Singsation

by Jacquelin Thomas

  “Deborah Anne, what did you do with the lace tablecloth?” Virginia yelled from the kitchen.

  “It’s in the bottom drawer of the buffet, Mama,” Deborah Anne replied as she entered the dining room. “I’ll get it.”

  Virginia was still wearing the gray knit suit she’d worn to church, but Deborah Anne had already changed into her favorite T-shirt and denim overalls and had pulled her thick black hair into a ponytail.

  “Mama, why don’t you go change?” Deborah Anne said as she spread the tablecloth across the dining room table. Even with the large oak table set for twelve, they’d still have to set up a couple of card tables along the wall to accommodate all the relatives who came by every Sunday. “People will start arriving soon.” Deborah Anne had barely finished saying it when she heard voices on the porch. “See, I think that’s Aunt Bird and Uncle Moses now.”

  As Virginia scurried down the hall to her bedroom, Deborah Anne opened the front door.

  “Girl, you sure sounded good in church this morning,” Aunt Bird drawled. “One day, somebody’s going to come and take you away from us.”

  Deborah Anne only smiled, knowing that she had to wait for the right moment to tell everyone her news. Before she could close the front door, her cousins Willetta, Pauline, and Maxine arrived.

  Though they were first cousins, Willetta and Deborah Anne were also best friends. Born only four months apart, they’d lived next door to each other all of their lives.

  “Girl, get in here. I’ve got something to tell you.” Deborah Anne grabbed Willetta’s hand and pulled her into the dining room, away from the other relatives who were starting to arrive in groups.

  While the living room filled with loud talk and laughter, Deborah Anne kept her voice low.

  “Help me set the table,” she said, handing Willetta the wooden case holding the Sunday silver.

  “So what’s the big news?” Willetta whispered back.

  Grinning widely, Deborah Anne gushed, “Girl, you missed it in church today. You’ll never guess who was there.” Before Willetta could respond, Deborah Anne announced, “Triage Blue!”

  Willetta’s mouth opened wide, and Deborah Anne laughed.

  “Oh, no,” Willetta groaned. “How could I have missed that? Did you meet him?”

  Deborah Anne bobbed her head. “Yes, and Mama and Daddy did too!”

  Maxine sauntered into the dining room. “What ya’ll whispering about?”

  Willetta was still holding her head in her hands. “Deborah Anne just told me that Triage Blue was at church this morning.” Willetta glared at her sister. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Maxine’s eyes grew round and wide. “He was at our church?”

  “Yeah, girl.” Deborah Anne laughed. “That’s what you get for sneaking out before Deacon Miller introduced Pastor Duncan and his sermon.”

  Pauline plopped into the chair next to her sister. “I love his music.”

  Deborah Anne said, “Me too. I love that he’s so popular, even though he doesn’t use profanity or bash women, like some of those others.”

  “Yeah, and if you listen to the words, he’s really talking about taking care of family and being true to yourself,” Willetta said.

  “Ooohhh!” Pauline moaned. “If I had stayed in church, I could’ve told everyone in school tomorrow that I met Triage Blue!”

  “I bet that’s the last time y’all will be sneaking out.” Deborah Anne laughed.

  The cousins continued laughing and talking about Triage Blue as Virginia and her sisters-in-law started moving the food onto the buffet table. Twenty minutes later, all eighteen Petersons were standing around the table, with Elijah Peterson at the head. Even as the smell of the macaroni and cheese and fried catfish wafted under their noses, Elijah, the oldest of the four Peterson brothers, made the family wait until every hand was held and every head was bowed.

  “Heavenly Father,” Elijah finally began. “We thank You for this food that we are about to receive. We thank You for the many blessings that You have bestowed on each of us and we want You to know, Lord, that we take none of it for granted.”

  As her father prayed, it took everything in her for Deborah Anne not to scream out her secret right then. But she knew she had to wait, and she was grateful when Elijah finally said, “Amen.”

  It took another twenty minutes for the Peterson clan to pass through the buffet and pile their plates high. It took only moments for the conversation to turn to Triage Blue.

