The Metatronic Chronicles: A Minor Inconvenience

Six weeks into the semester, things at the Roseville home of James and Mary Wilder were starting to settle into a routine. Their new future daughter-in-law kept at her home studies while Daniel and Michael continued to attend school during the day, take angelic studies in California through the night and in between spend time with their parents, practice in their rock band and Michael took operatic training in nearby Rosewood.

David Dietrich and Rick Gannon were putting in a great deal of time in the garage now, even when they weren’t practicing, trying to get ready for this semi-professional gig in Milwaukee that was coming up in the middle of February. Their angels Asmodeus and Gabriel stayed in the background for the time being as they were not blended as Michael and Daniel were. Too much time together for the two could be a dangerous thing as both Asmodeus and Gabriel loved to get James’ sons in trouble at every opportunity so by mutual agreement, they were staying out of the way until the gig was over. After that, it was going to be an all out prank-fest trying to tempt the two young men out of their restrictions.

Upon finding out that Michael and Daniel had drunk stolen mother’s milk, regressed in age, gone back the void and then came out four years later, Asmodeus was beside himself with laughter. The normally taciturn Gabriel’s stone façade had also crumbled when he learned of the episode and as a result, nearly cracked his handsome face with a smile.

Of course none of it was funny to the close-knit family but Michael and Daniel chose to busy themselves with their studies and music. Michael especially was finding that his opera classes were not at all boring but much more challenging than he expected. Though they had concurred that his voice was astounding at his initial audition, his teachers were finding clever ways to make him work hard at improving his vocal technique, expanding his repertoire beyond rock and church music and generally become fairly accomplished in short order. He was nearly ready to surpass his teachers in vocal strength and technique so the school was bringing in extra help from nearby Lawrence University in the form of vocal professor and regional operatic diva Andrea Ames to help him through more complicated vocal works.

In the meantime, Daniel had also been accepted without fees to the school but still seemed more interested in composition and piano than singing. However, where his brother went he went and together they were becoming a topic of interest around town.

In the meantime, Alice was growing ever closer to delivery and it was becoming quite apparent that there was no way she would make it to her original March 30 due date. Doctor Gannon was keeping a close eye on her now and had already adjusted the date to March 15 and then again to March 1. It was standing at March 1 when February 14 rolled around. It was time to pack up for the rock fest gig in Milwaukee.

Since the band had not played together professionally in public for months, how to bill themselves became an issue. It hadn’t been so important for the rock fest people as they were just one of several local bands that weekend, but David felt that they needed something more distinctive than their old name of the “Coachmen’s Squires”, later shortened to the “Coachmen Squires”, then just the “Squires”.

“Come on, I always liked the Squires, why not go with that?” Rick was asking as they filled David’s old van with various cases, equipment, and other accoutrements of a rock and roll band.

“It sucks. Besides, who came up with that name? Coachmen don’t have squires, knights do,” David asserted as he packed the back end of the old step van. “Come on, let’s get with the times. Everyone has cool names now—the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Cream—can’t we have something a little more distinctive. There are probably a thousand bands in the Midwest alone called the Squires!”

“Well what would you suggest?” Michael asked as he slid his encased Stratocaster in behind some drum cases to keep it secure. “The Banana Slugs? The Featherheads? Maybe Angie and the Angels?”

“Who are Angie and the Angels?” Daniel asked as he came out with his dismantled synthesizer.

“No one, it’s a joke.” Michael gave his brother an irritated look. “I thought you were leaving that weird thing here.”

“Dave says it gives us a different sound.”

“It makes us sound like we’re aliens from another planet!”

“Hey, that’s a hook!” Daniel shot back. “The Aliens! The UFOs! The Little Green Men…the Flying Saucers!”

“No, no, something with style!” David winced at the thought of being called the Flying Saucers. “Mike, remember that bar on Main Street you told me about that used to let you play for handouts in their parking lot?”

“Shit! That sucked but I bought the parts for the synth with that money,” Daniel answered. “It was the Red Oak Tavern. I guess there were some red oak trees in front of it years ago.”

“How about Red Oak?”

“Sounds too country!” Michael shot it down instantly. “And it’s a tree.”

“No, it sounds classy, don’t you think so?” David turned to Rick for support.

The bassist just shrugged. “As long as we’re not the Flying Saucers, I’m good.”

