Untitled

by Jackie Chanel

  “Go ‘head boy, play that damn guitar!”

  I kept playing, louder and more into it than I’ve ever been, not even when I played in Tybee Island. I was feeling it. I saw of few of the ATL Players come out of the back dressing room and stand in the doorway watching me. I looked over the crowd and I saw the same look on everybody’s faces and I know that they were thinking the same thing...

  That boy can play!

  I wanted to play another song. Being on the stage, having the crowd on my side like that, made me feel like I was right where I’m supposed to be. But all jam sessions have to end at some point and the main act was ready to take the stage. I unstrapped the guitar and placed it back on the stand.

  “What’s your name, kid?” the band leader asked, a mutual respect placed his earlier sarcasm.

  “Aiden,” I told him. “Aiden Tyler.”

  “Good job, son,” he said and stepped up to the microphone. “Aiden Tyler, everyone! Give the kid a hand!”

  Cheers enveloped me as I walked off the stage. Men I didn’t know patted me on my back and told me ‘good job’ as I walked past them and back to my table. Kat threw her arms around me and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.

  “Boy, I didn’t know you could do that!” she gushed, sounding like my mother had when she first heard me play. “You sound just like a real blues player!”

  “I am a real blues player,” I chuckled, feeling more certain of that statement than I had been in months.

  One of the waitresses, a cute light-skinned girl that I’ve been trying to talk to for months, appeared at the table out of nowhere.

  “You sounded pretty good up there, Aiden,” Yvette smiled at me with a flirtatious glint in her eye.

  “Thanks.”

  “I bet you could use a drink. You want another beer or can I get you something else?”

  Now she’s flirting with me? I’ve tried to get this girl’s phone number at least three times for the past month and nothing. She claims she has a boyfriend, but with her tray at her side and her tits pressed up against my arm, I bet she couldn’t pick her boyfriend out of a lineup right now.

  “Girl, get on out of here,” Kat stepped in. “Leave this boy alone before you cause some trouble.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Yvette scurried away.

  I couldn’t help watching her walk away. Yvette has the most incredible body I’ve ever seen; long legs, thick thighs, small waist...sexy as hell.

  “Don’t get involved with that,” Kat warned. “Her boyfriend is twice your size and black as coal. He’ll kick your ass for sure.”

  Sunny burst out laughing, practically choking on her rum and coke.

  “That’s not even remotely funny,” I said.

  “Yes it is. It would serve you right, too.”

  “Don’t pay her no mind, baby,” Kat said, shooing Sunny with her hand. “Baby-girl’s just a little salty because she thought you were going to embarrass yourself. But you didn’t. He did good, didn’t he, Sunny?”

  Sunny looked like she was in excruciating physical pain as she nodded her head.

  “I didn’t think that he was going to be awful, Auntie,” Sunny finally spoke up. “But he did exactly what I knew he was going to do. He played something easy. Of course they’re going to go crazy over a Ray Charles song. He didn’t do anything special.”

  I glowered at Sunny. “Can you play?” I asked her angrily. “Have you ever taken your ass up there and played a single note?”

  “No.”

  “Then shut up.”

  “You shut up,” she argued back. “You know I’m right, that’s why you’re getting mad. When you get up there and play a set like they are,” she pointed to the stage where the Players were entertaining the crowd.

  “Until you can do that, I’m not impressed.”

  “I can do that,” I stated confidently.

  She rolled her eyes and I wished they would get stuck in the back of her head. “No, you can’t.”

  “Sunny, hush,” Kat scolded her. “Damn girl, you can ruin a wet dream with that attitude. Let the boy have his moment. You did good, Aiden.”

  Sunny’s words bothered me. I don’t like when anyone doubts my abilities, especially people I don’t like. For months I’ve been playing pop songs at coffee houses and college bars. The first time I get to play something that I’m actually extremely good at, I gotta deal with Sunny’s unwarranted doubts and accusations. I took it as a challenge.

