“Cutting ties, walking away, leaving things be instead of settling them,” I replied. “It’ll catch up to you someday.”
“I’m pretty sure it already has.”
I might have said more if Kit hadn’t shown up at the table with his electric drum kit, his inquisitive gaze sweeping over us, which was my cue to leave. Still, the conversation stayed with me even after I’d walked away, my feelings still a jangled mess of regret and longing.
Chapter 15
(Kit)
Before my original audition to become the relief drummer for Blissfully Immune, I’d never seen another state outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Being on the road with them was eye-opening, and not just when it came to making music. Slowly, I came to understand what Rebel meant when he said that a person couldn’t create in a vacuum. I was constantly floored by the sheer number of new sights, sounds, and experiences there were to be had, and because of it, I found myself constantly tapping out beats, playing with rhythm, and testing out the way words flowed when they were pieced together. If this was what it felt like to grow and evolve as both a person and a musician, I hoped the road never came to an end.
“Working on something new?”
Ozzy’s voice startled me, and a drumstick went flying. Fortunately, no one was seated anywhere near me because they’d probably have gotten hit. Chuckling, Ozzy retrieved my errant drumstick and handed it back as he took the seat across from me.
“Thanks,” I replied, resting it beside my electric drum kit. “I’m not sure what it is yet. It just sort of popped into my headwhile we were in town this afternoon.”
“You’ll figure it out. It’s beautiful up here, perfect for finding inspiration.”
“Sometimes I think you have more faith in me than I do,” I admitted.
“Because you haven’t learned to dream big yet,” Ozzy said. “You’re still stuck in survival mode, unsure of what you need to do to prove yourself and how to make your mark, so you never have to worry about whether or not the rug is going to be yanked out from under you. It’s not. The guys love you and are beyond impressed by the way you’ve settled in and made that throne your own. Which is why we won’t be setting mine up on the stage any longer, even when I play part of a set.”
“Wait…are you sure? Because I don’t mind playing on your kit.”
“But you shouldn’t have to, and let’s be fair here, you are already playing more than half of each set. You deserve to play on your own equipment while I work out the best way to transition out of the band.”
“It’s really coming to that, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Unfortunately. But hey, I had a good run. Better than I ever hoped for when I joined up with these guys back in high school. At best, I expected us to play up and down the coast and maybe get invited to do the Portuguese Feast and the Whaling City Festival before we faded into obscurity like so many other bands before us. I know you know what the odds are of a band gaining national exposure, let alone going on to play around the world.”
“I sucked at math, but the laws of probability say not high.”
“Exactly.”
“How much longer do you think you’ll be able to stay on the road with us?” I asked, hoping we were talking months and not weeks because I was not ready to be on my own without my mentor.
“If I can make it to Rocktoberfest, I’d love to say my goodbyes there and officially hand over the sticks.”
Phew. It was only May. Rocktoberfest was in October. Fivemonths wasn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it was better than him telling me that our July 4th show would truly become my independence day.
“You’ll still be around online, right?” I asked. “And I can still call you and text and bug the shit outta you if I get stuck on something?”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” Ozzy admitted. “I know the guys will be hitting me up too, and I look forward to still being able to contribute that way. I plan to keep the YouTube channel going. With all the influx of free time I’ll have on my hands, I might up things to two tutorials a week, just to keep my own skills sharp.”
“You should. They were a godsend for me.”
He chuckled at that, messy black hair falling into his eyes since the only time he could ever be bothered to tie it back was when he was playing. “When I started that channel, I never expected to have so many followers, let alone find my own replacement among the mix. I did it to keep myself grounded when the band's momentum kicked into overdrive. I never wanted to get so big that I forgot where I came from or how much of a struggle it was to earn fifteen bucks a week so I could pay for lessons.”
“Is that why you made it free instead of putting it somewhere people would have to pay to see the tutorials?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Thank you again for that and for bringing in such an awesome array of guest talent over the years,” I said. "How do you get so many guys to volunteer their time like that?”
“I just asked.”
Even as I nodded, I still had a hard time believing it had been that easy. It made me think about the dad I’d met at the pub whose kid was a drummer and how many other kids dreamed big but didn’t have the means to make lessons possible. Even if they never made it to the level Ozzy had, at least they’d have a chance to learn an instrument they loved. With the way music programs in public schools constantly had their funding cut or were defunded completely, he was filling a gap that few evergave much consideration to.