Cake: A Love Story (34 page)

Everyone bust up laughing.

“Seriously, man, I couldn’t surf just for fear of getting attacked by a shark.” Luke commented.

“No, Luke, you couldn’t surf because you wouldn’t be able to get your fat ass up on the board,” Miles joked.

Luke reached over and punched him.

“How old were you when you first started surfing?” My mom asked.

“Like 5 or 6 so I didn’t really know sharks were something to fear until I was a little older. One time two dolphins swam up and started circling me. My dad told me to put my feet up on the board and sit still. It wasn’t until we were back on shore that he told me that dolphins will sometimes protect humans when sharks are near. I was a little freaked out by that.”

“I can imagine,” my mom commented.

“Did you stop surfing after that?” Darcy asked.

“No. But whenever I saw dolphins I pulled my feet up onto the board. My dad used to say that there’s no reason to invite a shark to have a snack.”

“Dude, if you were surfing at five years old, there would be no reason to put your feet on the board. The shark could just come out of the water and swallow you hole.”

“No doubt,” Jake laughed. “And I was small for my age too. I always was.”

“Really? You’re so tall now,” my mom commented.

“Yeah, but I didn’t start growing until I was fifteen years old. I grew 7 inches in six months.”

“Huh. Wow,” my mom nodded, impressed.

“Your mom was fine with you surfing at five years old?” Darcy asked, looking over at Riley.

“No. But Kyle and I were such brats back then that I think she was just happy to have us out of the house.”

My family laughed.

“What do your parents do for a living?” My dad asked.

“My dad is a postman and my mom is a music teacher.”

“Really?” My mom questioned in surprise. “I didn’t realize you came from a middle class background.”

“Yeah…what type of family did you think I came from?” Jake asked curiously.

“I don’t know…like an entertainment family,” mom said looking a little embarrassed.

“What mom, like the Partridge family?” Luke teased.

Everyone laughed.

“No. I don’t know. Maybe,” my mom replied, flustered.

“No. I’m the only professional musician in my family.”

“What do your siblings do for a living?” My dad questioned. He seemed interested in Jake and that was a good thing. If my dad didn’t like someone, he usually got quiet and detached from the conversation.

“The two youngest, Gracie and Quinn, are in middle and high school. Then I have another younger brother, Kyle, and he works for me. My older sister, Emma, is a nurse. Then Keith owns a surf and skate shop in my hometown. My oldest brother, Mitch, he’s actually my half-brother, my dad’s son, and he lives here in Arizona and is a appraisal officer, or something like that.”

“And you’re the only singer? How did that happen?” Miles asked.

“I’m the only professional one, but most of my siblings can carry a tune.”

“Well that is more than you’re going to get in this family,” Miles joked. “Have you heard my little sister sing?”

“I have actually,” Jake said cringing. “I wasn’t impressed.”

“Hey!” I pretended to be offended.

“Wait, hold on a minute,” Luke interrupted. “If my calculations are correct, you’re a middle child too.”

“Yep smack dab in the middle,” he said. “Three older, three younger.”

“Oh that’s sucks. I’m sorry, man,” Luke joked then looked at my mom accusingly, “I bet they make you sit in the wobbly chair when important company comes over too.”

Jake nodded with a frown.

“Oh boo-hoo,” I said.

“Hey MCS is a real thing,” Luke said seriously.

“MCS?” Darcy asked.

“Middle Child Syndrome,” Luke finished.

Jake laughed.

“Sorry to break up your little pity party but there is no such thing as MCS,” I shot back.

Luke gasped as if he were offended. “Back me up here, Jake.”

“Sorry you’re on your own. There is no winning an argument with Casey.”

Everyone laughed.

“I hear ya, brother,” Luke said still laughing.

The conversation drifted off Jake for a while. We chatted about the kids and about Dad going back to work. Jake seemed to visibly relax with my family as if he no longer found the prospect of interacting with them intimidating. But, of course, it didn’t take long for the discussion to center around Jake again. He was, after all, way more interesting than anything else my family had to talk about.

“Why do you have tattoos?” Sydney asked after studying Jake for most of the dinner.

“’Cuz I like them,” Jake answered, grinning. “And they’re cool.”

“He’s a rockstar Syd. He has to look the part,” Luke added, as if he knew Jake’s motivations.

“What’s a rockstar?” Sydney asked.

“Someone who sings and performs onstage for lots of people,” I said.

“Like Justin Bieber?” Sydney asked, with a little added interest.

Luke sniggered.

“Um…,” Jake grinned. “Sort of, yeah.”

“Do you know Justin Bieber?”

“I’ve met him.”

“You have?” Sydney’s eyes were huge. “Is he nice?”

“Um…he was…um,” Jake stumbled. He obviously didn’t want to crush my niece by telling her anything negative about her idol. “Yeah sure…he was nice.”

Sydney smiled. “Are you famous too?”

Jake looked kind of embarrassed.

“Yes, he is,” Darcy answered for him.

“Are you on TV?” She stared right at Jake, wanting the answer to come from him.

“Sometimes. Yeah,” Jake answered.

“What’s your name?”

“Jake McKallister.”

Sydney looked Jake up and down then said, “Well I’ve never heard of you.”

Everyone laughed at her precociousness.

“Ooh…shot down by the second grader!” Luke teased Jake as they laughed. I could see a bromance in the making.

“That’s probably a good thing,” Jake said to Sydney after he stopped laughing.

“How do they put the color on?” My niece continued with the inquisition.

