Michael or Mac Ep. 03

It's past four when I get back into the SUV and make my way home. I messaged Emma about what Mitch had said, and she found it very funny. She remembers the brothers from school, but only because they played in the school band and kept getting in trouble.

"Hi Paps, what we got planned for dinner tonight?"

"Seems your out again tonight. I guess it's take-out? I really could go a Chinese tonight." He says, licking his lips.

"Sounds good to me. Do you want to order?" It is a mute question; Paps always enjoys ordering.

"Yeah, I guess," He says, trying to hide his enthusiasm. "Hey, what's this about Emma coming with you next weekend?"

"Christ, where do you get all your information from?"

"Oh, Kim told me when I rang earlier, seeing if you had left for the club yet." Paps is looking a little uncomfortable. He has always trusted me and doesn't like being caught checking up.

"Yes, Emma is coming with me next weekend. I thought it would give us some time together and give me some company on the drive down."

"Well, it sets my mind at rest to know you have company. Will you both be going next door for dinner?"

"Yes, I think so. Of course, we don't want to upset the neighbors now, do we?"

"That's my boy. What time you out tonight?"

"Should leave around eight and back at one-thirty, two, so don't wait up."

"Didn't plan too anyway." He says, picking up the phone and the Chinese menu.

I take this as my cue to run upstairs to work out what to wear. Tonight is one of the rare times that what I wear counts. So I settled for a pair of jeans and my Foo Fighters tour t-shirt, and my Converse boots.

With the significant decision of the night made, I kick back and message Emma. She's already over at Mia's house and, by the sounds of it, having a great time. The way she's talking, a man's life is so much easier when it comes to getting ready to go out.

The take-out was its usual fantastic melt-in-the-mouth quality, and before I know it, I've showered and got ready to leave for the Tavern Nightclub.

As I walk out of the kitchen door, there's a flash of lightning off to the north. "See you later Paps, looks like someone is getting a storm."

"Yeah, be safe, "Paps replies.

As I drive out of the garage, I can see the dark clouds towards Charlotte. I'm pleased to see they aren't in the direction I am headed and shouldn't affect the crowd tonight.

One of the doormen opens the gate for me when I get there. I'm a little concerned the band's van or Mitch's car isn't in the car park. So I lock up the SUV and walk around the front. Walking in, I am given two wrist bands, red and blue. The blue says I am not old enough for liquor, and the red tells the staff I am a band member. A waitress escorts me to the VIP area, up some stairs on a raised platform above a seating area. I order my drinks straight away. My poison tonight is coke, and I also ordered some bottles of water for the stage.

The club is still a little quiet, so I take the bottles of water down to the stage and put them next to my keyboards. I quickly check everything is still in place and turn everything on to make sure nothing blows. I then head back up to the band's table and sit. My nerves have started to kick in, and none of the band has arrived yet, making them worse.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, but it's too noisy to answer, so I head to the toilets. "Hey Matt, where are you?"

"Sorry, Mac, there's been a massive pileup on the freeway. We're all fine, but the van got rear-ended, and Mitch's heap is no more."

"So, when do you think you'll get here?"

"Christ, mate, we are waiting on the highway patrol. Unfortunately, there have been some fatalities. We should be there for the last set at worst."

"Oh fuck, so what am I meant to do?"

"I don't know, Mac. I'm sure you'll think of something. Can you let the boss know what's happened?"

"Yeah, try to get here as quick as you can, okay?"

"Got to go, Mac. We need to get out of the way of the fire trucks." I hear the sirens in the background and a lot of shouting.

The line goes dead, and I take a deep breath to steady my nerves. I head up to the boss's office, but he's not there. My phone buzzes again, and I check it. It's Emma telling me she's outside.

I head to the front door and go and see the head doorman. There's quite a queue outside, and they're lucky the rain has stayed away.

Hey Mac, where are your bandmates? Boss is getting jittery." He says, looking at the expanding crowd.

"They're caught up in a pileup on the freeway. Might have to do the first set solo."

"Oh shit, man, nobody hurt, I hope."

"None of the band are, but there are a couple dead, and the police have shut the road. So that's why they're not here yet."

"Fucking sucks, man, so where's your girlfriend?" I point to the three girls looking a little lost about fifty yards away. He rolls his eyes when he sees Donna. "She's always getting turned away. Seems a shame to break a tradition." He laughs, "please tell me she's not your girlfriend?"

