Rock the Suck Out of Your Life
Sod walked into the empty school grounds wearing Karma’s black hoodie and swinging Julius Manflake by his side. He liked it that school was a ghost town on Saturdays. Having no teachers or other students around made it easier to think.
After feeling sorry for himself the night before, Sod had woken up that morning and put on one of his favourite Acidic Vomit Spray tracks, ‘Rock the Suck Out of Your Life’.
Life certainly sucked at the moment. But if he could fix things with his band, it could be a whole lot better. He hoped they wouldn’t be too angry that he’d run off with Karma yesterday. All he wanted was for them to play together again, to rock the suck out of their lives.
He planned on writing a tribute song for Anton that morning, one that didn’t become a weird love song to Karma. That would show his friends just how seriously he took the band. But as soon as he stepped into the music room he came to a halt, dropping Julius Manflake to the floor.
Vancouver was sitting behind the drums. Jodie had her bass hanging from her shoulders. And Barley was standing in Sod’s spot. In front of the band. In front of the microphone stand. Where the frontman went. Where Sod went.
‘What the hell is this?’
Barley shifted uncomfortably and put a gloved hand on the microphone to steady himself. His guitar was plugged into the big amp that Sod normally used.
‘Sorry,’ he said, in an even quieter voice than usual.
Vancouver put down his drumsticks and went over to Sod. His eyes were rimmed with red.
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, dude,’ he said. ‘But we didn’t have any other choice. We’re supposed to be a band. But you kept running out on us. If we don’t practice together, we’re nothing. We can’t depend on you anymore. So this is for the sake of the band.’
‘What are you saying?’
Jodie took a deep breath and said,‘You’re out of the band.’
Her face was drawn and tired, but she didn’t look angry. Just incredibly sad.
But at that moment, Sod didn’t care how sad she was.
‘I’m the lead singer,’ he said indignantly. ‘I’m the frontman. You can’t kick the frontman out of the band!’
‘Barley is going to sing and play all the guitar parts now.’
Sod glared at Barley. ‘I always knew there was something off about you – you backstabbing piece of crap.’
‘Hey, don’t blame Barley,’ snapped Jodie. ‘We insisted that he take over your spot in the band.’
Barley kept his eyes on his shoes. But Sod wasn’t about to let up. ‘And who’s going to write the songs, huh?’
‘We’ll write them together,’ said Jodie.
‘Dude, you did this to yourself,’ said Vancouver tiredly. ‘You never used to hang out with Graveyard Girl. You abandoned us as soon as she showed up. She has this strange power over you. You’ve chosen girl-dates over bandmates.’
‘I admit I haven’t been the best bandmate lately,’ said Sod, trying to keep his voice steady. ‘But you of all people must understand how cool it is to be hanging out with a girl. Girls are awesome. Groupies are awesome. Right?’
Vancouver shook his head slowly. ‘I’m not so sure groupies are the girls we should be paying attention to.’
‘Please don’t kick me out of the band,’ Sod begged. ‘I swear I’m not running off with Karma.’
‘We’re not kicking you out because of her,’ said Jodie.
‘Are you kicking me out because I didn’t help with the search for Anton?’
‘We’re kicking you out because of you,’ said Jodie. ‘You’ve changed.’
She sat on her amp, letting her hair fall forward over her face. ‘The Sod I used to know would have never missed an opportunity to hang out with his band. Even if they were just sticking up some dumb posters. And he definitely wouldn’t have chosen a girl over music.’
Sod didn’t think that Karma had that much control over him. Then again, she had dragged him into the room of dead animals yesterday. And invited herself along to see a death. But he’d made the decision to tell her about reaping on his own. Hadn’t he?
‘I just want the band to be together,’ said Jodie, shaking her head. ‘Like a family. But you obviously don’t want to be part of that. So consider yourself set free.’
Sod wanted to hate Jodie. He wanted to yell at Vancouver. He wanted to kick Barley.
But they were right. There’d been so much going on that he’d forgotten about them. No, worse – he’d abandoned them.
‘I do hope you find Anton,’ he said quietly. ‘Even if I worry that it’s an impossible task.’
Jodie pulled back her hair and stared at him in horror. Barley was very subtly shaking his head, trying to tell Sod something.
‘What?’ said Sod, confused, when the silence dragged on. ‘What did I say?’
‘You haven’t heard?’ said Vancouver.
‘Heard what?’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jodie, looking shaken. ‘I assumed you’d heard the news this morning. I put it on The Ba-Donka Donk Dungeon.’
‘They found Anton’s body,’ said Vancouver, stepping forward, his voice wavering. ‘It was on the news this morning.’
‘What?’ Sod was stunned. That couldn’t possibly be true. Anton’s body had disappeared into a Black Portal. ‘Where did they find his body?’
‘The news reports didn’t say,’ said Jodie. ‘They just said the police found him and are closing the case.’
Vancouver came over and rested a hand on Jodie’s shoulder.
‘So no-one has actually verified that it’s him?’ said Sod. Jodie looked at him in confusion. ‘I’m sure the police …’ ‘It’s a lie. Anton was eaten by a Black Portal. I know it sounds crazy but …’
‘SOD!’ yelled Barley, so loudly that the others jumped out of their skin. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I don’t care anymore,’ Sod spat.
Vancouver reached towards Sod but he shrugged away. Then he remembered something Uncle Rodge had said. He’d promised to take care of the situation with Anton. That’s what was happening. Uncle Rodge had somehow taken care of things.
Jodie walked over to Sod cautiously and handed him a piece of paper. Her eyes were brimming with tears. ‘The Talent Quest Fundraiser has been changed to a memorial. Mr Hackleberry has asked us to hand these out. It turns out that Acidic Vomit Spray was Anton’s favourite band too, so …’
Sod looked down at the flyer in his hand.
Anton Scully R.I.P.
A memorial service featuring
Acrylic Vermin Stray
(playing the songs of Acidic Vomit Spray,
Anton’s favourite band)
with special guests
The Ba-Donka Donks
5 p.m. Monday, Williamsburg School Gym
‘Anton’s family is holding a funeral later in the week,’ she added, wiping her cheek. ‘This will just be a memorial for the school and local community.’
‘We’ve written our own tribute song to perform,’ added Vancouver.
‘You got Acrylic Vermin Stray to play at this?’ said Sod.
‘Apparently they’re the number-one Acidic Vomit Spray cover band around,’ said Jodie. ‘Sod, even though you won’t be up on stage with us, you should still come.’
Sod’s throat was suddenly lumpy and full of saliva. He tucked the flyer into his pocket, picked up his guitar and walked out of the room. His time in The Ba-Donka Donks was over. He hadn’t just failed to rock the suck away. He’d made everything suck even more.
‘Sod?’ said Vancouver.
‘SOD?’ Jodie shouted after him.
But he walked down the corridor, determined not to look back. He made it outside and hunkered down on the concrete steps, where he rested his head on his guitar case and cried.