The Day the Music Died

“This is it Bobby! This is it!” Those were the last words that Kevin said to me directly. After that I picked up my drumsticks and sat down in the blackness, waiting on the stage, waiting for the lights to ignite. Kevin walked up to the microphone with his guitar slung over his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and I could see the outline of his face and dark hair in the blackness. He gave a thumbs up to the band. I took a deep breath in and then I stared into the sudden blinding light that ignited the stage.

Kevin strummed his electric guitar and the audience roared. I clapped my drumsticks together several times and then brought my arms down, pounding on the drums. The rest of the band joined in, guitar riffs soaring through the air and Kevin singing in the microphone, pouring every ounce of emotion into his songs. He jumped up and down, his hands racing across the guitar and his voice shouting. The audience screamed and jumped with him, soon forming a rocking moshpit.

This was our last concert. This was our last time together as a band; last time the four of us were alive. There was me, Kevin, Rich, and Patrick. I played the drums while Rich played the bass. Patrick was a backup singer and guitarist. And then there was Kevin. He sang loud, sending musical ballads flying through the crowd. Kevin brought the band together. He created us; created Alaska Nights – the band name. We were loved and looked up to. Fans across the country admired us because we were young and one of the few rock bands that had not got caught in the spiraling downward vortex of drugs, alcohol, sex, and crime. We were strong and they loved us for that. At the age of eighteen we already had our record deal and we all stayed in school. No high school drop outs. We had a plan and that plan was to graduate together and play the music that we lived for – good old rock’n’roll.

After the concert the four of us sat down outside. I sat quietly enjoying the chilly spring evening breeze of New York. I glanced at my watch; eleven-o-clock. It was about time we start heading home. After this concert, we had plans to travel the world. Kevin always wanted to go to London; always dreamt of it. His father had grown up there and in London, that was where the birth of the classics was like the Beatles. Kevin was also influenced by the classics here in the States like Hendrix and Zeppelin. He lived for their music just as people across the world lived for Kevin’s.

Rich stood up and popped a peppermint flavored tic-tac in his mouth. “I’m going to head on out. Don’t want to worry Dad. I told them I’d be home by eleven-thirty. I’ll see you guys later,” he said.

Kevin gripped his hand and shook it, “See you tomorrow then. G’night Rich.”

He picked up his bass and slung it over his shoulder. He got in his car and drove on home. Now it was just Kevin, Patrick, and I. Patrick gently strummed his guitar and stared into the night as if watching the musical notes float off the guitar and into the night.

“Say, what are we going to do when we are all old?” Patrick asked.

“We’ll be a legend,” I said.

“Ha, Bobby, don’t get too confident. What about you Kev? What do you think?”

Kevin looked up to the stars and smiled, “Honestly Pat-Pat, I think we’ll go our separate ways. We’ll play the music. We’ll love it. We’ll be rich and famous. And one day, we’ll all call it quits and just take a break from the music and the fame. I know I’m gonna have a family; two sons. Got it all planned out.”

Kevin was always the kind of guy who planned out his life. He didn’t know every detail, but he always had ambitious goals and set his standards high. He liked to achieve what some people might call the impossible. There was something about his personality that lit up the night. But there was also something else to Kevin. He never gave up, grew weak, or surrendered to anyone or anything if it would make him less of a man. He had determination that was a fire and he refused to let the fire go out. He took much pride in that and would rather die with dignity than give in. Him talking about his future plans made me and Patrick think.

“What are you gonna do with your life?” I asked Patrick.

“Hell if I know. I’m gonna graduate, play music, and see where the tide takes me from there. That’s my plan right now. I don’t have the details worked out but I don’t need to at this point. Yeah maybe a few years from now I’ll start thinking more and I’ll find something just as great as playing music,” Patrick said. He paused and stopped strumming his guitar. His eyes looked up at me. “What about you Bobby?”

“I’m gonna get a scholarship and go to college. I’m gonna find me a career and one day, maybe, I’ll have a family. Of course I’ll be playing music in between. I’ve thought about maybe a music career. I can’t imagine a life not playing the drums or listening to the audience scream with excitement. That’s my general outline.”

“Big plans Bobby, big plans,” Patrick noted.

I shrugged, “I want to make something of myself. You know live life to the fullest. I don’t wanna waste a day of my life.”

Patrick looked over to Kevin. My eyes first went to Patrick and then to Kevin. He sat still for a moment and then exhaled slowly with his fists clenched. “What’s wrong Kev?” Patrick asked.