"Nah, she's my next-door neighbor. The beauty to her right is my girlfriend."

"Very nice, Mac. You have fine taste, my man." He whistles at the girls to get their attention. Emma's eyes light up when she sees me. The doorman waves them over and ushers them through. As we go in, we get a couple of comments from the guys at the front, and I hear my name shouted by a couple of schoolmates who were at Emma's party.

"So, where's the rest of the band," Emma asks as we are escorted to the band's table in the VIP section.

The owner of the club interrupts her before I can answer. "Mac, is that right? The band is involved in the freeway pileup?"

"Yeah, Boss, what do you want to do?" I look at Emma's shocked face as I answer.

"I hate to let this lot down. Can you fill in?"

"I can, but I've never done anything like this before," I say, getting a little panicked.

"You'll be fine, son," and with that, the owner slaps me on the back and disappears down the stairs.

I look at the three startled ladies looking at me. "Does anyone want a drink?" All three beam at me, and I call the waitress over to get their orders.

The club is getting packed, and the DJ has the place pumping. I look at my watch, and I have five minutes before I am on. My hands are sweating, and I feel nervous. Emma has tried her best to calm me, but it's hasn't helped.

Donna walks over, "hey Mac, would you mind if I record you for my Tic Tok account, or I could go on Facebook Live." Donna's eyes go wide at the prospect.

"That's fine, Donna," I say, not listening or thinking I could be going outlive.

I get up and kiss Emma as I make my way towards the stage. My heart is beating at quite a rate, and my hands are shaking uncontrollably. I take a swig of water and breathe deeply to calm my nerves. I strap my guitar on and try to go through in my head what I will do. Unfortunately, I can't do most of the playlist because I'm not prepared to do half the songs solo, and my mind has gone blank.

The DJ turns the music down and introduces the band. There's a couple of cheers, then the realization that's there's only me on the stage. So it's quiet for a second.

I step up to my mic, "Ummm, hi." I say awkwardly.

"Where's Charlottes Web," someone shouts from the back.

I take another deep breath, "The other members of the band have got caught up in a large pileup on the freeway and won't be here until the second set. So you've got me for the first half."

I hear a collective groan and a different person shouts, "we want Charlottes Webb."

My mind is still blank as I try to think about what to do. I close my eyes as a voice breaks through the crowd noise. A voice I know so well shouts, "I love you, Mac. You can do this." I glance up to my right, and Emma stands there smiling. At that moment, I can see the love and confidence she has in me, and as if a lightbulb switches on in my mind, I press the loop peddle and play the opening notes to Metallica's 'one.' The club goes silent as the clear cords of the first rift echos out. I hit the peddle and allow the first part to loop. I set the keyboard ready to play the beat and baseline. I see it pick up the loop and count itself in. As the first loop finishes, I start to play over the top with the first melody.

I look up at Emma, and she has her eyes closed, listening. Then I look out at the crowd and the amazed faces looking back at me. I close my eyes and start to lose myself in the music.

Before I know, it's time to sing,

'I can't remember anything,'

'Can't tell if this is true or dream'

'Deep down inside I feel the scream'

'This terrible silence stops in me......'

I know this is a club favorite, and I've heard about many bands that have crashed and burned trying to play it here. But, it builds so well, and I learned to play it years ago when I was going through some dark times.

I get to the instrumental break in the song, and my mind drifts to what I will play to follow this song. The clientele here is a mix of ages from eighteen to forty-five. So most eras of music will go down well.

I have to focus because I am on my own I have to use my multiple peddle that gives the elution of more than one guitar playing the same part. Halfway through, this song gets heavy. I start the last half and really go for it. The guitar starts to pulsate in my hand as I attack the strings with passion. I begin to sing again.....

'Darkness imprisoning me'

'All that I see'

'Absolute horror'

'I cannot live'

'I cannot die'

'Trapped in myself.....'

This song holds so much meaning at the time I taught myself to play it. I look out, and I see a sea of heads jumping up and down, going crazy. I glance up at Emma, and she and Mia are jumping and dancing together. Donna, I guess, is still filming, but her face is pure joy. I'm getting into this and during the instrumental parts where I can jump around, but I'm aware that the most challenging part of the song has yet to come. I go into the guitar solo, and I hear a cheer from the room. The solo marks the beginning of the end. I always have problems replicating the sheer velocity of the end of this song on my own, so I start to blend the next piece I have in mind.

