Free Oedipussy by Solomon Deep

was left - we were spotless and left not a trace that we had ever been there.
    I approached the counter with the guys, and Paul was doing final wipe-downs of the counters and the cash register.
    "Paul, we wanted to thank you again for all of your great work and being such a good host for us tonight."
    "Thank you, gentlemen!" He held his hand out for us, and we each took a turn shaking it. "I would love to have you back again real soon. You are exactly what we need - not just my store, but to get the community out and engaged. This is exactly what I had in mind for these little shows. I would be totally willing to have anyone like you here at any time - so tell your friends or any other local bands. You did a smashing job with everything. Thank you."
    "I’ll give you a call when we figure out what we want to do next," I replied, "but we absolutely want to be back soon."
    We turned to leave.
    "Wait!" Paul shimmied around the counter to meet us on the way out. He had the merchandise box in his hands.
    "Oh, I almost forgot to grab those."
    "These?" He opened the box, and it was empty, save for a pile of cash. "Sold them all. Almost a hundred and fifty bucks. Want me to get rid of the box?"
    I reached in and picked up the wad of cash. I felt the band's eyes burning over my shoulders at the power of this money - money fairly earned doing what we loved. The power of asking, and exchanging our tapes for money. It was incredible. We earned this with art. Somehow, it was heavy in my hands, and it felt dirty, hot, stinging, and powerful to behold.
    I was stricken as deeply as the other men.
    "Thank you."
    "You're welcome - you should have made more, I had to turn some people away."
    "Amazing."
    "Good night, boys."
    And a smattering of 'good nights' and we were out the door standing next to the van with a wad of money. Me, Jenny, Johnny, Kurt, and Steve.
    We were speechless.
    Johnny was the first one to speak.
    "BB's?"
    Speechless, we piled in the van, and Jenny ran over to her car parked across the street.
    The seating situation in the van was not ideal with only two legally seat-belted passengers. Kurt and I bounced on the equipment in the back of the van, our backbones bruised and our skulls rattled. When not trying to remain upright, we tried to prevent the heavy and expensive equipment from landing on us.
    We always managed to make it in one piece.
    BB's Breakfast and Biscuits was on the edge of town, far from everything, but it was one of the few twenty-four hour joints. Kurt and I clambered out of the back of the van, and Jenny met us at the door. It was eleven thirty, and the five of us walked in to the late-seventies halogen oasis like we owned the night.
    We were masters of the domain with a hundred and fifty bucks to spend on anything we wanted, like being the richest people in the room. We were invincible.
    We were the only people in the room.
    We were brought to a round booth, each given a seventeen page laminated menu. We studied with our stomachs on our eyes, lapping up the coronary-inducing fare that didn't matter at eighteen years old. This was our moment.
    I ordered a patty melt sandwich on rye that came with a little cup of coleslaw and a pile of fries. I ordered an extra side of fries, because even though Jenny was getting the grilled chicken salad plate, she would always eat my fries if I didn't order extras.
    "I mean, you were standing with your legs apart, total rock stance, and you didn't give a shit, man!" Kurt was giving Steve a hard time about his stage presence after we ordered.
    "That was badass," I interjected.
    "I just, what?" Steve questioned.
    "It's not like you, man, that’s all. The holy spirit of rock entered you and saved you," Kurt said.
    "I want to thank you guys," I said. "This couldn't have gone any better, and I wasn't sure we were going to be ready. This was really awesome. I saw nothing wrong with our performance tonight. Really."
    "He was freaking out." Jenny felt the need to clarify my