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“Oh, right … Leaf’s intro. Can you count me in?”

José tapped out the beat with his sticks, and Andrej began to sing. After the first verse, he stopped. “Wait, that’s too fast.”

“We always play it like this,” José responded.

“Yeah, and Tris complains every time it’s too fast. There’s no time to breathe. It sounds rushed.”

“It’s supposed to be like that.” José pulled out a sheet with the tempos. “We’ve slowed it down before. This is the same speed as on the recording. The solo would suffer otherwise. Leaf needs this tempo.”

“Oh … that’s this song. Okay.”

“Alright. Next?”

Andrej checked the setlist. “‘Have it all.’”

“Cool!” José wrote down the title. “You can have it all! Yeah!”

“Are you really going to stick with that? I mean, the tempos?” Andrej asked.

“Of course, we take it as it comes, but sometimes, in the heat of the moment, we get carried away by the energy.”

Andrej nodded, knowing he had the tendency to play faster too.

José started drumming, striking the toms and cymbals with full force while stomping the double bass. Andrej got ready for what came next. José hit a break, and they seamlessly picked up the rhythm together. After a fill, Andrej pressed the footswitch, transforming the previously soft bass sound into a monster of deep, distorted tones.

“Why didn’t you sing?” José asked as the song ended.

Laughing, Andrej shook his head. “I can’t sing that. Whatever those two were on when they wrote the song, it worked.”

“Yeah. Big time! What’s next?”

“‘Infected.’”

José wrote down the title and turned back to the metronome.

“Come on!” Andrej sighed, looking pained. “Don’t you question this list at all? Do you even have an opinion on it?”

“I think I just got it.”

“What? Have you been smoking weed? The list was fine before. Now it’s just a mess.”

José put down the pen and paper on the floor. “I don’t know. I think it makes sense. It’s not illogical.”

Andrej reached for his vibrating phone out of his back pocket and answered it. Meanwhile, José grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and examined the list on the floor.

“Iggy’s coming over,” Andrej said, setting his phone on the coffee table.

“Oh yeah? Why?” It wasn’t unusual for Iggy to come to their rehearsal space. Since he got his own car back last night, he’d be enjoying his newfound freedom even more. Still, José sensed there was more to his visit, especially if Andrej was announcing it.

“Dude, we need his help. How else are we gonna get the equipment to Whisky? Our roadies aren’t officially on board until Tuesday.”

José narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “It’s not just about the transport, is it? We’ve handled that before.”

“Consider him a backup,” Andrej stated seriously as he stepped up to the microphone.

“Leaf is the guitarist.”

“Leaf is a total mess.”