Singsation

by Jacquelin Thomas

  Deborah opened her mouth, then closed it. Maybe that’s all it was with Lavelle—just an approachable, hands-on guy.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Triage took Deborah’s hand. “We’ll pick up Bubba and your luggage, then have lunch before I take you to the airport.”

  As they walked past the office, Deborah and Triage could hear Lavelle and Charles talking behind the closed door.

  “Do you want to say good-bye to Lavelle?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “We already did that. I just want to go out and celebrate!”

  She pulled her lips into a smile, and pushed the scene with Lavelle from her mind. She’d just have to get used to it—things were done differently here. She was in show business now, and she needed to fall into line—as Steven, her supervisor, would say.

  The car was waiting for them when they stepped outside. Deborah put on her sunglasses and yelled, “I got the job!”

  Triage laughed. “Girl, you’re just now getting it?”

  She nodded. “I get it.” She held her hands toward the sky. “Thank You, Lord.”

  Triage was still laughing as he helped her into the car.

  CHAPTER 9

  DEBORAH ANNE, WHY DON’T YOU SIT ON THIS trunk, and I’ll snap it closed.”

  The bedroom was a field of chaos. Brown U-haul boxes of various sizes were stacked around them, and opened suitcases lay across her double bed.

  Deborah Anne glanced at her mother. The way Virginia’s eyes narrowed in concentration told her that her mother was serious. So she sat on the trunk, bouncing until it closed.

  “I can’t believe I have so much stuff.”

  “Baby, you’re twenty-six years old and have lived in the same house your entire life. You’re bound to have a lot of stuff.” With her last words, Virginia flipped the last clasp. “That should do it.”

  The doorbell rang, and they both moaned.

  “I thought I’d be finished with this by the time everyone got here.”

  Virginia looked at the clock, the only thing left on the dresser. “We still have some time. It’s probably Willetta. I’ll get the door, then finish up with the food. Make sure you put extra tape on those boxes,” Virginia instructed.

  Just a few minutes after Virginia walked out, Willetta came sulkily into the room. “I was hoping this was a dream, and that when I woke up, you wouldn’t be going away.”

  Deborah Anne smiled. “I thought you wanted me to become rich and famous.”

  “I did. But I want you to do it right here in Villa Rica. What am I going to do without my best friend?”

  They hugged.

  “I wish you’d consider coming with me. We could get an apartment together, and you could be a manager at Lane Bryant out there. Or at any store, for that matter. Anyone would be blessed to have you.”

  “Girl, I can’t just pick up and change my whole life.” Willetta straddled the desk chair. “Plus, this is my home, and I don’t want to leave Steven. He’s still talking about getting married.”

  “He’s been talking about that since forever.” Deborah Anne threw a pillow at her cousin. When Willetta tossed it back, they laughed again.

  Between two boxes stacked against the bed, Deborah Anne slid down into the small place and crossed her legs.

  “I guess we knew this day would be coming soon, huh? A man has finally come between us.”

  Willetta scrunched her face. “Well, it ain’t my man. It’s yours—Lavelle Roberts.”

  Deborah Anne laughed. “Well, you can come visit me anytime.” Her face became long with sorrow. “I’m really going to miss you, Willetta. Who am I going to spend all my time with? Who am I going to call late at night when I have a secret to tell or a problem to solve?”

  “Girl, you don’t need me anymore. You’ve got Triage Blue now.” Willetta giggled. “Your new man.”

  Deborah Anne rolled her eyes. “First you call Lavelle my man, and now Triage. I keep telling you, Triage doesn’t see me that way. Being with him is like being with your brother. But I’m glad that he’ll be at least one person I’ll know in LA. Vianca, one of the other singers in Lavelle’s group, told me to call her as soon as I got there.”

  “And then there’s all the other stars you’ll meet. You’ll forget about little ol’ us, down here in Georgia.” Willetta poked out her lip.

  Deborah Anne’s smile was rueful. “There’s little chance of that.”

