It totally lives up to it's name

When I get to my tree Piper is already there waiting for me. “What took you so long?” she asks.

“Sorry, I had an errand to run” I reply. I had slipped out of class a little early and stuck the flier for the store in Sam’s locker, hoping that a few gentle nudges would soften her up before I asked her about fronting my band.

As the two of us walk I ask Piper “So what do you think is with the name of this place ‘Codex ex musica’?”

“Well a codex is supposed to be a repository of knowledge so I guess it’s supposed to mean it’s a place of musical knowledge.”

“Wow, where’d you learn that?” I ask impressed with her answer.

“What, just because I’m a girl who plays guitar I can’t be smart?” She asks a bit defensively.

“It’s not that, I think it’s cool you know what it means. I just hope that it doesn’t turn out to be some cheesy Sam Goodey rip off with some old stoner hack trying to make a quick buck restringing guitars, and selling second hand instruments.”

“Well, were about to find out, here we are.” Piper says as the two of you turn the corner.

The store is located at the edge of the business and factory districts. To tell the truth it’s not that far from my dads shop. It looks like a medium sized factory from the outside, and I notice that the smoke stacks actually are shaped like old castle towers like the one on Kristen’s shirt this afternoon. We try to look in the front windows but they are covered by concert posters and wall coverings. I notice that some of the posters appear to be either vintage antiques or exact replicas; there are a couple announcing Hendrix concerts in New York and L.A., one from a Beatles show at Abby Road, two from Iron Maiden (Maiden Japan and Rock in Rio), as well as some other bands I’ve never heard of myself.

“Well it isn’t a tower records, that’s for sure.” I say feeling a good vibe from the place.

When I open the heavy wooden door and enter the store I can’t believe my eyes. The reception lobby had been transformed into a lounge with a couple of over stuffed couches and chairs in small groups around small wooden tables with amps near by. A wall that had separated the reception area from the factory floor had been knocked out opening the space up. Out where the machines had once sat were lines of bins with c.d.’s had been arranged by genera and decade. Off to one side was a display of actual vinyl albums, most were used but some were from current artists. In the center of the room a drum kit section displayed a couple of mid range and hi end set ups. Stacked in the back corner were amps from any manufacturer you could name. Next to them on the center of the back wall was a display of guitars. The upstairs catwalk was lined with books and movies, mostly to do with music; some of the movies were bootlegs of concerts.

As we wander around the place dumbstruck at the assembled collection an impressive sound system pipes music into the store. When we first came in it was playing the Ramones “I want to be sedated”, next up had been the Doors “Paint it black”, followed by a band I hadn’t heard before doing a insanely hard core metal cover of “Road house Blues”, than a intricate metal guitar instrumental, and was currently playing “Mississippi Moon” by Kings X. “Wow”, I say to Piper, “whoever is picking out the music is either a complete schizo or a total music geek.”

“It’s probably a little of both.” I hear Kristen’s voice behind us.

I turn around to see her smiling at the look on the two of our faces. She has changed into a black Ramones t-shirt, a short grey and blue plaid skirt, black thigh hi’s, and black calf high boots. The over all effect is total punk rock hottie and I have a sudden desire to talk to the guys about doing a cover of Sheena is a Punk rocker.

“Hey Kristen, I…uh…I didn’t mean…” I stammer trying to think of what to say. Before I can think of some way to remove my foot from my mouth the door to our left marked employees’ only swings open.

“Fucking hell! Krissy where’s my bat I’m going to fix that dam computer once and for all!” bellows a big blond guy with a crew cut. He’s easily over six foot and looks like he could play line backer in the NFL. A black Iron Maiden t-shirt with the bands mascot in his many guises adds to his fearsome appearance.

Kristen just looks at him and rolls her eyes. “John, Piper meet my brother Eric, schizo music geek and serial killer of computers. Eric meet John and Piper our first customers. Unless that is, you’ve scared them off”, she chides her brother.

“Oh gee hey, sorry about that” he says sheepishly. As he apologizes his expression softens and you can see the family resemblance. “I didn’t know anybody was here. Welcome to the codex” he says extending his hand.

“Not a problem” I assure the big guy shaking his hand. “My dad feels the same way about his accounting software at the end of every month.”

