An Excerpt from Rockybado 4

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

Brody and David were outside on this morning. It was a nice one at best; they could feel the breeze in their faces, and the sun was up. They knew that it was going to be a nice day to say the least. It was ten o’clock, and everyone had been awake for at least two hours, even David and Brody. But they were all okay with that. The two Irish twin brothers sat out on the patio, trying to decide what to do next.

“Want to ride bikes?” David asked his younger brother of a little less than a year.
“Okay! Any idea on where we’d go?” Brody exclaimed.
“Probably downtown. I know that we both like going there.”
“Let’s do this.”
“We are riding to Downtown Crown Point and back. I don’t know if we’d have time to ride all the way to Lowell,” David remarked, reminding Brody of his girlfriend, Candace Seales.
“We couldn’t pay Candace a visit anyway,” Brody said.
“Oh. Is she out of town?”
“She’s at her mom’s house for the day.”
“Where does she live?”
“St. John, so not too far away.”

Oh well. David and Brody knew that they were going to have a lot of fun anyway. They always have fun on their bike rides together. The two boys always have, and chances are that they always will. Toby and their mom went to Merrillville to visit Dawson and Daniela, and their dad met up with one of his friends at a nice coffee shop this morning. So, David and Brody decided to leave their house and ride their bikes to Brett’s house.

Brett and his bandmates live in a house on Magnolia Drive, which is south of the downtown area, and a twenty-five minute bike ride from 93rd and Merrillville, which is technically where David and Brody live. The two boys were okay with the thirty minute bike ride to their older brother’s house.
While riding their bikes to Brett’s house, David and Brody were trying to chase each other down the street. Maybe not the safest thing to do, they quit after five minutes. But Brody thought of the idea of taking both hands off the handlebars and raising them up in the air. For a few seconds, he could feel the wind blowing in his face, and he could also feel the wind surging through his shirt.

What a liberating feeling.

Then, Brody was starting to lose control of his bike, which nearly went off the curb and onto the road. He was able to grip the handlebars before that happened. The two boys realized that they headed into Downtown Crown Point soon enough. When they were there, it wasn’t crowded at all. The streets weren’t all that busy. There were a few passersby, but that was basically it.

There were quite a few elderly couples walking their dogs. A couple families with their little kids going over to the nearest fast food joint in the area. Some young adults were just walking around, trying to pass the time by having some fun.

Downtown was nice, as always.

Then David and Brody stayed on Main Street, and headed toward their old high school. They saw the hospital and realized that Magnolia Drive was coming up soon. David and Brody turned left onto Magnolia Drive.

About a minute later, the two boys approached a smaller house with a blue pick-up truck that was assumed to be the carrier of all the equipment for the gigs. This is Brett’s house. But the truck does not belong to Brett. It belongs to the drummer of the band.

David and Brody set their bikes out in front of the pick-up truck and walked up to the front door. Brody knocked on it, and Brett came out within moments. He was wearing a blue polo shirt and khakis.

Brett’s typical attire.

They all said “hi” to each other, and Brett invited David and Brody inside. Everyone in the band was at home. John Coolwood, Chris Paragnotti, and Tony Rossi. Chris and Tony were in the middle of a card game, commonly known to man as euchre. The two bandmates invited Brody to play euchre with them, which he accepted. David, Brett, and Coolwood ended up conversing amongst themselves.

“So, where are you playing today?” David asked his older brother.
“Take a wild guess,” Brett replied.
“Great. I love surprises.”
“I know you do. That’s why we’re making you guess,” Coolwood stated.
“Good one, Brett. Good one,” David remarked.
“Yeah. That’s what I like to do best,” Brett stated.
“How many guesses do I have?”
“Three, as always.”
“So, the first guess is at Coolwood’s house?” David guessed.
“Wrong,” Coolwood said as he shook his head.
“Okay. What about the bowling alley?”
“Nope.”
“Okay? My last guess is at the park,” David guessed.
“No,” Brett said.
“Then where is it?”

When Toby and their mom came back from visiting Dawson and Daniela, they cleaned the house for a bit. They didn’t think that the house itself had to go under much serious cleaning because the whole family cleaned it the week before. However, they had something going on tonight, which was going to take place in their backyard, and the Ingram’s wanted to make sure that the house was as presentable as could possibly be.

After thirty minutes of non-intense house cleaning, Dawson and Daniela came over to the house, and the boys’ dad just came back from meeting up with his friend at the coffee shop. A few minutes after that, David and Brody came home from Brett’s house, and Brody played video games with Toby. An hour later, they all had lunch together. 

