Halfway through the second set, they were singing Never Again, a tricky duet she had written with Dietz
She sang:

Just say what you’re thinking
Tell me what’s on your mind
Use simple words
And common sense
Don’t tie knots for me to unwind

And he replied:

Just think of what you’re saying
I’m afraid to open that door
You’ll find the key to my heart
If I lay it on the line
I remember what happened before

Standing beside her on the platform, playing the break solo, Dietz suddenly looked sharply over at her; he noticed a new vibration in the line she was laying down. She was challenging him, pushing him, calling him out, taunting him. She was standing, eyes straight ahead, a vague smile on her lips, and her fingers a blur. She did not look at him.
She sang:

Burned by a lie I said never again
Never again never again
Eyes wide open all of the time
     Eyes wide open all the time
Never again never again

Behind them, between them, around them, the music swelled and forked like a boiling river, relentlessly bigger, wider, deeper. He replied:

Burned by the truth I said never again
Never again never again
I’ll make a safe place deep inside
     Deep inside deep inside
Never again never again

Dietz took another solo, still studying her, keenly focused on the music. He ran up the neck with a sweet glittering riff, sharp and clear; she brought it back down just as easily, but when she did she added an echo of his line in the backbeat. He didn't slow down for her as his hands attacked his instrument, blasting out the notes, his fingers wringing them from the thin neck of his guitar. As fast as he went, she more then matched his pace, staying in front of him, and her playing made everything he did sound better, stronger. When he suddenly burst into a high soaring crystalline flash, she was right there, low and languid. When he hammered on and held a piercing note, she was sneaking around the corner with a steady rolling throb, embroidered with sonic memories of where he had just been, and hints of where he could go, bringing it around, pushing him on. Where ever he went he found that she had been there first and had already moved on to the next thing.


She sang:

Just say what you’re thinking
Say it straight out loud
Use simple words
‘Cause I’m a simple girl
You don’t get through by going around

Memos mouth was open slightly, she was breathing through her nose, she was utterly consumed by the man she watched. She watched his fingers squeeze and caress the neck of his guitar, the fingers of his right hand nimble on the strings, and she wanted them on her body, she wanted to burn under them, to respond to their motions instantly, and to scream in bliss just the way his guitar did.
Dietz stepped closer to the front of the platform and sang:

Just think of what you’re saying
It wouldn’t be the first time in my life
You’ll take the better part
If I lay it on the line
I’d be giving you my sharpest knife

Facing the far corner of the bar Car Cox leaned to her left. Dietz stepped over the speaker to share the microphone with her. Her hair was wet with sweat, and a curved tendril of hair on her neck was a conduit for a steady stream of the clear liquid as it ran off her shoulder and down her back. He moved even closer to be able to smell her, and he wanted to put his mouth on her neck, to taste her sweat, to drink her dry. There were three tiny freckles on the soft skin under her earlobe, a perfect equilateral triangle. Her eyes flashed at him then she leaned into the mike and sang:

Burned by a lie I said never again
Never again never again
Nothin’s gettin’ by me this time
     Eyes wide open all the time
Never again never again

Within Memo, the void was growing bigger and stronger, and the intensity of her aching swelled as she watched what was happening on the platform between Dietz and the bass player. High up in her throat the muscles were tight, her ears were hot deep inside, and the tendons in her elbows and shoulders seemed to be melting, evaporating. Dietz shook his hair as he played and sent drops of sweat flying; one landed on her face and she did not move to touch it, but left it there, searing, making her wet. The bass playing throbbing around him, Deitz closed his eyes and sang:

Burned by the truth I said never again
Never again never again
I’ll make a safe place I can hide
     Deep inside deep inside
Never again never again

The music slowed down for the last part, got a lot less complicated. Car put her mouth to the mike and said more then sang:

And I’m watching
For the choices of a friend
And I’m looking for the truth
And I’m watching close
As the flowers grow
And the river’s flowing by
And I’m waiting

And Dietz replied:

And I’m listening
To the rushing in my ears
And I don’t understand what I hear
But I’m watching close
As the flowers grow
And the river’s flowing by
And I’m waiting

They had written the song to end with a long slow back-and-forth between the two guitars, tapering to silence, but as they reached the end tonight Dietz did not stop, did not even slow down, his fingers immediately walking the frets rock-steady for the intro to the next song in the set, Trust Me.
Dietz was just learning to let it go.



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