TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE ... # 167

TWO SOULS: INTO THE FIRE
# 167
warning...adult content




~
The next morning, Steve and Ghost got ready, and drove into town. They were both in a good mood. Ghost was messing with the radio, trying to find something to listen to.

"Hey, Steve, do ya think our songs will ever be on the radio?"

"I don't know...maybe one day. Right now we're just a local, small town band that almost nobody's ever heard of, ya know. If we can sell these new CDs, then maybe more people would know us."

"Yeah, and if we got to play more places, like on a tour or something, we could get better known. But, I don't want it to be like we did before...that wasn't fun to get in fights."

"You got that right," Steve said. "Well, we'll get these ready to go today, then see what happens."

~
They arrived at Terry's shop, and since it wasn't open yet, they went around back, to Terry's little place, and knocked on his door.

"Hey, y'all are here early," Terry said. "Hold on a minute, I'll open up the studio."

They all walked over, and as they went inside, Ghost stopped to talk to Terry. "I'm sorry I caused trouble in here, Terry," he said. He had his head down, afraid to look at Terry, now.

"Ghost, look at me," Terry said, and as Ghost raised his head, Terry was struck again at how much he did care for Ghost. "Look, I'm your friend. You don't have to apologize to me, and I'm not mad at you. I understand how it is, sometimes. I just hope you know that I really care about you, and want you to feel better, and don't worry about coming in here. This is like your home, too. You should feel comfortable hanging out with me, ok?"

Ghost nodded. "Ok, Terry." He could tell that Terry meant what he said. "I don't mean to scare you...I love you."

Terry smiled, knowing Ghost meant it, too. "Ok, then...let's get busy. I'm giving you the job of folding the CD inserts, then we'll all put them in the cases."

~
At the big work table, they stared at the large stack of  CDs, paper inserts, and clear cases. "You said you wanted five hundred, didn't you, Steve?" Terry asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't know it'd look like this much."

"I know," Terry said. "Did you decide how much you were selling them for?"

"No, what do these self-made CDs usually sell for, anyway?"

"Well, whenever we order some for the shop, they usually go for around fifteen dollars each. Ya want to do that...see what happens?"

"Ok, if that's what they sell for, we might as well do it, too," Steve said. "Also, Ghost has his book to sell, I think for twenty-five dollars, so hopefully the people who come to our shows will have money to spend."

"Yeah, that would be good, Steve," Terry said, and laughed. "Well, guess we should get started on it." He got the cases ready, and had Ghost begin folding the inserts.

As Ghost folded, he admired the picture, and writing on the papers. Steve and Terry discussed plans to get flyers made up for their upcoming show. "Kinsey said we should wait until y'all get back from vacation, then set it up maybe a week later," Steve said. "We'll have to wait to know what date to put on it. I do have a guy over in Raleigh who said he'd print them up...the same guy that did the book."

"That sounds fine. We'll need a few days to get over our vacation, anyway. We only plan on being gone a couple of weeks. We'll call you to let you know where we are, and when we're expected to be back in town," Terry said.

They all looked up, as the back door opened, and R. J. came in. "Hey guys, I'm here...what can I do to help?" He came over to the table to see what had been started.

"You can help Ghost fold, or start inserting them in the cases...whichever you want," Terry said.

R. J. grabbed some cases, sat down beside Ghost, and started putting the papers into the front of the plastic cases. He was feeling a little awkward. He didn't know what to say to Ghost, since the episode the day before, and also because of the songs.

Ghost could sense this, but didn't want to speak first, so he just kept folding. Finally he couldn't hold back...he had to say something. So, when R. J. reached for another folded paper, he slapped his own hand down on top of them, before R. J. could get one. R. J. jumped, and sucked in his breath.

"Ya gonna talk to me ever again?" Ghost asked, as he looked at R. J.

"Uh, sure, Ghost...why wouldn't I?" R. J. said, still acting scared of Ghost.

"'Cause you're scared I'll go crazy and throw something at 'cha," Ghost said.

"Ghost..." R. J. tried to find something to say, without admitting Ghost was totally right.

"R. J. please don't be scared of me. I didn't mean to scare y'all, I just can't help it sometimes. I hope you're still my friend...'cause hardly anybody is...and, please don't be mad, and hate me, and not talk to me...please, R. J." Ghost was still looking at him, but R. J. was still looking down at the table. Then he did raise his eyes to meet Ghost's, and saw that his friend was still in there, not just a crazy person to be scared of.

"Ghost, I'm so sorry...I'll always be your friend. Nothing will ever change that. Yeah, I was kinda scared, yesterday. I never seen ya throw things, before, but mostly I was worried if you were ok. So yeah, I'm still gonna talk to you, Ghost." He smiled. "Besides, I need you on my side, when we act silly, and Steve and Terry are ragging on us," he said, and laughed.

Ghost laughed, too. "I know, they can be kinda stuffy, sometimes."

They went back to work.

Steve and Terry had been listening to them. "Glad that's settled, then," Steve said.

"Yeah, it's definitely settled...that we're stuffy," Terry said.

They continued to work on packaging the five hundred CDs. "Oh, guess who called last night," Steve said. "Zach invited us to their new place for Thanksgiving dinner."

"Really...that's cool...do they know how to cook?" Terry asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Steve said.

"Yeah, Kinsey and I will be on the road somewhere, that day. Who knows what we'll be eating," Terry said.

"Yep, I'm sure it'll be interesting, and I'll give you the full story of how ours turns out," Steve said.

They were nearing the end of the stack of CDs. Terry got a couple of large boxes to put them all in. "I'll keep these over here, until the show, Steve," he said. "It was lots of work, but they turned out great. I say we go over to see Kinsey, and celebrate with a beer."

They all agreed, and walked down the block to the club. They were all in a good mood, Steve and Terry leading the way down the sidewalk. Ghost and R. J. were making wisecracks, about them, and trying to imitate the way they walked. As they entered the back door of the club, they found Kinsey in his office. They were making a lot of noise, as one by one, they passed by the office door, each one saying hello to Kinsey. They were laughing as they made their way to the bar, where Terry grabbed each of them a cold beer from the cooler.

Kinsey came out and just stood watching them. No one paid him any more attention, so he hollered, "Hey." They all stopped talking, then.

"What the hell is going on here? Y'all act like you own the place," Kinsey said, shaking his head.

"Hey, Kinsey," Terry said, "grab a beer and join us...we're celebrating."

"You think those beers are free...you just walk in there and take 'em?" Kinsey said.

They knew he wasn't really mad. "C'mon, Kinsey...we have good news," Steve said.

"Well, if ya can't beat 'em, then might as well join 'em," Kinsey said, as he got himself a beer, and sat down at the table. "Ok, let's hear it, then."

~
Next part coming soon!




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