My Tourniquet

|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~| CHAPTER 6 |~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|~*~|

West Island, Orb, Fall CE 71:

It was the last week of school. The following week was the beginning of the New Year's holiday and winter break for students. But the cheer wasn't felt. In fact, the days were chilled and grey. With nothing better to do and genuinely interested in the instrument, Kira found himself returning to the dark rehearsal room to practice with the guitar Amy left behind. The music and sound CDs remained forgotten from their last meeting.

When Kira came back the first time since parting, he had hoped to see everyone there again. But no one had returned. It had been a disappointment worse than leaving the capital. It was disturbing, being easily beaten back.

The lunch bell ended and he left the room, switching the lights off. Along the way, he saw Paul leaving the main area and his old partners in a corner together. Kira thought he had been pestering people more than usual, seeing how many people avoided him the last week or so. Opposite he saw that Kara was with, yet again, another guy, flirting shamelessly like before. Her clothes were as provocative as ever, with her form fitting blouses and miniskirts. There was no sight of Amy. The girl had completely withdrawn herself from the general population. He assumed she was probably still angry about, or rather at, the band.

His computer science, literature, and law classes passed by without his notice really. He hardly took notes. The same went with the walk home. He passed by the café, remembering their times together. The more prominent memory would be Paul slipping on a loose piece of ice and landing with his mocha. Poor guy, but it was hilarious. Kira shook his head. Of course, Amy's sense of humor had started to rub off on him.

Kira trudged into the house, shutting the door behind him. The place was dim, and quiet. Upon entering the kitchen, he found a note from his mother. Plain and simple, she was out until late with a friend of hers and he was on his own. The crumpled note was thrown into the waste bin. It had been a while since he had a quiet evening to himself. Now he wished he had brought the guitar home with him. The time would have been well spent.

"Emmaleigh, over here," Amy called out. The little girl tried to run over to the teenager but only managed to trip. For a year and a half, the little girl was slow in learning to walk and run, possibly an effect from being a crack infant from a crack whore. Amy helped her goddaughter up and proceeded to tickle her sides until she shrieked happily.

"Da-da!" she gasped. Amy laughed and let the girl go free. This time, she succeeded in running to her daddy.

"What's up, sweetie?" Em asked with a grin. "Did Auntie Amy get you again? Huh?"

The girl stuck out her lip and nodded. The two older people laughed more at the little girl's expense. Em handed her the small ice cream and let her sit quietly. Amy finally sobered up with a sigh.

Em shook his head. "So they quit, huh? After a little trouble?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah. Guess a couple of detentions and missed classes didn't sit well with them…losers. Sheesh, I've put up with more sh-stuff than they have. You don't see me complaining." Emmaleigh paid little mind to their conversation as Amy watched her eat.

"Well," Em said, "I'm sure you'll get another shot. You're talented. Something will come around again."

"That's what you said the last time, Em," Amy whispered dismally, turning her eyes on him.

"Third time's the charm, right?"

Deep, rich notes echoed through the room as his fingers picked at the strings. The tune was simple and not much to listen to, but it made the companion instruments sound their best.

"You're getting better," a voice cut into his thoughts. Kira glanced up from the strings to see Paul walk in looking bored. Before the door shut, he heard the voices of the students moving around.

"Hey," Kira said, setting the guitar aside. "What brings you back here?"

The bully shrugged as he picked up the music sheets. "Been thinking," he started, "and I was starting to miss this. It hasn't been long for this band, but Dave, Deanna, and I go way back."

"How far?" Kira asked. Paul straddled a chair, resting his arms on the back.

"I took up the guitar randomly about seventh grade," he said. "Didn't know about music in general but I liked it. Then I met Deanna and Dave. He taught me how to write and read the notes and we started just hanging. I faded out of my bully act and stuck with them since they've seen some of the same shit I do. Now that I think about it, we're all idiots, letting some shitty rules getting between us like that. Since when were we the kind to listen to rules anyhow? So I'm saying fuck it, playing by them gets us fucked, so let's fucking make our own."