“What?”

“Sydney, why don’t you give Jake a break with the questions,” Miles said.

Sydney ignored her father. “The tattoos. How do they put in the colors?”

“Oh…with tiny little needles,” Jake replied.

Sydney gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. “Yuck. Did it hurt?”

“No, not really,” Jake replied.

“How many do you have?”

“A lot.”

“Can I see them?”

Jake laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Sydney demanded.

“Because I would have to take my shirt off at the dinner table. I’m pretty sure that would be considered bad manners,” Jake explained.

“After dinner then,” she responded.

Everyone laughed, including Jake, who then looked around the table and said, “A little help here?”

“Sydney,” Darcy began, trying to suppress a giggle. “It’s not appropriate to ask someone to take their shirt off.”

“At least not until you buy them a drink,” Luke whispered to Jake.

The guys laughed.

“Alright,” my mom snickered. “Let’s move on. I don’t think I told you guys the story about Aunt Stacy getting caught in a hurricane when she was on vacation.”

My mom proceeded to tell the lively story and the focus went off Jake for a short while. Sydney finally seemed to lose interest and she left the table to color.

“So Jake, have you always wanted to be a professional musician?”

“Um…yeah, when I was a kid I did. My mom is a music teacher and she started training all of us how to play the piano when we turned three. I really took to it and picked stuff up much faster than my siblings. My mom was shocked when she discovered that I could play by ear.”

“What is that exactly?”

“I can hear something once, remember it, and then play it.”

“Really?” My dad asked, seemingly impressed.

“So hold on,” Luke cut in. “I can play you a song right now, one that you’ve never heard before, and you could play it back to me?”

“The melody, not the words.”

“Damn,” Luke said sitting back and looking awestruck.

“How rare is it to be able to play by ear?” My mom asked.

“I don’t know, really. When I was younger I just thought of it as a cool parlor trick that I could impress my friends with. But now that I work as a musician I can definitely see the benefits. I pick up new instruments easily and I can hear the melody in my head while I’m writing a song.”

“Huh, that’s interesting. So your mom picked up on this and cultivated your talent?”

“It would seem that way, yeah,” Jake smiled. “I thought of it more like punishment when I was young though. All the other kids got to be outside playing and I was stuck inside on the piano.”

“Ahh poor guy,” mom giggled. “I bet you thank her now?”

“I do, actually,” Jake agreed.

“You were really young when you got started in the music business, weren’t you?” Darcy asked.

“Yeah. Sixteen.”

“Dude, you’re like a musical prodigy,” Luke complimented.

“I don’t know about that,” Jake replied, humbly. In fact, he was often referred to as a prodigy, and from everything I’d seen of him and his extraordinary talent, I completely agreed with that assessment.

“So how exactly did you get into the business at such a young age?” My dad asked.

“I was spotted at a talent show and offered a contract. I almost immediately started touring and was away for almost two years straight.”

“You went on tour by yourself?” My dad asked in surprise. “Your parents didn’t travel with you?”

“No. They couldn’t. I had a guardian.”

“Why couldn’t your parents go?” My mom asked.

“Because I still had younger siblings at home. The youngest were 5 and 7. My mom couldn’t just leave them. And my dad couldn’t go because he was working two jobs to make ends meet.”

“Weren’t you making a ton of money by then, though?” Luke asked.

“No,” Jake shrugged. “I was broke, and in debt to the record company for almost $100,000.”

“Seriously? How did that happen?” Miles asked.

“Easily. Most new artists start their careers heavily in debt. It’s a standard pitfall of the music business…debt is worked into the system. It’s unavoidable, unless you have a wealthy parent or sponsor, which I didn’t have.”

“Where does the debt come from?”

“Everything. To release an album, the musician has to pay for studio time, production, demos, staff, tour expenses…everything; and, if you can’t pay, they put it on your tab. By the time your first album is released you’re in serious debt and it just keeps building. Before you can even begin to see any money in this business, you first have to buy your way out of debt. And it takes a lot more than one hit song to do that.”

“How long did it take you to pay it off?” Luke asked.

“Um…I paid it off after the release of my second album.”

“So you had no money coming at all that first tour?” Miles asked.

“No that is why my dad had to work two jobs…so I could eat while I was on the road,” Jake laughed.

“Unbelievable!” my dad exclaimed. “The music company makes all the money and their artists starve.”

“Well it wasn’t that dramatic,” Jake shrugged. “But yeah, it’s a pretty unforgiving business.”

“It’s like preying on dreams,” my mom said.

“Yeah, I like that. Can I use that phrase in a song?” Jake asked.

“Please. I would be honored,” my mom giggled. “So what happens to artists who don’t have a successful second album?”

Jake nodded. “Happens all the time. You get one shot and you better make it, otherwise you’re toast.”

“And they still have to repay the debt?”

“Yes. It sucks. I was lucky.”

“So I gotta ask…with all the free music sites like Spotify and people illegally downloading songs, how do musician’s even make any money now-a-days?” Miles asked.

“It’s not really about selling records anymore. Most successful artists make the majority of their money touring.”

“Wait I thought you said you didn’t make anything while you were touring.”

“That was just the first tour. Once I paid the record company back, touring became my main source of profit. Like now I pay for my own tours…the band, the crew, the publicity, everything.”

“How does that benefit you?” my mom asked.

“Because I get all the profit too. I cut out the middle man.”

“Oh I see. Do most musician’s do that?”

“If they can afford to, yeah.”