AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luke laughed and hid his shyness by turning around to close the door. This jovial man could turn him into a marshmallow with just one hug. “Kinda. Healing nicely but still a bit sore.”
“Healing? What’d they do to you now?”
“Got a bit rough on the takedown. I’m fine. The ribs take a bit longer to heal.”
“Christ almighty, Luke. How many times I gotta tell ya? Get out of the law business and come back to the music you love to play. I could get you a gig just like that… you want.”
While he talked, Hamilton led them to the kitchen where he began gathering the makings of a hot meal. Big pieces of fried chicken appeared from the fridge along with leftover potatoes and bags of various veggies.
Within minutes, Luke had the salad ingredients in front of him while Ham had the chicken on a tray to go into the toaster oven and the potatoes in a bowl for the microwave.
Knowing he had to make these next few sentences as real as possible, he began, his voice raw. “You got your wish, Ham. Looks like I’ve been kicked out of the FBI. They found a stash of drugs in my vehicle and gave me my walking papers.”
“Bullshit.”
“True.”
“You was framed then. No ways you selling them drugs. No ways.” Hamilton shook his head, his gray frizzy hair tight to his scalp, and his brown eyes wide with certainty.
Luke’s heart somersaulted. He grinned at Ham. Shaking his head, he shot back, “You crazy old dude. How come you have such faith in this skinny white boy you’re always giving shit to?”
Hamilton laughed hard at Luke’s way of wording his question. “Cause you might be mean on the outside, but you’re pure mush to anyone you care for. I knows that from experience. You’d never sell that shit. You hate it… hate seeing what it does to folks.”
“Except they caught me red-handed. So now I gotta go back to doing what you’re always after me to do. Get back on stage.”
“True dat?”
“Yep.”
“It’s undercover… right? A special assignment. They bastards don’t even let you heal from the last one you was on and now they’s after you again. Luke, my boy, how many times I have ta tell you – you gotta learn to say no.”
Luke’s heart evened out and joy hammered through his defenses. He should have known Ham wouldn’t buy the story. He chuckled to cover up his sudden surge of gentleness. “All that nagging? Can’t count that high? Truth is, there’s shit on the streets now killing people… kids, lots of them. Someone’s selling the crap, and they don’t care who buys it.”
Hamilton’s face fell. “Yeah, I heard about it. Not good, boy. Not good. Too many of the bands are deep in the rotten stuff.” The old man’s voice became nostalgic. “Used to be, the drugs would give one a high and sweet music would follow. Not so much now. This garbage is a game changer. Many are messed up so bad they can’t keep their jobs.”
“Which gets me back to what I wanted to ask. Do you know of any musicians looking for someone like me?”
“Happens, I do. These guys are good. Fired their lead vocal a while back. Couldn’t stay clean. You want I should introduce you?”
“Yep. I’ll go downtown with you later.” Luke reached into the cupboard for plates and mugs for sweet tea. “Goddamn that smells good, Ham.”
“Suppose to. Sit your skinny ass down now and enjoy a home-cooked meal for a change.”
Chapter Four
Doing their due diligence, over the next few days, Luke and Ham hit a lot of bars on the famous main street called Broadway. Some… they went into and left immediately because the crap the bands played had nothing to do with a country or western sound. Hip hop and even hard rock might better describe the smashing noisy beat that didn’t give one the urge to get up and dance or sing along.
As promised, Ham pulled his magic and within a few days, Luke had a position with one of the top quartets in Nashville. Because they were strictly country, he found himself thoroughly enjoying the gig. While Luke preferred playing the acoustic guitar, Cissy, the female in the group could handle anything from steel, to electric, and even a fiddle.
The leader, who called himself Matt, played the piano and the banjo but could easily switch to the harmonica or guitar, and Boney was awesome on the drums. They could all sing when necessary except for Boney who sounded like a complaining lassoed sow.
Tonight would be their first show in public and if their practice routines were anything to go by, they’d be pulling in the customers for sure. Nudies, one of the multitude of Honky-Tonks on Broadway, had a good reputation and treated their bands well. It was a favorite hangout for Luke from the old days.
Featuring the customized Cadillac El Dorado “Nudie Mobile” hanging on the wall insured for $400,000, it also had the longest bar in Nashville measuring over 100 feet embedded with nearly 10,000 silver dollars. A lot of folks came to spend time and money there, and Luke knew he’d be in the middle of the downtown action.
The biggest plus… Matt had a tight handle on his crew who called themselves “Country Heaven”, and made sure Luke was aware of it right from the first moment they were introduced.
“Hey, dude, if Hamilton says you’re good people, then I’m interested. But… word on the street is that you’re a dirty cop, caught with a passel of drugs in your truck. Ain’t no way I want a problem with that bullshit again. Had a tough time with Zed over drugs, man. He messed up so many times, in the end, he couldn’t be trusted. I hate to bad-mouth the fucker but the rest of us are serious musicians… professionals. Don’t want no more trouble with the law.”