I hear screams and applause as the realization of what I am doing hits the audience. The rhythm guitar of the beginning of Learn To Fly echo's around the room. The room is still bouncing, and a huge grin comes across my face. I am enjoying myself so much now. Everything comes from muscle memory and repetition. There is no thought as I start to sing again.

'Run and tell all of the angels'

'This could take all night......'

I remember seeing this on MTV and didn't realize it was the Foo Fighters until I saw a young Dave Grahl in the video. It is such a lively tune to play but relatively simple with the drums pre-recorded on my beatbox and keyboards.

I get to the end and pause as the crowd applauds, and I get my breath. It's a lot harder doing everything yourself.

"Thank you, thank you so much," I say.

"Brown Eyed Girl," I hear Emma shout. She gets a couple of yeahs from the audience.

"Okay, Brown Eyed Girl for my Brown-eyed girl."

I am a little worried about the change of pace, but the crowd stays dancing, and I relax a little and smile up at Emma, who has now disappeared. I spot her and Mia now on the dancefloor, shaking their thing. I'm unsure if any of the regular songs I play for Emma and Donna will go down well, but I blend into Echo Beach, and the dance floor seems to get even more crowded.

I move closer to the present day with some Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, although I am not a fan of K-Pop. I even put some sampled BTS in, with a bit of twist. I played around with this song for a couple of weeks, and it was still on my synth.

Before I know it, I'm forty-five minutes in and playing a couple of dance tracks. Halfway through, I see Mitch and the guys walk in. They wave as they make their way up the stairs. Emma and Mia are still dancing and surrounded by guys trying to get their attention. They ignore them, choosing to dance with each other.

I decided to play the last two songs from the original playlist and effortlessly blend into Sweet Child O'Mine, followed by Losing my Religion. Another song from my parent's playlist. I glance up and see Donna talking to Mitch and pointing to Mia and Emma.

Looking towards the DJ Boothe, I see him looking at me, and I nod to him, indicating this will be the last song. He smiles and puts his thumbs up in the most uncool way ever. Again, I smile and nod at him. As I get near the end, I announce the band is here for the second set between lyrics and thank everyone for being so great for the first half. The DJ then cuts in and thanks me for doing a great job before he goes into his regular patter and starts playing.

I put the guitar back on its stand and drink an entire bottle of water. I hadn't realized how much I was sweating--making my way back up to the band's table. On the way, I get pats on the back and more hugs than I can remember as I make my way through the crowd.

"Your late," I shout at the guys and get four grins back.

"Sorry, Mac, but you seem to have rocked it without us."

"Rocked it? You should have seen him play Metallica's One," Donna says.

"Really? Sorry I missed that." Matthew shouts.

"Oh, you can see it on Youtube if you want; I streamed it live."

Emma walks up behind me and puts her arms around my waist, but let's go as soon as she feels how wet I am. "Guys, I see you met Donna, and you all know Emma and Mia from middle school." Emma walks around me and grabs my hand.

She says hi to the guys and then turns to me, "Mac, you were so good up there. I felt all the hairs on my body stand up when you played 'One'; it was incredible. Mia was nodding her head in agreement. "Baby, will we get a chance to dance in a bit?"

I look at her, roll my eyes, and nod. "Let me get a drink first. Do you want one?" She smiles and goes and sits next to Mia, who is now talking to Isaac and Mitch.

I get the waitress's attention and order the same round as earlier and an extra couple of water bottles. The guys had just got one, so I leave it at that. I sit down next to Emma, and she leans against my arm. I catch Matthew looking at us with a knowing look. When he sees me watching him, he nods his approval, and I pull a face back at him. Emma catches this and gives me a peck on the lips.

Once the drinks have been drunk, Emma grabs my hand and drags me towards the dancefloor. Mia is still in conversation with Isaac, and Donna has latched onto Mitch. We dance away, occasionally getting someone who notices me or calls Emma, but as we feel the music pulse through our bodies, our focus is on just one thing, each other. Our bodies are in unison as we feel an invisible bond joins us.

