by Tori Brooks
Teri looked up to Flynn and nodded. Whatever he wasn’t sure about telling him, just do it. Anything that might make this better. Flynn seemed to read her mind. He took a deep breath.
“Okay, this doesn’t leave this room”
Kenny looked up and furrowed his brow, then he nodded. Teri nodded too, although whatever it was, she was pretty sure she and Flynn were going to have to talk about it later.
“Kenny, do you remember the first time you played for me? When Dev sent Jess crashing into the drums?”
He nodded, the ghost of a smile on his face. “Hard to forget. I was pissed.”
Flynn smiled. “Yes, you were. Prior to the premature end of your performance, I was looking over each of you, listening, watching, deciding where you needed work and what I needed to do. I made a mental list of what I needed to work on with each of you.”
Flynn paused and Kenny’s face was blank for a moment before realization dawned on him. Teri wasn’t entirely sure where Flynn was going with this either. Other than the casual comment that he was worried Kenny might turn to alcohol to relax, Flynn never mentioned concerns about Kenny.
“Bryan was drum solos, obviously. Jess, the parade of women. Dev, we won’t get into. You . . . initially I looked at you and thought, hey, he can really play. He’s good, really good. I thought you had the potential to be as good as or better than Zane some day. I still think that.”
Kenny’s eyes got wider.
“I did not tell Zane that,” Flynn added. “You remind me of him in a lot of ways, Kenny. Some of which I’ve been trying to put an end to.”
“Like letting Jess and Dev fight.”
“That’s one, yeah. Zane would just yell at them, badger them into submission. Eventually it’d probably work. Actually, with Dev, it probably wouldn’t,” Flynn frowned.
“Thinking about tracking cell phones?” Kenny grinned.
“Or doing other things to them, yes.”
Teri’s heart skipped a beat. Did Paul tell Flynn about the virus Dev wrote? She bit her bottom lip. Should she come clean and tell him? She didn’t want to create distrust between them, but —
“Zane would have had his hands full with Dev. As it was, Drew and I weren’t much more than Jess-level of mischief so he got off easy,” Flynn continued, interrupting Teri’s internal debate. “The point is, you and Zane are a lot alike. More than I cared for, to be honest, but you’re more flexible. Flexible enough for me to point out some of the ways you were starting to follow in Zane’s footsteps, how that wasn’t going to work for your dynamic, and shift your tactics.”
“You never mentioned Zane.”
“Of course not, it would have freaked you out. Look, the point is, don’t let Zane get to you, Kenny. Don’t idolize him to the point you can’t function. I’m not saying he’s not good, he’s damn good or I wouldn’t have brought him. I value his opinion. What I want you to realize when you look at him is that someday, when you have a few records and experience under your belt, that’s going to be how people look at you.”
Teri felt the tension drain from Kenny’s shoulders. His back straightened and he met Flynn’s eyes now with confidence. She gave him a quick hug, getting only a turn of his head in acknowledgment, but that was enough from him. Kenny wasn’t a hugger.
“Okay, now, you go back down and finish breakfast. Show Dev you’re okay.” Flynn gestured to the door. Kenny left and Flynn closed the door again behind him.
Teri was used to being alone with Flynn, but not behind closed doors.
“Thanks for getting him out of there,” Flynn said.
“Did you see him?” Teri demanded, how could Flynn sit back and let Kenny drown in his misery like that?
“I did. Before breakfast he wasn’t too bad. He’s usually pretty confident so I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt he’d pull it together. I intentionally didn’t put him near Zane to give him that chance. He got worse, not better, but I was part of Jess’s conversation. Leaving to call Kenny aside would have drawn too much attention to it. I couldn’t break away sooner. I’m sorry.”
Teri glared at him.
“You think I’m being hard on them.”
“I do. They’re kids, Flynn.”
“Dev’s the youngest at sixteen, Teri. They’re walking into an industry that isn’t designed for youth and innocence. You need to understand what they’re doing. They get it, you don’t. I assure you, Zane isn’t the worst they’re going to come across in the next year or two. This is a stressful career path.”
