Free Alligators in the Trees by Cynthia Hamilton Page B

we can finesse it into something quite nice.”
    Tobias took another drink of his beer, too tired to challenge Brody on the state of their latest effort. They had made remarkable progress, considering this tune didn’t even exist until a few hours ago. A couple more days of studio spit and polish and they’d have it down. And not to be petty, but Brody’s contribution had been minimal, as usual.
    Tobias laughed bitterly at himself, for even though a decade had passed since Brody and he had called it quits, they had managed to pick up exactly where they had left off. Sure, the publicized version of the breakup cited their individual desires to pursue different avenues of their art, but in reality, the reason they disbanded was due to a growing resentment between the two men. Tobias had resented the fact that he contributed far more creatively than his partner, and Brody resented the insinuation that he was hanging on to Tobias’s coattails.
    Plus, there were other factors that added to the over-all disharmony—lifestyle preferences, mostly. Before the split, Brody was becoming increasingly content to lock himself in the studio, growing fatter and more slovenly with each passing day, whereas Tobias was hell-bent on cramming the antics of seven playboys into one lifetime.
    Brody felt alienated by Tobias’s divided attention; the bond of creating music had been all that supported Brody’s existence up to that point. After all, a career in music had been his life’s objective. It was he who had attended the Eastman School of Music for three years, gaining the musical background and ability to turn Tobias’s crudely executed numbers into rock masterpieces. Underneath everything, it still rankled him that Tobias had been given such extraordinary talents, without ever being enslaved by gnawing ambition.
    Even though Absent Among Us was Brody’s lifeline, it was he who had initiated the breakup. He had used the tactic as a threat, a way to reel in Tobias and force him to see he was neglecting the very thing that had brought him the fame and money and all those babes in the first place.
    Ironically, it was when his ploy backfired that Brody underwent the positive change that led to a more satisfying life. True, he didn’t have much in the way of a musical outlet anymore, aside from producing the odd garage band and the occasional studio work that came his way. Tobias, on the other hand, had been so cocky and sure of his abilities that he marched off into a solo career, only to fall flat on his face.
    Granted, Tobias supplied ninety percent to Brody’s ten, but it was the ten percent that tied the works together. Brody liked to compare their collaboration to an automobile, with his contribution representing the tires. Sure, Tobias was the body, the chassis, the engine, the fancy upholstery and the horn, but without Brody’s tires, the vehicle wasn’t going anywhere.
    It took only a few seconds for these separate revelations to pass through both men’s minds. But as they regarded each other, they simultaneously decided the promise of another crack at immortality was better than what either of them had going on now.
    Cranking out a few more memorable songs did have limited rewards, but those seemed a lot more appealing than sinking into oblivion so early in their lives, especially after such stunning successes. Plus, Brody needed that sense of purpose.
    Tobias, though he spent virtually all his time hidden in hats and glasses, missed the adoration and fame, but it was unlikely he’d ever admit that to himself or anyone else. So, both men had something to prove and something to gain. Having acknowledged this fact to themselves, they wordlessly agreed to rise above trivial conflicts and concentrate on recapturing their old magic.
    “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Problem is, I’m not sure I’ve got anything in the fridge that’s edible,” Brody said as he hugged Roberta close to him.
    “I think there’s