Chapter 29

David climbed down from the tree and helped Jordan down after he was on the ground.  After they got back inside, Jordan gave her father a hug and kiss on the cheek before heading toward the studio to look for the boys.  When she got down the stairs, there was no one there.  She grabbed her phone and called texted Malachai.  “Where is everyone?”

The response she got back was explained everything.  “Caleb went home.  Logan and I are upstairs.  Logan was waiting for Dad to come in from checking on you.  Needs to talk to him.”  She nodded to herself.  Figures.  I jet to cool off and Malachai cancels practice.  Just like my big brother.  Always trying to look out of me. 

She went up stairs to hear Logan asking her Dad if he could crash for a few days.  “Please, Uncle David?  My apartment is so big and lonely.  I’m bored out of my mind over there.”

“When is your girlfriend supposed to be here?” David asked.

“By the end of the week, I swear.”

Brie giggled.  “He’s so adamant, David.  I wonder if John knows how much of a kiss ass his oldest son is.”

“I’m sure he does, Brie.  But, what has me so confused is why he thinks he has to beg.  He IS our nephew after all.  Like we would tell him he couldn’t stay.”

“I know.  He’s just as much a part of this family as our kids are.”

Logan cleared his throat.  “So, I can crash here?”

David looked at him and tried to keep a straight face.  “No.  Abso- fucking- lutely not.  We just don’t have the room, Logan.”

“I’ll sleep in Malachai’s room.”

“Logan, he’s fucking with you”, Malachai said.

Logan looked at David, horrified.  “Are you seriously screwing with me?”

“Yeah.  You are my nephew, after all.  I think I’m entitled to mess with you every now and then.  I rarely saw you there for a while.”

“And for eight years, you saw my smiling face pretty much every day.”

“Yeah, I don’t really miss those days.  I remember you as a snot nosed little kid who just wanted to play matchbox cars.  Though watching you grow into the young man you are now was fun, I wouldn’t want to relive that period.”

“I don’t think any of us do, Uncle David.  Did Jordan tell you about what Caleb said?”

“Oh, yeah.  And I’ll tell you and Malachai the same thing I told her.  Educate him.  Teach the ignorant Caleb about the hell you guys went through for eight years.”

“And that’s exactly what I intend to do”, Jordan said as she finally walked in the door.  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed at him, but as Dad pointed out, he’s ignorant.  He didn’t live what we lived.  He didn’t live through eight years of no sunlight except for the RARE occasion and even then it was under the ever watchful eyes of our parents AND armed guards.  He didn’t have to watch his Uncle nearly bleed to death slowly because he escaped from prison where he was being tried as a spy and traitor.  Malachai, you and I lived that.  Logan, you live that right beside us.  You were there when Uncle Matt went into the hospital to have a bullet removed from his leg or he would have bled to death.  Remember?  Mom was pregnant with Maddie.”

“Oh, yeah.  That’s right.  Fuck, I totally forgot”, Logan laughed.

“Jake and I were having a contest for a while to see who could block out the mass majority of that first eight years the fastest.  Neither of us won.  Neither of us could block it out.”

David chuckled.  “You and your twin were seeing who could block that eight year period of the war out the fastest?  What did the winner get?”

“A year of servitude from the other”, Jordan said with a laugh.

“Wow, you and Jacob are sure creative”, Brie laughed.

All Jordan could do is shrug.

--------------

After they finished their conversation, the kids all left the living room.  Jordan went to help Maddie with her report, and Logan and Malachai went to Malachai’s room to get things situated for Logan to crash there for a couple of days.  After they got things in Malachai’s room moved around they headed to Logan’s apartment to get him his basic survival needs for the time he stayed with the Draiman’s.

As they cooked dinner that night, David and Brie reminisced about the fond memories they had of their time in hiding.  “What was your favorite thing about that period?” David asked Brie.

“The Anniversary celebration after the Lake Tenkiller rally.  I was so pissed at you, and then you surprised me with the most romantic anniversary dinner ever.  You haven’t topped that anniversary dinner yet.  You’ve come close, but you haven’t topped it yet.”

“Did I get close this year?”

“Surprisingly so.  A romantic getaway at that spa in Denver was just what I needed.  But, I still like it when you do the simple stuff like me a dinner that I thought only I could make then we made love all night long.  We didn’t go inside until it was well into afternoon.  That was the best anniversary.”

“I’m going to have to work on giving you another anniversary like that.”

