Suzie’s House 400 : Bruce the Songbird

Kate and Justin were holding hands when they walked into the practice room. Tracy noticed it right away, but didn’t really think much about it until she overheard Gene’s quietly surprised “Oh.”

“So, you two are dating now?” Tracy asked mostly to get it out of the way.

“Yes!” Kate preened while Justin smiled quietly.

“Oh. Well. Good for you.” Tracy wondered what Emma would think. She didn’t have long to wait. Just as she and Gene finished tuning their bass and guitar, Emma and Bruce walked in.

Bruce wore Dock Martins boots, black skinny jeans, a white ribbed muscle shirt, and a mask. What a mask! He must have made it himself. It had all the earmarking of his work with feathers and ribbons and even some lace, only with a sense of rabid frenzy. Feathers running along the top stood nearly a foot tall and were ablaze in red, gold, and white. The deep maroon satin covered everything from forehead to either side of the mouth with cut outs for eyes and chin. The ribbons sprouted in all directions, threading through the feathers and falling along either side. The lace framed the bottom edge. Such an utterly feminine thing looked silly on top all that male muscle.

Emma glanced around the room, covered her mouth, and giggled uncontrollably.

“What? Why are you the one wearing the mask,” Gene asked.

“He’s going to sing today!” Emma announced it boldly, then looked at Bruce like she was daring him to argue.

“No. I said…”

“Oh, I want to hear it,” Kate said with a grin.

“Yeah. You were pretty good at the audition,” Justin said. “What are you going to sing?”

“I didn’t say I’d…”

“You should sing the I’m Going to Kill Him song.” Gene spoke in all seriousness.

“We need a better title for that thing,” Justin muttered.

“Didn’t we give it the title Lachrymose?”

“No!!!” Every voice in the room raised against her.

Tracy cringed. “Well. Whatever,” she muttered. “Go ahead and sing it.” Just to move away from the moment, she started strumming the intro.

“Hey! Hey, wait…”

Justin jumped in with some weird shaking rhythm thing, and Gene was right behind him. They were all just waiting for Bruce, except Emma, who didn’t play any instruments. You’d think Emma would feel awkward or something, but she sat on a table by the door and acted like the audience.

“All right.” Bruce started singing.

Tracy had forgotten what a good voice he had. Singing lead like this made him sound different than when he sang backup with the rest of them. Pretty quick he warmed up to it, and started singing for real. If they ever lost Emma for any reason, Tracy knew who to turn to for a lead singer.

He started strutting around the room. It was hilarious. Big tough guy, feathers bobbing, and you knew he knew just how silly he looked, but for once he didn’t seem to mind a bit. When the song ended, he took bows all around, then took the mask off.

“Huh.” Bruce looked at the mask with a contemplative expression. “You know, I think maybe I’ll make one of these for me.”

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