The show was about an hour away from starting, so Malachai decided that they needed a quick rehearsal and sound check before the show started. They ran through the songs they were going to do, which came to a total of ten, really quickly, cutting out at about half way through the song to move on to the next one. They gave each other a little feedback on each song and after they were done with the quick run through, they took a fifteen minute break and got a little water. Malachai ran out really quickly to see if his parents had arrived. He spotted his Dad, and jogged over to give him fair warning. “Hey Dad!” he shouted over the crowd as he approached.
“Yes, Malachai?” David replied when he saw his son running toward him.
“I just ran out here real quick to warn you NOT to storm the stage when the show starts.”
“And WHY would I do that?”
“If you had seen what Jordan was wearing before we left, you’d know why.”
“And just what is she wearing?”
Malachai shook his head. “Sorry, Dad, but I don’t have time to tell you. I’ve got to get backstage again and do another vocal warm up with Jordan before we go onstage and get a drink of water. I just wanted to warn you NOT to freak out.”
“Something tells me I’m not going to like what I see”, David said, ending the sentence a little sing song.
“You won’t like it, I’ll assure you of that. Now, I’ve really got to get moving. Enjoy the show!” Malachai said as he ran off.
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She looked for the bald man she knew was his father. She was sure that he would be near the rear of the audience. She searched and searched until she spotted a bald man who had his profile turned toward her. He had a piercing under his lip and an earring in his ear. That had to be the man she was looking for. He had his arm around a woman with curly brown hair and an ear full of earrings. She walked over timidly, hoping that she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself. She cleared her throat silently before speaking. “Mr. and Mrs. Draiman?” she asked.
The man and woman turned toward her. “Yes?” the man responded.
She let out a silent sigh of relief. “Hi. I’m Amanda, Malachai’s study buddy for Psychology”, she smiled brightly at them.
“Well, hello Amanda. I’m Brie Draiman, Malachai’s mother.” The woman extended her hand toward her.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am”, she said and shook the woman’s hand.
“And I’m David Draiman, Malachai’s father.” He extended his hand to her as well.
“Pleased to meet you too, sir.” She shook his hand. “May I sit with you for the concert?”
They exchanged a look and the woman signaled toward the seat next to her. “Feel free to sit with us, sweetie. Have you heard any of the music from the band?”
“Yes, Malachai has played some for me when we’d chat online”, she said as she sat next to Malachai’s mother. “He’s a really sweet guy, you’re son. But he’s not afraid to speak his mind, either.”
“Of course not”, David said, “he’s our son. I’m not one to keep my mouth shut on any subject for any reason, and neither is my wife. We made sure that we taught our children to show respect to those who are deserving and to speak their minds if they should feel the need.”
“That’s what Malachai has told me. He says, ‘My Dad taught me not to take shit from anyone and I don’t. I didn’t even take it from my biological father.’ I asked him how you came to be his Dad, and he said he’d rather not talk about it. He told me that if I wanted to know, I should ask the two of you.”
The man and woman laughed to each other. “You want me to tell the story, baby?” the woman asked her husband.
“You’ve always told it better than I do”, he said with a chuckle.
“I’m a massage therapist. I don’t know if Malachai told you that or not. Well, anyway, I was working a charity event where I donated massages. David here happened to be at the same event. I was taking a break to get some water and at the time I smoked so I was smoking a cigarette, and we spotted each other across the event grounds so he made his way over to where I was standing. He introduced himself and we got to talking. By the end of the day we were going on our first date. Not even a week later, we eloped to Vegas and got married. Because Malachai’s father has never really been there for him, his rights were stripped from him and David adopted him.”
“Wow. That’s a really cool story. I didn’t know all that. I guess the history books just assume that you two have always been together”, Amanda responded. “It’s really interesting to know how Metal’s power couple came to be.”
The couple exchanged a look. “Metal’s Power Couple?” they said in unison. They broke eye contact and David spoke again. “Who said we’re Metal’s Power Couple?”
“Rolling Stone. My mom is a total Disturbed One. She’s loved Disturbed since you guys got your start in 2000. She bought the issue that said that”
“God that was a lifetime ago”, David laughed. “Fuck I feel old now.”
“You’re not the only one, love”, Brie said with a smile.
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The curtain opened and the three of them paused their conversation. Jordan was standing with the microphone in her right hand, the fingers of her left hand wiggling to get a feel for the music, and he head bowed. All that could be seen was the top of her hear, which was all brown and blond curls. When David saw what Jordan was wearing, he nearly flew up out of his seat. The only thing that kept him in place was his wife’s arm in front of him. “David, no”, she said.
