SOUND
Chapter 15 of Senses
The next day Jim rehearsed with Blue Shift, at a warehouse owned by the band collectively. They tried to rehearse at least once a week, even when they weren't working out new material or readying a show. The rehearsal had not been going well.
Lee Emanuel never smiled when he played. He had never been comfortable with showmanship although he found the music itself easy to digest. He simply found it easier to leave the showy aspects of performing to Jason or Jim. He also never frowned; he enjoyed playing.
Today he was frowning, and everyone was in a sour mood because of it. Rex's drumming was lack-luster at best, and his customary drum fills were virtually nonexistent. Jason's vocals were missing their customary push and Jim was hard-pressed to put any energy into his playing.
They finally tried playing "Run To Me", the band's hardest rock tune, in which everyone had a solo and could unwind. They customarily used this song for just such a purpose. After four unsuccessful tries at getting the song going, Jim yelled out in frustration.
"Lee, what the fuck is wrong with you today?"
Lee shot him an angry look.
Jim took a deep breath to calm himself. "Sorry," he said, "didn't mean to shout. You're just being an incredible drag today. Why is that?"
"I'd prefer not to discuss it," Lee replied.
"Come on," Jason said. "We're all friends here."
"You know it," Rex added.
Lee simply shook his head.
"Lee," Jim said, "how long have we know each other? Ten years? You've known Jason for eight and Rex for at least seven. You can trust us."
"Absolutely," Rex added.
Lee sat down on the floor, still shaking his head.
"Please?" Jason asked.
Lee looked up. "All right," he said, "if you must know, have a seat."
Both Jim and Jason turned their amplifiers off and sat of the floor. Rex remained behind his drum kit.
"It started," Lee continued, "about four weeks ago. I ran into a girl I knew back in high school. Hadn't seen her in maybe fifteen years. We talked for a while, and I finally asked her out on a date. She accepted.
"Now understand that I had a crush on this girl during high school. I was the pianist for the choir and she was a cheerleader. I practiced evenings while she dated the football team. She barely knew I existed.
"At any rate, she accepted and we went out. It was a fun evening overall - dinner, the theater, bed afterwards. Looked like I had a potentially good relationship forming here.
"We went out a few times, talking a lot about the old days and what we've done since then. I'd planned to bring her up here to meet you guys when a week ago she stopped calling. She wouldn't return my calls either.
"Last night I confronted her at her place. She said she was now seeing someone else. Okay, fine. That I can handle. This morning I found out who.
"Jason, how long have you been seeing Leah?"
Jason's eyes went wide. "Only a couple of dates," he said. "How did you know her name?" I took a moment, but the truth set in. "Holy shit!"
"She used me to get to you," Lee responded. "You see why I'm upset?"
"Pretty heavy shit," Rex said.
Jason stared at Lee in disbelief. "I didn't know," he finally said.
"I know," Lee responded, "I know. That's why I wasn't going to bring it up."
Jim whistled low. "Now what happens?" he asked.
"Dump the bitch," Jason replied.
"Tell you all what. Let's break the set and go get Lee drunk. I'd say he's earned it."
"Deal," Lee responded.
"You're on," Jason added. "I'll call her from the bar, and then dump city."
Jim turned to Rex. "You up for it?" he asked.
"Absolutely," Rex answered.
It was a good hour later that the implications of what had transpired hit Jim.
When the implications did hit, Jim had been throwing a dart. It was his first unintentional miss in years.
The bar hushed when it happened; many of the patrons felt they were seeing history in the making. For his part, Jim shrugged it off, saying that it happens even to the best.
Jim had been playing against Rex, who was the best natural player he knew of other than himself. The miss gave Rex the win.
Everyone had succeeded in getting Lee drunk; he was his smiling self again and seemed in good spirits. Jason was also quite drunk, having dismissed the woman in question very rudely and deciding to join Lee out of comradeship.
Although he was sour on the outside for having lost the game, Jim was excited internally. He had to call A.J.
"I need to make a phone call," he said.
"Do it," Rex replied.
Jim walked to the bar and asked the bartender if he could use the phone. When he got it, he said, "Thanks Mike."
The bartender smiled. "Anytime Jim," he responded, "anytime." he went off to pour drinks.
Jim dialed A.J.'s home.
"Hello?"
"A.J., it's Jim."
"Hey big bro'! What's up?"
"An observation I think you'll be interested in." Jim proceeded to tell A.J. about the band practice.
"I feel for Lee," A.J. said afterwards, "but I don't see your point."
"My point," Jim replied, "is that Lee's depression brought us all down. The question is, how?"
"We all run into situations like that. One person can bring the whole party down."
"Yes, but how? Is he a potential empath? No, we all are potential empaths!"
There was nearly a minute's silence before A.J. answered. "I never would have seen it," he finally said.
"I didn't until ten minutes ago," Jim responded. "You see the ramifications?"
"Indeed I do. Karen is the exception because she can control the amplification factor. There must be a lowest common denominator in everyone for empathy."
"Exactly. Find that, and we may be able to fly solo."
A.J. was excited. "I'll have to set up experiments to find this our and test things."
"I know. I'll be right over."
There was a pause. "Uh, Jim?"
"Yes?"
"I'd prefer you not to. I can't study someone like you or Karen; I need ordinary people."
"Field studies?" Jim was a bit disappointed. "You haven't done that in years."
"I know. I'm going to have to fly up to San Francisco to see Larry's data. He's good at that, you know."
"Yeah, I've seen those files of his. Quite a collector our brother is."
"You don't mind do you?"
Jim sighed. "Not really. Just keep me posted on developments, will you?"
"Will do. Look Jim, gotta go."
"Fine. Talk at you later."
"Bye."
Jim hung up the phone, and the bartender came to retrieve it, handing Jim a Bushmill's.
"You're a blessing Mike," Jim said.
The bartender smiled. "I know," he replied before moving on.
Jim drank down his drink, then spun to face the room. "Hey Rex!" he shouted. "Best two out of three?"
"Absolutely," came the response.