Sad Son Pt. 04

Lauren's excited, "That's great, you can stick it to them for a bunch of money."

I'm amazed at her attitude, "I haven't told my sisters yet. I'm not going to do anything. It was an accident, and they did save me from those assholes. It doesn't feel right to make them pay for doing something decent."

Lauren slowly shakes her head back and forth, "Wow. You have a chance to make millions, and you toss it away because it's not the right thing to do. I see your point, though. I think most people still only focus on the money grab."

I chuckle, "Well, I'm certainly not like most people."

Lauren laughs, "No. You most certainly aren't. I like that about you. You're a good man Hal."

Lauren asks me a few minutes later, "What do you want for dinner tonight? There's no way Jeremy stops at 5:00. I typically pick him up a sub sandwich."

I inquire, "When I was a small boy, my dad took me to Dr. Jay's. Is that place still open?"

Lauren laughs at me, "Of course. That place is amazing."

I place my order, "Club sandwich, potato salad, and a medium soda. Nothing diet, that stuff gives me headaches. I'm sensitive to the fake sweeteners."

We're pulling up to a nice-looking office building.

Lauren says, "Number twelve with potato salad and a soda, check. That's an excellent choice. Go through the front door, and they're on the right side. It's called J&W Recording Studio. I'll be back. Have fun!"

I walk into the building, and the receptionist takes me back into the suite. The entire place has a few offices, a conference room, and two small studios. With the sound-proof walls, it sounds odd in here. I say, "Thank you," before closing the door and watching Lauren back her way out.

Jeremy is finishing with the vocalist from the festival. I sit silently in the booth for twenty minutes while they finish up.

As soon as she finishes, she leaves, or so I thought.

There is no, "Hi, how are you doing," Jeremy starts with, "I have known musicians that have had finger issues. I want you to do a scale up and down slowly. Each time, I want you to go faster. Here, in the studio, we don't use an amplifier. You're used to a guitar and the amplifier; this is different. Use these headphones to hear the perfect sound of a guitar.

"I need you to get used to not having an amp and use the headphones. Once you hit your max speed, you can stop. On the viewer here, I will show you music, or in some cases, parts of a song. I want you to play it five times, resting for a minute in between. The first two times, you're learning the music. The next three, we get to see what you can do."

He finally breathes.

Jeremy continues, "There are all kinds of projects I'm working on. I want to see how you sound digitally. None of this is hard; you should have no problem. I will tell you when to use your Tardis devices. I will suggest a setting, but feel free to adjust according to your ear."

I notice the singer is still in the room with him. She's interested to hear me for some reason. I don't care. I take twenty minutes to do the scales. I don't just do six-string plucks and back. I use all the frets to warm up my arm, moving up and down the neck. True, nothing is wrong with my arm. It didn't get injured. It is weak from not moving my hands much for eight weeks while I had casts on.

I can tell that at my fastest, I missed notes. Something that wouldn't usually have happened.

I start playing the music. It's all over the place in styles, speeds, and tempo. I do the first three runs precisely as written. The fourth and fifth time, I fixed the music. No, fix isn't the right word. In the flow of the music, some notes are out of place. I change them to improve the flow. On my own, I use Casey's gizmos to tweak the sound.

It's funny; Jeremy never suggested when to use a device or what setting to use. None of the music was too fast or too difficult. It did test me. I made mistakes, but I then did it again correctly. I want him to have five good versions.

Why five versions? Each time is slightly different. By the fifth time, I know the notes, and it flows better. I can bring out the emotions better. Often, I fix the notes as well. Only a few needed fixing; for the most part, the music is clean.

They flash the studio lights. I exit my zone I was in and notice that Lauren is back. Dinner time. The vocalist's name is Heidi. She's quiet and lets Jeremy talk. All through dinner, he's asking questions. He wants to know about my fingers, my speed on some songs, when and why I used the special effects, why I made the changes, and 1000 other questions. How did he even eat?

Both Heidi and Lauren seem excited and are laughing at Jeremy. He is laser-focused on music. He asked many questions about using the headphones. I had no problems adjusting; it seems that isn't typical. He can't believe I could be as comfortable as I am.

Finally, I put my foot down, "JEREMY! Stop it!"

He is shocked at my outburst and shakes his head.

