Chapter 2 - Prologue: Tayaw and the Percussive Corrections (2)

The Saturday gig was not much different from their gig the previous night. They were anticipated, watched, and applauded. The night itself though, Tayaw felt something was different within the band. In the green room, while the band was resting and chatting among themselves, Bay-an said something that silenced the room.

"Guys, I'm moving to the Capital City." Bay-an said with a guilt ridden face. Seeing the band's silence urged him to clarify "I was just promoted to the main office. I can't miss this opportunity. You all know things are also going great with me and my girl so I'm planning on proposing after I settled in the new job."

After a few seconds of recovery, Ike finally broke the silence.

"Well. Congratulations man! While it's a shame that you can no longer perform with us, I'm happy for you. This is a huge step man, you should be proud!" Ike said and the rest of the band nodded in affirmation except for Inson who with his unusual serious expression appeared to be thinking deeply about something.

The band started to feel tense. Is he angry? Is he mad? Inson, staying quiet for almost thirty seconds only aggravated the feeling of tension within the room.

"Inson, you okay? Wanna say something?" Ike was worried and wanted to break the tension.

Noticing this, Bay-an was confused and also guilty so he felt he had to say something "I'm sorry Inson. I'm sorry guys that this was too sudden." he says.

Inson, on the other hand waved his hand at the apology.

"It's fine brother. I'm actually thinking of quitting too." Inson's confession gave the band another round of silence.

"My company is now at a point where I can start preparing for the expansion to steel and hollow block making. I also have enough savings to start a new branch. Bay'an's situation actually gave me the balls to make this decision." Inson explained further.

Tayaw felt as if he was punched in the gut at the two's sudden decision. He felt betrayed but he also knew, almost since the beginning that this will inevitably happen. He just did not expect it to be tonight. With a mixed feeling of emotions, he sighed.

"I also knew that the band will not last forever. At some point, we will have to move up in our lives, get married and have children. Why I am even surprised actually? At least one of us should have a kid by now. Anyone else thinking of wanting to quit? Don't worry, I will understand."

Ramil raised his hand. "I'm thinking of quitting my job and starting my own metal working business. I've been planning it for a long time now. I know I will not have time for the band once I start preparing for the business, so with Bay-an and Inson leaving, I think it's not such a bad idea to leave as well and start my preparations earlier." The band knew that Ramil, despite having a great paying job, also often works in dangerous places. This decision of Ramil's, to them was very understandable.

Hoon also spoke up. "Monkey See Entertainment reached out to me. They want me to be a guitarist for their various artists for the recording of their songs, and I also get to play with them when they go on tours around the country. Hey, I may even get to perform overseas." This was a surprise for the band.

Monkey See Entertainment, based on Ouigab City itself, is a nationally known entertainment company that signed some of the most famous singers and musical acts in the country. They weren't that surprised that he was offered a job because they knew that Hoon, aside from his lacking creativity, his skills earned him a few recording jobs from various recording studios over the years.

What surprised them more is that Hoon is willing to get out of Ouigab. They all knew that Hoon was never comfortable outside of Ouigab. The most he spent outside the city is the band's trip years ago to a neighboring city to perform in a music festival.

At the third day, Hoon was anxious to go back and had a series of panic attacks that was finally relieved after they rushed back to Ouigab after the festival. It was just Hoon's luck being born in Ouigab that he didn't have to move to other cities for jobs as a guitarist. Despite that though, the band knew that had Hoon not have this condition, they would have a different lead guitar player starting from at least ten years ago.

Tayaw in his confusion asked "What about your condition? Will you be fine?" Hoon despite already appearing to be anxious just thinking about touring, forced himself to smile as he assured the band.

"I will have to force myself to be. We're only a few years from turning 40. I realized that I have not lived and experienced life fully. I'm just relieved that it's not yet too late for me." He received an encouraging look from the band at those words.

Ike then turned to Tayaw and rhetorically asked "So, it's just the two of us, huh?" Tayaw helplessly laughed at that.

"Yes. How about you Ike? This may also be a good chance for you to do other things as well."

"Well, I was indeed thinking about doing other things. Maybe I could even start a legit real estate business instead of just me buying and selling properties. It's a miracle that I was able to keep making money without really knowing the market that much. Maybe I would start dating again even! You should too. It's been what? A year and a half, or two years since you broke up with your c*nt for a girlfriend. I'm surprised you two lasted two years." The band laughed at that.

They knew about Tayaw's last relationship. They were proud that Tayaw, despite looking just above average, was able to hook up with possibly one of the best looking women they have ever seen in person.

