Toanaveragehighschooler,itmightbeenoughforafewcupsofboba,maybeamovieontheweekend.Butforabassistinaschoolband,itwasbarelyenoughtostayalive.Rentingarehearsalroommeanteveryoosplitthecost—onaverage,fiftytosixtydolrsperpersonperhour.Andthatfive-stringbasswasamoingmookeepthekindoflowendJ-Rockdemanded—sharpenoughtocutstraightthroughamix—sheogestringsaboutonceeverysixmonths.Onepackoffive-stringbassstringscouldeasilyswallowfivetosixhundreddolrsinasie.
Toscrapetogetherthatmoney,Cra’sdinnerbeforecramschoolwasusuallyathirty-five-dolrbowlofdrynoodlesfromaall—ortwoteaeggsandaboxedbckteafromavenieore.
Wednesdaynight.Ximending.
Craadjustedherrimlessgssesandsatintheerofanoisynoodlestaingthecheapestdihcalmprecision.Shetedevery,tugthegelyintothedeepestpocketofherwallet.
At6:30,theEnglishcramschool’sair-ditioningkickedinonschedule,coldandmerciless.Crasatslightlybehindthemiddleoftheroom,heruniformshirtbuttohstrictcaretothefirstbuttonbelowhercolrbone.
Butifyoulookedclosely,you’dnoticethatbehethiglishvocaburybookspreadopenonherdesk—perfectlycealed—wasasci-finovelborrowedfromarentalbookstore.
Herminddriftedthroughielrspacewiththeprotagonist,whileherrighthand,likeanautomaticmae,copiedthephrasesoffthebckboardwithfwlessaccuracy.
Becausesheuoodsomethingveryclearly:
Keepinghergrades“safe-looking”wastheonlybargainingchipshehadtotradeforfreedom.
At10:15p.m.,Crapushedopenthefrontdoor.
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