“No to Red Oak!” Michael was adamant.

“All right, smart guy. What would you name it and not the Squires?”

Michael gave it some thought and then smiled. “We can call ourselves the Heaven Sent Band.”

David opened his mouth to protest, and then seemed to think better of it. “Maybe it’s too obvious,” he finally said. “But if we drop the band part and just be Heaven Sent, maybe that would work out.”

“Or Heavensent,” Daniel added. “Make it one word, not two. Fits better on a bill and we pay for flyers by the letter or space. Saves two cents a flyer and it adds up when we distribute 500 flyers around the area.”

“After this weekend, you won’t be doing the band’s publicity anymore,” David said confidently as the last piece of equipment was shoved into the van. He strapped everything down and closed the gate. “Well, since I’m driving the equipment down, I’ll get going. You guys flying?”

“No!” Rick said suddenly, not wanting to let Gabriel take over. “I’ll ride with you.”

“We’ll fly, we’ve already cleared it with dad,” Michael said, pleased that his suggestion had been taken. A glance from Daniel told him that he should probably let David and Rick know about a change they had.

“All right, be there at 3PM and don’t be late! We have to get set up and after the set, we have to do a little schmoozing.” David had started the van and was about to head out when Michael opened the door again. “What? Something wrong?”

“No, nothing. Just got a small set change for you.” Michael produced some notes he had made earlier and referred to them. “Something Daniel and I have been working on ourselves but we just decided this morning that we would like to do it at this gig and see how it goes over.” He showed the notes to David, who put the van back in “park” and took a look at them.

A few moments later, he looked back up at Michael. “I don’t know man. Are you joking? An opera aria? In a rock set?”

“Well, we thought we could punch it up a bit. It’s not really opera, just a male chorale piece from Orff’s Carmina Burana. I think it would sound awesome as a rock song.” Michael glanced back at his brother. “It was Daniel’s idea. He thinks it might give us a bit different spin and I agree. We’ve been working it up and the percussion and bass are pretty easy.”

“I hate it when you guys spring stuff on me,” David growled, and then glanced over at Rick. “Think you can do it?”

Rick shrugged back. “I can play anything. Just give me the key.”

“Well I can play anything you hand me, so I guess it’s in, but it had better be good!” David closed the door and put the accelerator to the floor, leaving the two young angels in his dust.

Michael watched the van disappear down the road, and then turned back to Daniel. “Think he’s pissed?”

“Oh who cares!” Daniel spat back. “He thinks he runs this band anyway. Shit, he’s been in the band, what, two months? And he’s already getting big gigs in Milwaukee, setting the play list…schmoozing? What in hell is schmoozing anyway?”

“Mingling with bigwigs and making a good impression,” Michael said offhandedly as they headed back into the big house. “I guess that means no t-shirts and blue jeans at this gig.”

“Dave said to dress for success, whatever that means,” Daniel commented, following his brother. “Look good, but don’t dress for church, I guess.”

“Whatever,” Michael threw back at him as they went into the house and he started to look around for Alice. Finding her sitting on the sofa in the living room talking to his mom, he sat down next to her and gave her a big smile and a hug. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was run over by a truck,” Alice sighed, rubbing her tummy. “The baby is really active, moving around a lot, shifting here and there. I think he’s trying to get into position to drop.”

“I hate leaving you here for so long this weekend,” Michael answered, letting his hand settle on her belly to feel the baby’s movement. A little shock of energy entered his hand and he smiled. “He’s strong all right. Just gave me a tingle there!”

“I’ll be all right. Your parents are here with me and Dr. Gannon is just a phone call away.”

“Just the same I’m going to keep tabs on you from Milwaukee and if anything happens, I can be here instantly!”

“I wish I could go with you,” she sighed. “I wanted to go but it would just be too difficult for me to make the trip.”

“Dan is recording it so you’ll get to hear it later.” Michael gathered her into his arms and just held her for a few moments, drinking in her essence and absorbing some excess energy from the baby.

“He’s calming down,” Alice said softly, smiling and warm in his embrace. “Thank you.”

“Always glad to help.” Michael gave her a sweet kiss before he got up again. “Got to go gather up my duds for the gig. Dave and Rick already left.”

