Chapter 3.2: I’ve Been Waiting For a Guide to Come and Take Me by the Hand
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The bride’s father was almost on the stage, he was livid. He was screaming at Leonard.

Leonard winced. He looked to the others and hissed that the next song would be Frank Sinatra’s “I Get a Kick Out of You.” This would be followed up by other songs with the same crooner motif, by artists like Bing Crosby or Perry Como.

As they switched to the father's demands, Emil quickly noticed a peculiar thing. Although the lines would reach the audience it was weak and brittle, often falling apart, like small particles of dust being swept away by a strong breeze. Soon people started to leave the dance floor, especially the younger crowd. The frustrated faces of the bride and groom were especially burned into Emil's mind.

The others on stage also seemed to have noticed the souring mood of the audience, as even the lines between the musicians start to falter, shrivel, and dissipate. Emil thought that he couldn’t let this happen, he couldn’t let this opportunity pass, he couldn’t let his first gig—no his first time with a  real band—end in catastrophe. He had to take a risk. But what should he do? 

As the current song ended, Emil searched his mind for some sort of solution.

Emil suddenly remembered the earlier gossip of the catering staff. The bride and groom had wanted an1980s type music; they had even met at a New Order concert. A smile grew across Emil’s mouth. He had a crazy thought. A thought that could possibly get everyone on stage in trouble. But his mind was made up. What was the point of coming back from the dead if not to take the risks he was never willing to take in his previous life, he reasoned.

Emil’s heart beat rapidly as he arrived at a decision. He could feel the thumping of blood against his eardrums. Emil reached into his pocket to pull out a guitar pick. He then quickly scanned the banquet hall. There was hardly anyone on the dance floor, with most guests congregating by the open bar. Emil let out a relieved breath. The bride's father was nowhere to be seen.

Just as Leonard was about to open his mouth to state what the next song would be, Emil began playing a riff on his bass. It was an allegro driving bass line, a playful staccato melody high up on the neck. The eyes of the other musicians on stage widened in surprise.

Leonard turned to Emil with an irritated look, and angrily hissed, “what do you think you’re doing?” Some in the audience began noticing something awry on stage.

Ignoring the audience and Leonard, Emil instead locked eyes with Roy. Recognition flashed across Roy’s face. The bass line was New Order’s “Age of Consent.” Despite the recognition, Roy hesitated. What is this crazy guy doing, she thought to herself. The bass riff went on for a couple measures, all alone. For what seemed like eternity, Roy grappled with whether she should join Emil or abandon him. With a serious look, Emil pleaded for Roy’s aid.

Roy let out a sigh, as if she didn’t even believe what she was about to do. Despite shaking her head, she began rapidly tapping a sixteenth note beat on the closed high hat. The high timbre of the cymbal was immediately accompanied by the one-two punch of the snare and the low thumping of the kick drum.

The drums had joined the jumpy bass line, providing the grounds to tether Emil's airy melody. Lines of purple and blue began to form around the bass and Roy, getting stronger and more vibrant as they entered another measure. Slight relief eased Emil’s face, but the song wasn’t safe yet. 

Both he and Roy then threw a glance at Natsumi, whose animated face said it all. The unexpected coming together of Emil’s bass and Roy’s drums had them shaking with excitement, and their hands were already in position to jump in. Once they began playing the rudimentary yet rhythmic guitar melody on the higher G-B-E strings, lines of pink and yellow lights immediately shot out of Natsumi’s guitar, intertwining with the cooler hued lines that had already wrapped around Roy and Emil.

Witnessing all this, Leonard turned back to face the audience with a little smirk. He then brought his mouth close to the microphone, and as soon as he heard Natsumi’s guitar riff end, he began to sing.

Won’t you please let me go?

Lines began to wrap around everyone on stage. A wide grin spread across his Emil’s face, as he noticed the lines of light unfurl outward from the stage, as if beckoning the audience to move toward the dance floor. The faces of the guests had brightened, they began to bop their heads, shake their shoulders, and tap their toes. Some rushed onto the dance floor by themselves. Others grabbed onto a partner before shimmying closer to the stage. People happily crowded the dance floor.

Emil’s eyes widened as he witnessed a swarm of light launch from the bodies of the dancers toward the stage. The lines were connecting, Emil exclaimed to himself.   

And I’m not the kind that likes to tell you

Just what you want me to

Emil couldn’t believe his eyes. By the third verse, people were loudly singing along with Leonard, nearly drowning out his vocals.

The loudest voices from the crowd were the bride and groom. They were straining their voices, energizing the rest of the crowd. Screaming the lyrics was cathartic for them, especially the bride. She was moving her body to the rhythm as if she were shaking off all of the frustrations and suffering that she had endured under her father. Those that danced around her—her friends, family, relatives—were overjoyed with her display of emotion. For those on the dance floor, it was the first time that she looked genuinely happy during her wedding.

There was one other person who recognized the bride’s overwhelming jubilation. Her father. At that moment, the scene of his daughter’s elation, made him realize something that months of complaints could never accomplish, that he was wrong. Wrong about everything. That he had made his daughter miserable on a day that was supposed to be joyful. That he had almost completely ruined his daughter’s wedding day, because he had wanted to make it perfect for her, but perfect according to his standards. In resignation he began to withdraw from the crowd, ashamed of his past actions.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed the bride's father by the arm. It was his daughter, her eyes filled with tears. Her smile said it all. She didn’t want anyone to be sad on her wedding, not even her father. The bride's father was immediately infected by her emotions. He gave in, and was pulled into the dancing crowd, hands up and swaying, a joyous smile decorated his face.

*****

"Next time you decide to play something without telling me, I'm going to knock your teeth out." Leonard growled at Emil from the driver's seat of the van. 

Although Emil was intimidated by those words, he was also delighted to hear them. With his warning, Leonard implied that he would be willing to share the stage with Emil again in the future. 

"Here's your money," Leonard said, as he handed Natsumi an envelope filled with cash. "Y'all earned it." Leonard slowly waved his hand out the window as he drove off.

Natsumi with a wide grin held up the envelope. "Let's go buy some scratch-it tickets."

Roy replied by lightly smacking the back of Natsumi's head.

"Let's go celebrate at my place," Roy unexpectedly said.

Thinking he wasn't included in the celebration, Emil attempted to excuse himself. "Alright, I'll see you guys in class on Monday."

"You're coming with us, dummy," Roy dryly stated as she turned around and headed toward her car.

Natsumi smiled and began patting Emil on a surprised Emil. "Let's go Hermit," they said cheerfully, before skipping toward Roy's direction.

A grin spread across Emil's face as he quickly followed the other two.

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