Passages Seven: And The Band Played On

“Just how bad were they?” Hutch asked, chuckling maniacally.

“I don’t know, I had my earplugs in,” Starsky replied smugly. “But if you coulda seen Huggy’s face. It must have been horrible. It’s not like you’ve never heard it before, right here in your own garage.”

Hutch winced, thinking of the incessant drumming, followed the band formed when Adam turned fourteen. The Lemonheads, they called themselves, or something like that. Head o’ Lemon? Lemonade? Pass Me A Lemon? Pucker Up? He could never remember, much to his nephew’s chagrin.

Starsky continued, “He’s trying to be nice and not hurt Adam’s feelings, but at the same time, he knows if he lets them play there, all his customers would kill him.”

“So what did he end up doing?” Hutch asked, wondering if they would be dealing with a despondent Adam.

“He told them they weren’t old enough. Said since he was serving liquor, he couldn’t let underage kids play.”

“He lies well.”

“I’ve always thought so. Only he forgot one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Adam and his friends have less than a year to go until they’re all eighteen.”

Hutch clapped his hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Oh, my dear Starsky, revenge is oh, so sweet.”

“It was a long time coming, but Lemon Yellow is going to get our sweet revenge with their very tart music.”

Lemon Yellow, Hutch thought. He’d have to remember that.