Kira nodded. Paul stared at him. "Don't mind me but what the hell happened to you?" He was referring to the light bruising at his friend's neck.

Kira gave him a small smile. "Same as always."

"I'm beginning to figure that," Paul stated dryly. "Anyone I can knock the shit out of?"

Kira shook his head, "Sorry. Wouldn't work out so well. It…was my adoptive father."

"Adoptive, huh?"

"Yeah, my real parents died when I was really young," Kira explained, sitting down stiffly. His back was still aching from the previous night. "Things were fine until the end of middle school. From what I've heard, Haruma was fighting with Uzumi over something and things just got out of hand. He started drinking and coming home in a rage. So we left the Capital to here, to get away, but the drinking and fits kept going. Eventually, he just started attacking me. Now, just about anything sets him off. My mother does nothing; she just ignores it."

Paul nodded with a frown on his face. "I see. My dad's the same way, without the abuse normally. He usually just leaves me on my own since I refused to join up. That's where the gang rumors come from. Rotten family."

After a moment, Kira chuckled, raising a curious look from Paul. "So misery does love company."

Paul, too, began laughing. "No shit. That's how we got together so fast."

"Now what?"

"Deanna and Dave will be back," Paul said offhandedly. "And I'm sure it'll be a cake walk to get Karmella back. Amy…she's one stuck up bitch, no doubt about it. Always has been. But she'll come around in time. I just hate to tell her she was right. In any case, I think we should tell the others to meet us tomorrow. I think the song is about there. After that, I got a couple more ideas."

Everyone came back just as Paul said, and it started again. The full band was playing over and over, perfecting the tune. Only the vocals were missing. Without her, they dropped their fourth hour classes for the following semester and started worked on a second song.

The problem they all had was that Amy refused to speak to anyone or to be seen outside of class; it was not going to happen any time soon. Paul and Kira caught Em on the way from school, begging for a hand. The young man frowned as he listened, nodding here and there. It took some convincing but he finally caved in.

"I got an idea," Em snapped his fingers. "At the local club, Crow's Nest, just off of Tobin Street and Crane, Amy and I are meeting there for New Year's Eve after I put Emmaleigh to bed. She'll be there and you guys can get her back then. She won't resist a spotlight opportunity."

"Thanks," Paul said, not quite catching his drift.

Kira didn't know either what that meant. Until they checked out the said club and saw the notice.

"You're kidding," Dave and Deanna gawked in unison.

A breeze swept by as they read and reread the notice. Kira sighed as Paul nodded slowly. "Yup, I get it. No problem."

Dave gave his partner a rather skeptical look. "We've barely practiced together. Now we have to hope she'll do it right in front of a huge ass crowd? You're crazy. She probably doesn't even remember the lyrics. We hardly went through the first part of the song together."

"I don't see any other way of getting Amy back quickly," Paul shrugged. "Besides, who cares what they think? Let's have some real fun."

"I'm in," Kira voted. The other three agreed and Paul asked to sign up.

The man operating the event was a lanky, balding man with big eyes. He wasn't too bad, as he was encouraging. "Don't get young people like yourselves playing rock music that's any good nowadays."

Paul filled in the form and stopped. "Band name…"

All at once, the others began laughing. Dave quipped, "What an idea! A name for our group! Man."

"Well, we need an idea at least for this thing," Paul said. "Any ideas? And nothing lame."

"Got ideas…" Dave said.

"…and they're lame," Deanna finished. Kara shook her head. Kira thought for a moment and took the pen from Paul to write something down, considering they had nothing better. Paul read it and thought it worked. No one else bothered to look or ask.

"That's it then," the man said, checking through the form. "We'll see you New Year's Eve, by 8, got it?"

"Got it," they replied and left.