Chapter Six

“T’was-it?”

December 24th, 7 p.m. The internet drew more power than ever before. People upgraded their Wi-Fi connections to the highest possible download speeds. Plane travel was almost nonexistent. Store shelves were emptied of every last bag of black licorice: the long ones, the short ones, and even the ones filled with cream, all in tribute to Rocco the black box.

Candy canes didn’t stand a chance. There was even a rumor that Santa Claus was delaying his departure. The streets were empty; even the police department took off.

Bars sold tickets and filled with spectators. It was absolute chaos!

Keeping his promise to protect their privacy, Trevor moved the broadcast outside New York to their New Jersey affiliate office.

Mason approached the conference room and knocked. “Gentlemen, It is time.”

As the hour approached, everyone took their seats. Mason stepped forward. “Hi it’s nice to have you back. It is my pleasure to be working with you again.”

Stephen stepped in and extended his hand toward Mason. “Same here. Mr. Dylan; by the way, we just want to let you know up front, that we hold no ill-regards towards you, you were just doing your job.”

“Thank you. I felt bad about it but work is hard to find. Hey I heard you have another guest with us today is that true?”

“Yes The Coasters, they have their own black box so it won’t interfere with Rocco during the show.”

“Then I will need to take them to the audio room; we have a vocal box in there that should be just perfect for them, will that be okay?”

“Rocco, what do you think?”

“Let me ask them. Hey Skyler, you guys mind going with Mason in the other room? We will still be able to talk to Billy and Stephen; it’s just so they can control your levels when you sing.”

            “I am okay with it; let me reach out to the others. What do you guys think?”

“Southie here, absolutely; Geez Stanley move over, you’re taking up all the room.” “Where do you want me to go? Stanley here, I’m good”

“I am sure Susan’s fine; she is just lost herself on the third shelf, can’t you hear her?” “I’m in heaven; do you want my good side?”

Sarah, with that soft sensual voice, asked, “Where do I have to be?”

“Si, I am good to go”

“I’m good as long as we don’t need a makeup guy touching my hair.”

“Yeah we’re all good here Rocco.”

Rocco confirmed, “Thanks Skyler”

            Mason was stunned. “That is so excellent.” He turned to the brothers. “You know you guys are the talk of the town”

“How so”

“The internet is going nuts! We have had pre-sale purchases and even calls from Pay-per-view–wait there’s Mr. Lewis, I got to go–nice seeing you again and don’t worry I will take care of the Coasters for you.”

“Thank you”

            As Mason picked up the Coasters, a seven-part harmony started. “Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas” It rang out for two lines before fading into the hallway.

Rocco started hopping in place. “You go guys”

Mr. Lewis entered with a chip on his shoulder; it was obvious to everyone. “Well. Well. If it isn’t the three cowboys from Long Island. I didn’t think you were going to show.”

Billy took the first seat and looked at Trevor. “We kept to our promise for the listeners. Let’s just get this going; shall we?”

“As you wish”

Mason prepped the audio. “Mr. Lewis all the levels have been checked and we are ready to go in 5 minutes.”

            “Thank you Mason” Trevor looked across the table. “I hope you all don’t mind but I have requested our Patreons to send in some questions. Would you mind answering a few after the intro?”

Rocco responded first. “I don’t have a problem; do you guys”

The brothers agreed. “No we’re good as long as they are respectable”

“Okay everyone we are live in 1 minute”

“Here we go” boasted Trevor.

Billy commented, “That finger clocks a coming”

            They all laughed. Rocco whispered, “There it is…it’s so cute”

“And in Five, four, -.-.-“

An orchestrated version of a beloved Christmas song rang out, the first of many. First up: “Deck the Halls.”

“Yes ladies and gentlemen It is without a doubt the season to be jolly. My name is Mr. Trevor Lewis and welcome to our holiday special podcast. As you know we have back in the studio by special demand Stephen and Billy Cole and their good friend Rocco.”

The audience fader went up and held a little longer than usual.

“Welcome back my friends; to the show that only brings you the best in live entertainment. Let’s get right to it and introduce our distinguished guests. Hello gentlemen and welcome again. Let’s just go around the room and introduce ourselves, how about we start with you.”

“Hello my name is Billy Cole; thank you for having us”

“And to your right we have?”

