Never Let Them Define You

FIRE STILL BURNING

"What have you got today?" asks Josephine.

"I was working on a song that I want to rehearse."

"What's it called?"

"Uh...I'm not sure."

She chuckles. "Well, you kind of need a name."

"Why?"

"Well, you..." She looks up and strokes her chin. "Huh, maybe you don't. I mean, you will when it's done, anyways." She chuckles again.

She forces a smile and walks past her into the rehearsal space, then places her bag on the floor beside the wall, and grabs her notepad out of it. She clears her throat and quietly reads it, "I did it right, I bid my time, but my time, ain't wasting away, 'cause there comes a day, we did just fine, you bid what's mine, know it's a sign, to throw you away, you know I tried, that man ain't mine, he's wasting away, he'll come back someday." She makes a dissatisfied face, then scans the lyrics she read a few times over.

"It's sounding good," says Jake.

"Really...? I don't know, I guess I'm so self-critical."

"Understatement of the century." He laughs. "How's your voice? Done any singing from the core in a while?"

"Not really." She rests the notepad by her bag.

"You're not gonna need that?"

"Oh, no, I already memorized it." She stretches her arms and yawns, then walks over to the folding table on the other side of the room to grab a glass of water. "So, how goes it?"

"Um, fine, I just fell in a ditch this morning, but I'm alright."

"A ditch? How did that happen?"

"The road by my house has steep sides and I, well, saw a dollar laying in the ditch and slipped trying to get it."

She laughs. "Penny-pinching, huh?"

"We don't all get paid as much as you."

"Really? Hmm, how much do you get paid?"

He chuckles and rubs his hair. "Don't worry about it, let's work."

"We can work...in two seconds, after you tell me."

"No, it doesn't matter."

"So, you know my income apparently, but I can't know yours?"

"I don't even think we can legally talk about it."

"Oh, come on, it's just money, what's the big deal?"

"Just money?"

"Yeah, that's what really doesn't matter."

"It doesn't-" His face twists out of confusion. "You're insane."

She laughs fakely. "I wrote a song about it; sing with me! Oh, wait, you don't know the lyrics...well, you will soon." She leaves her empty cup on the table, then walks rhythmically towards the center of her room while snapping to an imaginary beat. She stops in the middle and smirks, then tilts her head and shakes it around, letting her hair go wild, and sings in a deep, shaky, drawn-out way,

"Dollar bill.

"Make me well.

"Teach me how to live." She begins to clap in between snaps.

"From this hell, I found my well.

"Now, I know how to drink." She pushes her right shoulder up, then brings it down and up goes left, and she bobs them with the rhythm.

"Lord, bless me with amenities.

"You've opened the door and now, I'm free.

"Oh, don't mention that self-destructive greed.

"Oh, I said it.

"Now it's too late to regret it.

"The dark nights of my soul cannot be healed.

"My pain is now champagne.

"And oh, let it flow, let it flow.

"You know I'll drink it all.

"I'm staring at the wall.

"And barely holding on.

"'Cause these heights are so tall." She stops dancing, sighs, and puts her arms up. "What do you think?"

"It's alright."

"Wonderful!"

"I liked the rhymes but the flow was off."

"Off?" she scoffs, "how?"

"Don't get so defensive, I mean, it's good, I just want to work on your delivery."

"Okay...okay, fair enough; it is just a draft, after all." She laughs awkwardly and heads over to get another glass of water.

"Also, are you ready for that show tomorrow?"

"Show? Oh, yes, indeed I am."

"I thought you hadn't sung in a while."

"Well, I don't need much time to prepare, I know the songs by heart, since I've done them so many times."

"It's a popular show, and you do it so well."

"Oh, you're too kind."

"I don't get paid to be."

She laughs and spits out some of her water. "Oh, you caught me off guard with that...so you like my performing abilities?"

"I mean, you're fantastic...does that even need to be said?"

"To me, yes; I don't see myself like my fans do."

"Oh, that's perfectly understandable, but...I don't know, I just have a feeling you're gonna nail this whole thing; no matter how much you doubt yourself."

She smiles, then quickly looks up at the ceiling and says, "You might just be right..." she looks at him, holds her index finger and thumb barely not touching, and whispers, "just the teeniest chance."