Track 2
How to arrange a Rock Band in 2 days
Day 1
Hank and Jake were sitting in Hanks car, driving right to the Colorado Springs High School.
"What do we do at High School?" Jake asked, not sure if Hank has lost his marbles.
"Where going there, cause of a very special girl."
"I don't know why I have to be around when you recruit new girls for your club. Besides is a High School girl not a little to young for a strip-club?" Jake said while shaking his head, thinking This man is outta his mind.
Finally the two arrived at the school, when it was about 15:00. There were teenagers on their way home or to the city, all over the place, when Hank drove his car to the parking site in front of the school building. "Let's go" he said while he was leaving the car. Jake got out of the car as well and took a look around. "I'm feeling pretty old here."
"No time for feeling old. We have to get her." Hank told his friend, heading to the entrance of the schoolyard.
There he watched out for a girl just about 18 years. When she passed by the two men, Hank reached out for her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, saying "Hey, little girl. I have to talk to you. Now."
"Fine for you. But I don't want to talk to you OLD man." She stressed every letter of the world "old" especially long, stopped walking and folded her arms in front of her breast.
While she stood there like this, Jake had the time to look over her. This girl was about 5'7'' and very slim, almost boyish. She wore black leather-boots, a torn up red checked skirt, a black T-Shirt with a bunny-skull on it and some colourful plastic-bracelets. Her shoulder-length hair was died blue and blonde and part of her bangs covering her blue eyes.
"This is Cordelia" Hank introduced her to Jake. "Her elder sister Brooke works for me."
Jake tried to remember Brooke, but the only thing that was equal to her little sister, were her blue eyes. Compared to her sister Cordelia, Brooke was a Barbie doll.
"What do you want from me, old pervert." Cordelia asked "And besides. Do not call me Cordelia. Everyone calls me Delia and so will you. Okay?"
"Delia, my dear" Hank started again in his softest voice. "I know we had our differences in the past, but now I really need your help. So would you mind coming with us, so we can discuss the matter" he said and looked softly in her eyes.
"I still don't trust you, but I'll join you two." Delia agreed "But only if you do me a favour."
"Whatever you want. Beside, this guy here is Jake Slicker." Hank explained.
"Jake Slicker. The owner of this hair-undresser-shop Jake Slicker?" Delia asked amazed.
"Yeah," Jake replied "But this is hair-dresser, not hair-undresser."
"In your case it is hair-undresser. You messed up my friends Julies hair, Mr. Hair-undresser, Sir."
"This is not a favour, this is plain wrong!" Jake claimed angrily. "You're right", Hank agreed "pink frills aren't really yours." "He is right. How about this one?" Delia held up a pair of red-leopard-print velvet-trousers and grinned mischievous.
"I'm out of this! You can do what you want Hank, but you do it alone!"
When Hank had agreed to do Delia a favour in change, for her helping him with a band, he didn't even thought of what this favour would be.
Now he and Jake were standing in the dressing room of some Punk-clothes shop, wearing skirts. And although Hank was the lucky one. He only had to put on a red-checked men's kilt. But poor Jake had to try on a knee-length pink skirt with lots of frills.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Hank asked.
"You want me to get Anna for you. Plus you promised that'll you do anything for that. But I think we'll leave now. I'm getting bored."
Half an hour later Jake and Hank had their jeans on again.
Delia and the two men were sitting at a table in Grace's café, planning Hanks band.
"I'll phone Anna today and tell her that we will meet tomorrow about 17:00 here at the café. When we get her as singer, we technically have won the battle." Delia resumed.
"I'll do the drums, my buddy Deacon plays bass and you two are our guitareros."
"Can anyone tell me who this Anna is?" Jake wanted to know. "I haven't heard about her at all."
"I remember Anna from a few years ago. She was singing in a small Punk Rock band when she was about twenty-two. She was amazing." Hank remembered. "But I wonder why did she quit?"
"There was this fight with Oliver, the band-leader, about the band's future steps." Delia explained. "Oliver wanted to sign a contract with a mayor label, which meant that the band had to go more mainstream. But Anna and two other members didn't want to arrange with that. So the they disbanded."
"How long is this ago?" Jake wanted to know.
Delia sighed "It's four years now, since they disbanded. Anna is 26 now and working in some book shop. She's wasting her talent, if you ask me!"
Day 2
While Jake was working in his barber shop and Delia was in school, Hank prepared an adjoining room in his club for an rehearsal room. This evening they would meet Anna and hopefully she would agree and sing for them. Otherwise Hank saw no chance for his band.
Just a few minutes before 17:00 Preston left the bank. The two clerks who where still there, could work the last minutes before closing without him.
He stepped outside the modern building with its big window front, made by an exclusive Austrian company, as his cell phone rang. Preston took it out of his pocket and saw that he got a message from his elder brother Sebastian.