“Why aren’t you riding down with them?” Mary asked from the recliner where she was knitting baby booties. She had taken up knitting again after many years of abandoning the needles but somehow having a grandchild so close was inspiring her to take it up again. This was her fifth pair of booties after finishing two blankets and a couple of blue caps. “Or didn’t the idea of a two hour drive with Mr. Dietrich intrigue you?”

“Not at all,” Michael answered. “The van is too small for all of us, so he and Rick headed down there.”

“Why not just transport the equipment magically?” Mary asked again, a smile flitting briefly over her face.

“Because it would look damned strange for a van load of band equipment to just appear out of nowhere with no one around!” Daniel had been eavesdropping and answered from the grand staircase as he made his way upstairs. “We thought about just carrying the van down already loaded but it would probably bend the chassis. So Dave is driving it.”

“Which reminds me---how are you getting along with David and Rick these days? Any problems?” Mary asked.

“Dave is a little bossy, Rick is still scared of Gabriel but other than that, no problems. They’re both great musicians so we appreciate that,” Michael answered.

“But not enough to spend two hours of driving time with them!” Mary laughed.

Daniel thought a moment as he continued upstairs, and then turned back toward his mom to answer. “Actually, I think I could. Dave is bossy that’s true but he definitely knows what he is talking about. And Rick is probably the best bassist I ever heard—he could really do something with his music if he wanted. We could both learn from them.”

“He’s not eavesdropping, Dan!” Michael called up to him. “I scanned the house!”

“Oh…” Dan suddenly grinned. “They are both pains in the asses so no, I wouldn’t want to ride with them.”

“Well, actually the truth is somewhere in the middle,” Michael quickly added, appreciating his brother’s humor even less this day. “They’re just normal guys in some ways. It’s nice having them around most of the time.”

“I always liked Rick, even if he was sort of a slacker,” Mary nodded as she knitted away. “He didn’t slack off on his music and that’s a good sign.”

Two hours later both brothers were waiting backstage at the indoor “rockfest” being held in a technical college auditorium in Milwaukee. It was hardly a glitzy setting but Michael had already spotted the people David had told them about milling around in the makeshift “green room” reception area backstage. The band’s equipment was piled up just behind the curtain waiting to be set up after the first three bands finished. Somehow, “Heavensent” had been moved down the roster and would be the last local band to play before the headliners, a group from Chicago, would go on. This meant that it would be at least three hours before they could go home.

“So, you think we should let dad know we’re going to be late?” Daniel asked from behind him as he buttoned up his dark blue dress shirt. Both brothers were wearing nearly matching dark blue long sleeved shirts, black vests and black slacks. With their thick locks well brushed, they didn’t look glamorous but they did look smart and fairly stylish for two rural teenagers.

“I already did,” Michael answered. “I shot him a telepathic note as soon as I saw this change.” He lapsed into telepathy himself as the backstage din combined with the band playing made it almost too noisy to talk. “I wonder why the change was made? I swear Dave said we were opening and now we are on fourth? This means we have two more hours before we go on stage. What’s up with that?”

David appeared from behind Daniel as he came out of a dressing area being utilized by all the local bands. “Did you see that girl naked in there?” he asked, his eyes alit with surprised desire.

“I saw her,” Daniel answered vocally. “She sings with one of the other bands. She told me.”

“When did she tell you?” David asked, and then rethought his question. Of course Daniel would have talked to her at least for a moment before screwing her. “You didn’t? Already?”

“I didn’t, I swear!” Daniel quickly crossed his heart with his hand. “Her boyfriend was right there and I didn’t want to cause any problems.”

“Perv.” Michael glanced around the area, looking for the people from Davis and Davis, the management agency from Chicago that was providing the headliner. “So where are the agents?”

“I already talked to Robert Davis, the older one,” David answered. “He’s a bit of an asshole but I got him to agree to at least listen to us for a minute. Asmodeus will make sure he does too. The other one is somewhere around—if I can’t find him, Asmodeus will locate him for me.”

“And do what to him?” Michael wasn’t sure if having a very large, well-armed, impetuous angel wandering around the area was such a great idea.

“Nothing! You wouldn’t even know he was here. Well maybe you would know, but no one else would. Never mind anyway!” David glanced past Michael’s shoulder into a group of people congregating around a buffet table. “I see him. Be right back.”

