Lauren Cook was true to her word. She arrived three days later with contracts in hand. She pressed the doorbell a couple of times as she waited on someone to come to the door. When the door opened she straightened up to her full 5’10” and waited to see which of the Draiman parents would be opening the door. A short woman with springy brown curls that were pulled back into a messy pony tail and scrubs on. “Hello, I’m Lauren Cook. I’m here to speak with Malachai and Jordan Draiman, Caleb Johnson, and Logan Moyer.” She extended her hand.
“Hello, I’m Malachai and Jordan’s mother, Brie Draiman. Pleasure to meet you.” She took the extended hand and shook. “Please, come in. I’ll go get the kids from the basement.” She stepped out of the doorway to let the young woman in.
“They rehearse in your basement?” Lauren asked as she stepped into the house.
“David has a studio down there. We let them use the open sound booth to rehearse in. It’s better than Caleb’s garage.”
Lauren laughed. “They started out as a garage band. That’s classic.” She looked around at the front room of the two story mansion. It was tastefully decorated, but you still got the vibe that a rock star lived there. “I have to say, Mrs. Draiman, I love what you and your husband have done with the place.”
Brie smiled at her. “Thank you. We’ve been back in this house for five years now and I still don’t have it the way I want it. David is stubborn.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Have you met my husband, young lady?”
“No, I can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure.”
“Oh, I’m sure that while you’re here, you’ll get to meet him. He’s helping one of our other children with something for school right now, but he’ll be down shortly.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Two of our younger boys have a science project that they have due next week and he’s helping them with it.”
“Ah, gotta be Daddy while being a kick ass rock star.”
“Exactly.” Brie showed her to the Kitchen where most of the business concerning Reckless Disregard was dealt with. “Go on ahead and have a seat. I’ll have the band up here shortly.”
“Ok. Thank you, Mrs. Draiman.”
--------------
Once the band had emerged from the studio where they were rehearsing, they all took seats at the table as Brie went into hostess mode. “Before we get started, can I offer anyone a drink?”
“Can you get me a bottle of water, Mom?” Jordan asked.
“Me too, Mrs. D?” Caleb asked.
“Same here, Aunt Brie?” asked Logan.
“How about you, Malachai?”
“Since they’re all getting water, I guess I’ll get one too.”
“Can I get you anything, Lauren?”
“Would it be possible to get a glass of tea or something?”
“No problem.” Brie pulled a glass from the cabinet and poured Lauren a glass of tea. After she set the glass in front of the young woman, she grabbed five bottles of water from the fridge and took a seat next to Jordan at the table. “Ok, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Lauren set her briefcase on the table and pulled out four contracts. “Here we are. This is a standard agreement. It entitles me to make business decisions for the band, a small percentage of their earnings, etcetera, and etcetera.” She passed the contracts around the table. The boys each got theirs and looked it over. Jordan’s went straight to Brie, who did what the boys did.
A frown crossed her face. “DAVID!” she called.
He came down the stairs and into the kitchen. “You called, beautiful?”
She looked down at the contract in front of her on the table and then back up at her husband. “I don’t like these figures. It seems like the kids are getting cheated.”
David sighed and looked at the contract. “I hate to break it to you, baby, but this is a standard agreement.”
“Are you kidding me? She gets forty percent of the band’s earnings?”
“That’s the way it works, my love. It’s a standard agreement.”
She groaned. “Jesus.”
“I’m sorry, baby, but that’s the way it goes.”
She sighed. “Give me a pen, someone.” Malachai pulled a pen from his pocket and handed to his mother. After she put her signature on the papers in all the proper places, she handed the pen back to her son, then looked back up a David. “Alright. Since you said it’s standard, then I guess I’m ok with it.”
“Is that all you needed?”
“Yes, baby. Thank you for interrupting your work with James and Jeremiah on their volcano.”
He laughed. “Those things get more and more complicated as time goes on. I remember when all you had to do was mix baking soda with a little something and you have a volcano. Now, oh no. That’s too easy.”
She smiled. “Glad it’s you and not me, babe. I’m not going to lie to you on that.”
David turned his attention to Lauren. “You must be Lauren Cook”, he said.
“That would be me. And you must be the patriarch of this lovely little bunch.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say I’m the patriarch. More like I’m the ring leader of this little circus.” He extended his hand. “David Draiman.”
“I’m honored to finally meet you. Jeff talks about you and the rest of Disturbed quite often.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
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After Lauren left, Brie looked at her husband. “If you’re the ring leader of the circus that is our family, what does that make me?” she said with a small laugh.
“The trainer of the monkeys”, he responded without missing a beat.
“I was thinking I was more like the lion tamer”, she laughed.
“That does make sense. You tamed me, so to speak.”
“Yeah, and cows fly, David.”
“Super Cow á rescate!” he said with a laugh.
“Fucking Cow and Chicken! I have to say, I miss that stupid ass show.”
“It was pretty funny when it was on.”
“Yeah, that and Ed, Edd, and Eddy.”
“Johnny fucking Bravo.”
“That was a good one too.”
“What are you two talking about?” Malachai asked.
“Cartoons from the early 1990’s that were on Cartoon Network”, Brie laughed.
“’Chai, our parents have lost their minds”, Jordan said, her face as neutral as neutral could be.
“I have to agree. They have both officially achieved perfect insanity.”
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