EveryThing Has Changed

Chapter 3

When I opened my eyes, Wayne was standing on his feet giving me a standing ovation. The drunk man, who I now identified as Mr. James Henderson was passed out on the floor from being to intoxicated.

"Is he going to be al-"

Wayne cut me off and replied "Yes, He is gonna be fine."

I must of looked like an idiot because all I could do was stare stupidly at Wayne because I didn't know what to say. Five minutes passed when I finally had enough courage to speak.

"SO AM I IN?!?"I blurted out excitingly

He laughed out loud anticipated by my excitement "Of Course you are, you start next friday night be here by 8."

.........

I sat in 6th period which was History. It was the afternoon and I my first gig was tonight. If I was paying attention I would of notice my teacher had just passed back our test. In big bold red letters was "GREAT JOB." I sunk deep into my chair embarrassed and disgusted. I spent a whole night cramming information in my brain, and I got a C! I was just going to get up really quick and run out of that room. The loud burst of the bell interrupted my thoughts. I stood up quickly and literally sprinted out of that classroom like I was an Olympic track star. My teacher didn't even notice that I had left. The rest of the school day went so slow and all I could do was think about tonight. I literally ran home, not even saying goodbye to my friends. I ran into the door panting, sweat beating down my forehead.

"Why are you home so early?" It was my mother sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine

"Im just really excited for tonight!" I replied of breath

I walked over to the refrigerator and filled an empty glass with ice and then with water taking a large gulp. My mother looked up from her magazine and smiled.

"That reminds me, I have a surprise for you follow me."

"Ok?" I said puzzled

I followed my mom upstairs into her room. She closed the door behind us. "I know that tonight is your big night, because your preforming, and I know how you needed a new dress so I decided to go pick up something for you."

She then went to her closet and and pulled out a beautiful blue dress. (This is what the dress looked like: http://www.sexydresses.com/top-10/top-sales-baton-rouge-la-dresses) I ran up to my mom and gave her a big hug. The dress was so beautiful and not to mention probably made me looks so hot!

.........

It was 7:25 and I was had just finished curling my hair. The dress was so beautiful on me. But it kind of made me look trashy. I guess whats what the club wants right? I really didn't care how I looked I just wanted to get up on that stage. My dad wouldn't be able to wish me luck tonight because he had to take a flight to Washington D.C. And my mother got called unexpectedly to work, and would probably be flying to California for a few weeks or so. My mom had called our neighbor Mrs Watson to watch Zuri. By the time I got home Zuri AND Mrs Watson would both be out like a light. The only way I could get to the club was by taking a bus. And in this dress people would probably think of me as a slut so I would have to wear a trench coat. I left my cell number on the kitchen counter and headed off into the night.

.........

I was backstage getting ready to sing my first number with the band. We only had rehearsed a few times and we sounded amazing. Even though the men in the group were in their late 50's these guys knew how to jam!

"Well Miss Williams you be looking mighty fine tonight." The guitarist whistled at me.

"Thank you Mr Brown." I smiled back politely

Mr brown had tamed his gray hair and you could tell he had on Vaseline by his shiny brown face. I stifled back a giggly holding it in. We all came from back stage and into our positions, Mine being center stage. The spotlight was on me and I felt a rush of excitement go through me.

In my best mature black women voice I said into the audience " How y'all doing tonight?!?"

There was a loud boom from the audience, some people were stomping, clapping and whistling at me. Then I knew they were ready. And with that, with passion, I belted out the song "At Last" by Etta James.