How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein Page A

coming in tonight. Why didn’t you call me?”
    “He did the calling, ” Evan says, gesturing to Lars.
    “I called, ” Lars says, “but I just talked to whoever was in scheduling.”
    “You know better than that, Lars. If you want a first-class upgrade, you gotta talk to me, brother.”
    “My bad, ” Lars says with a sheepish grin.“Next time.”
    “Lars is all hot to make a demo, ” Evan says.
    “Oh, yeah? You guys ready to break out?”
    “Looks like.”
    “Theo’s still talking about you, man, ” Billy says. “He said he wanted to lift one of your riffs, but he couldn’t figure it out. He said you have thumbs like Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix had the longest motherfucking thumbs!”
    They all laugh, including Dean, who’s sitting in his chair paging through a copy of Billboard .
    Billy points at him with his chin.
    “Who’s that?”
    “My son, ” Evan says. “Dean, come here and meet the smartest guy I ever met who I wasn’t related to.”
    Dean jumps up and comes over, offering his hand, which Billy takes.
    “Your son?” Billy shakes his head. “Fucking Evbee.” Then to Dean, “Nice to meet you, ” along with a regular white person’s handshake.
    “Hold on.” Billy suddenly breaks off and crosses the lobby to the receptionist.
    “Where are they, Sybil?”
    “Studio E. All night.”
    “Lemme see the schedule.”
    Sybil, the receptionist, hands over a large ledger sheet, which Billy studies.
    “Who’s free?”
    “Mica is.”
    “Mica? Why?”
    “Pepsi canceled, ” Sybil says.
    “Those crackheads. When are they gonna get their shit together?”
    Sybil shrugs and smiles, as if to say “I just work here.”
    “So Mica’s just sitting around eating carrot sticks and doing sit-ups all night?”
    Sybil nods.
    “The Van Sant movie’s in C. So put these guys in B, and give them Mica.”
    He hands the ledger back to Sybil and looks over to Evan.
    “Anybody paying for this, Evbee?”
    “Just us, ” Evan says.
    Billy turns back to Sybil.
    “Straight up, then. No room charge and bill them at rate on Mica, no premium. I’m paying her to sit around all night, she might as well work for it.”
    Billy returns to where Evan, Lars, and Dean are standing.
    “All right, I hooked you guys up. The studio is on me, you buy the engineer. Cool?”
    “Cool, ” Evan says, “thanks.”
    “Don’t mention it.”
    “Did you say Mica?” Lars asks.“Mica Morrison?”
    Billy nods.
    “Dude, you rock.”
    “Don’t be intimidated, ” Billy says.“I’ll drop in on you guys later on.” He grins at Evan. “Evbee with a teenage son. Whack, yo.”
    Billy thumps fists with Lars and heads toward one of the doors that leads to some inner sanctum. As he reaches the door, Sybil hits the buzzer and the door miraculously opens for him. Then he is gone.
    Lars smiles at Evan.
    “Mica Morrison. Shit. She can make anybody sound good.”
    “Who’s Mica Morrison?” Evan asks.
    “Your studio is ready, ” Sybil says with an appetizing smile, pressing some secret button under her desk and releasing the electric lock on yet another door. Evan, Dean, and Lars step through and head for their first-class upgrade.

S TUDIO B. RUMOR has it that the Rolling Stones recorded a track off their last album in Studio B. Rumor has it that Kenny G, of all people, records only in Studio B. The studio isn’t any different than Studios A or C, but it is the favored studio of Mica Morrison, the famous engineer. A legend in her own time. A mythical figure in the Seattle music scene. Occasionally she works on an independent album as a favor or because she feels especially charitable, but for the most part, she sticks to the majors. Major labels, major artists. Apparently she’s pretty hot. Apparently she’s a lesbian. All of this information is offered by Lars as he, Evan, and Dean set up in the studio.
    Evan appreciates Lars’s banter, and indulges him in his engineering fetish. Lars makes it his mission to know everything he