“Aw see it’s not just you all old guys are computer illiterate” Kristen teases her brother.

“Hey I’m only five years older than you”, Eric retorts raising an eyebrow at her, “and besides who taught you everything you know about running a sound board?”

“So”, Kristen says sticking out her tongue, “you can’t even set up your own web site for the store.”

I can’t help but chuckle. The way they banter with each other remind me how my sister and I used to behave before she moved out. It’s easy to see that the two of them are very close.

“So you’re having problems designing a web site?” Piper chimes in interrupting the siblings.

“Yeah captain caveman here can’t tell source code from Morris code.” Kristen teases and quickly ducks behind me as her brother goes to take a playful swipe at her. “Hitting the customers is bad for business” she says standing on her tip toes to speak over my shoulder pressing up against my back.

Eric shakes a finger at her and turns his attention back to Piper. “The truth is if it’s not some kind of sound software I’m completely lost. Why, do you do site design?”

“No but my friend Steve does. He made our bands sight, set it up in less than a week and moderates it himself. It’s giantantsfarm.com, check it out.” Piper writes the web address on the back of a store flyer.

“So what type of music do you guys play?” Eric asks sounding interested.

“Actually they’re in different bands” Kristin chimes in.

“Yeah the Giant Ants are my band. We’re a rock band” Piper offers. Then with a bitter sweet smile, “Or we were. My band mates are thinking of calling it quits.”

“Why, you guys rocked Johnnies last night?” Kristen asks going over and putting a hand on Pipers shoulder.

Piper smiles weekly at her comforting gesture and places a hand on top of hers. “There was a guy from a record label at Johnnies last night. We thought that he was there to listen to the band but he was just interested in the guy fronting us. He told us we needed to change our sound if we wanted a record deal these days. Steve said that he was probably going to have to quit and get a job and help out at home, and Kevin is just frustrated.”

“Hey don’t worry”, Eric says trying to be comforting, “I’ve known a lot of A&R guys and most of them are complete D bags who just look for bands that are copying what’s hot now instead of trying to find real talent.”

“Oh, I know what’ll cheer you up.” Kristen says sounding excited. “Can I show them the studio?” She asks her brother.

“ Sure, I haven’t finished setting up the recording equipment yet, but the rest of the gear is good to go. Tell you what, grab a couple of demo guitars and give the system a quick sound check I’ll watch the store for a bit.”

“Seriously?!” Piper asks her face lighting up. Eric just nods and makes a shooing gesture, and with that she makes a beeline for the guitar section. After a quick scan of the demo models she grabs a Les Paul with a candy apple red finish and I pick a Fender Strat with a gloss black body and silver neck. Kristen then leads us through the employee’s only door and the two girls head up the stairs side by side talking excitedly. I follow a little behind and admire the view.

Piper has on a pair of tight faded jeans that show off her bubble but nicely, and you can make out the hint of a tramp stamp as her t-shirt falls short of the waist. On the other hand Kristin’s short skirt doesn’t quite meet her thigh hi’s and as she climbs the stairs I catch the occasional glimpse of her panties. While she’s not wearing a thong today her black boy shorts with purple skull and cross bones cling to her tone ass nicely and complete the punk rock ensemble.

I sigh inwardly when we reach the top of the stairs at the loss of such a lovely view. Kristen leads us down hallway and opens a door.

“Just give me a second to turn everything on”, she says flipping switches around the room.

As she gets things ready I take a look around the place. A giant sound counsel dominates one wall in front of a window, all it’s controls meticulously marked. On the wall opposite the door a large D.A.T. recorder stands next to an old school reel to reel set up. Against the back wall is a large black couch. The lights on the other side of the window come on reveling a decent sized recording space with red and black sound dampening material on the walls.

Piper lets out a low whistle. “Nice set up. Your brother did all this himself?”

“For the most part. He used to work for a small indie label a few years back. After the label went bust he joined the Army until our folks passed. When he got out he wanted to get back into music so he opened up the shop.” Kristen explains.

“Who’s Gibson?” I ask seeing a black on black bass on a stand in the corner.

“Oh that’s Eric’s. He plays around a bit but found out he liked being behind the board more than on the stage.”

“Do you play?” Piper asks Kristen.

