not that guy anymore, Bill.”
“But...” Bill was getting more agitated.
“Look, I want to keep you in the band, I do. But the combination of your sloppy play, your distaste for the new material, and now your apparent decision that getting laid is more important then playing music, well, that doesn’t give me much of a choice. Kevin can do a good job of stepping in while I look for a permanent replacement. You and me, we’re done.” With that, Doug turned and started to walk away.
“Don’t you walk away from me, you little cocksucker. You can’t just dismiss me like that.” He grabbed Doug’s shirt and spun him around.
“You gonna hit me, man? Big man, aren’t you. You’re a foot taller them me easy, and you’re gonna hit me in front of all these people.” Doug laughed in Bill’s face as he realized that a crowd had gathered at the edge of the living room. He dropped the fist that he’d cocked and stormed off. Gary walked over to him.
“Well, that’s one way to defuse a situation.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s over yet,” Doug said as they heard yelling from across the hall. They pushed their way over through the crowd to see Bill standing over Kevin, who was dazed and bleeding from the mouth. They ran up as Bill turned around. Gary went low and tried to chop Bill down, while Doug aimed for Bill’s midsection. Kim, who’d heard the commotion, screamed, then fainted as Bill tossed Doug off of the small stage. He bounced to the floor, and went to stand up. As he did, though he noticed a flash go by him and the next thing he knew, Bill was out cold on the floor, Jack standing over him with a broken pool cue.
“I think I hit him harder then I should have.” Jack dropped the pool cue. He’d only intended to dissuade Bill from any further attack on Kevin, but he’d swung from the heels.
“That’s okay, Jack. I think it wass the best thing you could have done.” Gary stood up and went over to Doug. “Okay, Doug?”
“Nothing a stiff shot wouldn’t cure.” He noticed Audra and Kim sitting on the floor in the hallway. Audra was fanning Kim. “Kim? Honey?” He went over to them and knelt down, caressing her face.
“She’s okay, Doug. She fainted when Bill tossed you aside.” Audra smiled at him. “That was something. You and Gary been working on that dog and pony act a while?”
Doug snorted. “Football. Best way to stop Bill is to...”
“Chop the bitch down!” Gary finished for him. He had helped Kevin to his feet. Kevin walked over and kicked the unconscious Bill in the ribs. “Hey, let’s get you some ice, Kevin.”
Audra watched Gary and Kevin head off, then turned back to Doug. “All this and we haven’t even heard the songs that Bill was so pissed off about. What are they? Are they some kind of evil New Kids On The Block type stuff or something?”
Kim opened her eyes. “What happened? Where’s Doug?”
“Right here, baby, right here.” He hugged her tight to him, then smiled. “They’re not really New Kids songs, Audra. They’re just not, well, rocking enough for Bill. But they’re probably going to get me a record deal.”
“When do I get to hear them?”
“Well, we’ll have to see how Kevin’s feeling. Then we’ll have to drag Bill off to somewhere where he’s not going to bother anyone until he cools off.” He pulled Kat up to her feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m better now.”
“Where the hell is Charlie anyway? He should have been here for this.”
