The Great Big One by J. C. Geiger
Author:J. C. Geiger [GEIGER, J. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-07-13T00:00:00+00:00
THIRTY-SIX
âWHAT ARE YOU SO WORRIED ABOUT?â THOMAS ASKED CHARITY.
In the Ratâs Nest, three of them clustered around the cassette tape player. It sat surrounded by old analog RCA wires snaking into speaker towers stacked so high Griff imagined when they hit PLAY, theyâd go catapulting out of the room.
âItâs because of Leo,â Charity whispered.
âWhat?â Thomas asked. âWhy are you whispering?â
âHe said he knew when the Band would play again. Said weâd catch the biggest fish there was. The Great Big One. But we werenât supposed to record it.â
âWhat?â Thomas asked. âWhy?â
âNo recording, no preserving,â Charity said.
âThatâs spooky, Charity,â Thomas said. âWhat the hell does that mean?â
âLeo said there was a voice on the broadcast before the Band played. It said âno recording.â Thatâs why he needed me to hear it live.â
She eyed the tape.
âMaybe it didnât record anything,â Thomas said.
âThis whole thing feels cursed,â Charity said.
âAre you going to play it?â Griff asked.
Thomas carefully reached forward, pressed the REWIND button. The little knobs jumped to life, white teeth of the cassette blurring. The tape halted so quickly Griff feared the ribbon would snap.
Thomas pressed PLAY.
The current came through the speakers. Like an ocean sound, the wash of the crowd. Griff leaned into it.
âStill there,â Thomas whispered.
Their music from the night before. Better than he remembered. Like fingers prying at hidden knots in his shoulders. His body loosened. Something brushed his back and he flinched. Charity. Sheâd reached out and heâd jerked like a frightened dog. Sometime since October, heâd forgotten how to be touched.
The music soaked into them. They nodded along to the beat. Leaned closer to the speakers, and each other. Five minutes. Six. Griff held his breath. Please. A little more tonight. He gasped when the sound cut out. A dull hiss. Flatline on the equalizer. Over.
âSo itâs real,â Thomas said. He smiled.
âItâs amazing,â Charity said. âLeo thought they were recording in a hidden studio. He wanted to go find it.â
âWith you?â Griff asked.
Charity nodded.
Thomas rewound the tape and played back the crowd. Stopped. Played again.
âWrong,â Thomas said.
Thomas flipped on a desk lamp. Went to his mixer. He fuzzied the music, submerged the vocals and strings to a faint burbling, and teased out sharp rat-scratching sounds that softened toâ
âVoices,â Griff said. Emerging from the crowd like ships in fog.
Heyâsure, wow, wow, omigodâ
âNo one talks like that in a studio. You can hear the distance between them, I meanâbased on these acoustics thatâs a big crowd. Iâm talking stadium.â
âYeah,â Charity said.
âThatâs what it sounds like,â Griff said. âLeo wouldnât have missed that.â
âNope.â
âThen why would he say that?â Charity asked.
âBecause he wanted to find it first,â Griff said.
And it made sudden sense. Griff had shared Leoâs mental maps and schematics. Ducts and vents. Half of his brotherâs plan flashed into his mindâand Griff knew where to find the rest.
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