  “Miss K, who’s playing next weekend?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, Aiden,” Kat said. “I don’t mess around with these bands. Why?”

  “I want to play next weekend,” I stated. “If the house band is playing, can I do a set with them?”

  Sunny snorted. “What are you trying to prove?”

  “I’m not trying to prove shit,” I lied.

  “You gotta see Jerry about that,” Kat answered, cutting short another potential argument between me and her niece. “If Jerry gives you any shit, you tell him I said you can play. He’ll be here tomorrow afternoon some time.”

  So would I. Whenever Jerry, puts me on the schedule, I will drag Sunny’s ass down here, even if I have to hog-tie her and throw her in the backseat of my car.

  She has no right to doubt the one thing that I know I can do. She’s going to regret that she ever doubted me in the first place.

  Chapter 11

  “Sunny, come on!” I yelled for the third time at her closed – and locked – door.

  “Shut up! I said I’m coming! Shit!”

  A few seconds later the apartment door swung open and Sunny stepped outside, looking great as usual in a tight multi-colored sweater and ripped jeans. Despite her eternally bad attitude and evil disposition, Sunny has great fashion sense.

  “I don’t know why I have to ride with you and your stupid friend anyway,” she grumbled – as usual – as she locked her apartment door. “I have my own damn car.”

  “If I let you drive, I bet my rent money that you won’t show up tonight.”

  One look into her light brown eyes and I knew that I was right and there’s no way she’s getting out of this one. She’s the one who threw down the challenge three weeks ago. Tonight I get to show her smug ass exactly what I can do.

  When I told Paulie about what happened at Rabbit’s and Sunny’s assumption that I can’t a lead a band, he was kind of pissed off. After all, he’s my best friend and has been playing with me since high school. He doesn’t even know Sunny but I’ve told him enough about her to make their first encounter very uncomfortable for her.

  When Jerry called me and told that the next time the house band was scheduled to play was on my birthday, I knew that I had to talk Paulie into playing with me. He hasn’t been playing much lately. He confessed that he hadn’t even picked up his guitar while he was home for the summer. But talent is talent. He can still play well enough to follow my lead. I made sure he came to rehearsal every day, even driving to Emory and picking him up since he doesn’t have a car.

  Sunny walked ahead of me to my car. Paulie opened the passenger door for her and let her sit shotgun.

  Great. He should have made her sit in the back.

  “Sunny, this is my best friend, Paulie Pitts,” I introduced them when I got in the car.

  “What’s up?” Paulie greeted her from the backseat. I applaud his efforts to be polite to a girl who doesn’t deserve it since she has no idea how to return the favor.

  “Hi,” she mumbled, staring straight ahead.

  “Sunny’s an interesting name,” Paulie commented. “You don’t find many black girls with a name like that. How’d you get that name?”

  “You don’t have to talk to her,” I told Paulie. “She’s just along for the free ride.”

  “Nobody said shit to you, Aiden,” she replied. She turned around in her seat to look at Paulie.

  “My name is actually Sunny Rain,” she told him.

  I was so extremely thankful that we were sitting at
a stoplight because I probably would have crashed right into the car in front of me when I burst out laughing.

  “Did you just say Sunny Rain?” I whooped. “Now that’s funny.”

  “Kiss my ass,” she answered automatically.

  “I like it,” Paulie said. “How’d your parents come up with that?”

  “Well, my parents are…different,” she paused. “They adopted me when I was a few days old. My dad says that the day they signed the adoption papers, it was raining out but the sun was shining so they decided to call me Sunny Rain.”

  “What’s your last name?” Paulie asked.

  “It’s just Sunny Rain. That’s what I go by.”

  “How can you not have a last name?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sunny snapped and sat back down in her seat.

  “I think your name is beautiful,” Paulie stated, sounding just like his dad.

  If we were on better terms, I would have liked to hear more, but Sunny has already said too many words. Her voice is annoying.

  “So anyway,” I said, breaking up their conversation. “I talked to Sara this morning. She’s coming down for Thanksgiving break.”

