Lukey Kid

Gravity worked its magic in liftoff, pressing me back in my seat. My stomach lurched and my heart thumped, but it felt sorta cool.

As soon as we were told electronics could be used, everybody broke out their SkyPods. Brendan was busy making drumming motions and mouthing out the words, and Joey was sleeping, complete with loud snoring. Soria and Ren were battling in an epic game of tic-tac-toe while listening to the same music. I had my mind, and that was all I needed.

What a month. As real as it was, I was still a little thrown off by how quick we’d gotten noticed. By Not Listening Records, too - they had a couple good bands on their label from a wide variety of genres. I was a huge fan of the band The Max, which was a part of it, so naturally, I had a little knowledge of the history of Not Listening.

Rai, the guy who founded the label, had been a roadie for a ton of bands before founding his own – like, in the 90’s – and started it up after deciding he was too old for it all. His old band, Hooligans!, was pretty much underground-famous for tackling topics like sense of self and what “reality” really was, rather than just barking about politics, and it got the attention of people who wanted to get headaches from introspection rather than noisy guitars. After Hooligans! had run their course, he started the label in hopes of signing deserving talent, and Fire Motion was the first on the list. In the years he’d been a musician, he’d earned a ton of money despite his bands never reaching the radio; it was a cult-following thing going on.

And I couldn’t wait to get to Miami, to get to the hotel, to start recording, to meet people…

Olli! Man, we owed him a big thanks.

I wondered what kind of people the other musicians would be. Maybe it would be like high school, where they’d tease us for being young. Maybe they’d be buttheads, or maybe they’d be cool. It happened so fast, you know? Like, two years ago, Ren and Soria were barely a twosome. We were only twelve, too. Ha! Not even teenagers!

Maybe someday, I thought, my mom and dad or Aaron – my brother, folks – would hear our music and get inspired. Or they could be hearing it right now. Who knows? They could be our biggest fans. If Aaron was even familiar with the band…would he catch on with the fact that I was his brother?

The potential events flashed by in my mind quick as lightening. Touring! CDs! Concerts! I wanted to be onstage in front of thousands of fans, playing bass. The others got nervous, but I got excited. Whenever I had to present a class project, I always wanted to be the first to share it. Now, I wanted the chance to share music, and I got it.

As for touring, I wondered whom we’d tour with. Or, if we’d even tour. Or what the bus would be like, and who’d drive us. Poor Soria. Most likely, she’d be the only girl in a gaggle of dudes.

Maybe the others were thinking the same things I was. They probably felt differently about the whole concert thing, or maybe they didn’t. Only an hour ‘till we’d be in Miami, and our new lives would begin. Then the possibilities flickering about in my mind could maybe come true…

Brendan paused the song he was listening to, and then he glanced at me. “Dude, you growin’ a goatee?”

I snapped back to reality, rubbing my chin. “What? Oh yeah, I forgot to shave.”

“Lucky. At least you get facial hair,” he spat. Joey poked his head between our seats.

“Dude, you’re crazy! It sucks!” he growled.

All of a sudden, Brendan burped so loudly he caused a few heads to turn. “S’cuse me.”

Soria turned around, offended. “Dude!” she exclaimed, her mouth hanging wide open. I snorted a laugh.

“Can’t help it!” he denied, hands stuck in the air.

The intercom came on, urging us to turn off all electrical devices for our landing. With a thud, the plane was on a runway in Miami. Once the door was linked to the terminal, we were walking down the aisle while our legs woke up. I slung my bag across my shoulder and joined the others in the terminal.

Ren yawned and stretched loudly. Soria chuckled. “Tired?” she mocked. He turned red and smiled, crossing his arms.

“Guys, let’s sit down,” Joey suggested, pointing to a row of chairs. Brendan cocked his brow.

“Dude. We just sat. For an hour,” he said, “Are you insane?”

Still, his brother parked his butt, but in two seconds, he stood right back up. A man with dark graying hair and a bright grin walked up to Plaster Caster, his hand extended out. He wore a pinstriped suit that made him stand out from the crowds, but his eyes showed that he was just a normal guy. To us, though, he was way more than that.

“Raimundo Asbury,” he greeted, “Call me Rai.”

We looked at each other with the same smile he had.

