Untitled

by Jackie Chanel

  “How y’all feel?” I yelled into the mic. A small cheer went up from the crowd. I smiled. They weren’t all totally with me yet. I played more of the song.

  “How do you feel now?” I asked again. A louder cheer went up.

  “Oh, you gotta do better than that,” I said. “It’s my birthday!”

  This time a louder cheer and whistles came from the audience as I entered into my solo. I looked over at my sisters who were watching me with pure amazement on their faces as they danced in their seats. They haven’t heard me play in a long time.

  Wild Mike ended the song with a mind blowing drum solo and the crowed whistled and hollered.

  “Thank you so much!” I said. “We’re gonna slow it down just a little. This is another tune by the legendary Ray Charles called Don’t Need No Doctor!”

  I love this song. When I first heard it, I had to learn it. It’s the kind of song that the ladies love dancing to and the men love the way the ladies dance to it.

  By the time I entered into the guitar solo, everybody was on their feet dancing. Even Sunny’s evil ass was swaying in her chair, turning down offers to dance. For a minute I simply played and watched her with the smug expression on my face this time. She would not meet my eyes. I laughed out loud and turned down my guitar’s volume. I walked over to Paulie and waved for him to take over the lead part since her eyes were transfixed on him. I followed his lead to the end of the song.

  “Thank you so much,” I told the crowd again. “We’ve got a couple more for you. This next song is a Buddy Guy song-” the crowd broke out in cheers at the mention of the Chicago blues legend. “Feels like Rain!”

  Sunny sat back in her seat and frowned. I hadn’t meant for the song to be a play on her name at all when I added it to our set list. I didn’t even know her full name then. If she’s scowling now, she’s really going to hate me when we play our final song. I deliberately added it with her in mind.

  The other day she had been listening to the song, at full blast, for no less than eight hours.

  The same song, over and over.

  Everyone in the building had been pissed that day. Since I already knew the song, it made sense to add it to the set list. My plan could go one of two ways; either she’ll hate that I played her favorite song or she’ll love it. Either way, I don’t care. Even if she hates it or hates me, she won’t ever be able to say that I can’t play or that I can’t lead a blues band. Because that’s exactly what I’m doing.

  From the stage to the bar, every single person in the club was having a good time. I haven’t gotten a single boo or jeer from the packed crowd. They, this all black, blues loving crowd, were feeling me and my guitar. Sunny Rain can kiss my ass. She may not think I’m a blues player, but all two hundred of these people do!

  I pushed the idea of proving Sunny wrong out of my head and just played, feeding off the vibe of the crowd and band behind me. The cheers and shouts from the crowd encouraged me to play louder, harder…to feel the music that I was playing for them.

  I love the blues because at any moment, during any song, if the lead player goes off and starts doing his own thing during a song, no one cares as long as it sounds awesome. The band just goes with the flow and the crowd eats it up. It’s what keeps you playing; at least that’s what it was doing for me.

  We played two more classics and then I started to get the wrap it up signal from Jerry. I didn’t want to leave the stage. This is where I belong but tonight, there was someone else, someone better than me, waiting to claim his crowd. One night I would be the headliner, waiting anxiously for the little guy who opened for me to get off my stage.

  “Okay,” I turned and faced the band. “Let’s bring this one on home. Wild Mike, Paulie, give me something sexy.” I turned around and faced the crowd.

  “I’m sorry, but Old Jerry’s giving me the wrap it up sign.” Shouts of protests made me smile.

  “I know, I know, but one of ATL’s finest is coming out next-” I waited for the cheers to subside. “See! But I just got one thing to ask.”

  “Anything for you, baby!” a lady yelled from the bar, her hips swaying to the funky sexy beat that Mike and Paulie were playing.

  “Right back at cha,” I said to her. “I just wanna ask; can I play my guitar, my brand new guitar, for you for just one more song?”

