Catastrophic Happenings

Thanksgiving came and went, and so did Christmas. The band found themselves looking forward to a New Year, but not sure what they were looking forward to. Catastrophic Happenings did have quite the name for itself in the local area. Azalea was practically considered rock royalty at her high school. The band started to open for some pretty popular bands that were doing shows in the area. And over the winter break, they even went down to North Carolina for a few days to fill a vacancy in a small rock festival.

But they hadn’t hit their big break yet, and no one was more frustrated with this than Rick was. It wasn’t that they hadn’t gotten an offer yet. But none of the offers were even close to worthwhile. The music was good. The appeal was there. With all of Rick’s experience and knowledge, he could not comprehend why the formula was not equaling success.

It was the day after New Year’s, and even though Rick told the band they weren’t going to meet again until the fifth of January, he felt like they needed to practice or talk or at least do something. Something had to be accomplished. He was tired of feeling like they were stuck.

Rick sat down on his bed while he sent out a mass text message to the band:



The first person to respond was Azalea:



It was probably her unapologetic response combined with his frustration that prompted Rick to start his phone call to Azalea angry.

“Hello?”

“What do you mean you’re out of town? You never mentioned it. Where are you?” Rick could hear the anger in his voice, and he was conscience that Azalea didn’t deserve it and wasn’t going to respond well to it. But still, he couldn’t stop himself.

As expected, Azalea did not hesitate to fire back. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t required to disclose every piece of my personal life with you. You said that we weren’t going to have practice again until the fifth, and what I decide to do with my time is my business alone.”

Rick realized that this was more than Azalea would normally dish out to a little undeserved attitude. Something was wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re the one that’s in a bitchy mood,” she said.

“No I’m serious,” Rick probed as the anger melted into concern. “Where are you?”

Azalea sighed long and heavy into the phone. “I’m at a ski resort in Pennsylvania with Ben.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My report card grades went up yesterday. I got a B minus in physics and two classes that I expected to get solid As in were B pluses.”

“That’s still really good!” Rick said in encouragement, even though he knew how much Azalea valued her grades.

“Not for me,” she said concretely. “This is the first time I’ve ever gotten lower than a B plus on a report card, and my GPA shouldn’t be as low as it is right now.

Rick drummed his fingers against his comforter, trying to think of the correct advice to give. “You’ll do better next quarter.”

“Will I though, Rick?” By Azalea’s tone Rick could tell that he finally hit the root of Azalea’s worries. “I did this bad this quarter because of the band. All of the practices, the late nights. This is proof that I can’t be in this band and get the best grades that I can.”

A tremor of fear crept up Rick’s hand, starting from his finger tips and shooting all the way to his heart. He knew what was coming next, but he was too afraid to ask the question.

But Azalea said it so that Rick didn’t need to, “I’m thinking about quitting the band.” Rick stayed silent. He was unsure of the emotions he was feeling, let alone which one to choose to respond with. “Or taking a hiatus, or whatever.”

“Um,” Rick uttered just to let her know that he was still active on the other end. “Have you thought this decision through?”

“No,” she replied simply. “That’s part of the reason I’m down here, I’m taking the next few days to think.”

Rick didn’t know what to do or say. He didn’t want to do anything that would tip her mind in favor of quitting.

“Please tell everyone not to contact me to try and talk me out of a decision I haven’t even made yet, okay? If I do decide to stay I want it to be because I really want to.”

“They aren’t going to let you quit you know,” he told her.

Azalea sighed, “I’ll see you on the fifth, Rick.”



“Like hell she is!”

“There’s no fucking way.”

The band were eating take-out in Rick’s family room. They weren’t taking the news well, with the exception of Cade. He was chewing his curry chicken with the largest smirk on his face.

“Look,” Rick began as he leaned forward on the couch, “she hasn’t made her decision yet. But she did ask that none of us contact her right now.”

“And we’re supposed to listen?” Austin asked.

“Yes.” Rick emphasized as he got up to pace in front of the television. “Part of the reason Azalea wants to quit is because she’s feeling smothered by the band. I mean it, don’t call her or text her.”

“And what if she comes back determined to leave the band?” asked Sammy. “Are we just going to let her?”

When Rick shrugged in reply Austin slammed his soda on the coffee table. “I need a drink,” he spat before he made a straight line for Rick’s fridge.

“Get me one too,” Rick called to him.

“And me,” Cade chimed in. “I’m celebrating.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Cade,” Austin said as he carelessly threw a beer in his lap after handing one to Rick.

“I can’t believe you aren’t over being jealous yet,” Rick shook his head.

“I am over it,” Cade snapped. “I’m just the only one here that isn’t in love with the girl. I’m not going to miss her if she decides not to be around anymore.”

“We’re going to have to start all over if Azalea decides to leave,” Sam realized sadly.

“I know,” Rick agreed. “And I feel like we are this close to something really good happening,” he indicated with an inch space between his pointer finger and thumb.

“So what are we supposed to do if we aren’t allowed to talk to her? Wait until she comes back and tell us we’re screwed?” Austin asked before playing with his snakebites nervously.

If Rick had still believed in the God that he was baptized to have faith in, he would have said “Pray.” But since that wasn’t the case, he said instead, “We’ll just have to hope for the best.”