“When did you wake up this morning, Brody?” Dawson asked, during lunch.
“Pretty early actually,” Brody replied.
“I haven’t seen you at all today.”
“That’s because I was playing video games with Toby.”
“Makes sense,” Dawson said.
“I beat him, so that’s good,” Brody remarked, laughing to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“I beat him at his favorite game.”
“Is he mad about it?”
“Strangely enough, no.”

Toby overheard Dawson’s and Brody’s conversation at the table while they were all eating veggie omelets. He didn’t say a word about any of what Brody had said. He, instead, talked to David about the gig tonight. And, of course, Dawson, Daniela, and Brody talked about other random things.

Lunch was over before everyone knew it. The family cleared off the table, and then they all did their own thing afterwards. David and Brody played video games. Dawson and Daniela were conversing with the boys’ parents. And Toby went upstairs to play bowling games on the computer.
Everything seemed normal for the first few minutes. Then, something that never happens occurred. This created a sense of confusion for the whole family.

“I’M SO MAD AT YOU RIGHT NOW, BRODY!” Toby shouted from upstairs. Everyone could hear him.
“No, he’s not,” Brody said to David. They both laughed to themselves.
“Or is he?” David questioned.
“I think he’s being sarcastic.”
“Let’s hope he is.”
“I think he’s overly stoked about the gig tonight,” Brody pointed out.
“Did Brett tell you where his gig is tonight?” David asked his younger brother of a little under 365 days, or 366 days rather. Since Brody’s birth year, 1992, fell on a leap year.
“Did he not tell you?”
“He made me guess where it was.”
“He just told me.”

Surprise, surprise. The boys’ parents wanted to make this a surprise for everyone. They have not had The Hawaiian Geeks perform at their house for quite some time, try four months. The Hawaiian Geeks were basically “touring” around the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana area, so they didn’t just stay in one place.

After Toby had lost his cool for five seconds, things went back to normal. Toby was probably trying to calm himself down, if he was really mad at Brody. Dawson and Daniela actually played video games with David and Brody, and their parents were still conversing amongst themselves.

The four were sick and tired of playing video games for an hour and thirty minutes.

“Did you win euchre today, Brody?” David asked.
“No,” Brody replied, staring into space.  What was he thinking about?
“Have you seen Toby?”
“No.”
“Are you in need of a cup of tea?” David asked.
“No,” Brody replied, still staring into space.
“Do you want to build a tree house?”
“No.”
“Are you going to keep saying no to me?”
“No.”

Brett then arrived at the Ingram’s house. He saw what everyone was doing, said “hey” to all of them, and then he saw Toby, who had just come back downstairs. Toby looked like his normal self. He was probably never mad at Brody, and if he was, he probably wasn’t anymore. Toby sat at the dining room table with a glass of tea.

“Are you mad at Brody?” Brett asked Toby.
“Not anymore,” Toby replied with a shrug.
“Well, get ready for tonight!”
“I’ve been ready for it the whole day!”
“Only a few more hours,” Brett remarked.
“I know. Is Mr. Morton also playing today?” Toby asked.
“Yes. David McCalsky took my place as lead guitar in Mr. Morton.”
“Was being in two bands too much for you?”
“A little, since I also work full-time for a financial firm.”
“Makes sense.”
“I liked being in Mr. Morton, but I’m basically married to The Hawaiian Geeks.”
“Nice way of putting it.”

Dawson, Daniela, Brett, and Mr. and Mrs. Ingram sat at the dining room table and conversed for quite a while. David, Brody, and Toby sat out on the patio, still amazed at how beautiful today was. Today was already amazing, even though Toby was mad at Brody for a few minutes. Tonight was going to be amazing, since the Hawaiian Geeks were playing their gig at the Ingram’s house. To top everything off for the band, Brett was sure to have an easier and much more enjoyable experience with the band, since he recently left Mr. Morton and focused mainly on the Hawaiian Geeks.

“So, I think David likes playing for Mr. Morton now?” Dawson asked Brett.
“Seems to like it,” Brett responded.
“I couldn’t see how you could handle playing for two bands, to be honest.”
“It was hard. The Hawaiian Geeks is like my full-time band. Mr. Morton was my part-time band. I stayed longer because one of our former bandmates, Kevin Helmsley, moved to Brooklyn, and we couldn’t find anyone to take his place, so I took it. Before he moved, I played the keyboard.”
“Not your main instrument, is it?” Dawson asked.
“No! Not at all,” Brett stated.
“Bowling is tomorrow. Remember?”
“I actually forgot.”

​The gig was going to happen in a few hours. And the family knew who was coming. The boys’ cousins, aunt, and uncle were coming, as well as each set of grandparents, and best friends. The bandmates’ families were also coming, so there was going to be a full house tonight. Even though there might be a bit of a crowd, it was going to be a fun night. Everyone was sure of it.