“I took a couple of guitar lessons but never got the hang of it.” Kristen admits, “Besides I kinda get stage fright and my fingers fumble all over the strings.”

“Come on show us what you got.” Piper encourages her.

“No way you guys are real musicians, I’d totally look like a fool.”

“Please!” Piper says batting her eyes, “We’ll be your best friends, and if John laughs I’ll help you kick his ass.” She goes and stands next to Kristen and does her best to look menacing but it only comes off as comical.

“Hey no fair, two on one!” I protest in mock fear.

“You’d love it and you know it.” Piper says wiggling her eyebrows.

Kristen laughs but her face turns a pale shade of pink and she looks down. Truth be told I can feel a bit of color rising in my own cheeks and I rub the back of my head, speechless.

Piper laughs at the two of us and takes Kristen by the hand and leads her into the other room and sets the guitar up and hands it to her. “All right girl lets see what you’ve got.”

“Um ok” she says nervously. She starts to work her way through the intro for ‘Hazy Shade of Winter’ and is doing a decent job until she looks up and sees Piper and I watching, after that her fingers begin to tremble and she starts to flub her notes more often. She stops and shakes her head causing her cute little pigtails to sway. “See, I can play ok by myself but if I know some ones watching I just…”

“Here lets try something”, Piper suggests going to stand behind her. “ Take a deep breath, now close your eyes and relax. Good now start over.” As she says this she guides Kristen’s hand back to the neck of the guitar. She gently guides Kristen’s fingers across the strings and what was only a competent attempt before begins to really capture the song. It’s as if Pipers skill is literally rubbing off on Kristen. As the song progresses Kristen begins to get into it and her body starts to sway with the music the whole time Piper’s hand continues to gently guide hers. Piper begins to sway with her and closes her own eyes as she puts her other hand on Kristen’s hip.

I stand there mesmerized by the sight. I can’t help but think how the two girls complement each other. The contrast in their skin tones and hair color look amazing and the way their bodies are in tune with each other and the music is just about the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. When I whisper a small “wow” the moment is broken and the two girls stop and look at me blushing.

“See”, says Piper stepping back and brushing her hair behind her ear looking a little embarrassed, “if you just relax you’re a natural.”

“I don’t know about that but that was cool thanks.” Kristen says looking up from under her lashes. Then turning to me she says, “Well what about you?”

“Hun?,” I ask still half remembering the two girls joined by the guitar.

“Are you just going to stand there holding that guitar or are you going to play something for us?” She asks with a teasing tone.

“Oh right,” I say shaking my head. I fiddle with the tuning and try to think what to play. Finally I decide on Queensryche’s ‘Silent Lucidity’, figuring I can show off my chops a bit.

As I finish I let the last note trail off for a minute and then realize that at some point I had closed my eyes.

“That was amazing” Kristen says in a hushed voice breaking the silence.

“Look at you getting all proggy on us.” Piper chimes in but I can detect a note of admiration in her voice.

“Not bad for a guy whose band might sound like a sack of wet cats huh?” I shoot back at her.

“Ugh, lets get out of here before he’s head gets too big to fit through the door.” Piper says to Kristen.

After shutting every thing down you guys head back down the stairs with the two girls in the lead again. Unfortunately this time my view isn’t quite as good, but a guy can’t have everything right?

“If you’re interested I could give you a few guitar lessons.” Piper offers Kristen on the way down. “It’d be nice to have a girl to jam with. Especially since my bands pretty much done.”

“I think I might like that, but you shouldn’t give up on your band just yet.” Kristen says reaching out and giving Pipers hand a squeeze.

“You know Piper, if the Ants are done, me, Morris and Ernie were thinking about adding another guitar to the mix. Would you be interested?” I offer. In truth this is a bit of a stretch, I had mentioned it in passing and Ernie and Morris had said it would be interesting to see how we would sound with a rhythm guitar but so far you guys hadn’t made a decision one way or the other.

“Thanks John, but I’m not looking for charity”

“Charity hell, your easily the second best guitarist I know.”

“Second best?” she asks arching an eyebrow, but smiling.

“Modesty prevents me from naming the first.” I say giving her a wink.

“Thanks, if the guys really are hanging it up I might take you up on the offer.”

Felling good about myself and the offer I open the door to the shop and see a someone talking to Kristen’s brother at the counter.