Hard Landing Ch. 01

I wish she'd have let me slick that back for her, I thought to myself. I so badly wanted to run my hands through that hair. Down girl! Instead I said, "What kind of crotchety place do you work where you can't have Megan Rapinoe hair?"

"The army. I've never heard of it described as crotchety before though, so that was worth the price of admission tonight."

"You're kidding? You're in the army?" I asked.

"Yeah. I have to report back from leave to Fort Bragg in three weeks. They frown on purple hair for reasons that escape me," she said, before taking a long drink from her beer.

"That's pretty cool. What do you do?" I asked.

She looked away. "I don't want to talk about the army tonight if it's ok. This is my first time back with the band in six months. I think of leave as the brief time I actually get to leave the army behind, if that makes any sense."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit a sore spot," I said.

"No worries, it's not a sore spot. This is just a break for me before I have to dive back in and it becomes my whole life again for a year or more." She held out her bottle and I clinked the neck of mine to hers.

"Fair enough. I have to say, I love this band, but you really take them to another level somehow. I'm sorry I've never seen you play with them before," I said.

"Yeah I miss these guys. I have a band I play with a little down at Bragg just to stay sharp. They aren't as quick on their feet, so I can't just throw a song at them and have them roll with it. We have to rehearse a whole set list so many times before we can play for an audience. With these guys we can run through a song once or twice and I feel we're ready to do it live. Sometimes there's a pick-up band at the FOB, but they're usually really awful. Plus, I never take any of my good guitars on deployment and the guitars people leave on the FOB are terrible. You have to re-tune every other song." She took a drink.

"FOB?" I asked, confused.

She grimaced. "Forward operating base. It's where I'm sometimes based in-country on a deployment if we aren't on a big airbase like Bagram or something." Laughing she said, "I guess I can't avoid shop talk even when I want to."

I tried to help her change the subject. "So how did you guys get so good together? And how do you read the crowd to know what song to play next? Sara said that was your thing."

"Oh, that's... flattering I guess," she said a bit sarcastically, "I bet Steve told her that, which is nice of him. No, I'm actually shit at reading people, much less crowds. Most of the time I just play what I'd want to hear next and fortunately, it seems to work out."

"It's working for me tonight," I said.

"Well... thanks," she said. I thought I might have seen her glance down at my legs.

"Anyhow, as to the other part of your question we play well together because of my mom. We all played one or three instruments growing up. If any of our friends played anything, mom either encouraged them to bring their instruments over or we kept extras around. Most nights after dinner, instead of TV there would be a jam session in the barn or out in the yard if it were nice weather. Mostly rock or pop songs. We'd just noodle around trying to find a good arrangement of whatever was popular on the radio that week. Whatever worked for us with whoever was at the house that night. Larry was one of Steve's best friends from the seventh grade and he basically became our house drummer from that year on. They've been playing together ever since. They met Suzanne in high school, and we started the Rotors when I was at Fort Hill and could make it up most weekends."

"What a great way to grow up. What does your mom play?" I asked her.

"Piano mainly," she said.

"I play piano!" I interrupted, thrilled to find a connection.

"Well, I should say played. She passed a while back." The pain I'd seen on stage flickered across her face again, but was gone just as quickly.

"I'm sorry, it sounds like she was amazing," I said quietly.

"It's ok. I mean I miss her, but it's been a long time. Also, I don't know anyone as close to her brother as I am to Steve, and it's all because of mom and our music. We've been playing together since we were old enough to hold guitars."

I pointed back at her shirt. "I like how you snuck in a song from the Captain Marvel movie in your set. Garbage really works for Suzanne's voice."

"I've actually seemed to end up doing at least one song from that soundtrack every show I've played since the movie came out. For a long time, my dad wouldn't play after mom passed, so Steve got me into comics as a way for him to have something to talk about with his big sis besides music. Carol Danvers was kind of a role model for me in high school, and especially when I went into the army. Although I almost dropped her from my pull list when she got all Big Brother-y during the Civil War run. I liked Larson's take on the character though."

My heart beat a little faster listening to her talk. None of my ex-girlfriends and only a couple of ex-boyfriends had been into comics and nerd stuff as much as I was. I'd actually had a relationship end because of a dumb dude I'd dated who had called me ridiculous looking the first time I tried on a cosplay I was working on for him. We hadn't dated much longer after that.

