Disclaimer: I do not own anything (except for Dustin). All trademarks are copyright of their respective owners.
Chapter 4: Forming The Band
It was a cool October afternoon. Dustin had been raking leaves in his front yard. He put the rake down, ran, and jumped into the pile of leaves.
"What a beautiful day!" he exclaimed.
Dustin was wearing a crimson sweatshirt and blue jeans. In the house, his mother was baking triple chocolate brownies with white chocolate chips inside. His father was playing poker with a next-door neighbor, Mr. Billings.
"Dad gummit!" Mr. Billings said. "I don't know why I have to fold every single time."
"Woo-hoo! Gimme all your chips!" Mr. LaRocque cheered. The flop, turn card, and river card had already been placed on the green poker table.
"That's the second time you've won a poker game," his wife stated.
The chilly October wind continued to blow, and Dustin pirouetted with outstretched arms. He couldn't believe how cold the weather in Iron City was compared to Belleview. Suddenly, a voice shouted:
"Dustin!"
Then a whistle. Dustin turned around. It turned out to be Cleo, along with her other friends: Clifford, T-Bone, Mac, Tanner (Cleo's brother), and T-Bone's girlfriend, Misty Naskiewicz. She was a brown spaniel who was very flamboyant about her clothes and her style. T-Bone usually called her Mimi. A decent nickname.
"Hey, compadres!" Dustin said as he high fived his friends.
Mimi introduced herself to Dustin. "I'm Misty, but you can call me Mimi." They shook hands. "My name's Dustin LaRocque," Dustin replied. Mimi took out a picture of herself out of her jeans pocket and showed it to everyone. In the picture, Mimi was wagging her tail and wearing a black sweatshirt and blue skinny jeans. She lay on her back on the front porch in the winter. The soles of her bare feet were almost in the camera. All the animal people had human-shaped feet.
"Why are you barefoot on the front porch in this picture when it's snowing?" Mac asked. He looked perplexed.
"I just thought it would be a cute picture, that's all," Mimi said. She put the picture back in her pocket. A few minutes later, the front door opened and Mrs. LaRocque stood on the threshold. "Guys! Time for brownies!" Everyone ran into the house and each took two brownies.
"These are KILLER!" Tanner said with a huge grin on his face.
"I love the chocolate icing you put on there, Mrs. LaRocque," Cleo said.
"Why, thank you," Mrs. LaRocque replied. "And you must be Cleo... I don't think I know your last name..."
"Farley," Cleo finished. "I'll have to ask my dad if I was a distant relative of Chris Farley, even though he died. He was hilarious, especially in Tommy Boy."
Later, Dustin had a wonderful idea. Trust me, it was. He would buy Cleo a bass guitar.
He took his wallet, got into his Nissan, and drove to the Planet Music. Inside were lots of musical instruments: guitars, drum sets, cymbals, basses, pianos, keyboards, organs, trumpets, French horns, clarinets, saxophones, tubas, trombones, oboes, English horns, bassoons, flutes, piccolos, euphoniums, sousaphones, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, percussion, banjos, mandolins, effects, pedals, you name it.
Dustin looked for effects first. He found a good flanger, an awesome talk box, and a few other effects. Then he looked in the bass section. There were basses by Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, Rickenbacker...
Dustin suddenly found a gleaming black and white Fender five-string bass guitar with flames painted on it. Dustin took it off the hanger and hooked it up on one of the amps.
"I wonder what this bass will sound like--- either as boring and quiet as The Grateful Dead, or as punchy and breathtaking as Rush," Dustin told himself. Then he rested the fingers of his right hand on the strings. He plucked a string which gave him goosebumps. He plucked some more, and he was laughing with joy. He started playing the bass solo in "Freewill." It sounded exactly like Geddy Lee's bass. Then he tried slap bass and it was excellent. He took the bass and the effects up to the register. The cashier looked muscular and had his hair tied back in a ponytail.
"That'll be $409.59," he said. Dustin took out his American Express Gold Card, swiped it in the slot, and entered his PIN. The receipt had been printed. The cashier gave it to Dustin, then the change. He was given $10.42 back. He couldn't wait to form his own rock band.
After Dustin wrapped the bass in a parcel, he drove over to Cleo's. He knocked on the front door. It turned out to be Tanner.
"Hi, Tanner," Dustin said. "Is Cleo here? I got a present for her. She'll be thrilled."
"She's upstairs in her room," Tanner pointed toward the house's tower. "It's in the tower."
Concentration. Yep. Dustin had that feeling. Excitement. Like when you're coming up to the stage to perform. Dustin went up the spiral staircase and walked down the hallway and found a door: Cleo's Room: Enter At Your Own Risk.
Dustin knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Cleo called. Dustin walked into the bedroom and found Cleo playing Global Rally Championship on her PS3. "Hi, Dustin." She turned around and gasped at the package Dustin was holding. "Is that for ME?!" she asked excitingly. Her tail was wagging like crazy. She read the sticker on the parcel. "To Cleo from Dustin. I can't wait to see what this is!" She took a penknife from the toolbox and slid it through the slot to open the box. She rummaged through the styrofoam peanuts to find something covered in paper and Saranwrap. She tore the Saranwrap and the paper open and became motionless. She had found out what her gift was: the bass guitar she had wanted since she was eight years old. She screamed really loud, then she hugged Dustin. "Ohhhh... hold me closely..." she told him lovingly. Cleo then took a deep breath. Ah, romance. It never gets old. Cleo jumped around and went on squealing with delight as she hugged her new bass guitar.
For the next few days, Cleo had been practicing her bass. She even slapped the strings with her thumb to create the legendary sound of the slap bass. There were also a wah effect and a talk box, which she knew how to use. To use a talk box, you put this tube that's connected to the device into your mouth, put it on a bass or guitar, hook it up on an amp, and shape your mouth as you're strumming or plucking. The following Friday, Cleo got a call from Dustin.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Guess what?"
"What is it, Dustin?"
"Would you like to be in my rock band?"
"HECK YEAH!!!"
"Awesome."
The next day at 10:00 a.m., Dustin, Clifford, Cleo, Mac, T-Bone, Mimi, and Tanner all felt a chill down their spines as they stood against a brick wall shoulder to shoulder. "Okay, gang, listen up," Dustin told his friends. "At this moment, you will be the members of my rock band. I, Dustin LaRocque, will be on lead guitar." He started picking the members.
"On the other guitars: Clifford Howard, Tanner Farley, and Mimi Naskiewicz."
Clifford, Tanner, and Mimi cheered.
"On drums and percussion: T-Bone Reynolds."
"That's what I'm talkin' about!" T-Bone said happily.
"On bass and lead vocals: Cleo Farley."
"YAY! Hee hee hee!" Cleo laughed. "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! I knew my dream would come true!"
"By the way, you have a pretty voice for any song we play."
"Thank you!"
"And last but not least..."
Silence.
"On keyboards: Mac Migliori."
"Glad you got me in the band, dude!" Mac rejoiced. He simultaneously gave Dustin a handshake and a brief hug with two taps on the back.
This was not only going to be the best band in the neighborhood and the school, but also the best band in Iron City.
The next chapter contains my most romantic and dramatic part of the story.
