Mojave Nights

“This can't be right.” Will looked around nervously.
“Sure it's right. The stage is right there.” Jason, as always, was unflappably cool about the situation, hands in pockets.
“Yeah but there's no speakers or anything and there's barely anyone here. Maybe we got the wrong day.” Will cast a skittish glance back towards town.
“Hey, when Drongo says something's gonna go down, it's going down.” Jason assured him.
“I know, but-”
“Are you doubting Drongo?”
Will looked down, “No, it's just-”
“Drongo says this chick rocks. Drongo says she's going to be playing here, in an hour. Drongo hasn't steered you wrong yet.”
“What about the time he got me to drink a whole case of energy drink-”
“I meant about gigs, Will. Drongo would never steer you wrong about a gig.” Jason gave a knowing nod to a pair of girls stood a little way away.
“I climbed up the fire escape and ran laps on the roof for hours...” Jason rolled his eyes as Will fidgeted, “I'm gonna go get a drink from the car.”
Jason threw the keys straight up into the air, and Will caught them as he began to trude off towards the patch of desert that was becoming designated as the parking lot. As he retreived a can from Jason's beaten-up '95 Lesabre, he noticed the rising dust cloud of a pickup truck driving towards him. He waited as it came into view and his eyes became able to pick out the unmistakable acid-green body of Drongo's truck. It slowed to a stop beside the Lesabre, with a whole crowd of people jammed into its bed, who began jumping out. Two of them collaborated in lifting a keg they'd been sitting on and carrying it off to the ground. A tall man in a hawaiian shirt, whom Will had once been introduced to as “Burnie” was carrying an enormous cooler.
From the cab of the truck stepped out a pair of twin women, and Drongo himself. Clad in a black vest and resembling nothing more than an obese walrus in the Hell's Angels, Drongo raised his arms at the sight of Will, and declared “WILL-EE-UUUUM!”, and his entourage chorused the greeting. Drongo had that effect on people; his friends were your friends.
“Drongooooo!” Will replied, as it was customary to elongate the last syllable of Drongo's name until you had cleared the distance to him. Drongo clasped him by the hand and pulled him into a hug, “Hey, man, it looks like you brought half of San Ditko with you.” William gestured to the group from the bed of the truck, who were moseying towards the bare stage.
“You know I got a rep to maintain, man, when you tell Drongo about a show, you get a crowd.” Drongo put his arm around Will's shoulder and began walking with him towards the stage, “How you been, man, you keeping Jason out of trouble?”
“Just about, yeah.”
“Listen, I know he can be a pain sometimes, but I'm really glad you two are sticking together. You're good for each other.” Drongo lifted his shades conspiratorially, “Don't tell him I said that, you know he hates the mushy stuff.”
Will chuckled, “Yeah. So what's the deal with this girl that's meant to be playing tonight?”
“She's amazing, and that's all I'm gonna tell you.” Drongo mimed zipping his lips.
“Dude, Drongo, we don't even know what genre this is meant to be. You haven't even said what instrument she plays. Does she have a band? What's the deal with the stage?” Will pointed, “There's no speakers or nothing, it doesn't even look set-up.” The colour drained from Will's face, “Tell me she isn't a beat poet.”
“You'll see.” He patted Will's shoulder and broke off as they approached the gathering crowd, “JAY-SUUUUN!”
“Drongooo!”
Will wasn't much good at social situations – it was part of the reason he spent so much of his time following Jason around, since Jason did enough talking for both of them. He hovered, he sipped his drink, he nodded when people spoke to him, but beyond that he was shaky at best. For the next hour, he drifted between conversations and tried not to get in the way.
Then, a woman stepped onto the stage, and the crowd quietened down. She looked to be in her early twenties, with dark brown hair in a messy tumble around her. She wore a leather jacket.
She stepped to the front of the stage and motioned as if to tap the air in front of her twice. Will could have sworn he heard the sound of feedback.
“Hello, I'm Katie Cairnes. This first number is called 'Get Gone'.”
Then she started to play.

About 90 minutes later, she said “Thank you very much, that's my set.” and left the stage.