  “I can’t believe I missed Triage Blue!” Deborah Anne’s cousin Bubba said, as he stabbed his fork into a chicken leg. “If I’d known that he was going to be there, I would’ve been in church myself.”

  “Is that the only reason you can find for going to church, Bubba?” Elijah asked. “You know when the Lord comes back, some of his people gonna be in real trouble. Now, I ain’t calling no names, Bubba. . . .”

  The room filled with laughter as Bubba lowered his eyes and grinned. “I know, Uncle Eli, but I still wish that I’d seen Triage Blue,” he said sheepishly. Then he raised his head. “Did you get to meet him, Deborah Anne?”

  She nodded and took a deep breath. “Not only did I meet him, but he told me that he might know of a singing gig. Lavelle Roberts is looking for a backup singer, and I’m going to send in a tape.” She stated this matter-of-factly, even though her heart was beating furiously.

  An electrical shock seemed to sear through the room, silencing them all. Only the tick-tock of the grandfather clock in the living room filled the air. But it was the smile that fell from her father’s face that Deborah Anne noticed the most.

  Willetta was first to break the silence. “Deborah Anne, you didn’t tell me that! You’re going to sing with Lavelle? I love him!” Willetta held her hand over her chest.

  Deborah Anne’s heart continued to pound, but she kept her voice steady. “I don’t have the job yet. Triage just suggested that I send in a tape, and I’m going to do it.”

  To Deborah Anne, it seemed the room parted like the Red Sea. On one side, her excited cousins jabbered about how their cousin was going to be famous; on the other, her aunts and uncles remained silent and waited for Elijah to speak.

  Finally, Deborah Anne picked up a biscuit and slowly spread butter across the top. “So what do you think, Mama and Daddy?”

  Virginia took her time, wiping her mouth with the corner of her napkin. “That sounds interesting, baby.” Virginia’s words came slowly. “But we don’t know anything about it. Where exactly is this job?”

  “In Los Angeles.”

  “Girl, you’re going to Hollywood,” Bubba bubbled. “I wanna go!”

  “That’s a long way from home,” Uncle Moses said, eyeing Elijah, who remained silent, though his eyes hadn’t left Deborah Anne’s.

  Deborah Anne smiled. “I’m just sending in a tape. We don’t know what’s going to happen. There are lots of talented women out there.”

  “None as talented as you, Deborah Anne,” Maxine piped in. “My cousin is da bomb!”

  “Well, nothing is going to happen until I talk it over with you and Daddy, Mama. And I’m going to pray about it a lot.”

  “Wouldn’t that be exciting?” Aunt Bird smiled. “Our little Deborah Anne, a big-time singer.”

  Deborah Anne smiled at her aunt, grateful for the support and hopeful that the sea was beginning to close. “Remember, everyone, I’m only sending a tape.”

  “Well, all you can do is just wait and see what happens,” said Virginia as she patted her daughter’s hand. Then she changed the subject. “Has anyone heard about that big company that’s supposed to be opening an office right here in Villa Rica? All the nurses are talking about it. People are saying there’s going to be lots of new jobs, but a lot more traffic.” Virginia spoke to no one in particular, but it was enough to take the focus from Deborah Anne, who exhaled, finally taking a bite from the biscuit she’d held in her hand.

  She leaned back in her chair and let her mind drift. This was g
oing to be her first real chance at her dream, but it was going to be a tough sell to her father. Deborah Anne knew that Elijah would never try to stop her. She was twenty-six years old—“grown folk,” as her father was fond of saying. But still, she wanted to please him, and she wanted to please God even more. As Pastor Duncan had said this morning, everyone had to use the gift God gave them. This was how she’d use hers.

  When she heard her father’s voice, she looked up. He was smiling, deep in conversation with Uncle Moses. Deborah Anne smiled then too, knowing she’d jumped the first hurdle.

  “Girl, I am so happy for you,” Willetta whispered, and took her hand under the table. “You’re going to get this job. I’m going to be praying for it. You know what the Bible says about when two agree.”

