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I hadn’t paid any attention to where we were going or how long the drive was–something I was finding increasingly common around my sisters. Emily pulled the car into a small parking spot beside a large blue dumpster. The spot was clearly marked ‘No Parking’ in big, yellow letters. But Emily just pulled in and shut the engine off.
“If the car gets towed, I’m blaming you,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Emily grinned. “The pub that owns this spot belongs to an old family friend. He lets us park here as long as we let him know it’s us.”
“That’s handy,” I nodded.
“He also lets me play here if he doesn’t have anything booked,” Emily added.
“Double bonus.”
I grabbed both guitar cases and followed Emily up to an old, iron-barred door. Emily gave a quick, crisp knock, and after a minute, I heard locks disengaging, then the inner door flung open.
“Emily, my dear!”
The outer, barred door was next to open, with much more care than the inner door. A tall, slender man with a thick head of greying hair stepped out, wrapping Emily in a fatherly hug. He was dressed in faded jeans and an old Iron Maiden t-shirt covered with a black apron. The man didn’t look any older than forty, although his steel-coloured hair and beard made him look far older.
“Hey, Darren,” Emily smiled, hugging him back. “Hope you don’t mind us coming to play.”
“Not at all, my dear,” Darren smiled.Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Thanks, man. We really appreciate it,” I smiled, offering my hand to the older man. Darren immediately reminded me of my grandfather, which put me at ease. “I’m Nick.”
“Not a problem at all. Any friend of Emily’s is a–” Darren smiled, shook my hand, then his eyes went wide after a few seconds. “You… you’re….”
“This is our brother,” Emily said, beaming with pride. “He came home.”
“I don’t believe it,” Darren said. “I… I truly don’t know what to say.”
“Darren and our dad were best friends,” Emily said, placing a hand on Darren’s arm. “And Darren is like an uncle to us all.”
“It’s like I’m seeing John again,” Darren remarked. “How did you find each other?”
“My mother,” I answered, stopping to take a moment to compose myself. Thoughts of my recently deceased mother were still painful. “She gave me my father’s personal information. It was actually far easier than I would have imagined.”
“Amanda was still looking for him,” Emily explained. “She knew that Dad would want us to be a family one day. So, when Nick reached out about our father, she was notified about it.”
“That girl has her father’s spirit alright. While you got his face,” Darren chuckled. “Just be glad you were spared the blonde hair. We don’t need another Fabio clone.”
It was odd thinking of someone referring to my father like that. I had always likened Craig to the prolific male model. The photo of my father that I kept in my wallet showed him with long blonde hair and a cleanly shaven face. He would be considered handsome by many women.
Much like Craig.
Was it unconscious of Amanda to date a man who resembled her father? Even if it was just a superficial resemblance. Everything I had heard about my old man had told me how wonderful and amazing he was. How much he had loved his children. Craig was not that kind of man.
“You okay?” Emily asked softly, placing a hand on my arm. Darren had turned his back and was speaking to one of his employees.
“Yeah. Just thinking,” I nodded.
“Hopefully about me,” she smiled, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear.
“Even if I’m not thinking about you,” I said, placing a hand on her hip. “You’re never far from my thoughts. Especially when you smile at me like that.”
Emily’s cheeks reddened, and she smiled broadly before biting her bottom lip. “I can’t wait for tonight.”
Darren turned back to us, and we quickly turned our attention away from one another. Emily’s last words hung in my mind as I followed her to the small stage area set up for bands and musicians. What was happening tonight? Did we plan something, and I had forgotten already? I was actually thinking about spending some time with Mel tonight. I didn’t want her to feel left out. I didn’t get a chance to ask Emily what she’d meant since Darren hung around while we set up. I didn’t want to chance anyone overhearing anything about our home life. Especially someone who knew the girls so well.
We hadn’t really come up with any plans for what we wanted to play before leaving the house today, so we just started off with some Nirvana. I even tested my voice over a few of them and was happy to see a grinning Emily after I started singing. Singing for old-school rock and heavy metal was how I began my journey into music. Everyone wants to be the lead singer of a band and have the girls throwing their panties at them. I was no exception. It seemed like every second metalhead I met was a budding vocalist who was looking for a band. With the market flooded, I decided to take up an instrument too.
Now, being a guitarist wasn’t much easier. It was probably more flooded than singers and vocalists, but the fact that most bands would take two guitarists–some even did an Iron Maiden with three–it was statistically easier to find a band. It was also a way to create my own music and generate the kind of band I really wanted to be a part of.
“You’re an excellent singer,” Emily said when we stopped for a break. “Why haven’t I heard you sing before?”
“My mum would often ask me to sing along to her favourite songs from the ’80s,” I replied, feeling a little sombre. “Ever since I was really little, I would oblige and just go nuts. I didn’t care if I was terrible or not; I just wanted to make my mum smile.”
“And singing makes you miss her more,” Emily nodded.
“Yeah. But it also made me think about her,” I smiled. “And how happy it made her.”