Devil’s Music

Sambo's business acumen was extraordinary. As soon as Geon began his practice, Sambo immediately hung a banner at the very front of the club's rolling marquee, emblazoning "Kay & A Decade of Soul" and even added a picture of Kay. It was only a matter of moments before many passersby saw it and word of mouth spread rapidly. Unaware of this, Geon returned to the zoo, cuddling Pye and Ricky, who were vying for his affection, and sat on the couch, purchasing and watching "12 Years a Slave" online as William had mentioned.

"Ah... Just as I expected. The protagonist, a free man from the North, is kidnapped and sold into a harrowing life of slavery in the South for 12 years because he is black. Field hollers are featured, but there's more of a gospel feel than the blues."

After watching the over two-hour movie, Geon shut his laptop. Ricky and Pye, who had been lying on the couch with him, fell asleep there, and after putting the sleeping animals back in their enclosure at the zookeepers' quarters, Geon trudged back to his own lodging.

It wasn't too late at night, so it wasn't time to sing to the animals yet. Lying on the grass on his way back to his quarters and gazing at the sky, Geon thought,

"I need to practice properly to avoid embarrassing myself at the performance this Saturday."

Geon was scheduled to join the Saturday performance as an acoustic guitar player. With the tight schedule and not having met all the band members yet, Geon couldn't help but feel anxious. He remembered Sambo's smiling face behind sunglasses.

"I'm in no position to demand, but isn't it a bit much to use my name for 'A Decade of Soul' without any guarantee negotiation? Tsk."

Sambo didn't negotiate any guarantees for 'A Decade of Soul.' The guarantee would increase with the number of customers, and having Geon would surely attract more, thus increasing their earnings. It was a clever manipulation by Sambo, exploiting both Geon's position as a learner who couldn't demand a formal contract and the band's gain from increased customer attendance.

Jumping up from the grass, Geon thought,

He ran back to his quarters, grabbed his J 200, and sat on the bed to begin his practice. Since Geon wouldn't be singing at this performance, he only needed to practice the guitar, but to avoid being a nuisance to the band, which had been playing together for a long time, he needed to memorize the scores accurately.

"'Knock on Wood', 'Soul Man' are the band's original songs... 'Crossroad', 'Me and the Devil Blues', 'Preachin' Blues' are arrangements of Robert Johnson's songs."

Geon's practice went on until late into the night. With only a few days left for practice and needing to sync with the band members, he had to memorize all the scores that night. Lost in practice, he didn't even think to sing to the animals and eventually fell asleep on the bed.

Waking up just before noon the next day, Geon hurriedly prepared and headed to the rehearsal space. As he descended the stairs to the basement, he could already hear the music from the ongoing band practice. Hesitating at the rehearsal room door for a moment, he seized the opportunity when the music stopped to enter.

"Sorry I'm late!"

All members inside turned to look at him. A black woman in her late thirties approached Geon, grabbed his arm with a warm smile, and said,

"Oh my! Kay! You're here?"

Geon smiled awkwardly at the warmly welcoming black woman.

"Hi, are you Tease? I'm Kay."

Tease hooked her arm around Geon's and pulled him towards the center of the room.

"We've been waiting, come on."

Geon followed Tease to the middle of the rehearsal space, took off his hat, and greeted,

"Hi, I'm Kay. I'm really sorry for being late today. I stayed up late memorizing the scores and overslept, my apologies."

William, raising an eyebrow at Geon's words, asked,

"Oh? So you've memorized all the scores in just one day?"

Geon quickly took out his J 200 from its case.

"Yes, I've memorized the basics."

As Geon sat down and connected the jack to his guitar, William, with his hands on his hips, announced,

"Let's see your skills then. Hey drummer, let's start with 'Knock on Wood'."

Geon's performance captivated the band members before the first song was even over. Having seamlessly blended into the band with just one day's practice, the band's three black vocalists smiled

throughout their singing. Reece and Lettie, playing the bass and electric guitar, were simply amazed and couldn't take their eyes off Geon's playing.

After the first song's practice concluded, William burst into laughter,

"Ha! We've got ourselves a killer acoustic player! I thought we were here to help the student, but it turns out the band is the one getting help."