I imagined walking into my comic shop with her, holding hands, picking through the new releases then snuggling on the couch on a rainy Saturday, trading our favorites back and forth. Get a grip Jill, you've known her for like half a minute.

"I loved the music in that movie. You could play the entire track list tonight and I'd be happy."

She smiled at me. "Well, I usually limit myself to one per show, but I'll see if I can squeeze in another for you in the last set. No promises. I never seem to know what I want to play until Layla's in my hands. If you want Salt-n-Peppa or TLC you're out of luck though. They aren't really my jam."

"Layla?" I asked.

"Yeah, she used to be my dad's.," she said, jerking her head back to the stage where her black Telecaster was sitting in its guitar stand. "She's a '75. He gave her to me around the time my mom passed. She's named after the Clapton song, Layla. You know, 'Layla won't you ease my worried mind.' She's been my baby ever since then. Anyhow, I'll see what pops in my head for you this set." The rest of the band started to drift back to the side of the stage.

"Cool, thanks. You going to be singing any of them for me?" I asked.

Her eyes went cold. "I don't sing. It's not my thing."

"Uh, okay. Sorry," I said, taken aback at the instant change in her attitude. I had clearly just hit a nerve.

"It's fine, I just don't sing. Anyhow, it's nice to meet you Doran. I'll make sure and get you another Captain Marvel song tonight. Looking forward to having you on the bus." She sprang up the stairs, picked up her guitar and started fiddling with the tuning, her back to me.

As Sara and I headed around to the front of the stage, I was looking down, lost in thought. "What's wrong J?" Sara asked me.

"I thought Jo and I were having a good conversation, then I asked if she'd be singing anything tonight and she just shut down on me. She called me 'Doran' and left."

"Shoot, I guess I should have warned you about that. Steve told me to not ask her about singing. I don't know why, but it's some kind of really sore subject with her. Also, don't take the last name the wrong way. She calls most people by their last name. I think it's an army thing. I mean, I've met her like six or seven times and she still calls me 'Johns'."

"Hmm, okay. Do you know what she does in the army? She didn't want to talk about it. I mean, not like the singing thing, she just said when she's on leave she wants to leave it behind," I said.

"She's a helicopter pilot. Her whole family flies. Steve and her dad own Collins Aviation, I though you knew that," Sara said.

"Really? That's why The Rotors? I had no idea, that's great!' I laughed. "What a sweet story, their mom used to have them all play music as a family and now they have a band together named after the family business!"

Sara did a double take. "Wait, she brought up her mom in the ten minutes you guys were talking? Damn J, she never, I mean... Steve said she never talks about her mom to anyone." She looked over her shoulder at Jo on stage tuning up, then back at me. "Listen Jill, she doesn't usually open up to people. Steve said she can also be a bit of a player. I mean, she's a good person, but she's kinda crap at relationships. Be careful. She could really hurt you."

"Sara, c'mon we just met. We were just talking about comics and music. I'm looking forward to getting to know her, but cool your jets. I already said I'm not looking for a relationship right now. Nothing serious anyway," I said.

Sara looked like she wanted to say more, but just then Steve called out from the mic and they were starting the second set. The band looked over at Jo, who kicked one of her pedals, then she started the staccato intro to No Doubt's I'm Just A Girl. Jo looked out into the audience and caught my eyes with a grin as the rest of the band joined in. Then started she nodding her head to the beat, the bill of her Rotors cap keeping perfect time.

The crowd was pumped. Suzanne was doing her best little-girl Gwen Stefani voice. Steve was thrashing the chords on his Les Paul and bouncing on his toes. Larry even used a drumstick to flick his rarely used microphone around in front of his face so he could join in on the chorus of, "O-o-o-o-o-o-h!"

It was pretty obvious to me why they were so much better with Jo. It had nothing to do with not having a set list, or staying on their toes. They weren't a band that had a long-lost member rejoin them for a reunion show. They were a family, playing together. It melted my heart and made it ache at the same time. The feelings they were sharing on stage was something that had been missing from my life for a long time.

Jo was watching Suzanne sing the bridge, then slowly stepped on a pedal to crescendo her volume up to contrast with the descending notes of her chords and then slammed into the chorus like she was playing a contact sport. She looked out and caught my eye one more time, mouthing the words, "I'm just a girl!" along with Suzanne and winked at me.

Oh shit, I thought, Sara has no idea how right she is.

This woman could hurt me bad.

To Be Continued...