“Why don’t you ever let me do something for you?”

“Because you’ve already given me everything I could ever want by giving me yourself and my kids.  What more could you possibly give me, Brie?”

She smiled as he laid a hand against her cheek.  “So why do you work so hard to give me a great anniversary every year?”

“To show you that I love you.”

She rubbed her cheek into his palm.  “You don’t have to prove to me that you love me.”

“I’m not doing it to prove anything.  I’m doing it to celebrate how much I love you.”

“To celebrate how much you love me?  Baby, I love you and you know it, but that was corny as hell.”  She kissed his palm.

He brushed a piece of hair from her face and shrugged.  “I thought corny was romantic.”

She laughed.  “Oh, baby, it is.  I just thought I’d point out how corny it was.  But, you’re totally getting laid tonight.”

“That wasn’t exactly the goal, but it works for me.”

---------------

“Holy hell, Logan, you have so much shit!”

“A lot of which I just couldn’t bring myself to throw away after we went to live each family to themselves.”

“Are you telling me that you still have a lot of the shit that you got when we were in hiding?”

Logan nodded.  “I still have every birthday card that Maddie made me, every drawing from Meagan and Kayla, I even wrote down every insult Jordan ever slung at anyone.  You sister was a genius back then.”

“Dude, really?”

“Yep.”

“What the hell?”

Logan shrugged.  “Dude, we did have some fun times in those shit hole safe houses.  Like, that time Justin got locked in the panic room because we were playing where we shouldn’t have.  That was great.  Uncle Danny went fucking crazy.  ‘You guys get up in that living room NOW’.  It was fucking scary, but after Justin got out we all had a good laugh over it.”

“Dude, I remember the grounding I got AFTER the war was over for that shit.  Mom and Dad were waiting for us to get out on our own before they punished us for a LOT of the shit we did.  The only two that didn’t get into trouble after we moved in were Jessi and Marc and that’s because they hadn’t been conceived yet.”

“Speaking of conception, is it true that the house you guys live in is the house that Jordan and Jacob were conceived in?”

“I believe so.  You’d have to ask my parents about that.”

“I remember how big your mom was when we went to that first safe house.  Holy hell, she was HUGE.  I can’t believe that she was carrying ONLY Jordan and Jacob in there.”

“At first, she wasn’t.  She was pregnant with triplets.  She lost the third baby out of the second trimester I think.”

“Oh, well, that’s different.”

“Yeah.  Neither of them knew, Mom bled a little bit, but she was in the hospital when it happened.  They couldn’t stop the miscarriage, but they did something to control the bleeding.  It was during one of her fainting spells.  When we were at home, Dad could handle it, but that fainting spell was at the mall and Dad tripped balls, dude.”

“I would have too.  He was an expectant father and his woman was fainting in the middle of the MALL?  Oh, yeah, trip city, here we come.”

Malachai laughed.  “Well, what matters is that I have two awesome siblings directly younger than me, and seven after them.  And, to this day, I question what possessed my parents to have TEN kids.  But, I can say that there’s never a dull moment in the Draiman household.  Now, let’s get your shit and head back to my place so that we can be home in time for dinner.”

Logan laughed.  “You got it, cuz.”

---------------

“Are you serious?  THAT’S how Mom and Dad got together?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, Maddie, Dad saved Mom’s life.  I know they tell this sappy story about how they saw each other across a crowded event grounds and Dad just HAD to go talk to Mom.  Not true.  Just ask them.”

“Whoa.  That’s crazy.  But, the assassination attempt on Mom is what tipped off the start of the Second Civil War.  Dad getting shot at the end of the Uproar Festival later that same year was what actually started it?”

“That’s what MY history book said.  What does yours say, Madison?”

Maddie grabbed her book from her book bag and cracked it open to the chapter on the Utopian Occupation of the United States.  Right there in black and white, her book said what her big sister just told her.  “Whoa.  That’s cool.”  Maddie looked up at Jordan over her book.  “Jordan, do you know why I got this fucking assignment?”

Jordan laughed.  “Let me guess, because you’re last name is Draiman and you’re the second oldest daughter of the man that was the Voice of the Resistance?”

“Exactly.  It’s stupid.  I swear our last name hurts us more than it helps us.”

Jordan just laughed.  “I know that better than you think, little sister.  Trust me.”