Tease, holding onto the microphone stand, added,

"See, I told you. This guy is Kay, Kay!"

Lettie, mouth agape, exclaimed,

"How can you achieve this level of perfection in just one day? I thought it was just a regular band practice. There was no disruption at all."

Reece nodded in agreement, plucking his bass guitar strings,

"Right, it's like he's been with us for years."

William adjusted his sunglasses and smiled,

"Good, I was a bit worried about this performance, ha. Since the show is the day after tomorrow, let's practice a bit longer today!"

With William's words, the musicians readied themselves again, and the practice session lasted for an extensive four hours. After practice, William and Tease took Geon out for dinner at a quiet restaurant nearby. Despite being tired from rushing to practice and playing for four hours, Geon decided it was a good opportunity to bond with the key band members and joined them for the meal. William scooped a spoonful of tomato soup and asked,

"So, after practicing together, what do you think of our band?"

Geon, stirring his steaming mushroom soup, replied,

"Well... The band's original songs seem to lie somewhere between blues and gospel. And you've arranged Robert Johnson's songs into versions that are light enough to sway to, enriched with instruments."

Tease nodded, tearing a piece of bread and eating it,

"Right, William and I also sing in the church choir."

Geon nodded as if he had expected as much,

"I could sense that vibe when you sang."

William slurped his tomato soup and set down his plate,

"Chomp, chomp. What about Robert Johnson's songs?"

Geon looked a bit troubled and said,

"To be honest, I'm not sure. It was hard to keep up because I rushed to practice them today."

Tease scolded William,

"Don't ask such tough questions on his first day of practice, William. You're making Kay uncomfortable."

William, feigning innocence, retorted to Tease,

"Oh! Wasn't it Tease who grilled Reece with questions when he first joined the band? Why the special treatment for Kay? Ah, women, lose their minds over good-looking guys."

Tease rolled her eyes,

"Oh please, do men do any different? William's over 70 and still winking at pretty girls on stage."

"Ahem! That's purely stage manners, fan service, you know?"

"I know all about you going out for drinks with those tourists from Georgia after the show, no use pretending."

"That, that was just me explaining blues in depth to students who wanted to know more..."

"Enough, William. Reece told me everything. You should've seen how much he laughed."

"Ah! That Reece, always so loose-lipped!"

Geon laughed as he watched the two, who seemed more like old friends than bandmates, bicker. Tease, who had been teasing William, paused and stared at Geon, forgetting to chew the bread in her mouth.

"Pay attention. You're married with kids."

Tease, startled, glared at William,

"Is there a law that says a married woman can't be a fan?"

William raised his hands in surrender,

"Alright, alright. I can't win an argument with you. Anyway, Kay. Now that you're part of our band, we're counting on you. Make sure you keep up."

That day, the three of them decided to abandon the idea of just having a meal and enjoyed wine late into the night, getting to know each other. With only two days left, the band members intensified their practice efforts, and finally, the day of the first performance, Saturday, arrived. B.B KING’s Club was always crowded, but today, there were unusually many teenagers sitting outside, waiting to see Kay's performance. Unable to enter the club because it sold alcohol, they hoped at least to catch a glimpse of him. As Geon and the band members headed to the club after their last practice session, the teenage fans surged forward.

"Screams!!!!!"

"Kay! Kay! Look at me!"

While the band members were taken aback by the scene, Geon, accustomed to such situations, waved at them and quickly hid behind the closest security guard. Protected by the security staff, he entered the club and took the stage. The club was packed, and when Geon appeared on stage, the crowd erupted in cheers.

William quickly greeted the audience and started the first song, with everyone eating and swaying to the

music. Geon sat on a chair and added his guitar to the band's sound.

"Crash!!!!!!"

Suddenly, the sound of a breaking bottle silenced everyone. The band stopped playing and looked towards the source of the noise.

"It's Eric Clapton!"

"Really? Eric Clapton is here?"

Geon, startled by the crowd's reaction, stood up from his chair to see Eric glaring at him with fierce eyes. From his twisted mouth, a slightly hoarse voice emerged.

"Sambo!!! Sambo Cuff!! Where are you? Come out right now!"

>

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