  A resounding yes rang out through the building. My confidence level shot through the roof! Slowly, carefully, I started strumming to Paulie and Mike’s beat, fingering the strings on my guitar gently like I was caressing a woman. The crowd – especially the ladies- ate it up. I stepped closer to the mic and closed my eyes.

  “I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.”

  I sang softly to the erotic beat, making sure that every woman in the crowd was entranced. I opened my eyes. Sunny’s eyes were wide. She knew. She knew exactly what I was about to play.

  Paulie, Eddie, and Mike stopped playing. A hush settled over the crowd as my fingers ran over the opening chords to Bill Wither’s Ain’t No Sunshine.

  The crowd went bananas! I couldn’t even hear myself

  Ain’t No Sunshine is one of the most indulgent songs I’ve ever played. In order for me to play this I have to be confident in the band behind me. The band has to be understanding because no one in the crowd was paying any attention to them. All eyes were on me. I could feel them as I played. Quickly, I got lost in the song and the energy from the crowd as I scaled up and down the frets.

  “Damn, he’s sexy as hell,” I heard someone say as I hit one high riff after another, letting my fingers linger over the strings.

  “Oooh, Aiden,” baby,” another lady cooed. “Play that thing, boy!”

  “Let’s take ‘em someplace sexy!” I said to my band. We slowed down the tempo to a slow groove while the women and men who were dancing gyrated against each other.

  “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I told the crowd as the others continued to play. “You’ve been an awesome crowd! Give it up for Wild Mike on the drums!” Thundering cheers rang out for the well known drummer.

  “Give a hand for Eddie Winston on the keys!” I paused for a second while the crowd made more noise for Eddie. “And Tony on the sax!”

  “And my best friend on the bass, Paulie Pitts!” I grinned happily as my best friend received an emphatic round of applause.

  “And I’m Aiden Tyler! Thank you for being such an amazing crowd. See you next time!”

  I unplugged my guitar from the amp while the band finished the song. I’ve never felt so satisfied or so euphoric in my life! I just played a forty-five minute set in a blues club. I just played the music that I wanted to play for an entire club full of blues fans. I’ve done sets in coffee houses and college bars, singing cover songs and pop tunes and never felt like this leaving the stage. This is it. This is all I want to do…ever.

  I cased my guitar and carried it to Kat’s table. I could have been walking on clouds. I don’t think my feet even touched the ground. Before I even made it halfway to the table my sisters surrounded me in a tight group hug.

  “Oh my God, Aiden, that was absolutely freaking amazing!” Delilah exclaimed.

  “Wow, Aiden…I’m speechless.”

  To render Sara speechless is some feat. I must have been pretty damn good. While everyone was congratulating me on a great performance I accepted their words graciously. All I want is for people to enjoy the music that I enjoy playing. This crowd had, that’s for sure.

  I waited for Sunny to say something, anything, but she didn’t. She kept her eyes glued to the stage where Joey and his band were setting up.

  I watched while he tuned his guitar, admiring the way he didn’t seem nervous at all. He knows he’s good. That’s why he has his own band and tours with the likes of B.B. King and Buddy Guy. Since hearing him in Tybee Island, I’ve paid a lot more attention to him.

  He got his start right here at Rabbit’s about twenty years ago. Since then he’s played with some of the best musi
cians in the world. Joey Clausen is not small potatoes. Given the opportunity, I can learn a lot from a guy like him. I hope I get a chance to talk to talk to him after his set.

  Kat had a waitress bring a round of drinks and some food for the table. Still elated by my set, I stepped outside for some much needed fresh air and a cigarette. The cool October air felt wonderful against my sweaty skin. The sky was dark and clear. The moon and stars shined brightly. The night was fittingly perfect.

  “Got another cigarette?” Sunny said quietly from beside me.

  I said as I handed her my pack of Marlboro Lights. She took one and I handed her my lighter.

  “Did you want to be alone?” she asked with more decency and concern in her voice that she’s ever used with me.

  “No, you’re cool,” I told her. “You’re not bothering me.”