David headed over toward the group, leaving Michael and Daniel behind, fidgeting nervously. “I wish we could warm up somewhere,” Michael commented. “Do you think I’d be missed if I went and did some vocal exercises outside or someplace else in this dingy building?”

“I’ll go with you. I need to get away from this crowd,” Daniel answered. “I’m getting an itchy sword finger and might start taking off heads soon!”

Together, the two stole away from the backstage and found a hallway leading into the main school area that seemed quiet and away from the activity of the event. They were challenging each other to progressive scales, hitting high notes that were shattering glass when David found them thirty minutes later. “Hey! Where have you guys been? I’ve been looking for you!”

“Just warming up,” Michael answered, irritated at being found. “What’s up?”

“I talked to the other guy, Ralph Davis. He’s less of an asshole than his brother so I gave him a tape we made last week and he’s already listened to it. He wants to talk to all of us, so I found Rick but couldn’t find you guys. I nearly sent Asmodeus after you.”

“So what does he want with us?” Daniel asked. “Can’t he just wait until we are on stage?”

“Forget that, what tape did you give him?” Michael said quickly. “Please don’t say it was when we were goofing around with that Archies stuff!”

“No, I didn’t give him Sugar Sugar,” David laughed. “Come on! That was just bullshit. Anyway Asmodeus recorded us when we were working on that Moody Blues stuff. It’s just a five minute tape so Ralph took a listen on my little tape recorder.”

“Nights in White Satin, I hope? The last version?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

Michael breathed a sigh of relief. That one had gone rather well especially with Daniel’s synthesizer lending a full orchestral effect. At least they wouldn’t be sounding like complete idiots on the tape. “So now Asmodeus is a recording engineer?”

“I just had him push the record button while I was playing. It was already set up to go.” David started back toward the backstage area. “Come on, the guy was still there five minutes ago and still willing to talk to us so get your asses moving.”

A few minutes later, they were entering the green room again and David led them toward a short, middle-aged balding man wearing a very strange toupee. He was drinking a coke and laughing with the girl Daniel had seen earlier, but when he saw David, he excused himself from her and joined them. Rick emerged from another group and stood quietly behind Michael, hoping not to be noticed among his taller band mates.

“Hello.” Ralph Davis stuck out his hand. “I’m Ralph Davis of Davis and Davis. And you are…?”

“This is Mike and Dan Wilder,” David quickly said. “Mike is the guitarist and lead singer. Dan plays keys and sings backup and the guy hiding back there is Rick Gannon, our bassist. He sings backup too. I play percussion.”

“Percussion,” Davis echoed, nodding. He took a long look at the group. The two Wilder boys were impressive looking—handsome, tall and muscular, thick long hair with no signs of future hair loss. Though not as tall, Rick also seemed physically impressive and a closer look showed a glint of rebelliousness in his eyes. David, while more bookish with his glasses, looked strong and his thick curls framed an impishly handsome face. The group as a whole was clear-skinned, clean-shaven and youthful which meant that they were very photogenic and based on looks, quite marketable. “You boys have been playing together for awhile, huh?”

“We met in school, most of us,” David answered. “Except me, I just joined up a few months ago.”

“Mike, is it?” Ralph took aim at Michael, who nodded back. “Do you mind my asking how tall you are?”

“Six feet five inches,” Michael lied. He was more like six feet seven inches but didn’t want his height to be such an issue. Six five seemed to be the point where people were more accepting.

“I’d say more like six seven,” Ralph answered. “But in your group, you seem about right. You’re all tall boys. But you have something interesting—it’s very well proportioned. If I didn’t know you were that tall, I would guess more like around six two.”

“Okay, I’m six two,” Michael nodded happily.

Ralph just smiled back at him. “And a very charming fellow too, aren’t you?”

“I try to be.”

Daniel was next. Ralph sized him up for a moment. “Dan,” he finally said. “Is that your real hair color?”

“What?” Daniel seemed shocked by the idea that he might dye his hair. “Of course it is! Want me to prove it?”

“No, no…” Ralph backed off but he didn’t seem too intimidated by a six and a half foot teenager’s flashing eyes. “I believe you. It’s just such a perfect blond that it will be hard to convince a lot of people that it’s real, but we’ll manage as long as you don’t develop dark roots. People are more willing to believe a man’s blond hair is real than a woman’s. Don’t ask me why—maybe it’s because there are so many bleached blond women out there.”