  Deborah Anne only smiled, but she didn’t need to say a word for Willetta to know that she would be praying for exactly the same thing.

  Deborah Anne squeezed her cousin’s hand. “Thanks, girl. I’m going to need you on my side.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Willetta said. “You’ve got God, and He’s all you need.”

  CHAPTER 2

  DEBORAH ANNE CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND Willetta and sighed. Finally. Everyone had stayed much later tonight than usual. When the last of her aunts and uncles left, her parents retired to their bedroom. But Willetta stayed for almost two hours longer, wanting to know every word that Triage had uttered.

  Deborah Anne turned off the two bright living room lights before scurrying silently over the tan carpet to her bedroom at the opposite end of the house.

  She quickly changed into her nightshirt, then got into bed and leaned back against the stack of pillows. She closed her eyes. Could her dream really be coming true? She allowed herself to drown in the fantasy that she’d had ever since her parents had taken her to see Patti LaBelle. When Patti belted out “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Deborah Anne knew what she wanted to do.

  The shrill sound of her telephone interrupted her reverie, and she sucked her teeth. She knew it was Willetta. That girl was as excited as she was.

  “May I speak with Deborah Anne, please?”

  Even after only one meeting, she recognized his voice. “Hi, Triage.”

  “Hey, I hope I’m not calling too late, but I wanted to give you Lavelle’s address. I’ve made a couple of calls, but you should still get your tape into the mail tomorrow.”

  Deborah Anne sat up and wrote down the information as Triage dictated it to her.

  “Triage, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” she thanked him again.

  “Hey, I know how difficult it is in this business. Everyone needs help.” He paused. “Plus, I have to take care of the daughter of the lady who baby-sat my mama!”

  They laughed together.

  “Well, if there is anything that I can do to return the favor, just let me know.”

  “How about going out with me tomorrow? We can grab a bite to eat or something. I haven’t done much since I got here, and it’ll be kinda nice to get out with someone who doesn’t take her teeth out at night.”

  “That’s terrible!” Deborah scolded him through her giggles. “But dinner sounds fine. I should be home by six.”

  Deborah Anne’s smile was still wide when she hung up the phone and pulled back the bed covers. Before she got in, she knelt by the bed.

  “Heavenly Father, I thank You for this day that You blessed me with. But most of all, Father, I thank You for this opportunity that You’ve brought my way. Please, Lord, You know my heart, You know my dreams. I’ve waited so long for something like this, and I pray that this is from You.” She paused. Of course this was God, Deborah Anne thought. Didn’t she find out about this in church? She grinned, then continued her prayer. “Thank You, Father, for this gift that You’ve given me, and I thank You in advance that I will get the call from Lavelle and I will be blessed with this dream.”

  She jumped into bed and pulled the covers over her, but a moment later, she got up. She opened her closet door, stood on her tiptoes, and pulled a box filled with tapes from the top shelf. She sorted through them, already knowing which one she would send. When she found it, she placed it inside her purse, then returned to bed for a night full of fantasy-filled dreams.

  “I can’t believe you’re still awake,” Virginia said as she peered over her reading glasses at her husband.

  Elijah grunted and flipped the television channel with the remote control, as he’d been doing for the last two hours.

  Virginia closed her Bible and turned onto her side. “Come on, Eli, let’s talk about it.”

  He remained silent.

  “Okay,” she said, sighing. “But this isn’t going away. Deborah Anne is going to send in that tape, and with the way she can sing, and the recommendation from Milton, there’s a good chance that she could get this job.”

  Elijah clicked off the television and ran his hand over his bald head. “It’s just that I didn’t think our baby would use her voice that way.”

  “Well, that’s the first problem, honey. Deborah Anne isn’t our baby anymore.”

  “You know what I mean. I’ve heard that man, Lavelle, and he does nothing to exalt the Lord.”

  Virginia sighed. “That’s what I was thinking. But we’ve raised Deborah Anne right. We can’t tell her not to do this.”