Arianne, who works as a secretary for some executive of a fashion company, could have been a celebrity had she had at least the minimum ability to sing, act, or be photogenic. She and Tayaw met one night at ROH Factory after him and the band's gig. They started dating not too long after that.

It just turned out that Arianne is a manipulative, jealous, self-entitled woman. She wanted to take control of Tayaw's life, encouraged him to kiss ass to be promoted at work, attempted to destroy Tayaw's reputation among his friends and family, attempted to stop Tayaw from playing with the band, and managed to make Tayaw's apartment look like she owned the place.

It was just when Tayaw finally realized that Arianne's looks and the s.e.x was not worth the misery of staying in a relationship with her that he finally broke up with her.

Tayaw just waved Ike's jab off. He didn't like to talk about that relationship as the thought alone of the suffering he went through just made him angry. "Maybe I should. Well, I'll just keep working as a foreman for now. Maybe it's finally time for me to suck up and learn to play with the bureaucracy of the company."

The band knew Tayaw well and the image of him sucking up left a better taste in their mouths. They also knew that Tayaw really loved to sing and perform with the band, so the band breaking up and leading Tayaw to even entertain the thought of going against the trait that they admired in him the most, made them feel very guilty.

Noticing their expressions, Tayaw also felt better about the band breaking up. "What's with those faces? We're all trying our best in our lives here. With the opportunities coming your way, this deserves a celebration! So what if we don't play together anymore? Aren't we still great friends? We can still hang out when we can." The band felt finally relieved.

As they were packing up their instruments, Inson suddenly said "Tayaw, you can still play solo. You can contact the substitutes we had." The rest of the members felt the idea was good, only to be shot down by Tayaw.

"I can. But it's not the same. I still want to perform under the name Percussive Corrections but without you guys in it, I'd rather not. But it's okay guys. Maybe I can use the spare energy to do something else." Inson just nodded.

"Okay. Guys! Let's go to dinner near Tayaw's place. My treat!" The band cheered at that.

After the dinner, the band parted ways. As Tayaw was walking home, he couldn't help but relive the memories he had playing with the band; Ike's crisp and masterful subtlety with the drums, Hoon's rock star aura while shredding the guitar, Inson's reliable and never out of beat bass, Bay-an's flexibility in the piano with different genres, and Ramil's versatility in the saxophone that could accompany almost any song.

He wondered when they will able to play again. Percussive Corrections, originally an idea that in his mind became a separate entity that tied his friends together, gave them happiness and hope when him and his friends needed it the most, is now gone.

Arriving at his apartment, he put his guitar under his bed and he drove straight to the sheets. He couldn't help but shed tears from the mixture of happiness and sadness. Happy that him and his friends has together taken a step in their lives that will only result in something positive, and sad at the loss of something that him and his friends built together out of passion and their youth for seventeen years.

At the same time, the rest of the band members are also mulling about the night. It was a huge decision that they collectively took together. They all would still want to keep on performing but, they know that life is not only about their own happiness, but also filled with responsibilities; various responsibilities that come and go at each stage in life.

Of course, they wanted to have become legitimate artists who can make their own songs, but as soon as they realized they did not have the ability and the "it" factor that would make them stand out among hundreds of bands in their region alone, they finally settled at what they were good, stayed as a cover band and performed as long as they were happy doing it.

Within the week after their final gig, the band still kept in touch with each other through their chat group. The band even gathered in Wednesday together once again to have a send-off party for Bay-an after he was done preparing to move to the capital for his new job.

Tayaw however still felt the utter barrenness of the new pattern of his life. The project he's working on is still going smoothly and is now in its final touches, but he just did not have the usual energy as he did not have anything to look forward to anymore for the weekend.

Friday arrived and it was the emptiest Friday Tayaw endured for the first time in a long time. It was only barely relieved by the lively Percussive Corrections Chat Group. Barely is apt because everyone in the chat felt that each of them would rather be at the place doing what makes them happy than at their own homes.

Despite that though, all of them agreed to never step into the doors of ROH Factory again until they all got accustomed to their new lifestyle. The Chat Group is their only substitute to their former activity.

Midnight approached and Tayaw bid everyone goodbye as he had to go to work the next day to fill out forms and finish his reports regarding the almost finished project. He turned his phone screen off, laid it next to his pillow, as he assumed his most comfortable position to sleep.

"I have enough money. I live comfortably. My parents are doing fine. I have decent relationship with my brothers. I should stop thinking about what could have been."

Unknowingly, to the just fell asleep Tayaw, somewhere where Where and When did not matter, are a couple having a squabble