The next week dragged on for everyone. Jordan and Malachai were anxious to get on the stage. Every night that the fair went on, they made sure they were there to check out the other talent. All Malachai did was laugh. Some of the performers on the stage were total jokes. They’d go home every night and tell their parents about the bull shit they saw. “Dad, they had fucking cloggers in stage. CLOGGERS! How fucking sad is that?” Jordan said one night.
“Cloggers? Are you sure?” David responded.
“Big wooden shoes and ugly ass costumes. Trying to give that traditional German look”, was Malachai’s response.
David snorted a laugh. “What the fuck is this county coming to? El Paso County is fucked up. I’m glad they’re going to have real talent on at the end of the weekend. Cloggers. Fucking ridiculous.”
Brie walked down the stair from giving a massage. “What’s ridiculous, baby?” she asked as she headed into the kitchen to get a bottle of water for her client.
“They’ve got cloggers at the fucking fair from what the kids told me.”
She looked at Jordan and Malachai. “Are you two serious?”
“As heart attacks, Mom. Fugly ass costumes, wooden fucking shoes, the works. Oh, my God, it was fucking traumatizing”, Malachai said; his face serious.
“Has El Paso County really become that desperate?” she asked with a laugh.
“I don’t know, Mom, but it’s really sad. After the cloggers, they had some stupid folk band. The only thing I could think was, ‘What the FUCK?’”
Brie laughed and headed into the kitchen to grab the bottle of water for her client. “That’s sad. When are they going to have REAL TALENT on that stage?”
“The last night of the fair; which is this weekend. A REAL band is going to get on that stage and show those jokers how it’s REALLY done”, Jordan said. “They have nothing on Reckless Disregard.” Her confidence came through in her words as well as her body language. She knew that they would have the biggest crowd of the week. They were, after all, three quarters the children of rock stars. It she had learned only a few things from her father that was how to attract a crowd and how to hook them in and keep them interested. She was looking forward to possibly having a mosh pit in the crowd. She knew she would rock the fair with the help of her brother, cousin, and her brother’s bff.
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The night of the performance came and Jordan and Malachai were pumped. They loaded the van with everything they would need to perform that night, then Jordan went inside to get ready for the show. Of course, she was going to look good on the stage. That’s what a girl her age was supposed to do; kick ass and look good doing it. When she came down the stairs, Logan gave her a low whistle. “DAMN , JORDAN!” he said. “It should be a crime for you to come down the stairs looking like that. Do you know how many guys, your age and older, are going to be falling all over themselves to get close to that stage?”
“Every one of them that isn’t related to me or on stage with me, and that’s the goal. I look hot and they want to get close to me. I look hot and sound like a rock angel, they want to buy our stuff. They want to see us go to the big leagues. With what little Malachai and I had left from that last gig, we got some t- shirts made. They’re nothing special, just black t- shirts with a picture of the band on them, but it’s merchandise and people eat up merchandise. If they like the music, they want to own a piece of the artist. That means pictures, CD’s, t- shirts, sweat bands, shit like that. Hell, I was digging through some of Mom’s old stuff and she even had a book bag that had the cover from ‘Indestructible’ in the flap. It was one of those messenger style bags. And I found some of her old school books inside; that tells me that she used that bag when she was in school for massage.”
“Whoa. I didn’t know your mom had that?”
Jordan shrugged. “Sucks to be you, I guess, then. Listen, boys, we need to go get Caleb and get to the Fair Grounds. Mom and Dad said they’d meet us there with everyone else. Oh, and Logan, your parents are here to watch us perform too.”
“Ah, shit. I better be on my ‘A’ game tonight then. My dad will plant a boot in my ass if I fuck up his bass lines.” Logan grimaced.
“Think of what MY dad will do to me if I fuck up his lyrics?” Jordan countered. “Our first show was for a bunch of teen age kids who really don’t know a lot about rock music because of the war. They were curious. Tonight, we’re going to be playing for more than just teenagers. We’re going to be playing for people who are around our parent’s ages who know what good rock music is and if we fuck up in front of THEM we will be can kiss our asses good bye as well as our career. And Malachai and I will be working the rest of our lives to pay back what we owe Dad for what he’s sunk into the band.”
Malachai laughed. “You got that right. Dad’s said that he’ll pay for our education and expect for nothing in return, but if we decide we’re going to do something that puts us in the limelight and we need a financial boost, we have to pay him back penny for penny”, he said. He looked at his sister. “Holy shit, Jordan, you’re going to give Dad a heart attack looking like that.”
“Probably Mom too, but I’m a rock star in training. I’ve got to look the part. They understand that. Now, let’s go. We’ve got to set up the equipment for the show and the longer that piano sits in the back of that truck, the more pissed Dad’s going to be if it gets fucked up. Let’s get this show on the road, boys.” She strutted past the boys and headed out the door to get in the rented moving truck to get to the fair grounds. She was ready to get on the stage and show the people of El Paso county what REAL music was.
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The young woman sat in front of her vanity and fought with her hair. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to wear her hair straight or its natural curly. Tonight was the first time she would get to see her study buddy perform. He was a really smart guy and he was really cute too. She’d seen his picture on the school message board and over webcam. She even saw who his parents were. Not that she cared really. His dad could have been GOD himself and it wouldn’t have mattered. She liked him for who he was, not who his Mom and Dad were. She was ready to finally meet him in person and to see him perform. From what she understood, his one of his little sisters was the vocalist for the band, but she’d get to hear him sing too because he sang whatever background vocals she needed during any giving song. She’d heard some of their original material and it was really good. His sister could sing and so could he. Now, she was going to go see his band, Reckless Disregard, perform live. If only she could get her hair to behave.
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