I plead my case, "I played an acoustic guitar for years. I don't NEED an amp to enjoy the sound. I like these headphones; the sound is awesome. I hear the notes better. The amp distorts the music; this is cool. Really. Finish your dinner; we have a lot to do still."

Both Lauren and Heidi laugh their asses off at the look Jeremy gave me.

We stay at the studio until 11:00, when Lauren shuts us down. I get hugs from everyone. Lauren takes Heidi home, and Jeremy takes me home.

Jeremy tells me on the way home, "You can make good money in the studio. However, a band, albums, and concerts are where the huge money is. It comes at a cost. You make lots of money, but you have no private life. You can't trust any woman or man, and everyone wants to suck your bank account dry.

"I'm working on many albums, as you saw today. I think Heidi is special. If you want a band career, her coattails are long."

I laugh at him, "She can ride on mine."

We both chuckle.

As I walk up to the house, I wave goodbye. All the lights are on in the house.

As soon as I walk in the door, "Where the fuck have you been?" from Andrea.

She's already standing. Probably got up at hearing the car. None of them are happy with me. My guitar case is in hand. What did they think I was doing? Why does it matter? I'm tired and not in the mood for this.

I fire back, "I told you I was going out and would be back home. What? It's before midnight. Do I have a curfew?"

I look at all of them, "Why do you care? I would have been alone in my room tonight. Since my casts came off, you've been doing your own thing. I get it; taking care of me sucked. I know you all hated losing sleep, doing extra work, losing days off, and doing everything for me. I understand; you need time away from me."

Emma wants to interrupt.

I am cross, "Just wait. Let me explain. Jeremy called, Lauren picked me up, and I played bits of music all afternoon and evening. Casey, both Tardis devices are awesome. The sounds I can do are just crazy. I don't know what today was. It may have been a practice, a try-out, or I may have helped make a song for someone else. All I know is that he showed me music, and I played it five times."

Becky speaks, "He sent over a recording contract to my office. We have never reviewed one, so all the partners discussed the contract. It was an interesting afternoon. He told us to expect more artists to come our way. Technically, you are under contract; however, it's not binding. It allows you to work for him and get paid the going rate for your skills. You also get a tiny portion of the revenues if certain conditions are met."

I stand emotionless, saying, "I'm a professional musician now? Wow, I probably did work on thirty or forty songs today. That was Jeremy dropping me off. Lauren dropped off Heidi, the vocalist from the festival. He worked with her for about twenty minutes before I started, and then she and Lauren stayed all night listening to me work."

Donna asks, "So. Did you have fun?"

I give a small smile, "He had me warm up with increasing speed. My hands still aren't fully healed. I can't yet play like I did before. But I did play a bunch of slower music in a wide range of genres. He had me play everything five times. By the fourth time, I could spot mistakes on the flow of the music and fix them on the last take."

I look at Casey, "Jeremy was going to tell me when to use your devices. I seemed to know exactly when they were needed. He never had me try other settings. I expected more of that from him. Those things are going to be hot. I would start looking for a manufacturing company."

I'm embarrassed asking the next question.

Looking shyly at my family, "Why did Lauren and Heidi stay tonight? I don't understand that. They never said a word. Lauren said Heidi was a Lesbian."

Faith is frustrated with me, "You're a friend of Lauren and Jeremy; why didn't you go home with Lauren?"

Gail helps, "People aren't black and white. A lesbian may like a man occasionally, often, or never. She may like you as a friend as well. You don't sleep with every friend you have, right?"

I softly say, with a yawn, "I see your point. Thanks."

Andrea is forceful, "You. To bed. I am NOT carrying your body upstairs. It's going to snow tonight. You're back to being our official snow shoveler. I hated shoveling snow."

I snip, "No kidding. You all have more muscles than me. It's no fun, is it? You had seven sisters helping and trading off. I do it all by myself, with nobody taking turns. Whining does no good with me."

I walk upstairs, leaving Andrea speechless.

******

The following two days are more of the same for me. The only difference is shoveling snow twice and only staying up until 10:00 at night.

Friday was a lot different. He wants to see the songs that I wrote about my sisters. At dinner, I had told them what I got my sisters for Christmas. Heidi is there. She sings the songs and somehow knows what notes to use. That becomes the basis for the music. Jeremy then shows me how the different instruments support the song.