He stopped in front of the bank to read the message.
About twenty meters ahead of him, a young woman was apparently in a hurry. She was almost running as she stumbled across her own feet.
And then she bumped into Preston.
Preston struggled a bit not to fall and dropped his cell phone, while the young woman fell down and landed on her knees in front of him.
"Can't you watch out where you are going!" he shouted upset.
"As if you had paid any attention!" she returned.
Preston kept on talking. "Do you want to say, that this was my fault, you…."
He stopped in the middle of his sentence, when he looked down to the floor.
Preston didn't knew the girl, kneeling in front of him, but she was the most beautiful female he ever saw.
She was in her mid-twenties , pretty small, about 5'4'' with a slim, yet feminine body. Long dark-blonde hair and bright green eyes. She wore a short jeans-skirt, a pink T-shirt with a black comic-print and pink Converse-shoes. She had a studded bracelet around her wrist and carried a small blue and green checked handbag with her.
"…are you okay?" Preston added after a beat, offering his hand.
She reached out and took his hand. "I'm fine. Thank you." She said, as she rose and looked deeply into Prestons eyes for a moment. "But I assume there's something wrong with your cell phone."
The woman bend down and picked up his phone from the ground. She handed it to Preston with a unsure smile. "I'm sorry."
The phone was broken with a big scratch right upon the whole display. A part of the cover came up, showing the inside of the machine.
"I'm afraid I'll have to leave now, there are people awaiting me." She smiled. "Bye bye."
"Wait…." Preston started, a little too late. He could only see her leaving. She crossed the street and finally turned left into a side-road.
Five minutes later the young woman entered Graces café.
"Hey Anna. Here we are." Delia waved.
Anna helped herself to a seat "Hi. Sorry for being late, there was some sort of incident. Whatever. You must be Hank and Jake, right?"
"Yep. My name is Hank Lawson and this is Jake Slicker. Where here 'cause of.."
"You want me to sing in your band. Delia told me yesterday on the phone. She also told me about the line-up."
"Fine." Jake nodded. "So what do you say."
"I would say it sounds interesting. But a band without own songs can't attend the Battle of the Bands."
"Haven't thought about, yet. But you're unfortunately right." Hank nodded.
"The problem is today is the last day to register for the contest. When we really want to do this, we need more than just a bunch of people to play together." Jake sighed. "We need a name for the band and some songs, in less than one hour. Saku registers the last ones today at 18:00."
"Than we just need a smashing name." Anna declared happily. "I wrote some lyrics in the past years and I'm sure we find the matching music when we start rehearsing."
"Deal." Hank grinned. "Looking forward to work with you."
On the same evening Sully was sitting on the kitchen table, writing.
"What are doing there, Sully?" Michaela wanted to know.
"Nothing."
Michaela smiled "That doesn't looks like nothing."
"I'm writing a song for the contest."
"May I read it?"
"No." Sully smiled. "This song's supposed to be a surprise for you."
"You're coming right to time limit." Saku Into laughed. "It's nearly six o'clock. Guess you're the last ones to join the contest."
Saku Into, was a 32 year old, very cheerful man. He was born in Finland and came nine years ago to America. He opened the "LA Feeding Fire" a Rock 'n' Roll club in Colorado Springs, with live music nearly every night. Saku also founded the "Battle Royale of the Bands" which took place every year. It was a great chance for Bands in Colorado to show what they got. Every year the first prize of this contest was a quite amazing thing.
And so it was this year too. The winners would gain the chance to perform on the states biggest Rock Festival in this years summer. Therefore it was Prestons goal to win the contest, but Hank and Jake didn't had any idea of the first prize.
"So what's your bands name?" Saku wanted to know as he filled in the registration form.
"The Home Wreckers" Hank smirked.
"I'm sorry you couldn't reach me, Sir."
"No sir."
"My cell phone broke today. I had to get a new one, Sir."
"I will keep it in mind."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good night, Sir."
Preston putted down his new cell phone and sighed.
His father just told him how pathetic he was. Preston A. Lodge II had tried do reach his son several times, after Preston broke his cell phone and now his father was upset.
"I feel so tired. I better go to bed now." Preston said to himself and went to the bathroom.
As he finally entered his bed room he stopped in front of the big window in front of his bed.
From his penthouse-flat Preston had a wonderful view over a big part of Colorado Springs.
Until now he never cared much about the city and it's inhabitants. But now Preston found himself wondering under which of all these house tops the blonde woman from today's afternoon might sleep.
"Don't be a fool. You might never see her again." He told himself, shaking his head, while he went to his bed. "And she left with just a dumb excuse for the broken phone. Excuses can't buy you new mobile phones."