“And why shouldn’t I go up there and drag that girl off that stage?”
Brie looked up at the stage to where their daughter was about to perform. She wore black “hooker” boots- the tops of which were hidden under her jeans-, skin tight jeans, and a black corset with gold embroidery on the bodice. “Because I loaned her the corset for the show. She was helping my clean out the closet and spotted it. She asked if she could borrow it and I told her I didn’t mind. Now, you’re just going to have to chill out and remember that she may still be a minor, but she’s not a child anymore. She’s a young woman who’s come into her own. Settle back into your chair, honey and let’s watch the show. We’ve already missed the beginning of the first song.”
David took a deep breath and let it out slowly, settling back into his seat and wrapping his arm around Brie again. They looked up to the stage together and watched as their daughter sang one of the original songs she and the boys had written. “This song is going to be their ‘Down With the Sickness’, I think”, David whispered to Brie.
“I believe it. It’s something that people can relate to”, she said back. They sat back and nodded along to the music. The chorus was so catchy that Brie couldn’t help but sing along with her daughter.
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The last song of the set was one that Jordan had been dying to sing all night, but she knew that this song was better to end with than anything else. She’d begged her Dad to let her sing it, saying that it BEGGED to have a woman sing it. The intro came up, and Jordan started rocking out. Though she’d been throwing herself into every song they did that night, this one was where Jordan wanted to shine. She knew that she had to impress the man that wrote the song if she had any prayer of singing it again. Finally, she took a deep breath in and started singing. “No one knows just what has become of her, shattered doll, desperate, Oh so innocent and delicate, but too damn obdurate and obstinate to let him, Broken down hurt again, it never ends, Frightened and trembling, Did she fall again, an accident? Her eye’s encircled and black I can’t believe that she’s still with HIM,
“For how long will you try? How long until you walk away? You’re façade can’t disguise the fact that you’re in MISERY!” She poured her hear into the song she sang, using her body to convey what the song made her feel. ‘Remember may have been her favorite song, but ‘Façade’ was up there with it. She wanted to show her Dad just how much she enjoyed the song and what it meant to her.
“For how long will you deny? How long until you walk away? Your façade can’t disguise the fact that you’re in misery, For how long will you try? How long until you walk away? From the look in your eyes, I know you bleed internally!
“Broken down, hurt again, it never ends”. The song ended and she looked out over the crowd, her breathing coming in hard heavy pants. She was thankful that her mother didn’t cinch down the corset she wore to where she couldn’t breathe. As she stood on the stage and looked out over the crowd, something happened that she never expected. They got a standing ovation. There wasn’t a person in their seat and there hadn’t been from the moment they started. She’d used methods that her father had used on stage himself when she was a child and the crowd wasn’t participating the way he wanted it to. It had worked. She had a mosh pit by the time they were quarter of the way through their set. There was no better feeling that what she was feeling. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are Reckless Disregard and we hope you enjoyed the show. If not, oh fucking well. You shouldn’t have taken up space in my audience. We bid you all good night. Enjoy the rest of the fair and the bull shit talent that’s following us.” The boys all came to the front of the stage and took a bow with Jordan, and they left the stage.
When they came off stage, Jordan walked right into her father. “Jordan Hannah Draiman, you and I need to talk real fast before you go out and enjoy the rest of the fair yourself”, he said.
She looked at him. “Yes, sir? What have I done this time?”
“The next time you decide to surprise me with your wardrobe, DON’T. I was NOT a happy person when I saw what you were wearing. The only thing that saved you was your mother admitting that you asked to borrow it and she let you. I damn near came up and dragged you off the stage.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t want to give you a heart attack because of what I’m wearing. I just wanted to look the part of a rock star.”
David cleared his throat. “Well, you certainly managed that, but don’t surprise me with something like you wearing your mother’s corset again. At least warn me before you do something like this again so that I don’t try to come up and drag you off the stage. Understood?”
She sighed. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry. I’ll give you heads up next time I decide to do something like this.”
“Good, now, you guys get out there and spend a little time with your devoted public. Oh, Malachai, your ‘study buddy’ made it. She’s with your mother now.”
Malachai grimaced. “Oh, Dear GOD, I hope Mom hasn’t decided she wants to break out the baby pictures just yet. I haven’t even met the girl face to face yet.”
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