  The doorbell rang, and Deborah Anne blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. These weren’t the first. She had cried every day for the last two weeks, hoping that she was doing the right thing. In her heart she knew she was, because not many people had such a clear path to their dreams. But it was still hard to leave all that she knew and loved behind, and so quickly too.

  “You’d better get out there, Miss Guest-of-Honor.” Willetta wiped a single tear from her eye.

  “You go on and tell everyone I’ll be out in a few minutes, Willetta. I feel a little sweaty and want to change my clothes.”

  “Okay, sweetie.”

  When they hugged, they held each other silently, fighting their emotions. Willetta didn’t look back as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Deborah Anne looked around her bedroom. Its decor had changed over the years—from the pink canopy bed she had when she was a ribbons-and-bows-loving seven-year-old to the tie-dyed covered daybed she’d had as a teenager because she wanted her room to look like a college dormitory.

  Now it looked like the bedroom of any twenty-six-year-old in Villa Rica living with her parents. She had bought the whitewashed furniture last year, when she and Willetta decided not to get their own apartment.

  Deborah Anne chuckled—she couldn’t count the number of times she’d thought about leaving home. But the discussions had never been more than mere chatter, never serious. She didn’t have to leave home. She loved her parents, and though she knew it was difficult for them sometimes, they respected her privacy and treated her like an adult. Being close to them also gave Deborah Anne the opportunity to care for them. There were daily reminders that they were aging, and she wanted to be close, to provide anything they needed. It was probably the result of being an only child. There was never a good enough reason to leave—until now.

  The sheer flowered curtains softly waved toward her, carried by the afternoon breeze. Deborah Anne sighed. In less than twenty-four hours, she and her mother would be on a plane heading toward her new home, following her dream.

  “That’s what I have to remember,” she whispered. “The dream.”

  She took a deep breath, wiped her face, and went out to face her guests.

  It seemed like almost everyone in Villa Rica was stuffed inside her parents’ house. The faces she saw every Sunday at Mountain Baptist Church were mixed with those of other family and friends.

  Deborah Anne passed from uncle to aunt, from cousin to co-worker, smiling as questions were thrown to her from every corner.

  “So what is Lavelle Roberts really like?”

  “Are you really going to be living in Hollywood? Aren’t you scared?”

  “How much money are you going to be making?”

  When her mother and aunts finally began to lay out the food, Deborah Anne tried to find refuge in the kitchen. But Virginia coaxed her back to the party.

  “No, baby, go back out there with your guests. This is your day.”

  “Yeah, Deborah Anne,” Aunt Bird added. “Everyone is here to see you. Our little superstar.”

  Minutes later, Virginia yelled to the crowd, “Let’s gather around so that we can bless this food.”

  There were too many people to fit into the dining room, and the group spilled into the hallway and living room.

  Deborah Anne found her father standing next to her mother, and she edged between them, taking their hands.

  “Everyone expects me to do this,” Elijah began. “But Pastor Duncan is with us, and I’d like to ask him to bless the food.”

  Pastor Duncan stepped forward. Ev
en though it was Saturday and everyone else was dressed in jeans and other casual clothes, Pastor Duncan wore his Sunday-sermon black suit with his minister’s collar. “Before I pray, I’d like to say a few words.” He cleared his throat. “Sister Deborah Anne, the time is drawing nigh . . .”

  She inhaled a deep breath, willing herself to remain staid. There was no way she wanted to break down now.

  “But we all know that you’ll do just fine, Sister. Because not only do you have a beautiful gift, but also you know your blessings are from the Lord. He is your light, your stronghold to grasp in the middle of the night. . . .”

  Deborah Anne took a quick glance around the room, then bowed her head, hoping to conceal the grin spreading on her face. The shuffling feet and rolling eyes told her everyone had the same question—was Pastor going to start preaching a sermon up in here?

