shows I get final cut that’s what they call it right Excellent Here’s my cell number See you there Prepare to have your world rocked He’s out the door before I can even say I’ll need to check on a few things first Through the front window I see him take off his glasses slip on a pair of Ray-Bans and glide away Cut The scene is shot one take and there won’t be another 6 TED STAUNTON
Two I head south to Queen Street and catch the 501 streetcar back to O’Toole Central Usually I work my phone all the way home but now there’s too much to think about Besides I can’t find anything online about bluegrass rap This is not a good sign Do I want to make a video for Scratch Do I have any choice about making a video for Scratch I said I’d explain about Scratch He runs the Fifteenth Street Posse Let’s call the Posse a well boys club Their headquarters are a gym on Fifteenth near where I go to school The guys have names like X-Ray Bonesaw and Cobra Scratch and I met after Bunny accidentally got tangled up with them last summer Now Bun’s in reform school even though nothing was really 7
his fault He’ll be out soon Scratch did help me with something at Christmas too Those are both other stories and have nothing to do with this one except that they remind me he’s a guy who plays by his own rules It can be hard to say no to Scratch You can understand why my parents Deb and Jer are not big fans of the Posse Neither are the cops for that matter Care and discretion will be required to keep everybody happy On the plus side as long as they don’t find out who’s paying me Deb and Jer will be pleased I have a paying gig Which reminds me A thousand thousand bucks is not Spielberg territory but it’s easily four twenty-hour weeks at Starbucks If I trade a few shifts and power through my last school assignment I’m sure I can get a video done in ten days I’ve got a camera and I can book school equipment and a green-screen room so expenses will be minimal All I need for the video is a concept How hard can it be Hay in the hood corn in Compton barns and bling See I’m there already And I can put the video on my résumé It would be nice to be a filmista as well as a barista 8 TED STAUNTON
I’m feeling positive by the time I get home Deb is making tea in the kitchen She has a pile of student essays beside her on the counter My mom’s main gig is proffing at York U so this is a busy marking time for her Jer is at the kitchen table pecking away on his laptop He writes the Front Porch Farmer column for the Parkdale Advocate our local paper when he’s not baking or working on his play He’s also way more of a music guy than I am though in a retro kind of way Have you ever heard bluegrass rap I ask him Jer’s eyebrows shoot up to his bandanna Whoa now there’s a concept Can’t say that I have Spence Let’s see what we can find There’s nothing online I say I checked on the way home Well Jer says pop music is all about hybrids It all starts as blends of other stuff I mean you only have to listen to the Dead I tune out briefly Sooner or later with Jer it gets around to the Grateful Dead I think he’s secretly stoked that he shares a first name with their lead guy Jerry Garcia I tune back in to hear him say Rap’s not hugely my thing 9 POV
