The Past Recedes

Chapter 15

She went back to the control room when Josh and John finished setting up the tape. John joined Bob as her father gave the younger man a signal. Josh pressed Record as the two guitarists played, bobbing his head in time with the music with headphones perched on his ears. Nika tried not to laugh since the overgrown headphones on his skinny head around his beanie made him look like Mickey Mouse. She bit her lip to keep from laughing and planted a hand on her mouth to keep from giggling.

"That's it, you want to hear the playback?", asked Josh via the studio microphone as the men nodded. The music played from stereo as Bob and John bobbed their heads and grinned.

"That was great! If you want, you'll get producer credit", said John.

Josh blushed. "I don't know, I didn't add much", he mumbled.

"You don't have to add a lot of stuff to be a producer, you have to know when to add and when to subtract", said John.

"That makes sense, but I want to make sure I what I was doing is worthy of a producer credit. Hitting record doesn't seem like much of a producing job", Josh argued.

"All right, but I'll show you how to properly produce something so you get credit. If one produces their own record, you can make it sound however you want", said John.

Nika realized that the desk with all the buttons was larger than the one at John's studio. "This is a professional recording studio, mine is a home studio", he explained.

"Yeah, because I don't trust other producers with my stuff. We use a producer for the band's music, but I produce my solo material", John replied.

"And John is a great producer, I was awful at it", said Bob.

"Producing is one thing, some people are just good at it and others aren't. Anyways, do you think the song sounded good, Bob?", asked John.

"Yeah, I don't want it to sound perfect. Perfection sucks the life out of music. Anyways, I have to bring my son lunch and I have my NA meeting later", said Bob.

Everyone got into Josh's truck and headed towards a 7-11 where Bob bought a sandwich and a bottle of juice. After that it was a short drive to a school where Bob got out and was let in by a security guard. Nika looked at the school in distaste. It was a modernistic glass and steel structure which had sea-green panels on the exterior which reminded her of a Piet Mondrian artwork. "I know, it's ugly. My high school looks like this, except the panels were red", said Josh.

"I was homeschooled", she said.

"I wish I was homeschooled, I don't like being around a lot of people and the other kids would pick on me for being skinny and having a big nose, plus I didn't play sports and sucked at gym class", said Josh.

"Is that why you read a lot?", she asked.

"Yeah, school was boring and pointless. I knew much of the stuff already so sitting down in class with a bunch of jerks listening to the teacher drone on about stuff I knew was a complete waste of time", said Josh.

"Then I don't want to go to school", she declared.

"Josh, you're corrupting my daughter. But seriously, you need to go to school. You have to learn to be around kids", said John.

"I hate kids! The girls beat me up!", she yelled.

Both men were taken aback at her outburst. "Wow, that sucks. But I'm away on tour or recording and I'm not a qualified teacher. The law says you have to go to school", said John.

"No! I can read lots of books, the kids are going to beat me up", she whispered.

"I'll ask Flea and Chad about schools, but you have to go. I'm sorry", said John softly.

"Mom said I don't have to go to school, she says I have a high IQ and schools are for lazy, dumb kids", she said triumphantly.

"I need to talk with the guys. And Nika, you are a very smart girl but you can't call other people stupid. You need to learn social skills", said John.

"No, because kids suck. I like adults", she said smugly.

"If you don't stop talking like this, I'm going to punish you", said John quietly, but his hazel eyes turned dark brown with an underlying anger.

"No! Don't be mean, I'll shut up!", she wailed.

John was alarmed and this made him determined to find out about her mother and how she was raised. "Calm down, Nika. I don't want to scare you, but you shouldn't be scared of me. I just want you to be considerate of other people and be kind", said John.

"What happened?", asked Bob when he got back to the truck.

"Nika freaked out when I told her she had to go to school", John replied.

"I know, school sucks. I hated school too, but I went with the flow and shut up until graduation. Elijah hates school too, but he goes and gets good grades", said Bob.

Nika was still angry and hurt at the idea of going to school. She hoped that her father didn't send her to a school for mean kids like the sort her mother had threatened her with. Nika then vowed to herself that she would show her father and his friends exactly how smart she was so she didn't have to go to school.

"Your parents are still away?", asked John after they dropped off Bob.

"Yeah, they're gong to be away until Saturday. They trust me with the house, I have no interest in throwing a massive party like in Can't Hardly Wait", laughed Josh.

"What's that?", asked John.

"It's a teen comedy about a house party, some teens throw party and trash the place. It's a dumb movie, but Jennifer Love Hewitt is hot in that film", said Josh with a nervous giggle.

"Who? I don't watch mainstream movies", said John.

"She's on that show Party of Five, she's one of the sisters. Her and Neve Campbell are hot, the show is cheesy and melodramatic but those two make it worth watching", said Josh.

"Hah, I suppose we all need some junk food in our diets", said John.

"And besides, I got a date tonight", said Josh as his cheeks turned bright red.

"Awesome, who's the lucky girl?", teased John.

"Her name is Ashley, we met at a Bicycle Thief show in Pasadena. Her friend was in another band performing that night, we started talking and I got her number and asked her out", said Josh.

"Awesome, congratulations. Hope you have a good time", said John

"Yeah, I have to go home and get ready. I haven't been on a date in months", said Josh.

"I haven't been on a date in five years, since I broke up with my old girlfriend", said John.

"Yeah, I've never had a real girlfriend. I just hope she doesn't freak out over the truck", said Josh.

"It's all right, she probably knows you don't have a lot of money. Girls love musicians, that's why I joined a band", joked John.

"Yeah, but you're better-looking than me. Bicycle Thief tends to attract a lot of hipster, arty types, hardly any girls. Then again, I'm not interesting in just hooking up", said Josh.

"You're mature than I was at your age", said John.

"Thanks, John", said Josh.