  “We are so proud of you, Sister Deborah Anne. We’re going to miss that glorious voice that the Lord has blessed us with every Sunday, but now He’s spreading that gift for the world to hear. Let’s bow our heads.”

  Deborah Anne wondered if Pastor Duncan heard the sighs of relief and giggles that moved through the group. But seeing the way his eyelids were pressed together so tightly, she doubted it.

  “Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day that You have made. We thank You, that You have chosen us to do Your work, to fulfill Your plan. As we gather here today to celebrate the life and future of Sister Deborah Anne, we pray for Your blessings. We pray that You keep her in Your arms and provide the protection and shelter she is going to need so far away from home. . . .”

  Why did he have to say that? Deborah Anne thought. Everyone kept reminding her how far away she was going to be, when she needed to believe that everyone was as close as a phone or airplane away.

  Virginia squeezed her hand, and Deborah Anne peeked at her mother. Virginia’s head was still bowed, but Deborah Anne could see the ends of her mother’s lips curled into a smile, and she smiled too. It was like her mother could read her mind. And she could hear every word her mother was sending to her now. “You’re going to be okay . . . this will always be your home.”

  “Amen!” Pastor Duncan finally boomed.

  People cheered, and children rushed toward the paper plates stacked on the table.

  “Now you kids just wait a minute,” Virginia scolded. “Let Pastor get his food, and then the adults.”

  Moans floated throughout the room.

  “Just stop that. You know when you come to this house, there’s always more than enough food.”

  Deborah Anne saw the line of hungry guests forming at the buffet as her chance to take a moment alone. Tiptoeing past the group, she went out onto the porch, closed her eyes, and sighed.

  “Too much goings-on in there for you, huh?”

  She opened her eyes. “Oh, Mother Dobson, I didn’t see you. Don’t you want to eat? I can fix you a plate.” Before Deborah Anne had finished her sentence, she had already started back inside.

  “Not right now. I want you to come over here and sit next to me.” Mother patted the space next to her on the wooden bench.

  A few moments of silence passed in the breeze, then Mother said, “You’re scared, aren’t you, child?”

  Deborah Anne waited a second before she nodded. “I don’t know why. Mother, I’ve dreamed of this my entire life, and now that my big chance is here, I almost want to run the other way.”

  Mother covered Deborah Anne’s hand with her own wrinkled one. “That’s natural. I remember when I left home to marry Martin. I was only fifteen. Chile, ‘scared’ doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. But I knew two things. One was that God was always with me. And the second was that my parents had raised me right, and prepared me for anything that would come my way.”

  She let her words settle in before she continued. “You’re ready for this, Deborah Anne. Just remember to keep the Lord first.”

  “Oh, I will, Mother.”

  “I’ve already made sure that my grandson is there to protect you. He has special orders from me.”

  Deborah Anne laughed.

  “You know, if that grandson of mine is as smart as I think he is, you might just come back home with a ring on your finger.”

  “Mother, Triage—I mean, Milton—and I are just friends. Besides, I’m not going to have too much time to think about anything else but singing.”

  “There’s a lot more to life than just a career, my dear. After God, there’s family. And you’re getting to the age that you should be concerned—”

  “Mother!”

  Mother Dobson rolled her eyes. “You young folks don’t want to listen to me. But”—Mother squeezed Deborah’s hand—“I only want the best for you. You’re like family to me.”

  Deborah Anne smiled as she ran her hands over the old woman’s silver hair, and she looked at her beautiful face that was creased with the signs of her wisdom. She leaned forward and kissed Mother softly on the cheek.

  “Thank you so much.”

  Mother nodded, then her smile disappeared. “Now stop sitting out here with this old woman,” she said sternly. “There are people waiting in there to help you celebrate.”

  Deborah Anne smiled and went back to the party.

  Friends and relatives had returned to their homes hours ago. Each one had passed wishes and wisdom to Deborah Anne, and their kind words still played in her mind as she heard the grandfather clock in the living room chime three times. She climbed out of bed, put on her robe, and stepped around the obstacle course of suitcases and boxes.

