Chapter 17: Cooling Off
Inside, she found that Jazz was already there, talking to a couple of teenagers about music up on stage. She waved to Nancy enthusiastically when she walked in.
"Hi, Nan - you're early," she said looking at the clock, "Excited about giving the stage a try?"
Nancy smiled thinly, "I suppose so. Since we're both here, we might as well get started - if you're ready," she amended.
Jasmine smiled, "Why not. I don't think anything else is scheduled for tonight, and the place is already pretty quiet, so we won't have much of an audience."
They set up, and Char and BA came out of the office when they heard them playing their tuning chords. Char helped them get the sound system balanced, and even set the stage lights. They were ready to start playing about 7:30.
"What do you want to start with?" Jazz asked.
Nancy looked at their play list, which had grown by several songs, as they had both reviewed and added to it over the last couple of days, "How about When I Fall, by Barenaked Ladies?" she suggested, "I'd like to give that one a try now that I've learned the guitar part."
Once again, after a few false starts, they found a good rhythm, and Nancy sang:
I look straight in the window, try not to look below
Pretend I'm not up here, try counting sheep
But the sheep seem to shower off this office tower
Nine-point-eight straight down I can't stop my knees.
I wish I could fly
From this building, from this wall
And if I should try,
would you catch me if I fall?
My hands clench the squeegee, my secular rosary
Hang on to your wallet, hang on to your rings
Can't look below me, or something might throw me
Curse at the windstorms that October brings.
I look in the boardroom; a modern pharaoh's tomb
I'd gladly swap places, if they care to dive
They're lined up at the window, peer down into limbo
They're frightened of jumping, in case they survive.
I wish I could step from this scaffold
onto soft green pastures, shopping malls, or bed
With my family and my pastor and my grandfather who's Dead
Look straight in the mirror, watch it come clearer
I look like a painter, behind all the grease
But painting's creating, and I'm just erasing
A crystal-clear canvas is my masterpiece
I wish I could fly
From this building, from this wall
And if I should try,
would you catch me if I fall?
If I fall?
When I fall.
Char and BA were standing at the back of the room, clapping, "That was great," Char said, "the acoustics of the stage really do make a big difference in your sound. I think it will work out well."
"Did you get chance to work on any of the other new songs?" Jazz asked hopefully.
Nancy smiled, she was beginning to feel calmer, "Yes - how about trying Mad Season, by Matchbox20?"
"Great!" Jazz said enthusiastically.
Nancy and Jazz worked through several more songs, before Murdock and Carl came wandering in around 8:00. Nancy's expression when she saw Murdock cued Jazz that something wasn't quite right, and she turned off the synthesizer, "I could use a quick break to get a drink of water - is that OK with you?" Nancy nodded and set the guitar down on the ground before heading down to talk to her husband.
Murdock had his hands dug deep in his pockets, and looked at her abashedly when she approached, "I know you're angry, Short Cake," he began in a conciliatory tone.
But Nancy interrupted him, her voice low, "I cannot believe you would do something like that to me without any warning whatsoever," she said angrily, "you threw me to the proverbial dogs, HM!"
"I know," he said miserably, "I didn't mean it to happen that way, I don't know what I was thinking . . . OK maybe I wasn't thinking . . . but once you got started on your Uncle, I didn't know what to do. And then before I knew it you were through the door and out the drive way . . .," he stumbled to a stop.
Nancy crossed her arms, "Don't ever," she looked at him intently, "ever do anything like that to me again." She turned and walked to the water cooler without a backward glance.
Murdock watched her retreating back, then turned to his father-in-law, echoing his words of earlier, "I think that went well, don't you?"
Jazz and Nancy played on stage for the next hour and a half, before calling it a night. By the time they were finished, they did have quite an audience, though it was one that Nancy was comfortable with. BA and Char were there, as were Hannibal and Maggie, Trixie and Joe and the kids, and even Face, Amy, and Jonny had shown up to listen.
By the end of the evening, Nancy was much more relaxed, and had even relented somewhat with her husband, if not totally forgiven him. Carl, of course, had told everyone about their meal with the General, and reactions had ranged from amused disbelief to outrage. Maggie was quite stern with Murdock, chastising him soundly for what he'd done to his wife. Hannibal just shook his head, he hadn't expected Stockwell to be quite so hard on his niece, but he had figured the General wouldn't seriously consider Nancy as a successor - it just didn't fit in his framework for life.
They sat around for another hour chatting idly. Char and Jazz spent some time trying to convince Nancy that they should practice on stage again the next evening. Nancy's biggest hang-up was that on Friday night the center was a popular hang out for many of the teenagers in the community, which meant they would definitely have an audience, "I don't know, guys," Nancy sounded very uncertain, "We've only been singing together for a few days. I think we need more practice . . ."
Char was shaking her head, "Nonsense, Nan, you two sound terrific. I'm more certain now, than ever, that you're gonna bring down the house when you play at Charlie's. The kids will be a very forgiving audience, and we'll tell 'em up front that you're just practicing. I don't see what the problem is."
"I agree and besides, it'll be good for you to see what it's like to play for a crowd," Jazz was insistent, "The kids will be a really appreciative audience! I think it would help boost both our confidence. Then we can get some feed back and decide when to tell Charlie to schedule the first program."
The discussion had been going on for almost 20 minutes now, and Char and Jazz were finally wearing down Nancy's resistance, "Fine," she relented, "We'll play tomorrow night. What time?"
Jazz's grin was wide, "How about 8, like tonight? We'll finish up by 10, and maybe talk with some of the kids afterwards, see what they think. It'll help us set our play list for Charlie's."
Terra had been sitting by quietly watching the exchange, but now she couldn't contain herself, "That's a great idea, Mom," she said enthusiastically, "we'll be able to give you some feedback on what works and what doesn't. Maybe you could even pass out a play list ahead of time, so we could check off the ones we like."
Nancy shook her head, "I'm not so sure about that," she said uncertainly, "Sounds way too much like being graded . . ."
Char laughed, but did agree, "Maybe that's taking it a bit too far. But we could let everyone have a pen and paper and ask them to write down the songs that they think are particularly good. That will help with the play list, like Jazz is hoping."
Nancy sighed, the deeper she got into this the less sure she felt about the whole thing. This was getting way too real. Terra sat down on the arm of her chair and put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly, "Come on, Nan, it'll be great. There were a whole bunch of us sitting out here the other afternoon listening to you two play in the practice room and they all said you sounded good then. Just think how much better it'll be when you're actually up on stage. It'll be terrific!" she emphasized the last reiteration with a squeeze of Nancy's shoulders.
Nancy smiled at Terra thinly, "Yea, it'll be great . . ."
It was after 10 pm when the group finally broke up and headed home. Hannibal and Maggie made sure everyone left alright, including BA and Char, who had to lock up, before getting in their car and heading home themselves.
As they drove out of the parking lot, Maggie looked at her husband studiously, "You didn't seem very surprised about what HM suggested to the General," she said, "How did you know that would come up?"
Hannibal took a deep drag on his cigar, and blew out a stream of smoke before replying, "It wasn't the first time Murdock had suggested it," he admitted, filling her in on their previous conversation with the General, "I think it's unfortunate that the General won't even consider Nancy. She would do a good job running Stockwell Enterprises. Better even than the General, if you want my honest opinion. She has his business suave, but she's much better with people than he is. She's got what it takes to make Stockwell Enterprises a force to be reckoned with."
Maggie nodded, "That may be," she agreed, "but does she want it?"
Hannibal shrugged, "We'll never know if the General doesn't ask. Even if she wants it, she doesn't want it bad enough to go begging to her Uncle for it."