Episode 55 - Introductions

Two weeks passed before Yangyang gave in to his son's persistent requests - supported by Amari's continual encouragement - and agreed to bring him to a live show. Knowing he would give in, Amari had already made plans with Ziggy and Yinyi to have a spot at open band, and had asked Cate to help babysit. For Yangyang, this was like a coming out, and he wanted it to a good experience that would help ease some of his fears.

When he told Yangyang, he received a heavy fist to the shoulder, but the man was grateful. It actually surprised Amari that he had caved so quickly. Although he had been pushy, he would never really make him do something he wasn't ready for, and he knew this was a big step. He hoped the realization that there were people who supported him had made the decision a little easier.

Another week later, Yangyang was standing in the doorway of the De Nuit en Jour coffeehouse, Taitai in his arms and guitar on his back, with Amari close at his side.

"Hello boys," said Cate in her sweet voice, followed by a small giggle. "Yangyang, mon chéri, are you okay? You look a little pale."

Amari let out a snort and was promptly elbowed in the side, but Cate ignored him. "And who is this precious one, hein? Si précieux."

"I'm Li Tai, but e'rybody calls me Taitai."

"It is very nice to meet you, Taitai." Her voice was light and motherly. "You can call me Cate, if you like."

Putting his son down on the floor, Yangyang gave him a firm pat. "Cate āyí is going to take care of you tonight when ba is busy, hǎo ma? Do you remember all of those treats Li gēge brought to rehearsals? Cate made those."

"Really?"

An image of the child drooling before his new idol entered Amari's mind and he smiled. Figures were replaced by shadows, but the rest was easy to picture, because he often felt the same way.

Cate crouched down. "Would you like to come help me in the kitchen, Taitai? There's lots of good food, hein? You can pick out what you want."

"'Kay!" he exclaimed, running off with her toward the back.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Yangyang set his guitar against the window, Amari doing the same. They followed the two into the kitchen and wonderful smells assaulted them as they reached the door.

"Fuu...oor goodness sake," stammered Amari, stopping himself from swearing in front of the child, making Yangyang choke on a heavy laugh. "Why'd you make so much?"

He took a seat at the island, Yangyang pulling up a stool next to him, and Cate giggled as she arranged plates on the counter.

"I didn't know what people would want, so I just made many different things. We can eat the rest as leftovers later."

Leaning over the table, Yangyang inhaled deeply. "I'm a bit jealous that you get to eat like this all the time."

Amari shook his head. "Not all the time. This's only to impress others." The woman hushed him, but he just smiled, sniffing the air and catching a familiar smell. "Taitai, do you like meatballs? Cate āyí makes the best meatballs in the world. They're stuffed with cheese, and covered in sauce..." He groaned just imagining the taste. "So good."

"Really?" The child sounded excited and Cate moved a large meatball in front of him. "Waaaa, it's so big!"

"Impressive, isn't it?" Amari tapped his plate with a grin, wanting one as well. "Moi aussi, s'il vous plaît."

A meatball was dropped onto his plate and he cut it quickly with his fork, shoving a large serving into his mouth. Cate and Yangyang laughed together.

"What a pair," she joked. "They look so similar like this. C'est cute."

"Exactly what I thought the first time I saw it."

Pausing only long enough to smack the man in the back, Amari swiftly returned to his food, ignoring the additional giggles and chuckles.

After eating, Amari and Yangyang headed out and down to The Basement, greeted by an always energetic Yinyi, who jumped onto the boy.

"I'm beginning to think you like Xiao Li better than your own brother."

"Beginning?" Yinyi laughed dramatically. "I thought it was pretty obvious." She wrapped an arm around Amari's neck and he groaned.

"How many bands're ahead of us?" he asked, pulling her off and taking his guitar case from his back. "Shouldn't we get ready?"

Yinyi quickly grabbed the guitar away. "Yep. This group has one more song, I think, and then the next one has two. Then us!" She walked past the bar, waving an arm in the air. "The other guys are in the greenroom."

Amari could feel how crowded it was in the stage area, the air hot with a thick scent of sweat, and Yangyang's arm circled around his shoulders to guide him through the swarm of bodies.

"Why are there so many people tonight?" the man asked as they walked slowly past the bar.

"Word got out that Yin and Yang's gonna play at open band, so a lot of your fans probably came." He wondered what Yangyang's reaction to the situation was and didn't want the man to feel uncomfortable. "Taitai's still with Cate, so we can easily call her and tell her not to bring him. The rest of us can play without you, if you're worried."

There was a chuckle and Yangyang gave Amari's shoulder a tight squeeze. "I'm alright, surprisingly. A little bit of stage nerves, but otherwise, I feel relaxed."

"You do?" He could hear the calm in his voice and believed he was telling the truth, but was still stunned by his response. "I thought you'd be more anxious."

"Yeah, me too," the man agreed in that deep, kind voice. "Maybe you're a lucky charm. I think I'll always feel comfortable as long as you're with me."

Amari couldn't contain a small laugh. Most of the time, that was exactly how he felt when they were together.

"What?"

He just shook his head. "Nothing." He pulled the man into the greenroom. "I'll tell you later."

Other bands filled the room, chatter echoing in Amari's ears, and some musicians approached Yangyang to catch up. Feeling out of place and in the way, Amari tried to slink off, but Yangyang's arm kept him tight to his side. The man brushed off the small talk with the excuse of needing to prepare, pulling Amari to the corner where the rest had gathered.

"Really busy out there, huh?" Yinyi was thrilled at playing in front of so many people, her tone high and tight with excitement, but Amari felt a bit queasy at the thought. She rubbed his head. "It's no different than any other time singing on the stage. We all know you're not here for them anyway, so don't worry about it."

He gave her a small, thankful smile and they unpacked, tuning guitars and quickly rehearsing through a few parts of each song, until it was their turn to head out. Amari would just be singing, since they also had band support from Ren and his musicians, so he only had to adjust the mic stand and kick some cords out of his way. Closing his eyes as the staff tested lighting, he felt a soft hand on his back.

"Ready?" Yangyang asked gently, and Amari nodded, genuinely happy to be standing there. "Yeah, me too."

The crowd grew quiet and Yangyang took the mic in his hand, leaning an arm casually on Amari's shoulder.

"Hi everyone! Dàjiā hǎo." The man's voice was calm and cheerful as he spoke to the crowd. "We're Yin and Yang, and we're excited to be on this stage tonight. For any fans out there, we apologize for not being active lately. We're all old now, you know, and life gets crazy, so we aren't able to perform like we used to."

There were some encouraging words, some murmurs, and some disappointed mumbling, but Yangyang just continued to speak.

"You may notice we have an extra person up here with us. This kid next to me at the mic. If you're regulars, you probably already know him."

Now there were shouts and cheers from the audience and Yangyang chuckled.

"Exactly! He's amazing. He's a very close friend of ours, like family, and we've been wanting to sing together. So, we're here tonight to play around and have some fun."

There were more cheers from the crowd and Yangyang paused, letting the noise die down. Amari realized for the first time that the man had a different charisma on stage, something the boy could see hints of at times, but became obvious up in front of an audience. It made his heart break a little, thinking he really was made to be a performer.

"So, before we start, I actually wanted to introduce someone to you." Amari flashed him a questioning look and Yangyang squeezed his arm reassuringly. "Taitai, do you want to come out here with me?"