He sighed and glanced back at the door before looking at her again.
“Teri, I’ve been doing this a long time. I remember what it was like at the beginning. I care about the boys. I understand you’re worried, I have kids of my own. You want to protect them, make things go smoothly. You can’t do that this time, I’m sorry, it’s my job. I need you to trust me.”
Teri considered that. Paul hired Flynn for a reason: to do exactly what he was doing. She constantly second guessed his choice of Flynn over someone else, but not the plan to outright hire a guide for them. Paul knew the boys were sailing in treacherous waters, he trusted Flynn to get them through it. She did too. He just made her mad sometimes.
She nodded finally and he visibly relaxed.
“What about Dev?” she asked.
Flynn’s lips tightened. “He’s been stressed all week. There isn’t anything I can say or do that I haven’t already tried. Well, nothing I can pull off in this time frame anyway. If it doesn’t go well, there are a few things I’ll try. I’m counting on the plan we already have in place actually.”
“What plan?” Teri didn’t mean to sound doubtful, after all she just agreed to trust him. Thankfully, Flynn either didn’t notice the unease in her voice or chose to ignore it.
“Jess.”
Teri frowned. “Fighting?”
Flynn nodded. “I had a chat with Jess this morning. He’s been avoiding starting anything with Dev because, in theory, Dev’s ready for him now. He’s allowed to fight back and that changes the rules. I spoke to Dev last night to confirm he understood Jess was probably going to start something. He still seemed nervous, but indicated he could handle Jess,” Flynn paused. “Dev was a little hesitant to promise it wouldn’t disrupt their performance, so I’m curious to see what he’s going to do. He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Oh, no.”
“You understand my concern. This could be interesting,” Flynn nodded. “I’m counting on that getting Dev through this.”
“He can’t do that in the studio.”
Flynn half shrugged. “Yes and no.” He turned and opened the door. “Come on. We better make an appearance before they start speculating about our prolonged absence.”
Teri almost giggled, but caught herself. Instead she nodded with just a smile and preceded Flynn back to the dining room.
• • •
Flynn hoped Dev’s little pranks were going to get him through this. If he cracked under the pressure, Teri would have his head.
The girls cleared the table and he let the boys go set up, Dev practically ran out of the dining room. Jess hung back, still trying to pry information from Zane until Flynn took him by the shoulders, pointed him toward the stairs, and gave him a push to get him started. Teri hung back a little in the kitchen to watch as Flynn pulled Zane into the living room to give the boys a few minutes.
“He’s dying to know your philandering history,” Zane gave Flynn a knowing smile as they sat on the sofa.
“And I know you won’t tell him anything he doesn’t need to hear,” Flynn nodded. He didn’t know if Paul and Tim ever discovered his bisexual relationship with Drew, or the fact that the affair never actually ended; but Flynn decided, if Paul knew, he didn’t tell Teri. On the other hand, Zane knew. He was also absolutely devoted to keeping it in the closet. Zane might tell Jess about sneaking off with the flight attendants in the back of the plane, banging groupies on the tour bus, and the naughty little threesomes, but
he wouldn’t say anything about Drew.
“I did mention the triplets.”
Flynn smiled, he’d forgotten them. “Of course you did. I’m sure I’ll hear about that later.”
“Teri’s daughter and her friend thought that was a nice story.”
“Corrupting minors? You should be ashamed, Zane.” Flynn glanced at Teri, she probably heard. It didn’t matter, she’d hear it from Cassie later. She knew who he used to be. He trusted Zane forgot to mention he was married to Trisha at the time.
“Educating,” Zane corrected.
“Right.”
“The girls think the world of you.” Zane’s face took on the serious edge Flynn usually dreaded. He never told Zane about his aspirations for Teri, but didn’t doubt he knew regardless.
“I taught them to cook. We also do a bit of shopping together. My girls are all grown up, it’s fun to get to do it again.”
“Means to an end?” he asked quieter, if Zane wasn’t facing him, Flynn probably wouldn’t have heard it at all.