“Hi! Um, we’re Plaster Caster…but…you probably knew that,” Soria added, laughing nervously. He shook our hands and ushered us over to the luggage retrieval area.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening. Half the bands on the label have been talking since last year about you guys and I’ve only recently been able to check you out,” he continued, as we grabbed our suitcases from the conveyer belt. “You’re all coming for dinner tonight at my house, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be there. Um…where’s our hotel?” Brendan responded. Rai took a cart from near the belt and helped us load our stuff on it.

“Your hotel’s just a few blocks away - The Triple Tree. We’ll be riding there in my car - it’s waiting outside now - then you can drop your stuff off, and then we can ride to my house. I got a few people you gotta meet,” he explained.

It all happened so fast, it seemed. Like, it felt as if just five minutes ago we were watching Olli’s video. Rai freakin’ Asbury was chatting us up. Still it was real, it was happening - we were so close to getting “big.”

“Chives?” Rai called. A foreign guy came up from out of nowhere and grabbed the cart with all our stuff on it, pushing it out the revolving door that Brendan later got stuck in.

“Shall we?” he ushered, smirking, letting us follow Chives. We followed him, alright…to a rad SUV parked out front that could probably house a family reunion. When we got in, it was roomy and dark, but lit with a few light panels on the sides. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought we were in a limo. I had to fight to keep my sanity upon entering.

Rai poked his head in. “Have fun - oh, and buckle up. They got laws ‘bout that now.”

Brendan said, “Can do,” and buckled himself in.

Once the car started running, so did our mouths. “I wonder who’s gonna be teaching us?” Ren said. All of us shrugged.

“Who knows. With some luck they’ll be better than Ms. Fencer,” Soria laughed, referring to our biology teacher. Brendan opened a can of Fountain Dew and took a long sip, afterward burping loudly.

“God, dude, chill out!” Joey snorted.

“Nah, you’re just lucky it’s not coming out the other end, and I don’t hear no barking spiders,” he countered.

Ren coughed out, “Yet.”

To mock him, Brendan lifted his leg. I jumped a clear four inches in my seat, the seatbelt keeping me bound.

Soria covered her ears and wrenched her eyes shut. “Can we please not discuss gastronomical releases?!”

Brendan burped again.

“I don’t know. I get kinda riled up about this subject,” he said.

Before long, the car stopped and the door swung open. I got out first, beholding the beautiful sights of the Miami seaside city, palm trees and blue skies galore. Our hotel was right in front of me, but I was struck by the land around it.

“Your hotel…” Rai smiled, ushering the foreign servant to get our bags from the trunk. All of us stood gaping at the building; you just don’t see stuff like that in a hicktown like Claymore.

“Yep! A-hyuk! We’s is in that big city now!” Joey mocked, smacking his brother’s back. He dashed forward into the revolving door, circling around twice before actually going into the lobby. Rai came in with us and retrieved our key cards.

“I’ll go get your stuff,” he said before walking out.

“Sweet! Fourth floor, room sixteen,” Soria read, making a “Yesss,” motion with her arm. We waited for the cart to come with all our luggage, then we were on our way up the elevator, to our room.

This suite was definitely sweet.

It was huge! And there were three beds in two rooms, and soft chair, and a mini fridge (“Expensive as hell,” Joey had said), and even a Jacuzzi! I was even more excited about spending half the year in Miami now.

“I get dibs on peeing first!” Joey declared, racing into the bathroom. Soria hopped on the bed nearest to the door that opened to a balcony. She stood up straight and raised her arms.

“My bed!” she boasted.

“Oh, no it’s not!” Ren growled, running up to steal her throne. She blocked him, grabbing him in a neck hold. He didn’t surrender - he grabbed her around the waist and they commenced a play-wrestling match. She laughed as he simply pushed her around, careful not to let her fall off the bed.

Rai chuckled behind Brendan and me. “Are they dating?” he whispered. We both nodded.

“Totally head over heels,” I smiled.

Joey came out of the bathroom, zipped up his pants, and held up a pink circular bar. “Urinal cakes! Man, I love this place!”

Once again, Rai smirked and motioned for us to come with him.

“C’mon. The others are waiting.”

- - -

Mansion was an understatement.

Raimundo Asbury’s house was enormous. A giant driveway, giant house, giant car…If I didn’t know any better I’d say Rai himself was twenty feet tall. After being such a cult sensation after all his years of making punk rock for thinkers, I guess it literally paid off.

The smell of dinner hit my senses as soon as we walked in the door. Well, really, a lot of things pelted my nerves. Awe, I guess, would sum it up.