Chapter 28

Jordan stormed out of the house through the sliding glass doors in the back of the kitchen, slamming them hard enough to make the house shudder as she headed out into the back yard to go to her special spot.  It had been the place where she cried all her problems out since they moved into that house six years before.  It was her ‘asylum’ for lack of a better work.  She was safe in her special spot.  After she reached the tree, she kicked off her heels and climbed up the tree barefoot, not caring if the world saw what was under her skirt.  About ten feet off the ground, she reached a platform that her Dad, her Uncle Matt, and their old bodyguard Morbus, had built in the tree for her.  She sat with on leg dangling off the edge of the platform and one leg drawn up to where he knee was pressed into her chest.  She hugged her knee to her and wrapped her arms around it, hiding her face in the crook of her elbow as she sobbed.  She didn’t want anyone to see her cry.  That’s why she had her special spot.

--------------

When they heard the house shudder, David and Brie were alarmed.  “I’m going to go see who that was”, Brie said.  “You stay here and educate Maddie on the Utopian occupation’s beginnings.”

“You got it, but I bet I know who it was and where they went.  You’ll never find her.”

“Who was it?  Jordan?”

“Yeah, and if she slammed the doors hard enough to shake the house, she’s hurting.  I know where she goes when she’s hurting.  I built it.”

“Her special spot that no one ever told me the location of?”  David nodded.  “Yeah, I thought so.  Ok, you go handle our first born daughter and I’ll deal with our second born”, Brie said with a sigh.

David stood and headed out the back door to see what was wrong with the oldest of her baby girls.

--------------

“What the fuck was that, Caleb?” Malachai yelled.

“What did I say?”

“You guy must have seen some shit?  Really?  Are you that God damn dense?  You should have known that, seeing as our FATHER was the VOICE OF THE RESISTANCE, that we didn’t see too much of ANYTHING.  When my Dad got shot at the end of Uproar Festival in 2010 that was the end of our freedom.  Jordan, Jake, Maddie, Meagan, Makayla, James, and Jeremiah were all born DURING the War.  Until we moved in here, they’d never had their own bed room, they’d never gotten to spend more than a few hours outside and not have to have an armed bodyguard with them at all times because there were people that would have used US as leverage to get to our parents.  There were people that wanted to execute my father publically and force us and our mother to watch as he literally burned alive.  The most we saw was what we saw on the news.  Everything else was what we didn’t get to see, what we lived.”

“Dude, you need to learn your facts before you speak out of school”, Logan said with a shake of his head.

“I think we’re done for the day.  Jordan won’t be able to work after this.  She’ll need to calm down a lot before she’ll want to look at Caleb again.  I’ll get with you guys about possibly rehearsing tomorrow afternoon.  I need to go check on my sister.”  Malachai took his guitar off and set it on its stand before heading upstairs.

“Hey, Malachai, do you think your parents will let me crash here for a few days?  My apartment is awfully lonely and I’m still waiting on Dani to get moved up here from Austin”, Logan called after him.

“I’m sure they won’t mind if we have to room.”

“I’ll crash with you, it’s cool with me.”

“All you can do is ask, Logan.  I’m pretty sure Dad will tell you what he told Justin the last time he was out here.”

“What was that?”

“Mi casa es su casa”, Malachai turned back toward the top of the stairs and headed up. 

Once Malachai was gone, Logan decided he needed to have a little chat with Caleb.  “Dude, I’m going to do you a big favor by educating you on how close Malachai, Jordan, and I are.  Over the eight years we were all in hiding, the four families became rather close.  Of my siblings, Mike's kids, and Dan's kids, there isn't a child of Disturbed that wouldn't beat the hell out of you should I hear of you even thinking about speaking ill of my Aunt Brie and Uncle David.  The older four Draiman children wouldn't have the chance to lay a hand on you.  Just keep that in mind the next time you have an epiphany about the Draiman's.  Are we straight?  And I've seen the way you look at Jordan.  Just a friendly piece of advice: don't bother.  One, it's not cool to date your band mate and two, I don’t think she likes you very much.  Were I you, I'd just play my drums and keep my nose clean."

Caleb looked at Logan like he was joking, then saw just how deadly serious Logan was.  Caleb didn’t know it, but there was a killer deep in Logan’s soul.  He’d taken a human life before and it didn’t faze him.  Malachai was the same way.  He’d killed and it didn’t faze him.  In fact, a small part of both boys enjoyed the killing they had done.  Caleb saw this in Logan’s eyes, and decided not to argue.