Flynn shook his head. “Not completely. I like the kids. The girls are smart, college bound, they really have thought everything through. The boys . . . well they all have their own personalities. The girls are like my twins, they think and act so alike it’s like a carbon copy. The boys are all radically different.”
“The boys seem to be under the impression that I am a ruthless, cold-hearted bastard here to rip them limb from limb,” Zane glared at Flynn.
“Aren’t you?”
“I forgot to ask, did you mention sending me mp3s of their songs? I got video clips of their rehearsals from Drew, by the way.”
“Only that you’d heard a few songs, not all of them. I also didn’t mention any tour speculation. Why did Drew send you the video clips?”
“I asked him to.”
“Right.” Flynn didn’t like that, although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. “The mp3s they know I have. They don’t know I took a few videos of them. I’d appreciate you not mentioning it.”
“Drew mentioned Devin has stage fright and you have a rather unorthodox way of helping him out. He wouldn’t say what. He just kept bursting out laughing. He did mention the first time you saw them, Devin tripped Jess and sent him crashing into the drums.”
“Yeah, I need to smack Drew. You shouldn’t see anything like that. I’m not saying they won’t . . . have a scuffle. They haven’t really practiced any of these extra antics so I don’t know what to expect either.”
“Then what’s the point?”
Flynn took a deep breath. “Dev’s the point. He gets nervous.”
“I see that. I think the only reason he didn’t lose his breakfast is because he didn’t actually eat any,” Zane said.
“Jess knows that, it’s instinctive. He picks a fight on stage to draw Dev’s attention to him instead of the crowd.”
“And Dev fights back,” Zane nodded. “Not quite what you tried to do with Drew, but playful battles.”
“Yeah. Kenny was trying to stop it until I stepped in and explained what Jess was doing. I don’t think Jess even really knew what he was doing well enough to defend his actions. Now the rule is: it’s okay as long as no one misses a cue.”
“You’ve been here awhile, Flynn, why hasn’t this been rehearsed?”
“Dev’s smart and creative. The restrictions are lifted and he’s allowed to fight back. Jess isn’t a complete idiot, he knows Dev’s ready for him now. Honestly, if I were in Jess’s shoes, I’d be hesitant too. Also, Dev isn’t nervous playing in front of me anymore, so there hasn’t been a need for Jess to redirect his attention.”
“Ah, so that’s why you told them I’m the music industry’s personal grim reaper.”
“That would be Lloyd, you’re the runner-up,” Flynn nodded. He hoped Zane didn’t notice Kenny’s near breakdown. He didn’t want to address that.
A crash of cymbals from the basement elicited raised eyebrows from Zane and Flynn swore under his breath. He glanced at Teri, she was leaning against the wall watching them before, now she was lightly banging her head against the wall instead.
“Come on. Might as well get this over with before they set fire to the house.” Flynn stood and crossed the room, pulling Teri away from the wall.
“Sure you want to see this?”
She nodded. “There should be witnesses. The girls will sneak down and watch from the stairs in a minute. Except Brenda, she’s already down there.”
“I’m not worried about Brenda.” Flynn escorted Teri down and Zane followed.
The cymbals were upright, although Jess spun on his heel with a guilty look when Flynn appeared in the doorway.
“The guitars are wireless now so I know Dev didn’t trip you,” Flynn gave him a meaningful look.
“Cables aren’t required,” Dev answered quietly. Flynn looked at him and smiled. He gave him a little shake of the head and Dev nodded in understanding. Nothing too disruptive.
Teri joined Brenda on the sofa, Flynn and Zane took the chairs that were set up. Flynn nodded to Kenny, he looked better, in control again. At least as much as he could be. A hole in his plan suddenly occurred to Flynn: he reconfirmed the limits to the mischief with Jess and Dev, but forgot to remind Kenny and Bryan of the possibility. He was about to go quietly whisper a warning to them when Kenny started the first song. Too late, Flynn just had to trust Dev to rein it in. He wasn’t superstitious or religious by nature, but Flynn slipped a hand behind his back and crossed his fingers. It couldn’t hurt.
