Chequered Nettle

His face was stoic. Any sign of emotion was cleverly hidden in his face. I wondered if he was happy or mad. Duke was very good at hiding what he really felt about things. In this case it was who I wanted as a signing partner. Alice Knight. The same girl I saw at the karaoke bar sing her heart out. The very same one who I followed for a few days trying to pick up the courage to speak to. The same who called me last night inquiring about the job I had for her.

We were in the basement of our apartment. Duke had it remodeled to be a recording studio. It was here that we usually hung out and held our practices and auditions - which had been so far unsuccessful at producing another lead singer.

Sonny had left so quickly after a fight with Duke over something stupid. He didn't want to be our singer anymore and I didn't have a partner. Our band was formed with two singers so it had to stay that way. It would be too weird not to. Duke told us to tell other people about our auditions. People we thought were good, but none of them were quite right.

"Well when we're famous you don't want anyone to think we're a bunch of fags do you?" I said trying to lighten the mood. At the very notion of being thought of as gay both Seth and Blu stopped talking and focused on our conversation.

"Why on earth would anyone think that?" Duke snapped. He was mad. When he asked for our help in finding Sonny's replacement I didn't expect we had to find another dude.

"You know. . .bunch of guys, traveling together. . .sleeping in the same place. . ." It was like I was speaking in another language. "Come on! You don't get any gay vibes from that?"

"No."

"Fag." I replied. Duke rolled his eyes. I would say he didn't want to put up with type of thing quite often but he did. With all of us.

"Why does it always come down to being gay or not with you?" Duke sighed and stared down at the music sheets below him. I shrugged. It was funny how funny how defensive most people got. Not Duke though. He was hardly any fun. "She still has to audition like everyone else." he said and I couldn't help but grin.

"She'll blow everyone away. You just watch." I promised. That that very moment both Seth and Blu relaxed knowing their sexuality wasn't being threatened.

"Do you think there are zoos in Africa?" Blu asked as though it were one of the most serious topics in the world. His severity earned him the attention from everyone in the room he didn't notice though. He was to busy fiddling with the strings of his guitar. "If they do they must be filled with animals we think are normal like dogs, cats, rabbits, deer, and groundhogs."