For my songs, we use a piano to support the vocals. My guitar fills in to add interest and support the deeper or more important words. Jeremy will find a bass guitar player and a drummer to add in the other parts. Everything is combined in layers to get a finished product.

After dinner, Heidi starts in on me, "Hal. You're wrong on the vocals. You only want one voice."

I offer my thoughts, "I see each sister in my head. They each are different in how they talk, their volume, and the power behind the voice. I need seven distinct voices."

Heidi laughs at me, "Oh, you're funny. You hear the voices because you know the people. You hear your sisters singing the song. Your point of view is wrong, though. Your sisters aren't singing the songs; you are singing the songs to them. They won't describe themselves. You have a common viewpoint. It's through your eyes."

She takes my hand, "This has the potential to do well. My voice will help the album by doing all the voices. I'm not fond of your endings, though. We need something upbeat. You start off sad, then there's a growing excitement as you describe your family. You need a bang to bring it together. I love each song because of the range in emotions and the funny stories. You have something here. You need a story about the woman you love."

Yikes. Houston, we have a problem!

I am sad as I explain, "Why do you think I sing write songs about my family? Nobody else wants me. There is a special woman at school. However, while looking at me, she dropped one boyfriend, looked me over, and then selected another boy who is now in jail. Girls at school want me because I can play guitar. Nobody wants me for me."

Heidi is suddenly excited, "That's it! That's it! 'Nobody loves me for me.' That's the title of the song and the first line. The first stanza is poor me. Second is, I met a girl. The third is I fell in love. It ends with sharing the love of your children. Obviously, it's more than that, but that's the outline of a killer song. I LOVE it."

Lauren is excited now, "Damn! YES! That works! I want to hear that album! Jeremy, finish it now!"

Jeremy laughs, "Oh sure, I'll just pull a top ten song out of my ass. Yup, I do that every Friday. I agree; I like the idea. I like where Heidi has taken this. Hal can't write that song. He can't relate to it. Heidi, you have a handle on the concept, give it a try. I'll give you all weekend and then meet you back here on Tuesday."

Jeremy looks at Heidi and holds her hand, "You're up again. I want you to sing each of the sister songs. I want them all to be different as if seven different split personalities were singing them."

Jeremy looks at me, "I want you in the other booth recording whatever you play as she sings. Let's see if her voice inspires you."

Lauren looks at me and bites her lips. She knows something. She has a wicked smile on her face.

The recordings go amazingly easy. Heidi already knew what she wanted to do, and it took almost no retakes. This never happens in a studio. This was magic. We have plenty of time left. Lauren comes running out to us. This isn't going to end well for me I'm afraid.

Lauren has Jeremy come out with us in the recording area.

Lauren excitedly says, "I spent the last hour replaying the recording of Hal's Christmas present."

We look at her like she's lost her mind. We just did that.

She laughs at us, "No. No. Noooo. I mean the parts that Hal and his sisters made up on the spot. They're so bad; they're hilarious. I want to sing with Heidi. Hal, I want a simple beat that flows with us. Nothing too much; let our voices through. When we pause, throw in some flair. Heidi will sing, and I will do the chorus and harmonize at times."

I look at her skeptically, "You? Sing?"

"Hal," Jeremy laughs, "Um. She has a gorgeous voice. She hates to sing, though. If she wants to, I have no problem at all."

Lauren snickers, "I wrote the last one myself."

It took far longer than it should have to record this. If it wasn't Lauren, then it was Heidi laughing their asses off. They called this mess 'The Jilted Lovers Nursery Rhyme.' I hate calling that crap a song. Because I know the words so well, it was easy to freestyle a simple melody to go with it. The simple sound worked perfectly with the short "songs."

In the end, I see the words on the page. I got to hand it to her; she has style. This is her song:

"The bitch lost her 'better' man to jail.

I'd say that was a mighty big fail.

We now tease the bitch with our sarcasms.

Because he provides us with plenty of orgasms.

She's missing out; I guess it's because of her epic fail."

Yes, it was just as terrible as my stuff was. The last three lines, they both sang the lines with as sexy and breathy a voice as I've ever heard. If this gets out, men will be wanking to this song.

