Suzie’s House 285 : The Sound of Music

Suzie ripped the check out of the checkbook and stuffed it into an envelope. She could have done it online, but then the money would have transferred faster and she’d find herself in yet another financial bind. Such wonderful things she could look forward to.

If only she could get the mortgage paid off. It would take another fifteen thousand dollars, but at this rate she wouldn’t get it paid off for another ten years. In the meanwhile, there was the ever-present threat that the bank would take the property from her.

Of course, there was an obvious way out. She could sell the house.

Simply thinking of the possibility made her stomach churn. Or maybe that was her background music getting the better of her. The kids had been practicing for an hour now, and she was starting to develop a headache.

The looked over the heating bill next. High, of course. Maybe a little higher than this time last year. But in a couple of months the weather would be warmer and the bill go down. But then the credit card would come due.

She needed to make some decisions. Especially since her job search was going so badly. Though she’d only been running her home as a boarding house for a year, that was apparently too long in which to be “unemployed.”

A particularly loud off-note drew her attention. Surely an hour was enough. She shoved back her chair.

“Gene. Tracy,” she called as she walked across the hall to the parlor where they had set up the band equipment. She’d have named the other members of the band, but had only met them an hour ago and couldn’t remember their names. She stopped in the doorway, drawing all eyes her way. “Haven’t you practiced enough for today?”

“Really?” Tracy beamed. “We sound that good?”

“Um…”

“No we don’t,” said the mean looking guy with a keyboard in his lap.

“It’s not all bad. At least we are all capable musicians,” Said the guy on the settee surrounded by rattles and tambourines, and stuff Suzie couldn’t even begin to name.

“We are?” A girl with a paper bag over her head said. There were two eyeholes and a mouth hole cut into the bag. Suzie didn’t even want to think about what that was all about.

“Yeah, but we don’t fit together well.” The girl sitting behind the drum kit spoke up. “I mean, Ben and Tracy are good together of course, and Justin and I are good, and Emma and Bruce are great together, but it’s like three different bands are trying to play the same song and the same time and we’re all just a little off from each other.”

Suzie blinked. The girl had hit the problem right on the head. She caught herself nodding when everyone in the room looked her way again. She cleared her throat carefully, hoping she wouldn’t bruise any teenage egos.

“You need to compromise more.”

From the flinch and twisted lips on everyone, even the girl in the paper bag, it was clearly the wrong word to use. Well, let them sort it out on their own.

“In other words, you should split up the groups differently and practice on your own. Maybe Gene could practice with her.” Suzie pointed at the drummer girl. “And Tracy could practice with him.” She pointed at guy with the keyboard. “An that would leave your two.” She pointed at the remaining couple. “Then everyone get together in a couple of weeks and see how it goes.”

The suggestion started up an argument, but Suzie didn’t try to get involved. She needed some stress relief.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” She walked off and considered the purchase of a pair of earplugs.

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