The Music Club

The Music Club had certainly earned its negative reputation at the school. Inside the classroom was a familiar scene for Thabo, but a scandal for anyone uninitiated with the club. 

The three smokers in the club, Juke, Kyle, and Linda, the only girl in the club, congregated in the corner of the classroom. All three were aspiring House DJs. They stood swaying to the new beat they had made, passing a cigarette among themselves. 

The trio kept a window open to keep the air clean. The window’s efforts were futile. The smoke hung over the room like a fog.

The other two people in the classroom were seated at desks on the opposite side of the room. Khaya, Thabo’s best friend, and Harry, the youngest club member, had arranged three desks in a triangle formation. Beside them were a set of instruments that would be left unattended until it was the Instrumental Groups' turn to use the room. 

The Music Club was only one club on paper.  Functionally, it was two clubs. The one club that made house music, Juke’s clique, and a second club that played instruments, Thabo’s clique.

Most of the members of what used to be the House Production Club had matriculated last year. The same thing happened to the Instrumental Club. Their school only allowed clubs with four members to be registered and get funding. The only way both clubs could maintain their existence was to form one single “Music Club.” They had agreed to alternate days when they could have full use of the room.

All attempts to use them simultaneously ended in disaster.

Thabo had trouble keeping up with which days were his clique’s days to use the room. Hell, he had trouble keeping up with his homework, which Lisa would often chastise him for. Therefore, it was no surprise to him that he had forgotten that Juke’s clique’s turn today. 

Bringing Lisa today would serve no purpose. They wouldn’t be able to get anything done music-wise.

Linda finally seemed to notice Thabo and Lisa standing near the door. She immediately nudged her two compatriots and said something that led Juke to stamp out the cigarette and Kyle to switch off the speaker. 

The sudden quiet also made Khaya and Harry aware of the situation. All eyes were on them now. The short silence was soon interrupted by Juke.

“Uh, this smoke is from a barbecue we just had,” coughed Juke with smoke coming out of his mouth and nose.  

Juke was in the grade above Thabo, although his young appearance would make anyone think otherwise.  The sixteen-year-old's lack of intelligence only made the reality less believable.   

“Do you think lighting a fire big enough to cook with in a classroom is a lesser infringement than smoking?” asked Lisa.

“Oh… yeah. Wow, bro, I didn’t think of that,” said Juke, nudging Kyle, who appeared annoyed that Juke had even bothered to speak.

“Never thought you would turn snitch, Thabo,” interjected Kyle.

Kyle was the oldest member of the group and was in his final year of high school. His wicked mustache and haggard eyes made him seem more villainous than he was. For the most part, he acted like an older brother to everyone in the club, if older brothers supplied their underage siblings with cigarettes.   

“In what universe do you think any of what you are doing is discreet enough to require snitching to get you caught?” interjected Lisa before Thabo could defend himself. “Do you think nobody knows what you guys do in here?”

“Would it be more discreet if we did it wearing ski masks over our faces?” asked Juke.

How did Juke even pass Grade Nine?

Lisa buried her face in her palm as did everyone else, but Thabo and Kyle. The latter scolded Juke for making the situation worse.

“Actually, Lisa is here for a trial run,” said Thabo. “I’m trying to convince her to join the Music Club.”

Kyle’s contemptuous stare turned to a sly grin.

“Ah, yes. She’s gonna rap for us then, right?” he said.

“How do you know about that?” Lisa yelled, before whispering to Thabo, “How do they know about that?”

“Khaya showed us the video,” answered Linda. “And I must say, Lisa, you are very impressive.”

All eyes in the room turned to Khaya, who gave Lisa the same look that dogs give after breaking a vase.

“That’s actually part of the deal for her to join,” said Thabo. “Khaya must delete the video of her.”

“Okay, can we negotiate our own terms for her joining?” asked Kyle. “Like her forgetting that she saw us with that flammable substance?”

“I never said I was joining,” said Lisa. “I said that I would visit your club and see if joining would be worth my time in exchange for Khaya deleting the video. I wasn’t planning on telling on you about your habits. Just don’t do it when I’m here, deal?”

“Deal,” said Linda, Kyle, and Juke, simultaneously. The trio even began opening up more windows in the classroom to clear the air.

Thabo grabbed a chair for Lisa and put it next to his empty chair, where Harry and Khaya were seated. They both took a seat, and Thabo began to introduce Lisa to his friends.

“I don’t think Khaya needs much introduction at this point. You’ve known each other since we began high school.”

“What I know is that Khaya should be deleting that video,” Lisa said, glaring at Khaya.

“Uh… right. Sorry, Lisa.” Khaya said as he pulled out his phone.

“And my friend here with the buzz cut is Harry,” continued Thabo. “He’s the youngest member of our club.”

“Why do you always have to point out that I’m the youngest member of the club every time you introduce me to someone?” said Harry, frustrated. "Linda is also in Grade Eight."

“Because it seems to bother you for some reason, and not Linda, and I find that hilarious,” chuckled Thabo.

“Nice to meet you, Harry,” said Lisa. Harry nodded in response.

“These two are the ones who are going to help me produce your song,” said Thabo. “Harry plays the drums, and Khaya plays the bass. I play both instruments, the piano and the guitar.”

“You play four instruments?” asked Lisa.

“Yeah, four.”

Lisa’s face darkened suddenly. She looked down as though considering something. When she raised her head again, she wore a rueful grin.

“I guess I can’t have anything, huh?” she whispered. And just like that, she was on her feet and out the door.

Thabo shared the confusion he saw in his friend's face as she left, but he did not wallow in it. He chased Lisa out of the room and managed to stop her. She rounded on him immediately when he put his hand on her wrist. Her eyes were all fury.

“Lisa… what just happened? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something?”

He was as desperate as he sounded.

“You just reminded me of the thing I’ve always hated about you.”

“Wait… What?”

“Everything is so easy for you, huh? You don’t try at school! You don’t bother during PE or in interhouse sports. You never apply yourself academically, yet you still outperform me and everyone else who actually puts the work in. And now I find out that you play four instruments, and I bet you didn’t try hard to learn them. Everything falls into your lap! You never have to try. I finally find something I’m good at, and you want to absorb that too. I. WON’T LET. YOU. You can enter the talent competition yourself. You don’t need me to win. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to be somewhere.”

She pulled her wrist out of his hand and marched off. Thabo stood alone in the hallway, watching her.