The Phoenix Arises From the Ashes
Last week, a pretty significant event happened, hence the amazing title I used. Nick and Keelan played our first gig post quarantine! I was reluctant to play, but Keelan put all my worries to ease. “It's a six person pool party...” He said.
“Uhh... I don't... know...” I replied, hesitantly.
“They're willing to pay us five times our normal rate,” he added.
“Wait, five times our rate for two hours of work?”
“Yep.”
What else could I say?
I wasn't nervous about playing the gig until the day of. Which by the way, getting ready for the gig was what I could best describe as a dumpster fire nightmare train wreck.
The gig started at 4:00 p.m. which meant I had to drop my two offspring off at my brother's house. I did zero preparation the night before because when it was just Desmond, it was very easy to pick up and go. This wasn't the case today. At 2:30P.M. the following conversation took place with my 3 ½ year old.
“Desmond, it's time to go to Uncle Chris' house. Please go get your shoes.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Ten minutes go by I walk back into the house after loading up my gear, the child does not have his shoes.
“Desmond, where are you shoes?”
“They're hiding.”
At this point my 9 month old, Emmett, is standing at the gate crying because I left the room to load up the car.
“Desmond, come on, we've got to find your shoes.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Now I'm starting to get anxious because I'm doing the math of how long it will take to drop my kids of and get to the gig. There's still enough time to spare if we can find his shoes, I thought to my self. I mean, they're shoes... how lost could they possibly be?
15 more minutes pass, and still no progress has been made. I am now tearing apart the entire house looking for my son's shoes. Emmett is now screaming bloody murder, and Desmond has turned on the T.V.
“DESMOND!”
“WHAT?” he yelled back at me annoyed.
A text rang through and I looked down at it. It was my brother. He texted:
Brother:
Hey, are we still watching the boys?
Me:
Yeah, I'm still loading up.
Brother:
Cuttin' it close aren't you?
Me:
Shut up.
At this point I thought, screw it, and grabbed both my kids and got them in the car, Dez had no shoes on and Emmett just in his diaper. I dropped them off at my brothers said goodbye without relaying any of the instructions my wife told me to give them, and tore down the street towards my gig. Another text came through.
Brother:
Hey, your kid doesn't have any shoes. Is that a thing you're doing with your kids now?
Me:
I couldn't find them and I was in a hurry.
Brother:
You know, if you and Grace are tight on money...I mean shoes are kind of a necessity.
Me:
Thank you for your concern, but Grace and I are doing fine.
Brother:
It's just that I don't want my nephews growing up like hobos.
Me:
Chris, please stop screwing with me before a gig.
I flew through traffic on the expressway and arrived at the house we were to play at. It was no wonder why they were willing to pay so well. The term income inequality doesn't do nearly the justice of this place. Land in the area was going for top dollar. Houses in that area are typically packed in very closely, but not this place. The house must have been on 20 to 40 acres. You need that much acreage if you have horses, which they had.
As I searched for a place to park, I decided to park next to three brand new Audis. My 2007 Focus fit perfectly in between two of the Audis. When I got out of the car I noticed Keelan walking up to help me unload.
“I hope no one scratches my paint job I just got on my car,” I said to him as I got out of the car.
“Very funny. Let's get your stuff, we've got about ten minutes before we start playing.”
Keelan led the way through the backyard towards the pool, where I saw six adults either in the pool, or on beach chairs beside the pool. They were carrying on as if a pandemic, an economic crash, and massive protests were not going on at the moment. The two men in the pool were drifting on pool chairs drinking some kind of frozen drink.
We said our hellos as we walked by them towards the corner where we were to setup are gear. They responded with their own friendly greetings as we started unpacking all the chords and speakers. When we finally got everything setup, I turned to Keelan to ask him a question.
“Have you played at all since quarantine?”
“Not really. It's odd that I had all that time at home and I just didn't feel like picking up my guitar. Did you?”
“A song here or there, but nothing to write home about. Well... let's see if we still know how to do this.”
The first tune we played, “Take it Easy” was flawless. Keelan looked at me and smiled, “Looks like we still got it.” We played the entire event without taking a break. We decided to do this because they were paying so well, and to keep people away from approaching us.
When we finally finished we started to pack up and one of the men from the pool came over to us. He maintained a safe distance as he spoke.
“Hey, I just wanted to thank you two for coming out, considering the circumstances.”
“No problem,” I responded and continued, “We're just happy you guys enjoyed it.”
“We did very much!” He exclaimed. “It's been so stressful in my line of work that we needed this.”
“What do you do for a living?” I asked
“I'm a neurosurgeon specializing in oncology,” he replied. He must have seen my eyes get wider, then he continued, “Yeah, I cut out brain tumors.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked him.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“What made you guys decide it was safe enough to have a pool party?”
“Well, no one's ever one hundred percent safe. I've seen the healthiest of people have massive tumors in their brain. I weighed the chances and know that the other people at this party have practiced safe distancing.”
“Ahhh...” I said taking it in, although he wasn't done.
“You see, we're taking a breather, so to speak. A month or two ago when it was really bad, they had me running ventilators. You know a situation is bad if the neurosurgeons are running the ventilators. Thankfully the curve dropped and it appears that our state got things under control. However, after watching how other states have handled it, we'll probably see a resurgence in the near future. The fact that people have turned wearing a mask into a political statement is beyond me. I've got several of my colleagues who are from different countries asking me what is wrong with my countrymen, and I don't have an answer. Yeah.... it's only a matter of time before it comes back full force. So, we wanted to have a little get together before it spikes again.”
“Wow, that seems to make sense,” Keelan replied.
“Anyway guys, I want to thank you again. You really did a great job at taking our minds off the current situation. I added a tip to your payment. I hope it's enough.”
He then said his goodbyes and we carried our stuff to the car. Keelan checked his payment app to see if the payment went through. It looked like his eyes were going to fall out of their sockets.
“What?” I asked.
“He tipped us another fifty percent...” Keelan said, as it was now my turn to have a surprised look on my face. He continued, “Dude, the weird thing is they are not the only ones, Nick.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone asking for entertainment are willing to pay way above our asking price. What should I tell these potential clients?”
“Tell them: we're back in business!”
