Free Blessed Tragedy by Hb Heinzer

of a lifetime in honor of Mom.
    I barreled down the stairs and set my violin on the floor just outside the basement door. I needed to make sure the guys were on board with my idea before I divulged one of the few secrets I seemed to have left.
    “Hey, can you guys come over here?” I sat on the sectional and waited for the guys to join me. Colton sat next to me and I didn't hesitate to lean into him. It was already a tiring day and he was quickly becoming my solace.
    “What's up?” Colton asked.
    “Okay, so my dad asked me last night if I'll sing at Mom's funeral tomorrow.” I paused to see if there was any visible reaction to this first statement. I wasn't sure why I was so worried about asking them to do the same thing we do every day but there was something so much more intimate about this that it scared me. “You guys were right the other night on the bus. I need you. You're my rocks. I don't want to sing without you.”
    Colton kissed my forehead as Jon patted my thigh. It was probably the most affection we'd all shown one another ever but I liked it. In a way, my mom's death was bringing everyone I knew closer together and there was some comfort to be taken from that.
    “Travis and his hidden affinity for Kansas gave me an idea.” I looked up at him and smiled. “That was one of my mom's favorite songs, that's why I kind of lost it for a minute. And you were amazing over there. Would you guys be willing to spend part of today working out the arrangement to do it tomorrow?”
    I watched as Jon looked to both Travis and Colton before pulling me away from Colton's side. “We'd be honored to. Does your dad know?”
    “Well, I asked him about it. He's still worried that you guys can't tone it down enough for a room full of middle-aged mourners so I told him to have a listen down here in a little bit. I think if I sent Travis upstairs right now, he'd be sold. Seriously man, where'd you learn to do that?”
    Travis shrugged. He never was one to take compliments well. He was perfectly content to sit in the background and let everyone else take credit for our success. “I taught myself a long time ago. Mom wanted me to play bass in the orchestra, I wanted to play guitar. When I got to high school, the pop band had a guitar sitting in the corner of the room and I'd play during study hall.”
    “Dude, you were in fucking orchestra?” Colton joked. Little did he know that Travis's admission to being in the school orchestra meant Colton was the only one of us without any classical music training.
    I backhanded Colton as I stood to reveal my own secret. Placing the violin case on the pool table, I looked over at him. “What's wrong with being in orchestra? Just because you're an uncultured buffoon doesn't mean the rest of us are.” I flailed my bow in his direction. I winked at him to make sure he knew I was giving him a hard time and not being serious.
    The look on their faces was well worth it. It was like Mom was up there pulling strings to make everything go a certain way, including me shocking the hell out of my band mates. “What? Never seen a violin before?”
    Travis shook his head. “Okay, so you're a violin playing cheerleader who somehow turned into this badass tattooed and pierced rock goddess? What the fuck else are you hiding from us?”
    Jon and Colton laughed. I narrowed my eyes. “If you value your damn kneecaps, that'll be enough to keep you from hunting for anything else. And you won't mention this again once we leave tomorrow night.”
    Jon stepped in between me and Travis before I could say anything else. I wasn't seriously pissed off yet but Jon knew me well enough to know it wouldn't take much on a day like today. “Hey, you know anyone up at the school?” He asked, effectively changing the subject.
    “Um, Mike's a teacher up there, why?”
    “I was thinking that with you having that violin, Travis and Colt on guitar, it'd sound just about perfect if we can track down bongos. Think he