 --------------

David walked out the door to the back yard and pause long enough to listen for something.  Then he heard it; the soft sobbing of his fourteen year old daughter.  He walked over to the tree that he was sure she was in and spotted her shoes at the base of the trunk.  He looked up and spotted her sitting with her back against the trunk of the tree and her knees drawn up to her face.   “Jordan, it’s Dad.  Can I come up?”

“Go away!” she called back.

“Fat chance, baby.  I’m going to ask one more time.  Can I come up?”

She sniffled and peeked up from the crook of her arm.  “Can you even climb up here still?”

“I might be old, Jordan, but I’m not that damn old.”

“I’m not sure the platform will hold you.”

“Keep trying, Jordan, because Morbus, your Uncle Matt and I all stood and bounced on that damn thing and between the three of us there’s about 750 lbs of pure muscle there.  I’m coming up.”  David found a foot hold and a hand hold and climbed up the tree.  When he got to the plat form where she was sitting, he pulled himself up and sat down.  “Alright, Jordan, what are you upset about, baby?”  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Stupid Caleb talking about shit he knows nothing about”, she sniffled again.

“You’re going to have to give me more details than that, sweet heart.”

“He was talking about you and Mom’s relationship at first and that didn’t bother me.  You’d have to be blind and deaf not to know how in love you and Mom are.  What got me was that he said, ‘You guys must have seen some shit during the War’, when he knows what really happened.  He know who you were to the Resistance.  And it pisses me off.  I hate him, Dad.”

David had started rubbing her back half way through her rant.  “No, sweetie, you shouldn’t hate him.  He’s ignorant of the facts.  Instead of hating him, educate him.  Teach him about what you went through, you and Malachai both.  The same should go for Logan too.  The three of you share that bond with only a few other children and they’re your cousins and all but two of your siblings.  He doesn’t know what you went through.  You have to teach him.”

She sighed.  “I still don’t like him, though, Dad.  He looks at me funny.  It creeps me out.”

“Does he know about your preference?”

“No, no one but you, Mom, and Malachai knows.”

David nodded.  “Ok.  Well, maybe you should tell him.  And be nice about it.”

She laughed a little bit.  “Ok, Dad.  Thanks for coming out here and checking on me.”

“Like I wouldn’t have.  You might be fourteen, but you’re still my baby girl.  I’m going to have the protective DAD instincts every time I see you upset.”

Chapter 27

After all of his younger siblings were loaded in the SUV, Malachai headed home to get ready for rehearsal.  He was feeling a little like he was lighter than air because he had gotten an email from the person that had been assigned to be his study buddy.  She was excited to come see him perform.  Good news was that she lived in town so they could get together often and study.  Her name was Amanda David.  She was a spunky girl his age that seemed like she could handle anything.  She reminded Malachai of his mother if he had to be honest about it.  But the young woman who was capturing his heart and had little knowledge in the way of Psychology had to wait for a later time.  Now, it was time to play his music.

HIS music.  The music that he and his band mates had written together.  Jordan’s soaring piano parts and gut wrenching lyrics, Logan’s heavy bass lines, and Caleb’s “nuevo- primitive” drum beats to accompany his electrifying guitar riffs.  Jordan had taken her cues from their father and started writing the melody to the music that the boys spit out first, then came the lyrics and the piano part.  She had started playing with a new arrangement of “The Night” over the last month for the hell of it.  “Because it’s fun and I want to see if I can arrange it with a piano part because it’s fun”, she said with a laugh.  Malachai had rolled his eyes. But he pushed that thought aside as he and Jordan waited for Logan and Caleb to arrive.

“Hey, Jordan”, he said.

“What up?” she said as she took a drink of water.

“Let’s get your voice warmed up real quick, then I have an idea for a song I want to bounce off of you.”

“Ok.”  She started playing her vocal warm up and sang along warming her voice up so that she and Malachai could work.  “Alright, ‘Chai, let’s see what you’ve got.” 

Malachai played the riff that had been running nonstop through his mind.  “What do you think?”

“Play it again, ‘Chai”, she said after cracking her knuckles and wiggling her fingers a moment.  As Malachai played the riff again, she started playing the piano along with him and humming a melody.  The melody was reminiscent of “The Infection”, but when she started singing, she the words that came out were NOTHING like the lyrics to the song it mimicked.  They were more haunting and even as they played together, shivers ran up Malachai’s spine.  When Caleb and Logan arrived, they automatically got set up and joined in.  After the song ended, and the last cords rang through the studio, Malachai grabbed his phone.  “Dad, can you and Mom come down here real quick?  You two have to hear this for yourselves”, he asked David when the call was answered.  “Alright, thanks.  We’ll see you in a little bit.”

