The Battle of the Century

I readied myself fast as possible. Dale's mom was a seamstress so we all had matching jackets with "THE KNIGHTS" on the back and a "K" on the front. Rosaline was getting it for me as I showered and got dressed.

One of the most embarrassing things about that morning was when Denise showed up. I opened the door in only a button up and my pants around my ankles with a piece of toast in my mouth. Everyone was laughing at my hurrying. I just wanted to be on time. Then Denise was making comments about my boxers and me rushing to get my slacks up.

Marie, for some reason, showed up nearly the same time Jerry did. And as always, she was all over Wes with questions and what not. She never really payed mind to me, as usual.

Dale was going to get ready at Luther's since all of our equipment was there. Mr. Sanders was going to bring our guitars and bass since the auditorium we were playing in was providing drums and Dale could carry his saxophone home.

Around ten, we all were ready to go. Wes and Marie rode with Dad, Rosaline, Fred, and Manny. I rode with Dale, Jerry, and Luther.

On the way there, I thought what it would be like to finally get one up on Brian. What it would finally be like to beat back disco for once. What it would be like to win against two things I utterly dislike. Only today would determine that and we had to be ready to lose or win. I wasn't going to glorify this by assuring everyone we'd win. I had to be realistic about it. I know it was just basically just a talent show but we worked hard for it.

As we were going towards the showplace, we noticed Jeb's truck behind us. I could see Anthony standing in the bed and Porter beside Jeb in the cab. My skin turned pale at the sight. they for sure were going to try and mess us up somehow. Anthony noticed me staring out of the back window of Mrs. Sanders' car and he waved. Anthony dropped down when a car pulled up right beside him in the other lane. And I knew exactly who was inside that car. Crips. I immediately lost all hope. They were probably going to kill us all. Surprisingly, they dropped off when we were almost there.

We made it in time to set up since we were first to go onstage. I got my guitar set up to the speakers and helped Denise with hers. Around noon, the judges and the crowd came in. In an instant, I spotted him in the small section they had for VIPs. Chuck Berry in the flesh. And beside him sat Jerry Lee Lewis. The others in that section were just super rich people, a guy from a record company, and a couple of disco guys. I felt a little intimidated by the record guy but I simply got over it.

Soon enough, it was time for us to start. We came onstage when announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, starting us off today is.... THE KNIGHTS!!!" He boomed.

We played. Our work leading from December up until now was so far paying off. Jerry was rocking it on the bass and Luther was nailing it on the drums. Then, out of nowhere, a marvelous piano solo. We didn't have one planned. And there, Mr. Davis was on the piano. He had improved us on the stage. And I later found out, it was Denise's idea.

About six more bands, including Brian's disco group, played after us. There were three disco groups, a doo-wop group, and two more rock n' roll groups. In the final four were us, Brian's group, one of the disco groups, and The Shiners, the doo-wop group.

After everyone was done, it was time for judging. A lot of us hung around backstage and I actually met some of the Shiners. They were actually really nice people and they admired Jerry's bass playing and Luther's drum skill. We thought they played good too. Personally, I thought that they were going to beat us. Only the judges would tell. The other disco group introverted themselves away from everybody. And Brian's group  was nowhere to be found.