  Elijah stood and paced along the side of the bed. “I know. I stopped trying to tell grown folks what to do long ago.” He sat on the edge of the bed with his back to his wife. “This just isn’t what I imagined for her.”

  “I know, sweetheart,” Virginia said, rubbing his back. “Why don’t we just wait and see how this is going to play out? There may be nothing for us to worry about.”

  After a few moments, he nodded, then clicked off the light on his side of the bed. Virginia did the same, then lay back in his arms, but it was several hours before either fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 3

  DEBORAH ANNE PEEKED THROUGH THE HEAVY curtains at the front bay window for what had to be the third time in just ten minutes. As soon as she turned away, she heard footsteps coming up the porch steps.

  She smoothed her pants suit down and waited for Triage to ring the doorbell. But when she opened the door, her face dropped in disappointment.

  “Pauline, what are you doing here? Don’t you have a Girl Scout meeting or something?”

  “Very funny.” Pauline laughed as she closed the door behind her. “I came here to see Triage Blue. Aunt Virginia told Mama that you were having dinner with him, and I want to get his autograph.”

  Deborah Anne’s eyes opened wide. “No, Pauline. Please don’t embarrass me this way. He probably already thinks we’re country.”

  “So? He’s as country as we are, even if he lives in LA.” She laughed.

  Deborah Anne stubbornly shook her head. “No way. And if he comes while you’re still here, you’re out the backdoor!”

  Pauline sucked her teeth. “No, I’m not,” she said, plopping into the wide chair in front of the window. “I’m going to sit right here until he signs this for me.” She held up an index card.

  Deborah Anne tilted her head and looked at Pauline as if she were crazy.

  Her cousin’s stance made Pauline believe that Deborah Anne was serious. “Please,” Pauline finally pleaded. “I’ll be the most popular girl in high school with that autograph. Please!”

  It was the begging that made her acquiesce. “All right, I’ll get it for you while we’re at dinner.”

  Pauline grinned. “That’s fine. Just tell him to sign it to his best friend in the whole world and the finest woman he’s ever met.”

  Deborah Anne rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she assented. “But now do me a favor. Don’t go running around town telling everyone that Triage is here. He’s trying to get some rest.”

  “All right. But everyone already knows that he’s here,” Pauline whined.

  Just as Pauline stood, they heard a car in the driveway. Pauline peeked through the window. “O
h, Deborah Anne, it’s him! Please let me meet him. I promise I won’t do anything to embarrass you.” She held up her hand as if taking a vow.

  Deborah Anne laughed. “Okay, open the door for me, please.”

  Pauline kissed her cousin on the cheek before she ran to the door.

  Deborah Anne stepped forward. “Hey, Triage. Come on in.”

  She introduced him to Pauline and was amused that suddenly her sixteen-year-old cousin acted like she met celebrities all day long. A moment after Pauline had scurried down the porch steps and over the lawn to her house, Deborah picked up her purse and coat, leading Triage out the door.

  “This is nice,” she said, as he helped her into the Ford Explorer. “But I’m surprised that you’re not riding around in a limousine or something.”

  “Why would I do that?” he asked, as he put on glasses and pulled his cap over his forehead. He pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the main road. “I’m not trying to be noticed.”

  “If it were me, I’d be in a long limousine with a driver wearing a black suit and black hat and white shirt with a black tie—”

  “Dang, girl, you’ve got this all figured out.”

  They laughed and chatted easily, as Triage followed Deborah’s directions to her favorite restaurant in Carrollton.

  Rapture was only half filled, as it was almost every Monday night. The young hostess led them through the restaurant. Deborah Anne was amused as the girl looked over her shoulder at Triage as if she recognized him but couldn’t place the face.

  “Would you mind if we had a table farther in the back?” Triage asked, motioning toward a corner booth.

  “That section’s closed.”

  Triage slowly pulled his wallet from his jacket. “Is there anything I can do to get it opened?”

  The girl’s eyes moved from his face to his hands, then back to his face again. “I know who you are!” Her surprise was etched in each word.

  He held his finger to his lips. “I’m trying to keep it a secret,” he whispered.