VanillaBear1
New member
- Jun 21, 2010
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"You smell like piss," my brother Kevin says as soon as I step into his office.
"I have a two year old son; this is practically my cologne."
He twists his face in disgust, averting eye contact with me to shuffle through his papers, avoiding the awkward silence. "Anyway...I think you should sit down."
"You made me drive for over an hour to sit down in a chair?"
I got the phone call from him while I was attempting to potty train Sammy. He decided to be a big boy like Daddy and go while standing, but the little tyke aimed in the wrong direction and drenched me. I told Kevin I'd call him back later, but when he said it was an emergency, I stopped what I was doing and came here, but not before changing my clothes, which didn't seem to work anyway. It's irritating to think I drove all this way smelling like our Uncle Mark for something trivial, but it doesn't surprise me. After all, this is Kevin we're talking about here.
"Just sit down," he demands as he moves his laptop case and gestures toward the chair.
I obey his orders and cross my arms, looking around the room. His office is small: It's cluttered with sheet music and every soda bottle imaginable. There are post-it notes covering the walls, filled with personal reminders and members of the band claiming they won't make it to a certain practice.
"So what's the big emergency?"
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "I have a serious problem on my hands
here."
"And you thought that venting to me in person would help? I'm flattered, Kevvy, really, but I have things to do." It's true. I have to do the laundry, get rid of every single piece of Halloween candy in the house, and walk the dog. Okay, so maybe those aren't that important, but I just need an excuse to get out of here.
"I don't have a drum major for the competition tomorrow." Drum majors are like the gods of marching band. They keep the band on task and tempo, making sure they do their job. He, well most of the time it's a he, flaps his arms around like an idiot and wears a different uniform just to help the band out with their overall performance.
"Well what happened to the other one?"
"His grandpa died last night and he can't make it."
"Oh...There's no one else who can do it?"
"Nope."
"It's a marching band; I'm sure there's someone else who could give it a shot."
"There's not. The only person that I would even consider for this job is Natalie, but she's doing a trumpet solo in the first movement."
Now I understand why I'm here. You see, I used to be one of those arm-flapping idiots with a bedazzled uniform, but that was ten years ago. I did it to impress the girls in band, but that just drove them away, which is odd because they usually love authority figures.
"What do you want me to do about it?"
He rolls his eyes like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I want you to be our drum major."
I shake my head. "No chance in hell."
"Why?"
"Hmm...let's see. I'm thirty years old, it's been ten years since I've done it, and I'm nowhere near qualified for the job!"
Kevin groans. "You've seen our show at least five times, so you know what to do. Plus, this isn't about your qualifications, it's about helping me out."
"That's a lovely sentiment. I should get it tattooed on my chest."
"Look, I'm not trying to sound like an a**hole, Zach, but I really need your help here. I never ask you for anything, so as my older brother, it's your obligation to fulfill my request."
Here's where he's wrong: I just made dinner for his girlfriend's family last week because he lied and said he was a fantastic cook, so he does ask me for quite a bit. Not to mention, he always comes up with these crazy ideas at the last minute, which always drags me down with him.
"You should have thought about the possibility of this happening long before now." I know I'm being kind of harsh on him, but he needs it. Kevin's under the impression that he is the greatest high school band director to ever walk the earth, so it's about time he got a rude awakening.
*
Do you like the way Zach and Kevin interact or does it seem fake? What do you think about each character individually and what can you tell about them from this short piece? Any suggestions for improvement are appreciated!
"I have a two year old son; this is practically my cologne."
He twists his face in disgust, averting eye contact with me to shuffle through his papers, avoiding the awkward silence. "Anyway...I think you should sit down."
"You made me drive for over an hour to sit down in a chair?"
I got the phone call from him while I was attempting to potty train Sammy. He decided to be a big boy like Daddy and go while standing, but the little tyke aimed in the wrong direction and drenched me. I told Kevin I'd call him back later, but when he said it was an emergency, I stopped what I was doing and came here, but not before changing my clothes, which didn't seem to work anyway. It's irritating to think I drove all this way smelling like our Uncle Mark for something trivial, but it doesn't surprise me. After all, this is Kevin we're talking about here.
"Just sit down," he demands as he moves his laptop case and gestures toward the chair.
I obey his orders and cross my arms, looking around the room. His office is small: It's cluttered with sheet music and every soda bottle imaginable. There are post-it notes covering the walls, filled with personal reminders and members of the band claiming they won't make it to a certain practice.
"So what's the big emergency?"
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "I have a serious problem on my hands
here."
"And you thought that venting to me in person would help? I'm flattered, Kevvy, really, but I have things to do." It's true. I have to do the laundry, get rid of every single piece of Halloween candy in the house, and walk the dog. Okay, so maybe those aren't that important, but I just need an excuse to get out of here.
"I don't have a drum major for the competition tomorrow." Drum majors are like the gods of marching band. They keep the band on task and tempo, making sure they do their job. He, well most of the time it's a he, flaps his arms around like an idiot and wears a different uniform just to help the band out with their overall performance.
"Well what happened to the other one?"
"His grandpa died last night and he can't make it."
"Oh...There's no one else who can do it?"
"Nope."
"It's a marching band; I'm sure there's someone else who could give it a shot."
"There's not. The only person that I would even consider for this job is Natalie, but she's doing a trumpet solo in the first movement."
Now I understand why I'm here. You see, I used to be one of those arm-flapping idiots with a bedazzled uniform, but that was ten years ago. I did it to impress the girls in band, but that just drove them away, which is odd because they usually love authority figures.
"What do you want me to do about it?"
He rolls his eyes like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I want you to be our drum major."
I shake my head. "No chance in hell."
"Why?"
"Hmm...let's see. I'm thirty years old, it's been ten years since I've done it, and I'm nowhere near qualified for the job!"
Kevin groans. "You've seen our show at least five times, so you know what to do. Plus, this isn't about your qualifications, it's about helping me out."
"That's a lovely sentiment. I should get it tattooed on my chest."
"Look, I'm not trying to sound like an a**hole, Zach, but I really need your help here. I never ask you for anything, so as my older brother, it's your obligation to fulfill my request."
Here's where he's wrong: I just made dinner for his girlfriend's family last week because he lied and said he was a fantastic cook, so he does ask me for quite a bit. Not to mention, he always comes up with these crazy ideas at the last minute, which always drags me down with him.
"You should have thought about the possibility of this happening long before now." I know I'm being kind of harsh on him, but he needs it. Kevin's under the impression that he is the greatest high school band director to ever walk the earth, so it's about time he got a rude awakening.
*
Do you like the way Zach and Kevin interact or does it seem fake? What do you think about each character individually and what can you tell about them from this short piece? Any suggestions for improvement are appreciated!