“Nothin’. My ‘rents think I’m wasting away my life. They think I don’t have a plan and I’m just gonna wind up like all them other rock stars – a junkie and miserable followed by a suicide – ‘course not all rock stars end up like that. But that’s the stereotype they put on us. Dad is the worst. Won’t support me at all – he won’t even acknowledge my dream. Thinks it to be foolish. Just makes me frustrated when my own father won’t respect me when I give him every bit of respect. One day I’ll earn it. One day. You guys talking just reminded me of that. Whatever. It’s no big deal.” Then there was a long droned out silence between the three of them.

“You okay?” Patrick asked.

I kept my eyes on Kevin and watched his body language carefully.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, thanks for listening.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Patrick reminded him with a slight smile.

“Yeah… I think I’m gonna just head on home.”

“You gonna walk?” Patrick asked.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Kevin said standing up.

I stood up too, “Well I’ll walk with you since I’m not far from your home. What about you Pat?”

He stood up and stretched, “I think I’m just gonna hang around here for a while.”

“Okay. See ya later,” I said.

Kevin and I then started to walk on home. We were quiet as we just listened to our footsteps along with the cars, wind, buzzing of lighted signs on buildings, and horns honking in the streets of New York. And then I watched my life flash before my eyes. A man, dressed in black, came out of nowhere and shoved Kevin against a wall. I went to tackle him to the ground but before I knew it, the man had me at gunpoint. I lifted my hands into the air, breathing hard and trying to stay calm.

“Give me your money!” the man yelled angrily. I gulped and pulled out my wallet. Kevin stood shoved against the brick wall, his eyes glaring at the thief. I quickly handed over all my cash and a watch my father had given me for my birthday. The man then looked over to Kevin, his eyes continually shifting back and forth between Kevin and me to make sure I didn’t try to pull any wise move. I stood there, worried to death and just hoping he didn’t pull that trigger or else my life would be over instantly.

The man eyed Kevin and then reached for Kevin’s pocket to snatch the wallet himself since Kevin refused to give him his wallet. But Kevin clearly wasn’t going to let the man rob him so easily. He pushed the man away but then he pulled out a second gun, having both of us at gunpoint.

“Just give him your money Kevin and he’ll leave us alone,” I said.

He said nothing. He just stared at the man, not looking away, gritting his teeth. There were a few clicks and then the man pressed the gun to Kevin’s chest. “I’m not gonna ask you again. I’ll shoot.”

Kevin placed his hands on the gun slowly, and directed it over to his heart, “Fine. I’d rather die with dignity than have some creep get what he wants. Go ‘head. Shoot me. Right there. Right in the heart. You won’t get my money either way. But it’s up to you on what to do.” The man hesitated. “Go on. Kill me.” I watched wide eyed, scared and nervous as hell. Kevin moved his fingers over the trigger where the man’s rested. “I dare you.”

The man’s eyes flared red in anger. Kevin then removed his hands from the gun and lifted them up in the air. I gulped. “Don’t do it! Stop!” I yelled. But it had no effect. The man shot Kevin and then shot me. I fell to the cement, grabbing my thigh where the bullet had hit. The man didn’t even search for Kevin’s wallet. He just ran off at the sound of sirens. Police were on their way.

I looked over to Kevin to see him sitting against the wall. His head lolling backwards, eyes rolled back in his head, a bloody shirt, and no pulse. He was gone – dead. I don’t remember yelling, but the lady who called the cops said I was yelling and screaming in rage at the robber. I just remember my whole body shaking and my leg was on fire and then I was really dizzy; my head throbbing; cold cement against my face as it pressed to the ground; then I blacked out completely.

After I recovered, the band met for the first time in a while. We talked and decided it would be best to just move on. With that, the band broke up. That was the end of Alaska Nights. Kevin was gone. We couldn’t just get a new lead to replace him. It felt just plain downright wrong. The three of us graduated high school like we planned and then continued our lives from there. We went our separate ways but there wasn’t a day that Kevin didn’t cross our minds. There wasn’t a day that I remembered everything that happened that night. I knew just as well as Patrick and Rich that Kevin’s death wouldn’t be something that could easily be forgotten. Kevin would always be in our memories and prayers. When Kevin died, something inside the three of us died too.

I kneeled down at his gravestone and dug my drumsticks into the wet dirt. I closed my eyes and whispered, “Rest in peace Kev. Rest in peace.”