Jeremy comes out of the control room. I can see he's been crying. Probably laughing too hard. He high fives each of us.

Jeremy is excited, "Come on back to the control room. You have GOT to listen to this. Dude, the music was perfect! I mean, like wow. Exactly what I would have wanted if I knew what I wanted. The dueling guitar sound was perfect for that. Tomorrow, I'll slap it up on Apple and a few other places. I will have my marketing people hype it up. That crazy thing is going to go viral. I would bet anything on that."

He pushes some buttons, types madly on the keyboard, and then several mouse clicks.

A still very animated Jeremy says, "Actually. I just uploaded it. I sent you all a link. Share it with all your friends and family. We make money on every download. OK! You are all done. I need to find myself a bass guitar player and a drummer. Ok, I know who they are; I just don't know which ones are free right now. Go home, kids!"

I never got a word in on the way home. Lauren and Heidi are wired for excitement. I say goodnight and walk into the house. I had to unlock the door; nobody was home. I forwarded the email to my sisters and then went to sleep.

*****

I am jilted awake by an orangutan jumping on my body. I feel like Loki is being beaten up by The Hulk in the comic book movie. After I get my bearings, I realize that it's Gail. She excited. She's trying to talk, but nothing coherent is coming out. I look at my clock, and it's 2:36 AM. Why am I awake?

My words are simple, "Stay. Calm down. I need to pee. Wait until I get back."

She follows me into the washroom and is babbling about something. As we're walking back to my bed, I catch a word, "song." OK, now I understand.

Gail finally pauses, takes a deep breath, and then says one word, "Explain."

At this time in the morning?

I sigh and then explain calmly, "We finished early today. Heidi wanted to try my songs from Christmas and loved them. We recorded them all with some music in less than an hour. Easiest recording session ever. Lauren came out, and she transcribed the Christmas songs that all of us came up with on Christmas Day. You know, the stupid ones. They're so bad; they all laughed their asses off. Lauren wants to sing them with Heidi. Yes, that was Lauren. I know, the girl can sing. Lauren then pens the last part, and as you know, the two of them sang it."

Gail screams, "At first, I laughed my ass off. Then it hits you as to how much pain you went through. I was in tears. Then the last part is played. I'm ecstatic for you, and then it turns sexual. I NEED TO FUCK."

In a split second, she is naked. She gets on her hands and knees. How did she do that?

I start to ask, "Do you need me to ...."

Like a slut in heat, she looks over her shoulder at me and says with a commanding voice, "You have three seconds to start fucking me, or I'll ...." Her voice trailed off into grunts.

This is an easy decision. I love my stunning sister. I quickly get behind her and begin pounding away. You know my plan. I go slow, have fun, maybe grab a breast, let her do the talking, and then I build-up for the ending.

Not a chance in hell tonight. Gail is pushing back into me to meet my thrusts. She has needs, and I am the only one to meet those needs. I love her body. She has a long sexual body with plenty of curves. Her back is curved with her breasts hanging down some. Even in this position, they mostly cling to her tight body. I can see the muscles flex in her back as she slams into me and pulls away.

She's screaming and laughing from the fun. When she gets like this, energy ripples through her body, making her capable of just about anything. I'm giving her all my cock. She loves feeling my shaft and veins slide into her hot hole.

Her frizzy hair is bouncing around with each change of direction. My hands are holding on as hard as I can. It's easier for me if she stays in position. Gail has a light sheen on her body, reflecting what little light I have in my room. I love this glossy look on all women.

I have a pleasant, swift rolling of my hips in progress. The quick fucking has just as much effect on me as it's having on Gail. I'm going crazy. I'm picturing a tea kettle in my balls, and the stove is on a high. The kettle is starting to shoot steam from the small hole. Like a tea kettle, once it gets started, it builds up to critical mass quicker than most people expect.

Gail just had a petite orgasm. She has stopped enjoying it. Her brain shut down, and she's forgotten to move with me. That's fine, I can keep this great feeling going all by myself. I've missed this. I've missed my sisters. I've missed the sex. I wonder how the others are dealing with the song. Did they listen to it?

I hear the door open and at least two sets of feet running up the stairs. They stop outside my door. It didn't take long to barge into my room and find me with Gail. I speed up on Gail. I suspect I will be needed soon.