While the cheering and applause roared around him, Will tapped Drongo on the arm.
“She just played guitar.”
“Yeah.” Drongo nodded.
“But she didn't have a guitar.”
“Yeah.”
“How did she-”
“Will,” Jason put a hand on his shoulder, “You live in San Ditko, and you wonder about a girl that can play air guitar and make you hear it?”
“It's just,” Will shifted, “I guess mostly I was wondering if it was magic or something...”
“Psycholaceral.” Said the voice he'd been listening to all night next to his ear. He turned around to see the air-guitarist holding a beer.
“Katie Cairnes, Will Waites, Will Waites, Katie Cairnes.” Drongo introduced as Katie offered her hand to shake. Will took it and shook weakly.
“You were really good.”
“Thanks.” She took a sip.
“So can you only do guitars, or...”
“Guitars are easiest, but I can do most instruments.”
“And your voice, is that... part of it?”
“No, my voice is just me.”
“Wow. That's impressive. You have a really great voice.”
She blushed as she drank, “Thank you.”
“So if it's psycholacera, do you mind me asking what, uh, caused it?”
“When I was 11, when my dad walked out on us.” She gave him a look as he began to speak, “It's not a secret. If you were listening to my songs you probably already figured.”
“That had to be rough.” Will rubbed the back of his neck.
“Nah, he was kind of a dick.” They bothe laughed, “Not that I really realised at the time. But yeah, I'm better off without him.”
“See, I never knew my dad, so I can't imagine what it's like to lose one. But if it lets you make music like that, I think it was the best thing that ever happened to you.” Will said idly, then, “That sounded terrible, I'm sorry.”
“No, it's okay. You're right.” She drank, “If it's a choice between that bum and my gift, I'd take the gift any day.”
“So how does it work? Do you actually have to play the notes or does it just happen?” Will nodded to her hands.
“You know when you air guitar, and you hear the song in your head?”
“Yeah.”
“I just let the song out of my head.” Will nodded, “Hey, um, were we walking this whole time?”
Will looked around. They were no longer in the crowd. He looked back and saw Drongo's head and shoulders over the top of everyone. Drongo looked at him and winked. “I guess we must have been.”
“You know, Will, you're really easy to talk to.” Katie said as she continued walking. After a moment, Will started after her.
“Yeah, you too.” As they began to pass the area where everyone had parked their cars, Will looked back, “Drongo kind of has a talent for introducing people, doesn't he?”
“He certainly does.” She put her empty bottle in the back of Drongo's pickup as they passed it, “Hey, you wanna try playing?”
“Can I?”
“You'll have to move my hands, but yeah, you totally can.”
“What, you want me to come behind you and hold your arms like in cheesy romances when the guy teaches the girl how to play golf or shoot pool?”
“Are you saying you don't want to?” She smirked.
“Just making sure.” He layed his hands around the back of hers and positioned them in front of her, as if holding a guitar, “Boy, I hope I remember this when I wake up.”
“Don't get any funny ideas, we're just making beautiful music together.” She wriggled her fingers, “Now just play and picture the song in your head.”
After a few moments of inexpert and slightly clunky guitar, quite a faithful imitation of one of the songs from her set, Katie smiled wide, “How are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“There's a beat. Even I can't do two instruments at once.”
Katie felt Will begin to blush next to her head, “That's my heart, I think.” He let go of her hands and she turned around.
“Cute. Still, that's pretty impressive. Most guys are too distracted to actually play when I let them try.” She put a hand over his heart with a smirk, “And I've been thinking about getting a drummer.”
“Yo, William!” They both turned their heads to Drongo, stood a way off, surrounded by people, “Jason's riding back with me, he says you can take the Demon.” Drongo tossed Will the keys to Jason's Lesabre, which Katie caught.
“Thank you. Catch you later, Drongo!”
“See ya, Drongo!”
“Great show, Katie.” Drongo hollered back, “I'll catch you two around.”
As the crowd dispersed and the noise died down, Will turned the keys over in his hand and looked up at Katie, “So, do you have a ride?”
“I do now. But you're carrying my guitar.”