“Hello everyone; I am Stephen Cole. I am glad to be here.”

“Of course those are not your real names; am I correct?”

Stephen looked at Mr. Lewis. “No those are our real names”

“It doesn’t really matter right now; we’ll get back to that later on.”

Rocco lifted one eyebrow. “Pardon me for one second” He turned to Billy and whispered, “I think he is up to something, I don’t know what, but it’s coming”

“You’re joking right?”

Rocco’s eyebrows went straight. “I wish I was”

“And of course the one we all have been waiting for; please introduce yourself.”

“I am feeling a little sarcasm there Mr. Lewis but I will play along. Hi, everyone my name is Rocco and I am glad to be here.”

Trevor ran his eyes across his guests. “It’s good to have you all back on the show. What do you say we take a short commercial break and we will be right back.”

The applause faders rose and faded. “And you’re out. Great start you guys” commented Mason.

Trevor adjusted his microphone, trying to relax them. “How is everyone feeling?”

“I think we are all doing well, how about you” questioned Stephen.

Trevor stretched his hands and arms up and out. “I feel rejuvenated–reborn”

Rocco hopped and shuffled his brows. “You seem a little too rejuvenated for me, but that’s just me; who am I… right?” He laughed and crabbed away.

Mason raised his hand. “And in Five, four, -.-.-“

“And we’re back; I am your host Trevor Lewis and as promised Stephen, Billy and Rocco are back with us–so ‘Let’s make a Cast’”

“Rocco, I believe the last time you were on the show you were just about to tell us how you met these two friends of yours—so take it away.”

“Well thank you very much and I will get right into it but first I would like to appease your audience. You said you had a few questions from your listeners?”

“Yes, yes I do; thank you for reminding me. I have them right here, let’s take a look shall we? Okay let’s take two questions and then let Rocco do his thing. Here is the first one sent in by calicocat876 from Dallas Texas their email reads”

‘I listened to the first show and I fell in love with your voice and I am so glad you decided to come back. My question is; I love my cats but their hair is out of control, how do you keep all the hair off of you with Stephen’s dogs?’

Rocco responded respectfully. “Thank you for that calicocat876. I actually have the same problem. I love animals and I wouldn’t trade their friendship for anything; as a matter of fact they are the only non-human allowed to sit on me, but I did worry about them marking their territory and I took care of that, so to answer your question, I have a cleaning woman come once a week.”

Stephen turned to Rocco. “Is that why our dog limps all the time”

Rocco’s brows rose in the middle. “Sorry”

Trevor pressed on. “Mr. Pine if you don’t mind we will take one more then let you be; is that okay with you?”

Rocco’s sarcasm surfaced. “Anything for the fans of the show, right Mr. Lewis?”

“Yes of course. Okay last question is from Wisconsin; a Gemstoneminer1020 their question is simple ‘Are there anymore like you out there?’”

“Wow! We are getting a little personal right off the bat, sounds like someone’s digging; doesn’t it Trevor? Let’s leave that one for the story shall we?”

“Okay Stephen–Billy are we good to go?”

Billy offered encouragement. “I believe so, take it away Rocco”

“I believe it was a Wednesday afternoon and I was feeling lightheaded, dizzy and out of sorts. I soon realized that I was in an awkward position and missing a few but all familiar pieces to my normal attire. I began speaking with what can only be described as a whispering lisp, a very bad stuffy head and a muffled voice.

“Trying to understand my situation, a few rhetorical questions started to escape me. Why can’t I see anything, Where am I? Wait! Let me try to scream out, Help. Help! I stopped ranting mid-yelp realizing I had never been heard by anyone before, but something was wrong with my voice.”

Mr. Lewis added some enthusiasm. “So, then what happened?”

“It was but a moment later when I heard that noise; a bicycle, yes, I was sure of it! … No wait; there were two of them. I gave it my all and screamed again. Help. Help!”

               “The multiple sounds of rubber on pavement became clearer as the two bikes came to a screeching halt. I remember those first words.

            “I believe it was Stephen who spoke first. “Did you hear that? It sounds like crackling and splintering to me.” I swear they argued over the noise for what seemed like forever before Billy spoke out.

            “I don’t know, it sounds like it’s coming from over here”

            “Where?” Stephen replied.