Rai held a woman around the waist and kissed her forehead - his wife, I assumed. She smiled at us and waved. “I’m Annette,” she greeted, shaking our hands with a pretty grin, right above her lip piercing.

“Plaster Caster! Whoop whoop! Get over here, guys!”

A young man - like, nineteen or so - came over to us and insisted on hugs, not handshakes. His dirty blonde hair was long and side swept, carefully held in place by an orange headband. His shirt was baby blue with the letters, “OMG ATL!!!” across the chest, and he had orange and green shorts paired with Converses. He wore a familiar goofy grin complete with shiny white teeth.

We greeted the guy with choruses of “Hi,” and then, he shook our hands.

“Oliver Hansen. Or, Oliver Lollipop. Olli, if you will,” he said.

“You’re having dinner here too?” I asked.

He nodded, the smile never leaving his face. “Yup! A lot of the bands on the label are. It’s your initiation! First, you need to steal a pair of Pam Anderson’s underwear.”

We looked at each other funny.

“Kidding! But seriously, everybody’s, like, super duper excited to meet you.”

Olli jinxed us by saying that. Bands I’d never even heard of greeted us, tiring my arm out more than I expected. Violence Ladies, Put’emup, Put’emup, Fire Motion, the list went on…!

“All right!” Olli hooted from across the room. Heads whipped over his way. “I’ll be recording with them! Sophomore slump, I think not!”

The room went quiet.

“What?” Brendan said.

He pranced over, humming a happy tune. “I’m making my second album, and we’re gonna be recording in the same studio all fall! Yesssss!”

We hesitated. “Awesome!” Soria finally gasped. He flashed a toothy grin and turned around, running in circles while jumping for joy.

“Okay…” Ren trailed off.

“Yeah, he’s gay,” Joey snickered. “I can tell.”

Nobody denied it.

Brendan looked around the room like he was searching for something. “Where’s the food?” he whined.

To answer him, Olli popped up out of nowhere. “Over there!” he sang and pointed off in the distance, making us jump. Joey actually screamed.

Nonetheless, we headed over to the buffet table that held food as far as the eye could see.
“Wow. I’m in love,” I gasped.

Right before I was about to take a nice bread roll from a basket, I felt a slight tug on my shirt. I turned around and looked down.

It was a little kid.

He had a bright smile, looking at me expectantly straight in the eye. Then he moved a curl of blonde hair off of his forehead. Somehow, that pulled a trigger in my brain…I’d seen this dude before.

But who was it?

“Hi,” he waved nervously.

“Hey,” I said back, smiling and not wanting to look rude.

We fell silent. By then, my bandmates were stopping to stare. I bet we were a sight too, caught up in an awkward moment. All I could think about was who he could be and why the heck he had just interrupted my hunger.

“I’m your brother.”

…I’d bet twenty bucks my mouth dropped open, and I was at a loss for words. I was too busy…being confused. I mean, who wouldn’t be?

“What?”

“It’s me. Aaron.”

The grin never faded from his face. On the contrary, I couldn’t move a muscle. I went completely numb.

“No…you…you’re not my brother…he had…shorter hair…”

That was intelligent.

The boy laughed. “Yeah, had. I’m growing it out. And it looks like you are too, Luke.”

Luke! He knew my name!

“Wait a sec – why…are you here…?” I asked, trying not to be rude.

Rai walked up behind him and held him by the shoulder. He smiled just like him. “Oh, hey, this is my son Aaron.”

Between the two of them, there was absolutely no resemblance. The kid actually started looking familiar to me.

The boy – Aaron - grinned smugly. Still…if he was living with the owner of a record company, wouldn’t he be familiar with the bands on the label? Of course! That had to have explained it….
Rai walked away when his name was called, leaving Soria, Ren, Joey, Brendan, Aaron, and me.
“So…” I started, blanking out.

Aaron seemed to be getting frustrated. “Your full name is Luke Christopher Ragan, your favorite color is dark blue, you broke your toe on a Slip-N-Slide when you were six, you hate getting a haircut from women chewing gum, when our dog Stinky died you let me sleep in your room that night ‘cause I was so sad, you named your bass Rudy - well, I learned that from the Internet - your favorite movie is-”

I shut him up by pulling him into an enormous bear hug.

He was my brother.

Who else would know about Stinky?

All of a sudden, an outside voice broke the silence that fell just as we touched.

“Aw, HUGS!”

Oh, Olli.