  Yet, I wanted to add but stopped myself. I’m not going to let this weird girl with an even weirder name ruin my mood.

  We were quiet for a few minutes. I don’t know what was on Sunny’s mind but all I could think about was what songs I want to play the next time I get to play here. And more importantly, when I would play again.

  “Aiden,” Sunny said in a voice so low that I barely heard her.

  “What?”

  “Umm, you were really good tonight. I’m very impressed.”

  I clenched my teeth to keep my jaw from dropping.

  “And thanks for playing my favorite song,” she added with a smiled. “That was for me, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” I managed to say. “After the other day, I kinda figured that you liked it.”

  “It was really great.” She tossed her cigarette onto the ground and stubbed it out with the toe of her shoe.

  “My uncle knows a good thing when he hears it,” she stated. “He’s going to ask you to play with the house band regularly. But one word of advice because I know how you feel about Aunt Kat,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Make him pay you just like they pay the house band.”

  I nodded, still stunned that this was Sunny talking to me in a regular voice. There was no hostility, no bitterness, and no anger in her tone. Then she surprised me even more.

  “And I do have to agree with those ladies in the front. You did look sexy up there.” She smiled a genuine sly smile and walked back towards the building.

  If my music, my voice, and my guitar can make an angry girl like Sunny change moods like that, I have to keep playing. If I can bring a smile to someone’s face or brighten up their day, then that’s what I should be doing. Because seeing Sunny smile had just made my birthday a million times better.

  “The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You were a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn't know how other people would take it.

  B.B King, Blues Legend

  Chapter 12

  Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!

  There were girls screaming, cameras flashing, and bright lights as I stepped onto the biggest stage I’ve ever seen.

  There was a band, backup singers, and a giant screen that broadcasted me to the thousands of fans screaming my name in the huge arena.

  And I was holding Dee-Dee over my head like a WWF belt.

  Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!

  “Aiden! Open the damn door!”

  My eyes popped open. The banging that I was hearing wasn’t drums. It was Sunny, banging on my door.

  “Aiden, open the door!” she yelled again, followed by a series of banging and kicking at my door.

  I tried to sit up and realized that not only wasn’t I alone on my sofa, I wasn’t even all the way on the sofa. I tumbled to the floor and crashed into what had to be a case of empty beer cans and three or four empty condom wrappers.

  Shaking my head to clear out the confusion, I stumbled to the door and opened it.

  “What?”

  Sunny pushed past me and walked into the living room, kicking beer cans, empty vodka bottles, and empty Burger King bags out of her path. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, especially when she saw the girl still asleep on the couch.

  I followed Sunny’s eyes to the couch where Yvette was sleeping. Her naked body was half covered with a thin blanket.

  “Yvette!” Sunny yelled. Yvette lazily opened her eyes.

  “Oh hey, Sunny,” she said sleepily.

  “Girl, get up!” Sunny continued to yell. “You two got me all fucked up! Holed up in this nasty ass apartment, got my aunt callin’ me to come check on you! Get up and get dressed!”

  I’ve seen Sunny mad before but this is a level of anger that I’ve never seen. She was pissed! When Yvette adjusted the blanket and rolled over on her side, Sunny picked up a half empty beer can and chucked it across the room. It hit Yvette square in the back, spilling stale beer all over her and the couch.

  “Bitch, I said get up! Do you know that your man is looking for you? If you don’t get your ass out of here, you better!”

  Yvette hopped off the couch and wrapped the blanket around her. “Damn, Sunny, what’s wrong with you?”

  “Do you realize that you’re supposed to be at work right now?” Sunny hollered. “And you stink! Please get out of here, Yvette, before I have to hurt you.”

  Yvette looked at me, her eyes pleading with me to help her with my obviously crazy neighbor. But my head was pounding and there was nothing I could do except locate her dress and hand it to her.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” I told her. “Tell Miss K, I’ll be by the club later.”

  “That’s messed up, Aiden,” Yvette said as she slipped her dress on. “You’re just going to let her put me out?”