Rick was really trying to hide now but Ralph called him out. “Richard, come out where I can see you.”

Slowly, he emerged from behind Michael and regarded the agent with some trepidation. “My hair color is real, I’m six four and eighteen years old.”

“That reminds me, I need all your ages,” Ralph suddenly said. “I can’t represent anyone under the age of eighteen.”

“That lets me out,” Daniel shrugged. “I’m seventeen. I’ll be eighteen in June.”

“I’m nineteen and Michael is eighteen,” David said. “But we need Dan. His keys are what gives us our full sound and he has a hellufa voice.”

“In June, you say?” Ralph echoed thoughtfully. “Well, I need to talk it over with my brother but if you put on a decent show today, we might be interested in representing you anyway. I’m always on the lookout for talented, photogenic people. You boys are probably about the best looking I’ve seen in a long time, even though your heights might be a bit intimidating to younger girls.”

“Younger girls?” Michael echoed. “You mean, like, teenyboppers?”

“It comes with the territory, Mike,” Ralph said. “Even though your music might skew older, your looks will bring in a lot of young fans. A lot of singers have this problem—Jim Morrison for one.”

“What are you talking about?” Daniel suddenly asked. “You mean, like a recording contract somewhere?”

Ralph nodded. “I like what I’ve seen so far. If you perform as well as your tape and look as good as well…you look here…on stage. A lot of work would have to be done to get you properly promoted and we’d do some restyling, but yes, ultimately we would try to get you signed to a label.”

“This is moving too fast,” Rick whispered to Dan. “I don’t think I could control Gabriel through all that.”

Daniel wasn’t having anyone chicken out at this point—he loved the idea of being a bona fide recording rock star. “Gabriel is going to have to face me if he doesn’t like it!” Daniel telepathed back to him, surprising him with the clarity of his telepathic voice. “When it comes to music, women and being a star, I’ll take on anyone.”

“But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, boys,” Ralph said, bringing Daniel back down to earth. “If it goes well today, I still have to convince my brother and he’s the one who signs the checks. Me, I’m the talent hunter.” Ralph shrugged as he turned back to his earlier conversation. “I’ll be watching from backstage,” he said as he went. “If you’re good, we can talk more.”

“It’s too fast!” Rick was still saying as the four exited the green room. “I can’t control Gabriel through all that bullshit—he’ll flip out.”

“Just hang on, he was just being nice to us.” David was still unsure of Ralph’s intentions and though Asmodeus would gladly scan Ralph right down to the core to find them out, he didn’t want to resort to that. “We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.”

“Well, for me, college is an issue.” Michael was pondering how he could be in so many places at once—on the road with a band, recording studios, stylists, college classrooms, libraries and of course, home with Alice and the baby. “I’m not sure even an angel can attend college fulltime, be a rock star and home with Alice and little whosit all at once.”

“You can,” David answered bluntly. “Most of the time is eaten up by getting one place to the next. You can easily get anywhere in a blink and if anyone asks questions, blow them off. How can they prove you can move at the speed of light anyway?”

“I can?” Michael hadn’t heard this before. “Are you joking?”

“No, I’m not joking. Didn’t you know that? You’ve been doing it!”

“How?”

“When you go to the void, you are moving literally at the speed of light. That’s the minimum speed you need to attain to even get through the door. You do it automatically to go there, but you can use that power to go other places too, instantaneously on this planet, a little slower out in space. Are you sure you didn’t know this?”

“I swear!” Michael glanced at Daniel, who was busy talking to Rick, staring at a girl and not listening. “Dan, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Dan echoed as he tore himself away from staring at the girl he had met earlier.

“That we can move at the speed of light!”

“Well past it, I think. Yes, I knew that. Didn’t you?”

“No!”

“When you go to the void, that’s how fast you are going to get into it. Even faster, I think.” Daniel went back to staring at the girl and talking to Rick, who was still nervous about having to handle Gabriel while living a high-profile life as a rock star.

“How come I’m always the last to know?” Michael grumbled. “Anyway, even if I can move at light speed, I can’t just zip from place to place without arousing some kind of suspicion.”

“We’ll deal with that when we come to it. Right now, we have to get ready to go onstage. The third band is going on soon and we need to be set up before they start so we can just push our stuff up to the front when they finish.”

