Chapter 1
"BLOODY 'ELL!" The bassist's deafening cry pierced the ears of his fellow bandmembers. Russel flinched, smacking his head over his ears. "Man, chill. It's a damn string," he growled. Murdoc moaned unintelligibly, making dramatic gestures at the broken E-string on his bass. "If ye 'ave a spare, we can keep o' practicin',"2D said meekly. Murdoc turned slowly to the blue-haired singer, a violent glint in his eye. 2D squeaked and cowered behind Noodle, who stood observing the scene with a mildly annoyed expression.
"I don't 'AVE a spare, ya dullard," Murdoc said. He set his bass down and grabbed his jacket, grumbling loudly. "Go to Scherzando," Noodle said. "Fuck that, whot the fuck is that?" Murdoc snapped, putting on his jacket with an air of agitation. Noodle muttered something in Japanese before answering. "It's a new music store, it opened up behind Fatboy's Diner. Prices are good. Go."
Murdoc glowered at her. Noodle returned a toothy smile. After a few seconds, his eyes softened a bit. As nasty as the old pickle was, he did harbor a soft spot for the guitarist. "Yeh, yeh. I'm goin'," he said. "Murdoc Niccals will be back!" He roared before stomping out of the practice room. The bandmembers waited for the sound of the front door slamming before breathing out a collective sigh of relief.
"Scher….Skeer…fuck, I forgo' the damn name…Scherzzy…FUCK." Murdoc stalked towards Fatboy's Diner, a rundown place with a flickering 'OPEN' sign hung on the door. He vaguely remembered something Noodle said about the diner, but he was too hungover and muddled to recollect the details. He walked around it and before him, right across the street, stood a small building painted the color of sky blue. Above the door in bold cursive were the words Scherzando Music Center. Eighth notes, clefs, and other musical symbols embellished the walls.
Murdoc crossed the street languidly, not acknowledging the oncoming cars that screeched to a halt and honked in outrage. He pushed the glass door open, triggering a welcome bell to ring. A screechy violin could be heard somewhere in the back; it sounded like a wretched rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle. Natural light shining through the windows gave the store a bright and vivacious feel. Neatly aligned shelves stood all over the store, bearing sheet music, CDs, tuners, metronomes, guitar picks, seemingly anything and everything related to music. Everything except bass strings, Murdoc thought grumpily.
"'Ello!" he called out, hoping to get an employee's attention. The violin stopped. From behind a tall shelf in the back of the store poked out a woman's head. "I'll be right with you!" she called back, flashing a quick smile before disappearing behind the shelf again. Mildly curious, Murdoc took a few steps closer. "It looks a little big….do you have any smaller violins for him?" Another woman's voice said. "Oh no, this violin is quite fine; his fingers reach the Scroll Box, see? Jonah, does the violin feel alright?" The other asked. "It feels awlright," a small boy's voice replied. Murdoc tuned the conversation out, idly going through the sheet music in a nearby box.
After a few minutes, he looked up and saw that the three had emerged from behind the shelf and were at the register on the other side of the room. The boy held a violin case at his side proudly, skipping around his mother who was busy pulling a card out of her wallet. "Jonah, keep still, or else you'll break the thing," his mother said, half annoyed, half amused. They paid and left, the mother pulling her son tightly to her side when they walked past a haggard-looking Murdoc. He ignored them and turned to the woman behind the counter, a handsome woman in her early 40s, with sand-colored hair tied up in a bun and sharp, blue eyes behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses. "Hello! What can I do for you?" she asked with a polite smile. "Ye got bass strings 'ere, love? E-string," Murdoc inquired with a flirtatious glint in his eye; she wasn't a young bird, but he found her attractive.
"We do, we do. Any particular type or, ah, brand, sir?"
"Surprise me."
"Do you like expensive or cheap surprises?"
"….cheap."
The woman's eyes flickered in amusement. "Come right this way," she said, motioning him to follow her.