  I shrugged, too hung-over to care at this point. All I wanted was both of them to get out of my house.

  “You gotta go to work,” I reminded her. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Don’t bother,” Yvette pouted and stormed out the house.

  I slumped to the couch and groaned. “What time is it?”

  “Are you shittin’ me?” Sunny shrieked. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Sunny,” I moaned, “you can stop yelling now.”

  “You are pathetic.” She walked into the kitchen. I heard her fumbling around in the cabinets then she came back into the living room carrying a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.

  “Here,” she handed me the bottle and glass. I gulped down four aspirin and the entire glass of water. I leaned back on the couch.

  “Seriously, what time is it?”

  “It’s after ten, Aiden. Tuesday, in case you didn’t know that either.”

  “Tuesday?” It can’t be. The last thing I remember was playing at Rabbit’s on Sunday night, filling in for the band who had cancelled at the last minute.

  “Yes. Tuesday,” Sunny stated angrily.

  “Damn,” I sighed. This was a first. I’d never lost track of my days like this. Honestly, I can’t remember anything that happened after I left Rabbit’s early Monday morning.

  “You smell like a brewery,” Sunny wrinkled her nose. “And your apartment smells like old beer and Chinese food.”

  “That would be because of the old beer and Chinese food,” I answered. “Is your aunt pissed at me?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “As long as you call her and show up on Thursday, I guess you’ll be fine.”

  Thursday...another gig at Rabbit’s. Lately, all of my gigs have been at Rabbit’s. It’s the only place that I want to play. Unless Joey Clausen is in town, the people are paying to see me play.

  Everyone knows that I’m better than any band or singer to come through there. Even Kat knows it, though she keeps telling me that my “ego is writing checks that my ass can’t cash”. I don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound like a good thing.

  “Call my aunt and let her know that you’re fine,” Sunny snapped. “I’m going home. Some people have to work in the morning!”

  I didn’t say anythi
ng as she left and slammed the door behind her.

  After my birthday I thought my relationship with Sunny was going to get better. She’d shown me a different side of her, a caring side that I liked. I hoped it would last. I soon found out that whatever had moved Sunny that night hadn’t stuck around.

  I don’t have time for Sunny and her bullshit. Maybe if she didn’t stay locked in her apartment all day she’d have a life. If she wasn’t such an evil bitch, she’d probably have a boyfriend and friends. I’m living my dream and she’s just jealous that she’s stuck at whatever job she has at the moment.

  Aww, my dream...my dream to have people packing a venue to come see my play. It’s happening, three nights a week. For two hundred bucks a night, I get to play my guitar for an hour and a half in a legendary blues club. They love me at Rabbit’s.

  The other night some woman threw her panties on the stage. Kat wasn’t thrilled about it. She told the bouncer to “get that slutty heifer out of her club”. She doesn’t like me messing around with the women in the club. She told me that I need to meet some nice college girl and get a real girlfriend.

  When she said that, the only image that came to mind were the girls I went to high school with, the girls on the cheerleading squad who lingered after practice hoping that I’d give them a ride home. The girls who never put out. Why would I go back to that when the women who frequent Rabbit’s are more than happy to hop in the sack with me?

  The older ones are the one who I really like. White, black, Latina...it doesn’t matter to me. Wild Mike told me once “as long as a broad doesn’t want anything in return, it’s perfectly fine to have an equal opportunity dick.”

  Or as Sunny so eloquently put it, “Be an equal opportunity prick”

  At least my bed isn’t empty at night.

  ****

  I walked into Rabbit’s with my guitar in hand, ready to play. I’ve been working on a few songs and I wanted to try them out with the band before we go on in a few hours.

  I stopped by Kat’s office to say a quick hello before heading to the back to wait for the band. Kat was sitting at her desk, looking through some travel brochures. Her office gives me the creeps. It looks like a tribute to Pepto Bismol with its pink walls and pink and white furniture. I try not to stay long when I’m in there.