The hour between sets goes way too fast, and before I know it, Matthew is tapping me on the shoulder as it's time to get on stage. I turn to Emma and ask her to get my bottles of water.

I get up on stage, and Mitch comes over, "Donna says her live Youtube show went crazy."

"What does she call crazy, two hundred views?"

"Nah, Mac, once word got out, it went into the thousands. So she's going live again with the band. There are already over twenty-six thousand people waiting for the show to start."

My eyes went wide, and I nodded at him. "That's a lot of people."

"Well, apparently, that's just people on her channel. Many people open their site to it as well, so it could be ten times that."

"We better put a good show on then." Mitch laughs as he walks over to where his guitar is on its stand.

"Hey Mac," Emma calls from the front of the stage. I kneel to accept the two bottles of water from her.

"Thanks, Em," I say and then lean forward and kiss her. Her arms wrap around my neck, and it turns into a longer kiss than I had anticipated. As she pulls back, Emma has the most satisfied smile on her face. "Marking your territory, are you, Em?"

"Something like that baby, good luck and break a leg." I look at her and smile. "That's what I'm meant to say, isn't it?"

"You can say whatever you like, and it will always be cute." With that, I stand and take the bottles over to the table next to my keyboards.

The second set goes by without worry, and I am quietly pleased not to be out front again. Although it gave me an intense high, I felt pretty exhausted once the euphoria had worn off. Although I do a couple of songs on vocals, it's so calming having the bandmates there to back you up.

The drive home is anything but quiet. Emma is buzzing and is so cute when she's excited. She and Mia danced again right through our second set, and Donna managed to set her camera up so she could join in and have some fun as well.

The porch light was on when we got to Emma's house. She undoes her belt and then does a reverse and park maneuver ending with her sitting on my lap. "Thanks for tonight baby, it was such a good night."

"It was great, and I don't usually have so much fun myself." I pull Emma in for a kiss, and she just seems to melt in my arms.

I break the kiss this time, "You better get in before your mom sends a search party."

"Just a little longer Mac," Emma pleads.

"Em, remember we need to show we are responsible enough to go to the beach house alone. Plus, we have the house to ourselves all week for this."

Emma sighs, "you're right, but it doesn't make it any easier to leave. I don't want this night to end." She is giving me such a sexy pout.

Reluctantly Emma shuffles off of my lap and gets out the passenger side of the SUV. I jump out and help her step down and safely to the front door.

"You're such a gentleman," She says as we reach to the top step of the porch and pause. "What time are you over tomorrow to pick me up?"

"Around twelve, I have to be registered to drive on the track by One." She gives me one last kiss before unlocking the front door and slipping inside.

******

Sunday, as forecast, is a total contrast to Saturday. The sun is shining, and there is no sign of the rain that fell most of Saturday. I'm out of bed and downstairs by ten, and Paps is already out. On the last Sunday of every month, he goes to tend Grammy's grave. He's doing it today because he will be away next weekend.

I sit quietly, eating my jam toast and drinking my coffee. Paps is usually home before eleven, so hopefully, he will be here to help me uncover and take the tailpipe muffler off of mum's car. We put a noise muffler on the twin exhausts to allow us to start her up in the garage without too much noise or a carbon monoxide build-up.

"Hello, Mac, are you still taking the Lambo down to the track today?" Paps asks as he walks in the back door.

"Yeah, are you okay to help me get her ready to go?"

"You know your mother called that car male, says it makes too much noise to be a lady."

I laugh at the memory of Ma explaining that to dad when she took him out in it for the first time. Dad was a typical man and considered all cars female. "Yes, Paps, I remember Ma correcting Dad and making sure he understood before she took him out in it."

"Yep, that sounds about right. So what time do you head out?"

"I said I would pick Emma up at around twelve."

"Cutting it a bit fine for registration, aren't we?" Paps says as he checks his watch and then goes over to the pot of made coffee.

"Yeah, but we both had a late night, and I need my beauty sleep. Anyway, I'll phone just before I leave."

"How did the concert go last night, by the way?" Paps asks as he parks himself.

"Good, well, I had to do the first half solo, but it seemed to have gone down well," I say, getting up and placing my plate in the dishwasher.

"What happened to the boys?" Paps asks, putting his paper back down.