Rum and Coke

“Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, I am free at last!” Ryan yelled while he exited the hospital doors two weeks later.

“I wouldn’t thank him yet. You’re still chained to that chair.”

Ryan looked down at his lap before looking back at his twin. “Well, I’m mostly free and I’m not chained to my chair like you were. I’m just- hanging onto it. You know, not all of us can have a pimp-ass cane to lean on.”

Ellie smiled and looked down at the aluminum cane in her hand. “Oh yea, it’s very stylish. I’m thinking about putting rhinestones and feathers on it. Then you can use it after you graduate out of those hideous brace-things.” Ellie smiled back.

“Why you-”

“I say we sit down somewhere and discuss what we’re going to do for the rest of the tour,” Larry interrupted the two after ending his phone call.

“I concur,” Matt said, holding the two braces in question in his left hand. His right arm was around Val.

“There’s a restaurant across the street. Let’s go there.” Jimmy voiced, pointing to the small building.

“Sounds great, I’m craving some non-hospital food.” Ryan said as a large growl emitted from his stomach. “See?” he asked with a sheepish grin. “I’m hungry.”

“You’re a bottomless pit is what you are,” Kay muttered as she pushed his wheelchair. “come, Jabba, let’s get you stuffed, even if it is only for a few minutes peace.”

Ellie, laughing hysterically, hobbled after the two.

“I swear, it’s like watching a young Jimmy!” Val exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh and Jimmy to snort.

“He’s still got a lot to learn,” Jimmy muttered as he walked with the rest of the group.

~*~
“Ok, you have a press release in an hour. Let’s get this sorted out,” Larry began after the waitress had taken their orders. “The way I see it is that we have two options: continue the tour or cancel it.”

This caused a huge uproar from the table.

Ellie pursed her lips and let out a big whistle, causing everyone in the restaurant to look at her. “Did you guys learn nothing in kindergarten? Are we going to have to resort to hand-raising?” She asked, looking around the table. “Well?”

“She has a point, we’re not going to get anywhere if we can’t hear each other,” Brian said.

“Hey, you didn’t raise your hand.” Ellie said, making him shut up. “Anyways, I don’t think we should stop touring.”

“But-” Larry interrupted.

“Wait your fucking turn, okay?” Ellie snapped at him. “Let me run with this for a second,” she added in a slightly softer tone. “Listen, I don’t know about you guys, but there’s a whole host of people out there that are angry. And that was the entire point of Stereotypical Youth: to get people angry at their government- about the injustices that occur everyday. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going to stop until the fucking president publicly responds to the outcry, and, if that means continuing on on my own, so be it. That’s what I’ll do.”

“Same goes for me.” Ryan spoke up. “Where Ellie goes, I go. That’s the deal we made when we were toddlers, and I am not about to break my word after all these years.”

Ellie smiled back at her brother and squeezed his hand.

“Ok, anyone want to stop tour?” Larry asked, a bit defeated.

When no one raised their hands, he pressed on.

“Ok, so how are we going to make this work?” Larry looked at the two original members of SY. “You guys have no bassist. Ellie, you had to stop playing the last time. Ryan, you can’t use your legs. How is this going to work?”

Ellie pulled out her cellphone and stared at it.

“What are you thinking?” Ryan asked, observing her contemplative look.

Ellie locked eyes with him. “Do you remember what I said in the hospital? About the program that could do the kick drum?”

“Ellie, you were just joking.” Ryan said, unable to follow her train of thought. “You were just joking, right?”

Ellie held up her phone, showing a highlighted name. “With the push of a button, I can make that program happen for you.”

Ryan scoffed.

“Think about it! We have tons of techie computer geeks and a fully stocked shop at our disposal! Think of the possibilities! You know Toby could write the code in his sleep. One call is all it will take. Just one, I only need your consent.”

Ryan sighed and looked at the contraption he was stuck in for at least another week- maybe even his life. “Ellie-”

“We can get it in New York. That’s five days.”

Ryan opened his mouth, but no words spilled out.

“If it doesn’t work, then so what? We tried, and that’s the main point.”

He closed his mouth and shook his head. “Fine, make the call, but I’m going to put the full blame on you.”

“Great, that’s settled. We just need to know what to do for the next two shows.” Ellie said with an official air. She looked around at the people at the table.

“Ryan,” Jimmy said, speaking up. “How difficult is it to operate your kick drum?”

“It’s a two-beat kick. So, you need both of your feet and you need to time it just right.”

