Rudderless Page #6

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Nice to finally meet you, Sam.

And you, too, Tina.

Can I ask you a question?

How come you're not playing the gig

on Saturday?

How do you know about that?

Sh*t, that's all I do know about.

If Q ain't in here asking me to play

the damn guitar, I got to hear him

runnin' his mouth

about how you ain't playing the gig.

Well, I never said

I wasn't going to play the gig.

I said I had to think about it.

What's there to think about?

You're a band. It's a gig.

- They're not that easy to come by.

- I need to think about it, though.

I'm just... I'm too old

for this sh*t, man.

Wow.

What you talkin' about, too old?

T-Bone Walker played till he was 77.

Died with a guitar in his hand.

Well, I don't want to die

with a guitar in my hand.

Then what you doin' in a band?

Beginning to wonder that myself.

Hey. Slim!

Hey. So what's up with that

"for sale" sign in the window?

Yeah, man.

Puttin' the business up for sale.

Me and Tina are gonna do some traveling.

Oh, really?

Take a look around.

See somethin' you like, let me know.

You're so emotional

You're such a beautiful mess

One thing I really hate

Is when Sam is really late

Hurry up, hurry up and wait

Don't be sorry

Let's make the most of us

Love played a joke on us

I wanna play this at the block party.

Yes!

The man has spoken.

- All right!

- No.

I wanna play Over Your Shoulder,

Real Friends, and close with this.

- It's not finished yet.

- It's finished.

That's the deal.

We close with your song.

When was the meeting where we

made you lord and master of the band?

'Cause I think I missed it.

It's the only way I'll do the show.

It's a good song.

Makes me nervous to agree with Sam,

but he's right.

So it's settled.

Count it off.

Let's do it.

Fine with me, I didn't wanna play

that show anyway.

Come on, Q.

- Come on, bro.

- Okay, okay, okay. Fine, fine, fine, fine.

All right, fine.

We'll play the f***ing song.

It's a good song.

You're such an a**hole!

Wake up in your favorite shoes

Sunsets and afternoons

Make it up make it up for me

and change the story

Stylishly under-dressed

Unfazed and unimpressed

Carry on, carry on, it's great

You can't ignore me

Don't stop you're good with what you got

You're so emotional

You're such a beautiful mess

Tonight when everyone

is cheering for those songs,

how are you gonna feel about that?

This whole thing, this fantasy

you're living in, it's... It's impressive.

- Kate...

- Ann.

It's Ann, remember?

- Ann, please.

- Do you even know why I changed my name?

Because they kept calling me.

What kind of sex did we have?

Did we have a cult?

How many were there?

I had to quit school.

Josh ruined my life.

- That's what your son did to me.

- I'm so sorry.

Sorry? Know what? I should thank you.

I think I'm finally finished

with you and your son.

Is it true?

Yeah.

Today is really not turning out

like I thought it would.

I should have told you.

You think?

Dude, we can still play the show, man.

Think about it.

We're only doing three songs,

one of them's yours.

- Yours is the best one.

- Guys...

- Yeah, I don't know what she told you...

- You need this.

After tonight we stop playing 'em

forever, and we never play 'em again.

No one's the wiser,

but we don't miss this chance.

- No one would know.

- I would know.

I would know.

Playing these songs is wrong.

It's wrong.

Isn't it, Sam?

It's wrong.

All right, I'm gettin' my stuff.

Q, please, man.

Seriously, think about this.

Come on, bro.

Pack up the rest of my sh*t, all right?

You screwed us, Sam.

He was... He was my son.

Yeah, and you must have been

a hell of a father.

Listen.

Sh*t.

What are you havin'?

Whiskey. Neat.

Double it up for me, will ya?

Well, f*** you.

Oh, f***.

Oh, f***!

Hell, no.

Oh, no, buddy.

F***. F***.

F***.

What the f***?

Shut the f*** up!

Ladies and gentlemen, the annual Lake

Channing Summer Regatta is underway!

Beginning at 2:
00.

And the silent auction...

Okay, a little to the right! Nice.

Nice.

Looks great, guys.

Hey. Do you see that?

That's it. You hear that?

Hey, check it out!

What the hell is he doing?

- Look!

- Bring it around!

Break left! Tag left!

- Get away!

- God, what is he doing?

Break off!

What a jerk!

You're a jerk!

I'm gonna remember your face, douche.

What's wrong with you?

What are you doing?

What the hell do think you're doing?

I'm over here.

I'm sorry it's so late, I...

I didn't have anyone else to call.

You remember the university shootings

at Smythe Library a couple of years ago?

Yeah. You talkin' about your boy, huh?

Oh, yeah, I recognized you

when you first came into the shop.

Just took me a minute

to figure out where from.

Well, then, you know my story.

No. I don't know your story, man.

All I know is what I read.

What would you say if I told you that

my son wrote all the songs

the band plays?

Damn.

I'd say, "I didn't see that comin'."

Wait, does Quentin know?

He does now.

Oh, yeah? How'd he take it?

- There ya go.

- Well, I can't say as I blame him.

Damn! Your boy wrote all that music?

Well, what were you thinking?

- He was my son.

- They were all somebody's sons, Sam.

Somebody's sons, somebody's

daughters. Your boy killed them.

I know,

but he was my son.

Well, I can't say I know half of what

you've been through, man.

But Quentin deserves better.

I know.

My little boy.

My boy, my boy.

My boy. Oh, my boy.

My boy...

- You okay?

- No. Not yet.

What are you doin' here?

I...

I think someday, Phillip's gonna

wanna know who his brother really was,

not just what he's going to read.

And when that happens,

I think you should give him these.

Wait.

Just listen.

Thought you played that old Epiphone.

Not anymore.

I just wanted to come by and...

And say thanks.

No need, man. Not even a little bit.

Okay.

- Okay.

- Are those Quentin's guitars?

Yeah. Stubborn little bastard.

I told him I'm damn near

givin' things away around here,

but he won't take no for an answer.

Wants me to sell 'em on consignment.

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

I forgot to ask. How's this goin'?

Got an offer.

- That's great.

- Yeah.

Well...

You take care of yourself.

- Okay.

- All right.

A good offer?

Heard the donuts in here

are better than sex.

You're doin' it wrong, then.

Can we talk?

I'm kind of behind here.

Okay. Guess I need to

order something then, huh?

What are those?

Cherry.

That one?

Blueberry fritter.

That first night that we

got up there and played,

it was like I got to meet a Josh

that I never knew.

And every new song we played,

I learned more about him.

It was intoxicating.

I couldn't stop. I didn't wanna stop,

but it wasn't Josh.

It was you.

Oh, my God, Quentin.

I am so sorry.

The last thing I ever wanted to do

was f*** up another young man's life.

Is that what you think?

Well, you can let yourself off the hook

for that one.

I've been f***in' up my life

for 21 years, man.

Then stop.

Stop f***ing it up.

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