• • •
Brenda took Teri’s hand as Kenny started to play. To Teri, it was actually a relief that Brenda’s hand was shaking slightly. She looked calm, but Bryan’s long time girlfriend was as nervous as she was. And why? Over Zane? Teri fought back the urge to scream at the ridiculousness of it. Flynn explained it, but the tension in the room still seemed disproportional to the cause.
She had to just trust him. Flynn knew what he was doing. The boys trusted him. They understood something she didn’t. Even Brenda seemed to understand something she couldn’t quite grasp.
Teri tried not to overtly watch Dev, but she was worried. Jess was fine, Kenny pulled himself together, Bryan seemed to be doing okay, but Dev . . . Dev was stiff and pale. And watching Jess.
Shouldn’t Dev be watching Zane? Or Flynn or Kenny? Or just out at the audience in general?
No, he was waiting. Flynn said Jess was probably going to start something, Dev was waiting.
Teri looked to Jess, he was staring over her shoulder, at the mirrored wall behind her. She had no idea what exactly he was looking at, but she suspected he was watching her son.
Dev seemed to know it. He stole a nervous glance at Jess, then a brief one at Zane before focusing on the microphone in front of him. Teri’s eyes brimmed with tears as she saw a bead of sweat run down Dev’s neck. He stared at the microphone like it was a lifeline.
Movement in the corner of her eye caught Teri’s attention. Brenda stiffened.
“What happened?” Teri whispered.
“Kenny just walked over and kicked Jess.”
“Kenny’s starting something?”
“I think he’s telling Jess to just suck it up and start something with Dev. Bryan said he thinks Jess has been a little afraid to pick on Dev because he’s not sure what Dev’s going to do.”
“Flynn mentioned that too,” Teri said.
“I can see his point actually.”
Brenda perked up as Jess ambled over toward Dev. Still desperately focused on his mic, Dev didn’t see Jess coming.
Between lines, Jess whispered something in Dev’s ear then quickly got out of range to continue singing as Dev turned to give him a horrified stare and color flooded his cheeks.
“What did Jess say to him?” Brenda put her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.
Teri watched as Dev’s expression segued to anger, then determination. Then he got a familiar smug expression. She recognized it from when he was part of the ches
s club when he was younger. She came to think of it as his check mate face, and he never lost it despite the coach’s constant reminders that it was poor sportsmanship.
“He wanted to pick a fight, I’d say he succeeded,” Teri whispered.
The song ended and they started the next one. Jess barely started singing when Teri saw a remote control truck roll across the floor toward Jess. It was one of Dev’s from when he was younger, maybe eight. A dump truck, he used to navigate through the house and ‘deliver’ things to her. Little treasures like neat rocks or petunias he picked from the flower bed. Teri couldn’t identify what was in the back this time.
Jess saw it shortly after Teri did and immediately backed away, looking at Dev. Dev ignored him. Jess moved out of the truck’s path, but the truck just stopped, reoriented itself, and followed. Staying in motion, Jess forced the truck to continue to refine its direction and impeded its progress toward him, but it was in the middle of the stage area now and getting hard to avoid.
Teri saw Flynn watching Dev closely and she looked too. That Jess was being chased around their small stage area by a dump truck didn’t seem to concern Dev. Kenny was watching with amusement, and stayed out of Jess’s way as he danced around the truck.
Teri frowned. How was Jess being chased by the truck? It was remote control. Dev couldn’t possibly be operating it while he played the guitar. She looked toward the stairs where Cassie and Tiffany were sitting. They were stifling giggles but didn’t appear to be in on it. At least not controlling the truck. Of course Cassie was never very good at controlling remote control vehicles, that was Dev’s thing.
Returning her attention to the stage, she saw Jess had given up and kicked the truck out of the way. It tipped over and the load in the back was a wiggling mass. Jess deserved credit, Teri decided, to be able to still sing and mostly even keep his focus on his audience while still watching the contents of the truck as it wiggled around.
Finally, Teri saw the wiggling mass start to separate and she recognized what it was. Dozens of tiny six-legged walking robots started trudging en mass toward where Jess stood, stunned.