Moments later there was a knock on the basement door, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.  Soon, David and Brie emerged from the stairwell.  “You called, Malachai?” Brie said, folding her arms under her breasts and leaning against the wall.

“Mom, you and Dad have to hear this.  It’s magic”, Malachai said, then looked at Jordan.  “You ready, sis?”  She nodded and he counted them off.  He and Jordan started playing together, Logan came in next, and right before Jordan began singing, Caleb pounded out a few beats on his kit. 

Jordan’s eyes closed as she sang the song they’d just written, the melody reminding David of one he’d written years before, before Jordan and her twin brother had been thought of.    He reached out and pulled Brie against his side so that he could hold her as they listened to their daughter sing.  Naturally, she relaxed under his touch.  After the song ended, David looked at Jordan.  “Where did you come up with those lyrics from?  Did you just make them up on the fly?”

“Actually, yeah.  They just popped into my head.  When Malachai called you down here, I was about to open up my bag and pull out my laptop.  I was going to type the lyrics real fast, then see if I could borrow that software you have on your laptop to that I can put all the stuff bouncing around in my head to some form of music writer or something.”

David laughed.  “I’ll show you how to use that software later and I’ll help you load it onto your laptop.  Is there anything else?”

The kids all shook their heads.  “No, we pretty much got it from here.  I just wanted you guys to hear that magic we wrote on the fly”, Malachai said.

“And it was just that, Malachai”, Brie said, “it was magic.”

--------------

As they went back to the living room to finish watching the documentary that Maddie had to write a report on for her history class, David and Brie paused.  “I wonder where she got the ability to write off the top of her head like that”, Brie said as they crested the top of the stairs.

David shrugged nonchalantly.  “I have NO idea.  Certainly wasn’t from me”, he said, blowing off that comment.

“Bull shit, David.  We both know better shit than that.”

He laughed.  “I know.  Thought I’d try though.”  He leaned in and pressed a kiss to his wife’s lips.

She smiled and kisses him back.  “You’re a horrible liar, David Draiman.”

“Good thing I’ve got someone like you to keep me in line, huh, Brie Draiman?”

She playfully smacked his ass.  “Am I that harsh a mistress, babe?”

He laughed.  “Are you kidding me?  You’re the WORST!  You make me have to be more than I ever planned on being.”

“Good, that’s what a REAL woman does to a man.  We make you the weakest you’ve ever been and stronger than you ever dreamed of being.”

“And what is it I do for you?”he asked, his hands sliding along her hips as he pulled her closer.

“You do the exact same thing.  You’ve been with me through thick and thin, and having been with you for almost 15 years now, I know you’re not going anywhere.  It doesn’t matter how hard things get.”  Her arms slid around his neck. 

As their lips brushed one another’s, Maddie came into the hallway where they stood.  “Mom, Dad, we all love you and we all know that it’s very rare that you get time alone during the day what with ten of us kids under your roof, but I kinda need your help on this history paper.  There will be plenty of time for you two to screw after I write my paper.”

They couldn’t help it, they laid their heads one each other’s shoulders and laughed.  “Ok, Maddie Jade, we’ll be right there”, David chuckled.

--------------

“Your Dad really loves your Mom”, Caleb said out of the blue.

Jordan and Malachai both blinked at him.  “What?” they asked in unison.  The two of them and Logan looked up from the work they were doing.  Everyone was supposed to be hand writing out their part of the new song.  Jordan was calling it “Deliverance”.

“I couldn’t help but notice it while we were playing the new song for them.  The way your Dad’s so affectionate toward your Mom and how she’s just as affectionate back.  It’s cute to watch this big hard rock star go soft for someone like your Mom.”

“What do you mean, someone like their mom?” Logan asked.

“I mean, she’s not into that whole rock star life style.  Sure, she enjoys the house, but only because it’s big enough to hold her huge family.  Her wedding ring is small in comparison to other rock star wives.  I can see what attracted him to her.  Hell, if I were older, I’d give it a shot if she weren’t taken.  She’s his rock, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, and he’s hers.  There were times during the war that Uncle David would need a little reassurance or a piece of advice and she was the first person he looked to.  In between Maddie and the quads, Aunt Brie had a really bad miscarriage and Uncle David refused to leave her side.  When they received word that her brother had been arrested and was to be tried as a spy, he stayed right there beside her when she had hysterics.”