It was another two hours before Michael had time to think again. Everything had suddenly started going so fast---the bands before them seemed to whiz through their song lists and presently Heavensent had gone on stage to do a thirty-minute show before the headliners came on. The set had gone very well, even up to including the new material from Carmina Burana. The notes he had given Rick and Dave were very useful and the piece elicited a startled but ultimately enthusiastic response from the nearly full house. No one had ever heard anything like it before. After all, rock bands simply didn’t play full blown classical pieces until now and when they had finished, there was simply dead silence for nearly twenty seconds. Michael thought maybe they were going to throw rocks but suddenly the applause washed over them, the largest accolade received by any band so far in the event.

Relieved that there were no tomatoes thrown, the band took a bow and then quickly pushed back their instruments when the applause died down. They had fifteen minutes to tear everything down and get it packed and off the stage so there was no time to waste. By the time they actually exited the stage, everyone associated with the earlier bands had been ushered out and now it was only they, the headliners, some hangers-on and the Davis brothers back there.

Ralph was waiting for them in the green room, seated on a couch next to his brother Robert. Both had very serious looks on their faces when the boys came in and Michael thought that maybe the Davis brothers were about to blow them off. “So, Misters Davis,” he said, trying to be flip. “How did you like it?”

“Boys,” Ralph said, his face drawn out in anxiety. “You were incredible.”

“What?” Michael couldn’t believe his hearing. “Say that again, please?”

“I said, you were incredible. We loved it. The old stuff, the new stuff, the original stuff---we loved it. Even Robby here loved it.” Ralph glanced at his equally as depressed looking brother.

“So, what’s the problem? Your faces don’t say we were good at all,” Daniel asked, seeing his future glamorous lifestyle slipping away.

“See those guys?” Ralph pointed toward a quiet group of young men off in another corner of the room glaring at them. They were the headlining band, a nine-piece band with their own two-man brass section that had already had several regional hits.

“Yeah, we know who they are,” Daniel answered. “So what are they to us?”

“To you, nothing. To us, they are graduates as of today. To make room for you, we’re moving them over to our partner agency in Los Angeles.”

“So why is that a problem?” Daniel completely missed the part of being made room for.

“Dan!” David poked him in the ribs. “Ralph, are you saying that you want to represent us?”

“What my brother is saying,” Robert suddenly spoke up. “Is that we believe you have what it takes to be in this business and be successful. Whether that truly happens or not is a bone of contention between us. I think that you’re good looking boys, that’s true, but your music is a bit over the heads of most people. But, my brother has the head for talent, not me. I just sign the checks. If he says that he can market your music and you with it, I am willing to give it a chance for six months.”

“Six months?” David echoed.

“That’s the deal,” Ralph said. “We will promote you around the Midwest for six months. We will also send some demos to friends at a few labels around the country to see if we can get you a record deal. I have faith that we can. If your music takes off, you can expect to be on the road for a good part of the next six months to a year before getting a break. Now before we can do anything, I need to meet with your parents, Daniel. You other three don’t need parental consent but Daniel here does.”

“Wait a minute,” Michael suddenly said. “We do have other lives besides this. Dan, Rick and I are both still in high school. Dan and I are going to college and I have a pregnant girlfriend to think of. I appreciate what you’re saying, Mr. Davis, but I don’t know how this is all going to fit together.”

Robert raised an eyebrow at hearing the words ‘pregnant girlfriend’. “Pregnant? When is she due?”

“Any minute now,” Michael shrugged. “Maybe even today—I have to call home soon to see how she’s doing.”

“Well, having a pregnant girlfriend is not unheard of, though for publicity sake we would have to keep the fact that you even have a girlfriend let alone a child quiet. Fans are funny that way—they want to think you are available. The college we can work around. If you are willing, we can spend your summer between the end of high school and start of college playing some gigs, getting some face time, opening some big name acts and so forth. Most of this would be around Chicago and downstate Illinois, Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit and Minneapolis with occasional work in St. Louis, Indianapolis and Nashville…can you travel?”

“We can travel!” David said quickly.

“Then if college starts up, we can focus more closely. Where are you going to school?”

Daniel opened his mouth to say the University of Wisconsin at Madison, but Michael shocked him by answering first. “Lawrence University.”

“What?” Daniel couldn’t believe his ears. This was the first he had heard of it.