            “Here, under this thing”

            “Just then Stephen must have gotten off his bike and moved closer. Billy must have gotten off his bike as well; I could hear them hit the ground. I had no choice. I screamed out again in hopes I would be heard; a drastic measure but one nevertheless.”

            “Holy shit Rocco, I remember that. That was hysterical.” remarked Billy. “I jumped back because you scared me.”

            “Was that you?” asked Rocco.

            “Yes; I thought there was someone under there, so I had to look. That’s when we both decided to get closer and investigate.”

            Stephen’s memory kicked in. “I remember flipping you over. Billy told me to grab a side and he started counting Ready? One, two, three, lift and flip.”

            “That is when our relationship started. Just at that moment; don’t ask me how or why I am just glad it did.”

Trevor, trying to advance the story, weighed in. “Rocco, this all sounds amazing, what happened next, who made first verbal contact with you?”

“Trevor I think it was actually Rocco.”

“It’s funny when it flipped over we were actually surprised by the lack of anything being underneath, but we did react to the sudden sound of relief”

“Relief; Billy, what did it sound like?”

“I remember that sound; it sounded like a trapped animal, that only seemed to intensify by his deep bellowing, scratchy, and over-bearing–”

“–Don’t forget exaggerated.”

Rocco was quick to retort. “Oh kiss my ass you two”

Laughter broke out. “Oh yeah that too; It sounded like someone with a lisp; who had been lying on the side of their face for a very, very long time”

Billy recalled, “Ahhhhhhhh”

Stephen slapped the table. “That is it; Billy you got that down perfectly”

“That’s when he spoke”

“Oh my that feels so much better, thank you so much… Hey, hey, wait a minute, can you guys hear me?” asked Rocco.

Billy leaned in, disbelief written all over his face. “Yes, I think so”

“Wait; I am missing a lip, where is my lip?”

Stephen and Billy stood together “What are you talking about?”

“They had to be stunned by what they saw and heard, who wouldn’t be? I mean really a talking couch? That’s when I went nuts. My lip, you shit for brains, come on, can’t you hear that? I sound ridiculous.”

“I remember Billy starting to laugh at the voice and odd humor coming from the couch; that he questioned it.

”You mean your cushion?”

”Do I mean my cushion? … Of course you idiot! Does it look like I am all together? Come on hurry up, it’s got to be close, I can sense it.”

Billy and Stephen both grabbed a cushion and placed them. “How’s that?” asked Billy.

“No, no, no you dummy, you have it upside down!”

“Oh sorry.” replied Billy.

“And just like that; the cushion went on and our friendship started to grow.”

Mr. Lewis still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Guys why don’t we take a short break for commercials; and we will be right back with our Christmas Eve podcast special”

“And we are out!”

Behind the viewing window in the hallway stood producers, CEOs, financial advisors, and lawyers, all applauding the opening of the show.

In the audio booth, Mason turned toward an unusual but familiar sound. He followed a quiet rustling from the vocal booth and opened the door. “Hello?”

A choir of voices answered. “Hello, how are you? Have you been alright through all those lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely nights?”

            “Well hello; you must be the Coasters. My name is Mason can you hear me?”

“Of course we can, can you hear all of us?”

            “How many of you are there?”

            “7”

            “What are your names?”

            “I am sorry; please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Skyler: There is Susan, Stanley, Sarah, Southie, Sylvester and Santiago.”

            “Wait, 7. Don’t you come in groups of eight?”

            Southie rolled up. “Man he went right for the jugular on that one”

            “Hey! Cut him some slack he doesn’t know. Mason we lost our friend Stymie some years ago, we have been 7 ever since, but with Rocco our sound is just as full as ever.”

            Mason was shocked. “Rocco sings? You got to be kidding”

            Sylvester chimed in. “Are you kidding? Forgetaboutit, his low octave vibrato is amazing. “I got chills there multiplying and I’m losing control–”

Skyler spun around. “Sylvester Enough, your turn will come”

            Mr. Dylan was stumped. “Huh, I never would have thought that. So what song did you want to sing first?”

            Stanley looked at the group. “That is a good question; can we get back to you?”

            Mr. Dylan looked at his watch. “Yes of course your first song isn’t for another 5 mins”

End Chapter Six