“Wow, you guys saw a lot during that War, huh?”

“We were in hiding, bouncing from safe house to safe house, Caleb”, Jordan said.  “Until the War ended, I knew nothing BUT that lifestyle.  I hate to sound like I’m being a bitch, but you don’t know shit about what we saw during the Utopian occupation.”  And with that, she stood and headed up the stairs toward the main part of the house.  She needed to blow off some steam before she continued to work the rest of the afternoon.

Chapter 26

The next week, Malachai received a phone call on his cell.  It was from the Commissioner of the County Fair.  His daughter was at the party that they’d played and decided to ask her father if he needed a local band to play the fair.  She’d recorded a small portion of the show on her cell phone and showed it to her Dad.  The Commissioner asked that the band try to do an equal amount of covers and original material to give the people of the county a glimpse of the kind of talent they have in the their own back yard.  When Malachai hung up the phone he was ecstatic.   “YES!” he shouted.

His cry of joy rang out so loudly that his mother actually interrupted the massage she was giving his father to see what was going on.  “Is everything ok, Malachai?” Brie asked.

“Oh, shit, Mom, I’m so sorry and please tell Dad I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to interrupt his massage.  I’ll keep my elation down until you’re done and I’ll tell you then.  I’m really sorry.”

She laughed.  “I’m sure your Dad will forgive you as long as whatever you’re so excited about warrants such excitement.  Just be sure to tell your Dad what the problem or excitement is when he walks out here to get his water after his massage when I’m done in forty- five minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Brie left the room and Malachai called Logan and Caleb.  “We’ve got another gig!”, he laughed softly when they answered their phones.

“Really?  What is it this time?” Logan asked.

“One of the girls that was at the party we played last week was the daughter of the County Fair Commissioner.  I just got off the phone with him.  He wants us to do a balance of covers and original material.  Isn’t that awesome?”

“Hell yes it is!” Caleb said.  “I’ve been wanting to play some of the stuff we wrote for a while now.  So, when is the gig?”

“Last night of the fair, which is in two weeks, and we have an hour.”

“Have you told Jordan yet?” Logan asked.

“I’m gonna text her after we’re done on the phone.  I can’t call her because she’s in school.  And after I do that, I have some class work to do myself.”

“You got that online course through Loyola?”

“Yep.  I’m neck deep in Business Administration.  Thankfully, they’re only sending me the books for four classes a semester so we can work on music as well.”

“You gonna follow in Uncle David’s footsteps and get your triple BA?”

“I’m not sure.  I know I’m going to study Theology after I’m done with the Business Admin.  And FUCK Poly Sci.  I will NOT study Political Science.  Dad can have the field all to himself in the Draiman family”, Malachai said with a laugh.

“I’ve noticed that your parents always seem to be studying something”, Caleb said.

“Yeah.  Mom’s always trying to stay up on the latest massage techniques and  modalities and Dad just like to read.  When Jordan and I got in from the party last week the whole family was watching some crazy thing that Dad recorded on the DVR about Aliens and Ancient civilizations.  My family is full of nerds, me included.”

Logan and Caleb laughed.  “I’m gonna be sure to tell Uncle David you said he’s a nerd, Malachai”, Logan said, breathless from laughing.

“Go right on ahead, fucker.  You know what, he’ll agree with me.  He’s a nerd, Mom’s a nerd, I’m a nerd, Jordan and Jacob are nerds, Maddie’s a super nerd, the quads- all four are nerds, Jessi and Marc are nerds too.  The Draiman family is nothing but nerds!”

--------------

After thirty minutes of arguing with Logan as to whether or not his family was full of nerds, Malachai texted Jordan to let her know that they’d landed another gig and that if their parents’ gave permission, he was going to pick her up from school that afternoon.   “It’s a good thing I’m at lunch right now because I just fell out of my seat because I was celebrating.  Talk to Mom and Dad and let me know something soon”, Jordan replied.

“As soon as they come downstairs.  Dad’s getting his weekly massage.  I was so excited that Mom walked out of the massage to see what I was making noise about.”

“Dad’s gonna kick your ass.  You know that, right?”

“Yes, Jordan, I know.  Get to class and I’ll text you as soon as I have an answer.”

