Page 86 of Strum Me

He gently pulls my hand away from his cheek, but doesn’t let go. “I’m sorry, I have to…I have to prepare for our concert.”

“Brad. Please!”

“I just can’t. I can’t do this right now, Emily. I’m sorry.”

“I-I don’t understand why you can’t believe me,” I tell him, his face becoming blurry in my vision.

“If you had had your heart broken like you broke mine, you might.”

He pulls his hand out of mine, and I wonder if it’s the last time I’ll ever feel his touch.

***

“They’re amazing, aren’t they?” a fan yells to me over the noise of the crowd as the Rock Chamber Boys play their last single, “Cadence’s Song,” the one original they have on their album. There isn’t a quiet mouth in the whole festival. Everyone is cheering, jumping up and down, begging for more.

“Yeah, they’re pretty amazing.”

“Are you a fan? This is the first time I’ve seen them live. I didn’t know what to expect really. I didn’t know how a band would sound without any vocals, you know?”

“And it turns out better than you would ever guess. Um, yeah I’m a fan, but I’m also covering them for a story.”

“You’re a journalist? Oh, you’re the one who wrote that piece in the Journal! That’s a great piece. It’s actually what got me to come along to see them.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

I didn’t know how to tell her it might be the last thing I write about the Rock Chamber Boys.

***

“Emily! Emily!” I hear my name over the beginning chords of their next song and pivot to the right to see Carrie running toward me.

And then she says the words that make my blood turn to ice slush in my veins. “Where’s Ben?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he was just there with me in the tent, and then he saw you walk past. Before I could grab him, he’d run out, shouting to me that he was coming over to you. I followed him, but he’s not here. Did you see him?”

“No!”

I spin around, scanning for Ben in the crowd. He’s small but I know I could pick out my son’s form in any haystack. The lights from the show sprinkle over the bodies, but it makes it harder to spot him.

“Oh my God, BEN!” Carrie yells out into the crowd, her voice lost in the noise.

“Where is he? BEN! BEN!” I shout, scanning the sixty feet between me and the tent’s entrance wondering what could possibly have happened to him in that distance.

“BEN!” I hear Carrie shouting, the desperation in her voice almost as stark as mine.

Oh my God, I can’t think. I need to breathe. I need to stay calm, and just find Ben. Stay calm for him. If he’s in trouble he’s going to need you to STAY CALM! I tell myself.

“BEN! Ben, come to Mommy, baby! Not a good time for hiding! Come out, Ben! Where are you?”

Someone bumps into me. He’s laughing and holding a can that’s sloshing in his hand.

“Please, have you seen a little boy, dark brown hair? He’s wearing a Spider-Man T-shirt, have you seen him?” I ask him.

“Sorry mate, I haven’t. Wanna swig?”

“No, thanks.”