Tangled Weeds (The Road to Rocktoberfest 2024)

Nine

Devon Grimes

“ H ey, Glenn, how’s everything going?” I said when he’d called this morning. I knew something was up. Uncle Glenn was drummer for Blinding Light and usually they were so busy the only time I heard from him was during the holidays.

“Not so good, I have a favor to ask,” he said which was not at all like him. He then proceeded to tell me how he’d been taken out by an unfortunate Lego accident and wasn’t able to finish the tour with the band. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, and if you’re already playing with a band then you can tell me to fuck off. But I can’t think of another drummer I’d rather have join the guys until I can get back to them.”

“Are you sure?” Glenn was well aware of my past. How I’d dropped out of school to play in a band only to be dumped for flaking on not only practice but gigs.

“Devon, you’re more talented than most of the drummers out there. This could lead to you getting in a band of your own.” He was serious and believed in me far more than I believed in myself. I was now twenty-three and working part-time at a music store having burned far too many bridges to remember.

“I’ll take it, but I need to tell my boss. I don’t want to leave him hanging,” I said, and meant it. Greg Cabbott was one of the few people willing to take a chance on me, and even though he paid me shit and only let me work part-time, he’d let me work there the past three years. He was dependable, and I wanted to show him the same respect.

“Fair enough. I need to go break it to the guys. How about you join me there later after I talk to them?” Glenn said which is what led me to sitting in my car outside their practice room waiting for him to text me. My phone buzzed making me jump, but I was afraid to move. Finally, I checked the message, and sure enough it was Glenn telling me to get inside.

I’d been here before to watch them play but it was years ago, and now it felt like a lifetime ago. They were bigger now, and I knew I’d only get one chance not to fuck up. Sliding out of the car, I walked up to the door and into the lobby before going right to the door where I knew they’d be.

“Devon, you remember Easy?” Glenn said while the other three guys looked at me more like they were trying to figure out if they could trust me or not.

Clearing my throat, I held out my hand to him. “Yeah, how’s it going, man?”

“Good. You realize we’re not going to take any shit from you. If you can’t get your ass to practice and be on the bus when we’re ready to leave, we’ll cancel the tour,” Easy said and folded his arms. He’d always been hardcore about the band and was never one to fuck around where it was concerned.

“Yeah, I get it,” I said and looked at Rory and the other guy I hadn’t met yet, but I knew was Liam. “I’m Devon Grimes.” Rory shook my hand and gave me a critical look.

“We’ve met,” he said.

Lian was giving me the same look but reached out and shook my hand. He couldn’t be much older than me but damn it was obvious he was not some kid playing at being a rockstar.

“Why don’t you show them what you can do,” Glenn suggested. His drum kit was already setup, and he motioned for me to go ahead. I pulled my shirt off and sat on his stool, and after adjusting it I started pounding out the rhythm I knew they’d recognize. It was one of their bigger hits and even though I didn’t play it exactly like Uncle Glenn did, I did my best.

I finally got the courage to look up at them. Glenn grinned even though he looked like he was high as a kite and still in pain. Rory nodded along to the beat, and Liam focused intently on the sticks and exactly what I was doing. But Easy sat there with a scowl on his face that didn’t give me any indication of him being happy or even interested in giving me half a chance.

“That was amazing,” Rory said and walked over to give me a fist bump.

“You changed it up,” Easy said still with the same expression on his face.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t bad,” Liam said, and looked at Glenn. “He’s like you with a twist.” Glenn laughed at that while I continued to have a stare off with Easy who had yet to speak.

“You’ll do,” he said before Liam hip checked him.

“He’s better than that and you know it,” Liam said.

“Yeah, okay. We’ll give you a chance, but like I said, you need to prove that you’re in it one hundred percent or we’ll be cancelling until Glenn is ready to play again. Sorry but we’ve had too many issues with flaky people and we’re not going back to that,” Easy said.

“I get it, and I promise I won’t let you down,” I said and picked up my shirt before walking back over to Uncle Glenn.

“Make sure you don’t. Now, are you ready to practice? We’ve got a lot of work to do to have you ready to play on Thursday.” He slipped his guitar strap over his neck and plugged into his amp.

Rory and Liam rushed to do the same. Uncle Glenn took a seat on the couch that was against the wall and grimaced when he tried to get comfortable.

“Which song are you most comfortable with?” Liam asked.

I thought about it before I answered. I knew all of their songs, but some better than others. “How about Give Up the Love?” I asked and walked back to the drums. I chose this song because it opened with a drum lead in, and I wanted them to all know I wasn’t afraid of starting a song and I was more than capable of playing it.

Easy tipped his chin at me and I pounded on the double bass before ripping into the beat, then they all joined in and Easy sang while playing rhythm. He didn’t do this often on stage, but at practice I knew he enjoyed it. They sounded so fucking good it was hard for me to control my need to laugh at how surreal this all felt.

Sweat poured from me as I put everything I had into the song and added a bit more that I hoped they didn’t mind. Liam listened to every slap of the sticks while Easy still gave me that critical look as he watched my every move. Rory was in his own world slapping out the bass rhythm and making us all sound even better. When the song ended, I was so amped up I had to force myself not to jump up and yell, but one look at Easy calmed me right the fuck down.

“You’re right, Glenn, he’s as good as you,” Rory said making them all laugh.

“Almost as good,” Uncle Glenn said and winked at me. “But he’ll be able to keep up with you all on the tour.”

“Looks like you’re going on tour,” Easy said, and finally didn’t look at me like he wanted to hurt me.

“Looks like,” I said and tried to sound way cooler than I felt.