  “That’s cool, man,” Paulie said. “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “Last time I went home,” I admitted.

  I’ve been a lousy brother. I should have made arrangements to see my sisters months ago, especially because I miss them as much as they miss me. One weekend home isn’t going to kill me.

  “Is Sara your girlfriend?” Sunny asked pointedly. There was something in her tone, something not as evil as normal, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

  Jealousy?

  “Sara’s my sister.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s nice. I thought you were an only child.”

  “I’m in the middle. I have a little sister too.”

  “Yeah, but Delilah’s not so little anymore,” Paulie added. “I saw her when I went home, and Aiden, man, you better check on her.”

  “How old is she?” Sunny asked.

  Delilah just turned seventeen. She was very understanding when I missed her birthday party. I think that the red Corvette that my parents gave her helped take away the disappointment.

  “She’s seventeen,” I answered as I pulled into the gravel parking lot of Rabbit’s and cut the engine.

  I got out of the car first and walked past the line of people wrapped around the building and into the club. The bouncers rarely pay me any attention any more. Thanks to Kat taking a liking to me, Rabbit’s has become my second home, my second family. I probably spend more time in this bar than I do anywhere else.

  “HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDEN!”

  I stopped walking, simply because my heart almost stopped beating when I saw all of the employees that I’ve grown to love, the band, Kat, and Jerry gathered around a huge birthday cake lit up with a thousand candles.

  “I’m not that old,” I managed to choke out. “That’s a lot of candles.”

  “That was my idea,” I heard a very familiar voice say from behind me.

  I spun around. Standing next to Paulie were Delilah and Sara.

  “What the-” I choked out.

  “Don’t swear,” Sara grinned. Delilah jumped into my arms.

  “Aiden! Oh my God!”

  Sara joined in as I hugged and kissed both of my sisters. Seeing them there, in person…I can’t believe they’re actually here!

  “How is this possible?” I asked Sara. “What are you guys doing here?”

  I’ve spoken to my sisters a million times since I moved to Georgia. Sara was shocked when I told her that I moved into my own apartment and even more surprised when I didn’t enroll in any fall semester courses. Delilah wasn’t as surprised, but they both agreed not to spill the beans to Mom and Dad.

  “Do Mom and Dad know you’re here?”

  Delilah shook her long blonde hair and laughed. “No. We snuck out.”

  “Actually, Mom and Dad think she’s in Boston with me at a workshop for aspiring doctors and nurses.”

  “As if I’d really go to something so lame,” Delilah added. She reminded of that girl from the movie Clueless. My baby sister isn’t really a baby anymore.

  “And since this is a big night for you,” Sara continued, “we flew down here to be with you on your birthday.”

  “We miss you!” Delilah practically yelled. “You never come home. Shame on both of you-” she looked at me and Sara – “for abandoning me and leaving me with the two lamest parents ever!”

  “Yeah, but you got a Corvette out of the deal,” I reminded her.

  She grinned widely. “Yeah, I did.”

  “Enough of the family reunion,” Kat broke in. “Y’all gon have them people beatin’ down my door in a minute. Blow out these candles, boy, before they set off my sprinkler system.”

  I took a look at the cake again and grabbed my sisters’ hands. “Help me.”

  The three of us leaned over the cake and blew out the candles. Even Sunny smiled.

  “You know we can’t let you go up on that stage without your birthday gift,” Kat said.

  Everyone was standing in front of the bar and when they parted, sitting on the bar in a custom made case was the most beautiful, most expensive guitar I’ve ever dreamed about getting my hands on…a 1959 Les Paul Standard.

  I inhaled sharply. “Oh...my...God. Where the hell did you find this?”

  “I’m not tellin’ you that,” Kat answered.

  I stared at the guitar in awe. It was so beautiful! The orange and gold mahogany finish, the gold knobs were breathtaking.

  “Wow,” Paulie sighed in awe. “That’s the real deal too, man. That’s an authentic Les Paul.”