Brie came down the stair to see her oldest son sitting at the kitchen table, his book scattered around him and his lap top in front of him.  “What are you up to now, ‘Chai?” she asked.

“Just trying to get some of this class work knocked out so that we can rehearse today.  We’ve got a gig next weekend at the county fair.”

“Is that what you were so excited about earlier when I came down?”

“Yep.  Oh, I was wondering if I could pick Jordan up from school today for rehearsal.”

Brie shrugged.  “As long as your Dad doesn’t have a problem with it, I don’t.  I know you’re a safe driver.”

“Thanks, Mom.  I’ll as Dad when he stumbles down the stairs.  Oh, by the way, Mom, Logan’s going to tell you and Dad that I called you both nerds.”

“Did you?”

“I sure did.  I said the entire family was full of nerds, myself included.”

She laughed.  “Nice.  Well, as long as you put yourself in there, I can forgive you.  I’m sure that your Dad will too.”

--------------

David came down the stairs without having to lean on anything to walk.  “Those just get better and better with every week”, he said as he opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a bottle of water.  He eyeballed Malachai.  “Now, boy, you had BETTER have a REALLY good reason as to why you interrupted my massage.”

“I do, Dad”, Malachai said and looked up from his books.  “We landed another gig at the fair.”

David nodded slowly after taking a long drink of the water.  “Really?  How did you land that?”

“One of the girls that went to the party last week is the Commissioner’s daughter.  She recorded a little of the show and showed it to her dad.  He called me and asked if we’d be interested.  The gang has already told me to use my discretion when accepting gigs and it’s next week end- the last day of the fair.  We have one hour and he wants us to play an equal ratio of covers to original material.”

David leaned back against the counter and took another drink of water, then looked at his wife.   “What do you think of all this, Brie?” he asked.

“I think that the fair is good publicity for them, and I’m sure by now, that all of those kids that went to that party last week has let friends out of state hear their music.  Soon, they’re going to be traveling.  The fair is just a stepping stone.”

David nodded.  “I agree.”  He looked at Malachai.  “It’s great news.  You seem to have a fine business mind.  I’m glad that you chose Business Admin as your major.”

“Thanks, Dad.  Oh, can I pick Jordan up after school so that we can go straight to rehearsal afterward?”

“You might as well pick Jake up after school too and bring them both home.  Jordan won’t want to go to rehearsal in her school clothes.  She’ll want to go to rehearsal in her jeans and heels.  You know your sister.”

Malachai nodded.  “Yes, sir.  You’re right.”  Then, he had a thought.  “Dad, can we have rehearsal here in the studio?  That way we don’t risk ruining the piano by trying to move it over to Caleb’s house.”

David shrugged.  “Let everyone know.  My studio is your studio, as long as you’re rehearsing and NOT fucking with my equipment, Malachai.  I mean that.  That equipment is expensive and you haven’t earned to money to replace it yet.”

Malachai nodded.  “Yes, sir.  I’ll be sure that Caleb knows not to mess with the equipment.”

David laughed.  “Stop reading my mind, Malachai.  You’re as bad as you mother is at times.”

“Dad, you really shouldn’t broadcast so loudly.  I bet Jessi and Marc heard you across town at school.”

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Malachai sent out a mass text to his band mates, Jordan included.  “Rehearsal at mine and Jordan’s place in the studio.  Fuck with the equipment and your die a slow painful death.  Practice starts one hour after Jordan gets out of class for the day to give me to time to pick up all of my siblings AND to give Jordan time to change her clothes”, the text read.  When he got no response, he was sure that everyone understood what was going on.  Thirty minutes before Jordan and Jacob were due to get out of class, Malachai took off to be waiting at their school to pick them up.  It was always good to be thirty minutes early to the school that that particular set of twins attended.  That way he could get them and get the hell out of dodge.

“Jake and I will be the first ones out the door.  Apparently, Dad called and gave clearance for us to leave a little early so that you can get out to Maddie’s school, then the other kid’s school to pick all of us up”, Jordan texted to Malachai as she and Jacob walked down the hall.

They walked through the door as Malachai finished reading the text.  “You two are so slow”, he joked with them through the opened window.

“Ah, blow me”, Jake joked back.  “It’s not my fault that Ms. Rock- diva-licious over here had to stop to primp in the way out.”  He elbowed his twin sister in the ribs gently.

“This is one bitch that as to look good no matter what she’s doing”, she said with a laugh.