Microstory 1050: Chester

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Hey, I’m Chester. I’m the drummer for our band, Random Spans. You can get one of our shirts, just like this one, on our website, which Viola helped us set up, by the way. She was secretly a programmer, I don’t know if you knew that. She also came up with our name, but I don’t get it. Rhythm is about the only thing I understand in this world, so I’ve embraced it. I’m not the worst student, but I just don’t care about it. To make matters worse, I kind of have this flaky voice that makes me sound like I’m high all the time. I don’t do drugs at all, though. “Keep off the grass,” my mom would always say, and I listened. I just talk like this. My parents set me up with a speech pathologist when I was younger, but it didn’t really help. I still sound like a big stoner, which is why I try not to talk too much. That was totally fine until we lost our lead singer. Pearl didn’t really quit, but she hasn’t been able to work with us lately. Do you know how many appointments pregnant women have to go to? It’s crazy. We tried to work it out, but she just can’t make it happen anymore, and she didn’t really want to have to stand at the mic all the time anymore anyway. We are not trying to find a new vocalist, though. Addie has really stepped up, and filled that role. And she’s said this herself—so don’t think I’m being mean—she’s not as good as Pearl, so Bert and I are singing some too. Meanwhile, we have a new bassist, and if Pearl is ever able to come back, I guess we’ll just have two bassists. That’s not a particularly common dynamic, but it’s also not unheard of. I dunno, maybe we’re just kidding ourselves. Pearl is starting a new life with Vester, and we have to be happy for them. The band will survive without her, even if we also lost our biggest fan. The pool hall was the only gig we had for a good long while, and Viola was the only one who showed up. Everyone else there was there for the booze, and just tolerated the music, but she always stood up, and cheered for us. I think that’s where she met Finley, and they started playing pool together. Anyway, the day we found out about her death was bittersweet. She said she was working on getting us a huge gig, and that we would find out the details soon. She said it was going to be in the next three weeks, and then two, and then one. She just kept counting down, and on the day she died, we got a call from an event coordinator out in Jordan. They have an annual music festival, and they want us to play. We’re not headlining, or anything, but our set starts at nine-thirty, which is pretty damn good for a group of nobodies from Blast City. I just wish Pearl could be there, and Viola. On second thought, don’t buy one of these shirts. I’m gonna have the shop make us new ones, dedicated to her.