  “Of course it ain’t no knock-off,” Kat scolded. “Paulie, you talkin’ about Kat Mays, here. I don’t do cheap.”

  This guitar, this gorgeous piece of craftsmanship would have easily cost her about eight grand. I shook my head, too afraid to even touch the thing.

  “Miss K, I can’t take this. This is too much.”

  “Oh hush up, boy,” Kat scolded. “It’s our gift to you. Go on now; pick it up so I can take a picture for my wall.”

  Gingerly I lifted the sacred guitar out of the case. Everybody, including Kat and my sisters, bunched together so Jerry could snap the picture. As soon as he was finished Kat motioned for one of the bouncers to give us ten minutes to get situated then they could open the doors.

  “Girls,” Kat said to Sara and Delilah. “Y’all sit with me. Y’all don’t need to be down there with all that foolishness.”

  I laughed. I can’t imagine my sisters sitting amidst the rowdy crowd near the stage. They’re always the loudest and the drunkest.

  “Good luck, Aiden,” they called over their shoulders as Kat ushered them to her table.

  “Let’s do this,” Paulie said. He seemed pretty excited to be getting back on a stage with me. I’m hoping and praying it’s not because of Sunny.

  “I’m coming,” I said. But I didn’t budge from my place by the bar. I was still staring at the guitar in my hands. This is absolutely amazing. It almost made me stop missing Dee-Dee.

  Almost.

  “Nervous?” Sunny asked, almost quietly. I’d forgotten she was even there.

  As much as I didn’t want to show any vulnerability or lack of confidence around her, I nodded my head.

  “Really? Even with the new guitar?”

  “Especially with a new guitar,” I told her. “But you wouldn’t know anything about that.” I closed the case and took it off the bar.

  “Enjoy the show,” I said snidely. “Don’t you dare leave.”

  The band was already warming up when I walked on stage. The drummer, a guy we call Wild Mike, grinned at me.

  “You better play the hell outta that thing tonight,” he said.

  “Yeah, A.T,” the keyboardist, Eddie, added. “Your people are here tonight. You better make that gui-tar sing, baby!”

  “I
’m gon make it do what it do,” I joked, imitating Ray Charles. I played a few quick cords to check the sound. My nerves calmed as soon as I heard the notes coming from my new guitar. Only one word describes its sound perfectly…sexy!

  “Yeah, baby,” I drawled. “This is the business!”

  “Then let’s do it,” Paulie urged.

  “Hands in,” I said to the band.

  Like a football team before a big game, we huddled together, our hands stacked on top of each other. Paulie led us in a quick prayer.

  “Lord, we thank you for this opportunity. Guide our hands as we play. And Lord God, please don’t let Aiden mess up and get us all booed off this stage. In Jesus name we pray, amen.”

  “Amen,” we repeated.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it!”

  We broke the huddle and took our places on the stage. The house lights dimmed and the stage lights became immensely brighter. For a second the glare hurt until my eyes adjusted. The club was practically full, even though it was early. I’ve never seen so many people show up for the opening act. Then I remembered who we’re opening for. I’m not arrogant enough to think that all of these people had come to see me. Most of them were here to see Joey Clausen.

  It’s a privilege for us to be able to open for a performer like Joey. Any time he’s in Atlanta, he stops by Rabbits to do a two-hour set for free. He’s who people paid to see. But for the next forty-five minutes, the stage belongs to me. This is my crowd, whether they know it or not.

  Wild Mike counted us in and we started our set with a blues standard that every blues fan knows, Every Day I Have the Blues.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” I said in the microphone while playing. “Welcome to the infamous and somewhat notorious Rabbit’s Lounge! Tonight you’re in for something special!”

  The crowd began to warm up to us as we continued to play. Most of the people were used to hearing the house band but this was their first time experiencing me. I noticed a few familiar faces from the first time I played here. Thankfully, they were moving to the music. When the song was finished we went right into I Got a Woman, which went over well with the crowd the first time I played it.