Free Gone Bad by Lesley Choyce Page A

come up with a really pounding beat.
    And then there was Giles. Giles didn’t take off his shades when he came inside the garage. Giles wore shoes that probably cost more than my whole drum set. He had a snotty way of hanging out that told me he thought he was really very important.
    Barry sized him up like a mortal enemy. He introduced himself.
    â€œI’ve heard about your work with the band,” Giles told Barry. “You’ve done good. D and D respects guys like you who help out with the first step in a career.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œThe band has told you about my interest?”
    â€œWell, I knew something was up,” Barry said. “We’ve been working together. I’ve been acting as a manager but we don’t have any formal arrangements. I believe in these guys. Whatever they want for their career is okay by me.”
    That was typical Barry. Never pushy. Giles was honing in on territory Barry had carved out for himself. Old Barry had invested his time and moola in us and we were ready to leave him in the dust for D and D. But the dude didn’t seem to mind. Maybe he was just a born wimp.
    â€œHave you seen this?” Barry asked. He handed Giles a copy of the Herald .
    Giles dipped his glasses. He read the words slowly, moving his lips, just like me when I read.
    Alex tried to get his guitar in tune to Kelsey’s keyboard but he was having a hard time of it. I knew something was bothering him. I was getting really tired of sitting there doing nothing. “Let’s do some music,” I said.
    â€œI’m not in tune,” Alex snapped.
    â€œSo what?”
    â€œCan you give us a minute, Cody?” Kelsey interjected.
    I took a break and walked outside. I was tired of being polite. Our fame now rested on the fact that we were considered insulting, obscene, and dangerous. We should start living up to that image. Who would care if we were in tune?
    Barry borrowed Alex’s guitar to help him get it locked in tune. That’s when Giles sidled over to me outside on the driveway.
    â€œThis thing in the paper is not so good for you,” he said, all confidential now, like he was telling me some hot new secret.
    I almost laughed. “It isn’t?” I asked.
    â€œThe company will not look favourably on bad publicity. Not at this stage of your career, anyway.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause you’re going to alienate that whole audience who would listen to you on commercial stations.”
    â€œBut I thought a bad rep was good.”
    He shook his head. “A bad rep is good if you’ve already established a good rep as being bad, in the musical sense, before you cross over to being bad in the real world, where maybe you break a law or something.”
    It sounded like double-talk to me. “No kidding?”
    â€œNo kidding. Look, Cody, I can tell you’re a reasonable guy with a level head.”
    He had me pegged right down to the wire.
    â€œThat’s why I’m going to ask you to help me with this one. Persuade Kelsey that Scream Static needs some material that is more commercial, something that won’t offend anyone. Just plain music. You have good musical abilities. You three carve a weird and intriguing image. All you need is the right material. Don’t let the language turn off a huge chunk of your potential audience.”
    â€œYou’re messing with my head,” I told him.
    â€œListen. Let’s be straight. What do you want out of your career? You wanna play music just for your friends or do you want to be in front of big crowds, maybe record in the best studios in North America and make big bucks?”
    â€œI’d say the big bucks thing sounds like a good choice.”
    â€œGood,” said Giles. “Now we’re speaking the same language. Alex is already with me on this one. But I thought you could help me with Kelsey. You know how she is.”
    â€œSure,” I said.