Gary Henicke - Strong Hawk

Strong Hawk:

A Rock Band Summer Dream

Gary Henicke

Text Copyright 2013 Gary Henicke

All rights reserved. Strong Hawk: A Rock Band Summer Dream is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Gary Henicke

For Gena Turner; a childhood friend whose life was cut short by a senseless act.

Strong Hawk is a story set in the 1980s. The reader should be aware that in those days people used cassette tapes and VCRs. Almost no one had a cell phone so if you needed to contact a friend you called them on a land line or you went to their home or apartment. Texting and emails were nonexistent. On the music scene the MTV channel only showed music videos. Benefit concerts for hunger relief were very popular.

Chapter 1

I had the same dream again for at least the fourth time this year. Im onstage playing in a rock band. I recognize my cousin, Keith, but I dont know the other guys with me. Were playing in front of a crowd of at least two hundred people. I notice a pretty girl right in front of the stage. She keeps smiling and waving at me. In the dream I know shes my girlfriend.

A truck with loud mufflers awakened me and I realized I had fallen asleep in the back seat of my parents car. We were now on the freeway from San Antonio to visit my aunt and uncle in Austin. This time Keith, my favorite cousin, would be there since the spring semester of college was over.

I sat in the backseat of my parents car and gazed at the highways slotted dividing line. My eyes tried to follow each line as it slipped by.

Since Keith would be there I would not have to listen to boring talk of weather and physical ailments around my Aunt Marions coffee table. I also would not have to sit there and wait to field the two questions my aunt and uncle would ask, How did you like your first year of college? and, Are you going to get a job for the summer?

It had been a year since I had seen Keith. He and I were only a year apart and had pretty much grown up together. This was just before he went to New Mexico to go to college. I was anxious to see my cousin because he played lead guitar in a rock band back in New Mexico. From what I had heard the band was supposed to be pretty popular.

I had bought an electric guitar about a year ago and was very interested in anything having to do with the guitar. I was excited to find out from Keith what it was like to be in a band.

I turned my attention from the road to my parents. For some reason I got a real kick out of just watching them. My mother sat there with her eyes forward, hardly even glancing at the scenery. My father, on the other hand, seemed to have his eyes everywhere but the road. This was probably why my mother couldnt risk looking at the scenery.

When we pulled into the driveway, Uncle Billy was already waiting for us as he always does. He always comes out and sits in a lawn chair until his guests arrived. Uncle Billy had to do this ritual so that nobody would park directly behind his precious Cadillac like my father made the mistake of doing three years ago. My father nearly gave his brother a heart attack when he pretended to start to park behind the Cadillac. Uncle Billy started waving his arms wildly and pointed to the exact spot he wanted us to park. A great sigh of relief came over Billy when my father moved the car back to the other side of the driveway.

As was customary, Billy kept my father outside while my mother and I were told to go on inside the house. Uncle Billy did this to inspect my fathers car and inform him of every scratch and imperfection he found. Uncle Billy will then turn to his precious Cadillac and tell about the time, some nut took a key and made a scratch on the fender some six or seven years ago. When my father was finally allowed inside, Uncle Billy would always enter the room bragging to him about how his car had never been in the repair shop. The routine was always the same.

We all proceeded to the living room after everyone said hello to each other. My cousin Keith and I sat there listening to our parents complain about how every city but theirs was getting rainfall. As anticipated, Aunt Marion asked me how I liked college and Uncle Billy asked me about my summer job plans. Fortunately, Keith saved me from fielding these two intelligent and original questions by inviting me to see his new guitar. We quickly left the room while my father tried to explain to his brother that I had just finished the semester and had not had the chance to look for work.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Keith shut the door to what was his old room.

Thanks for getting me out of there, I said. Another five minutes and I would have died of boredom.

Keith smiled and nodded. Keith had let his hair grow past his shoulders he certainly looked like somebody who plays lead guitar in a rock band.

Keiths room was like heaven compared to back in the living room. My eyes immediately focused on Keiths guitars.

The black one is my new one. That thing cost me $1100, and that was a really good deal.

I was in awe. The guitar I had bought a year ago was a ninety dollar piece of junk.

Keith waved his hand in front of my zombie-like face.

Do you still play the guitar, Mike?

Uh, yeah, but Im not very good, I shamefully admitted.

Well, then Ill teach you some stuff. Keith held back a laugh. Unless you want to sit around and listen to our parents talk to each other.

I quickly shook my head.

No way man, you aint getting me back in that living room.

Keith handed me his old guitar. In five minutes I learned two songs from the Rolling Stones. In an hour, I learned several more popular songs that were currently being played on the radio stations. Keith and I decided to take a break.

I dont understand. How do you know all those songs? I asked. Some of them have just come out.

Its just a matter of experience and developing an ear for music. In other words, being able to translate what you hear on the radio, or in your head, onto the guitar.

I nodded in agreement.

Thats my problem. Sometimes I get these tunes in my head and I cant work them out on my guitar. I decided that now was a good time to ask Keith a question that I had been dying to know. So whats it like being in a band?

Fun. Excitement. The applause gives you such a feeling. Keith leaned back in his chair and smiled at the ceiling. Beautiful women admiring you. Course, theres the money aspect too.

Youre lucky, I said in fun. You mean you get paid good money to have pretty women gawk at you?

Keith sat back up. Well, our job is to entertain and we give the crowd our best. I mean you try jumping around playing lead guitar for a few hours and youll see how hard it really is. All that other stuff is sort of a fringe benefit.