Jimmy nodded his head.

“Wait, no, Jimmy, I can’t ask you to drum for two straight hours,” Ellie said.

“Who said you needed to ask?”

“Jimmy, no. You’re not still in your twenties. Your endurance has gone far down.” Ellie turned back to Ryan. “As much as I hate to say this, what if we go back to the way we recorded it? With the triple kick, instead, and we- I don’t know, get a drum tech to just do the kick part?”

Ryan shook his head. “You obviously haven’t played the drums in a long time. Do you know how much harder it is for a professional to just play kick? It’s ridiculous.”

“Then we get a non-professional.”

“No, Ellie, the kick doesn’t stay the same for more than four measures on any song. And it doesn’t have a certain pattern for any song.”

“And we need the kick?” Ellie asked after the waitress sorted out their meal and left again.

“Absolutely.” Ryan said at the same time that Matt Berry and Jimmy snorted.

“Oh, bug off.” Ellie glared at the two snickering men. Ellie looked back at Ryan and squeezed his hand. She had a sympathetic smile on her face.

Ryan nodded in understanding. “Then I won’t drum,” he said sorrowfully, “I’ll be singing with you.” His smile was strained as he looked at Matt Berry. “You’ll drum in my place, Mattie.”

“What? I can’t play your kit, Ryan. No one but you can.”

“I know, but you can play Jimmy’s- if he’ll let us use it.”

“Of course, man, anything you want. Besides, it cuts down on time between the sets,”

Jimmy smiled, not willing to let a band down.

“Great: bassist issue,” Ellie said, scrunching up her nose. She hated the thought of replacing Mark, but all of her years of musical thoery had taught her one thing: you need harmony, and to have harmony, you need both high and low notes. “Kay, can you play?” she asked, a thought popping up in her mind.

“Not the bass. It was the only instrument I couldn’t master.”

Ellie nodded her head. “But you can play guitar? I heard you playing Lost once and it was pretty good.”

“Yea,” Kay answered unsure of where this all was going.

Ellie smiled. “Good, now how fast can you learn music?”

“Um,” Kay bit her lip. “It’ll take me a few days to have it sound good- two weeks to memorize.”

“Great! You can use my extra guitar and the music stand that I keep in the case! Ren will move to the bass- I have another music stand if you need it.” Ellie said, clapping her hands.

“I know all the parts,” Ren said confidently.

“Great! Now that that’s done, what else are we moving on to?”

“Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. What about you?” Brian asked.

“What about me?”

“Ellie, you couldn’t finish the last time that you played,” Zacky said, perching forward.

Ellie shrugged. “Won’t happen again. See?” she said, demonstrating her dexterity in her left hand. “All better.”

“What about your leg?” Johnny questioned.

“What about it?”

“Ellie, you need a cane to walk,” Brian said, unable to fathom what was going on inside her head to make her think that she was perfectly okay to perform for an hour straight.

“Fine, we’ll set a chair out. I’ll play from there.”

“You’re not going to sit for the entire time,” Ryan stated bluntly. “And don’t lie to me, I’ve known you all my life.”

Ellie slammed her fist on the table. “What do you fucking want me to do? Stand in the wings while my songs are being performed by someone else? No, I will not let my predicament dictate my life.”

“Ellie,” Brian said softly from her other side. “Your health needs to always come before performing.”

“That may be true for you, but I know otherwise. I once performed for an entire week with the flu. Another time I performed with a broken leg. Do you know how hard it is to sing, dance, and jump about the stage with a broken leg? Shattered, now that I come to think about it.”

“Ellie, you will listen to me. I am your father,” Brian said, trying not to raise his voice too loud.

“Only biologically speaking. I belong to no one. I answer to no one. Nothing you say will have any effect on me. I am going to go out there tonight. I am going to perform, because that’s what I am- a performer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to copy music and set up a tech run,” she said as she stood up and walked, without the aid of the cane, out of the restaurant.

“See? I told you,” Jimmy said to Zacky. “Exactly like her mother. Do you remember the time when Danni-”

“Guys! Shut the hell up,” Brian said darkly before he moved to get up.

Ryan grabbed his arm. “Don’t go after her. She’ll just run from you. She’ll run from most of us.” He looked over to Ren. “You go, she’ll listen to you. Make sure that she makes the press conference. Where is it?” Ryan asked, directing his question to Larry.

“The lobby of the arena.”

“Awesome. See you there,” he smiled at Ren, who proceeded to get up and follow Ellie.