“I meant to tell you, sorry.” Michael gave his brother an apologetic look. “I’m going to major in voice at Lawrence. It’s closer to home than Madison and has the program I’m interested in. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in until I started the vocal program in Rosewood. But it’s working out so well and I’m really enjoying it—I thought maybe Lawrence would be a better fit for me. And I’ve already been accepted.”

Daniel just gave Michael a sharp look. “We’ll talk later” was all he said.

“Well all this can be worked out.” Ralph ignored the two brothers little conflict. “What matters is that your show was good, you show a lot of promise and I think we can do business. If it works out, we’ll gradually increase your exposure over time, giving you your space for your classes and family as long as you can get to gigs.” Ralph paused a moment as he took a long look at the nervous group of teens before him. “So, when can I meet your parents, Daniel?”

“Soon! Tonight if you can get up to Roseville!” Daniel answered quickly before Michael could object.

“I don’t think we need to move that quickly,” Ralph smiled at him. “Maybe we can hang on for a week or two until we are back up this way for a show in Green Bay. Can we stop in to meet them on March 18? Around 4PM?” He pulled out a business and gave it to Daniel, then produced several more and passed them out to the rest of the band. “I realize this is pretty scary, boys. But I’m telling you right now that this is not normal procedure for us. But your friend David here is persuasive and I was in a good mood. Now I’m glad he was and I was, know what I mean? We’ll just take it slow for a while and let your music develop and who knows, maybe catch on.” He and his brother both rose and shook hands all around. “We’ll be seeing you soon. Thanks for coming.” And that was the last that the boys would see or hear of the Davis brothers for a month.

As they started packing the van, Daniel collared his brother. “When did this Lawrence thing happen? When did you have time to apply and audition?”

“Well, I haven’t really,” Michael answered sheepishly as he tossed some cases toward David in the back of the van. “It’s still in the thinking processes but I’m definitely interested in doing it.”

“Why did you tell Davis that you had been accepted then?”

“I don’t know. I guess because I’m serious about it and with the vocal classes in Rosewood, I think I would be accepted. So does Mr. Evans.” Mr. Evans referred to Nate Evans, Michael’s first vocal teacher in Rosewood. “And Andrea has already agreed to sponsor me and get me an audition.”

“Andrea Ames? Is she behind this?” Daniel also took instruction from Ames on occasion but Michael was her pet project these days and not necessarily because of his voice. The forty-year-old instructor was more than a little fascinated by Michael, almost to the point of inviting him to her bed.

“Maybe.” Michael was a bit evasive. He was well aware of Ames’ amorous thoughts but so far she had not acted on them and he was hoping she kept her behavior on a professional level. If she didn’t, he wasn’t sure he could resist temptation. “But she’s already set up an audition for me and the application process has been started.”

“That sounds like more than just thinking about it.”

“Well…I’m pretty definite—they’re the ones who are thinking.”

“So what does that mean for us going to college together? I thought we were going to UW-Madtown.”

Michael lobbed another case toward David, who was sitting waiting patiently while the brothers argued. “I was hoping you would go with me.”

Daniel didn’t expect this response. “Why would you think I would want to go there?”

“Why not? It has a great music conservatory. It’s right in our back yard—you’re much more of a musician than I am. You play piano, drums, guitar, violin, flute…and all of them quite well. You compose beautiful music, are familiar with rock, classical, country, jazz…everything.”

Daniel had been looking forward to the debauchery of a major college town in Madison but little Lawrence was quiet, staid and plopped in the center of smaller and even quieter Appleton. “Well…maybe. But Appleton is so damned boring!”

Michael suddenly stopped tossing cases toward David and stood straight up, his eyes wide. “Oh no…” he breathed. “Dad just telepathed me. Alice’s water just broke!”

“Oh shit!” Daniel’s eyes popped nearly as wide. “She’s going to have the baby!”

“Go!” David said quickly. “Rick and I can finish this. We’re going to park the van in Asmodeus’ personal dimension and just bring it back here tomorrow! You can make it tomorrow, right?”

“I don’t know!” Michael said as he literally disappeared into thin air. “I’ll let you know!” were the last words echoing as he went. Daniel followed suit, leaving David and Rick to lock up the equipment and stash it in the magical realm of Asmodeus, a protective magical shield around it. Then they too headed back toward home under flight, hoping to get there before Metatron arrived.