  She settled herself on the living room couch, crossed her legs beneath her, and gazed through the window. Only the moon’s light illuminated the street outside. Peterson Road. Her father and his three brothers had amassed acres over the years, and now they all lived together on the land.

  To Deborah Anne it was more than just a home—it was her security blanket, layered like a cozy old quilt, with her parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the extended family that she had come to love through the years.

  The creaking of the floor behind her made Deborah Anne turn her head. “Oh, Daddy, I’m sorry if I woke you.” In the darkness, she could only see Elijah’s silhouette. He was a massive man—over six foot three, and close to three hundred pounds. But he was solid muscle, still in great shape from years of working the fields with his father and brothers. Even now, he still worked as a supervisor in Villa Rica’s recycling center.

  He stepped toward her and smiled. “You didn’t wake me, baby.” He sat in the recliner facing her. “I just had a feeling that you’d be out here.”

  “Just like when I was little, and you’d find me at the piano at four in the morning.”

  Elijah chuckled, but then his cheer disappeared. “But in those days, I’d just put you back in bed, without a thought, knowing that you were going to be there the next morning.”

  Deborah Anne let the peaceful silence comfort them.

  Finally, Elijah stood. “I have something for you, Deborah Anne.”

  She watched her father reach for his Bible on top of the piano, then amble toward her. He handed her a white envelope.

  She pulled out a money order for two thousand dollars. “Daddy . . .” Teary-eyed, she hugged him. “You didn’t have to do this. I have money saved, and I’m going to be making a good living now.”

  She held the envelope toward him, but he gently pushed her hand away. “I don’t ever want you stranded in Los Angeles, wanting for nothing. Just put this in the bank for emergencies. Use it if you have to get home quickly. . . .” His words faded.

  This time, when she hugged him, she let her tears fall. “Daddy, I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, baby.” His voice was thick with emotion. “Deborah Anne, I’m so proud of you. I’ll be praying every day for God’s favor to cover every part of you.” He pulled back and looked in her face, lit only by the glow from the moon. With his broad thumbs, he wiped away her tears. “I want you to know
your mother and I will always be here. This is your home, and you can come back any time you want or need to.”

  She nodded, aware that this was more than her father’s turn at passing wisdom. Elijah hated public displays of affection. Deborah Anne knew this was his good-bye, even though he would take her and Mama to the airport in the morning. This would be their final private moments together.

  He hugged her again, and this time, when he pulled away, he said, “Come on, Deborah Anne, let me put you back to bed.”

  CHAPTER 10

  DEBORAH ANNE LIFTED HER MOTHER’S HEAVY suitcase into the room, then locked the hotel door. “Mama, you have more clothes than I do,” Deborah Anne teased, dropping the suitcase on one of the full-sized beds.

  Virginia waved her hand as she slid open the balcony door that faced Hollywood Boulevard. “All of your things will be here in a few days. I had to make sure that I had everything I needed. You just never know where a mother might have to go with her celebrity daughter.”

  Deborah Anne laughed and turned on the television. “So what should we do now?” she asked. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

  Virginia shook her head. “The first thing I have to do is call your father.” She glanced at her wrist. “My watch says it’s four—”

  “That’s because you didn’t change your watch back. You have to set it back three hours.”

  Virginia waved her hands. “My goodness, there’s so much to get used to.”

  While her mother spoke on the phone, Deborah Anne went onto the balcony. It was a small space, much different from the one at the Beverly Hotel. But she was paying for it and chose the Holiday Inn, since she didn’t know how long it would take to find an apartment.

  She could hear Virginia reassuring Elijah that all was well. “I’m finally here,” she whispered into the air.

  Last night, even after Elijah had kissed her good night, she couldn’t sleep. So she sat up, trying to imagine what this was going to feel like. Twenty-four hours ago she was a country-girl police dispatcher from Villa Rica. Now she was part of one of the most successful musical acts in the country.