by Amy DeMeritt
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?” She pauses and looks between us before walking out of the room. Before she turns down the hall towards the bedroom, I hear her say, “Are you serious?” She doesn’t sound happy. She sounds disappointed.
“That doesn’t sound good. I hope everything’s ok.”
Madison nods and wraps her arms around me. She gives me a soft kiss and then lays her head on my chest. It’s at least ten minutes before Shannon comes back into the kitchen. She doesn’t say anything and just walks passed us and resumes gathering ingredients. Madison lifts her head off of my chest and we share a confused look before looking at Shannon. She grabs a small book of recipes out of her cabinet and starts flipping through it in an agitated way.
“Baby?”
Shannon stops and places her hands on the counter, but keeps her back to us. She looks up at the ceiling for a moment and then starts flipping pages again. Madison and I grab her arm and gently pull her around to look at us.
“My dad’s best friend is getting married the week of Thanksgiving in Hawaii. They decided to go and they’re bringing my grandparents with them. They offered to buy me a ticket to go with them, but I probably wouldn’t get to see them much because my dad is the best man and will be busy with wedding parties and rehearsals and so forth. I’d be able to see my grandparents for most of the time, but we probably wouldn’t have a family Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve never not had a Thanksgiving dinner with my family.”
“Are you going?” She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. I have to let them know by tomorrow.”
“Hawaii is a dream vacation, baby.” She looks at me in a sad way and shrugs her shoulders. “I guess. But that’s not Thanksgiving. Holidays are supposed to be spent with family and loved ones, not hula dancers and pork roasts on the beach.”
I smile and kiss her lips. “You really want to give up another amazing vacation to be with us, baby?” She looks at me confused and then her face transforms into understanding. “Are you asking me to come home with you for Thanksgiving?”
“Well, you do have more than one family you can spend Thanksgiving with now. I’ll warn you though. My family does not celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional American fashion. You won’t find cranberry sauce and stuffing on our table.” She smiles and kisses my lips. “Well, you’re mostly Cherokee, so that makes sense. Madison, would that be ok with you?”
“Actually, it would be very relieving to have all of you there. I’ll be coming out to my parents and telling them about Kayla, and possibly you and Sam, if things don’t blow up too badly. I don’t know how it’s going to go because they are very homophobic. My parents are pretty much like that evil woman you met last night.”
“Ok, I am definitely coming with you two then. I want to be there for you after you drop that bombshell. Please don’t feel pressured to tell them about me yet. I understand if you want to give them time to get used to the idea of you being gay and having one girlfriend.”
“Thank you. I’m actually pretty terrified to tell them. My parents saw the stuff about Darren in the news, and even though they were able to keep Kayla’s name out of the media reports, they knew that a lesbian was involved and they were just horrible about it.”
I frown and look down. Madison’s parents were so mad about what happened that they wanted to take her out of school. They were convinced that I, “the lesbian”, had seduced Darren’s longtime high school sweetheart and broke them up and he chose suicide over a broken heart. They told her that Darren was justified in beating me up the way he did, but since he died, I should go jail for involuntary manslaughter for causing his death. She hadn’t told me any of this till a month after the incident. She told me she didn’t want to burden me with any more guilt by hearing her parents twisted version of things, but she was starting to feel guilty for keeping it from me. She cried when she told me and clung to me all night. She was crushed that her parents wanted me locked up and that they thought it was right that I was beaten the way I was, when I had done nothing wrong and was just protecting my roommate.
Shannon wraps us in her arms and holds us close to her chest. She kisses the top of our heads and just holds us for a couple minutes.
“We’re going to get through this, as a family, no matter what happens.”
“Thanks, Shannon. I love you.”
“I love you too, Madison.”
We hold onto each other for a few more minutes before we pull apart and work together to make the dough and filling for the cinnamon rolls. While the dough rises, we go sit on the sofa.
“Are you definitely coming home with us, baby?” Shannon nods and loops her arm in mine. “Yes, even if I have to stay at a hotel and can’t stay with you.” I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” I grab my phone off the coffee table and they look at me with quirked eyebrows. “I want to tell Sam. She doesn’t always have the best family moments either. She’ll be happy you’re coming.”
Me: Hey, baby. I have good news. Shannon is coming home with us for Thanksgiving.
Sam: Good, because I have a feeling I’ll be hiding at your house for the entire holiday. My fucking parents are driving me insane. They’re on divorce threat number 1 million for the year! They’ve been texting me all morning asking who I’d want to live with in the summer! Joke’s on their dumb asses because I’m not living with either of them in the summer!
Me: Baby, I’m sorry. You can stay with me if you want to. I wish I could hold you right now.
Sam: I need that so badly. I think I’m going to block them both. I swear! They are blowing up my phone.
Me: You want us to call so you can vent?
Sam: I don’t want to talk about their dumb asses. Maybe our babies can sing to me?
I smile and show Madison and Shannon the message from Sam. They smile and agree that they’ll sing for her.
Me: Ok, they’re going to sing for you.
Before I can hit the call button, she’s calling through. I answer the phone with a smile and we all say hello in unison, making her giggle.
“Hey, babies. Maddi, I wish I could be there for your concert tonight.”
“Well, Kayla can live chat with you if you want to watch that way. But, I can give you a sneak preview.”
“Yes, oh my god. Kayla, you better make sure your phone is charged and bring that backup charger with you tonight.” We all laugh. “I will, baby.”
“Ok, Mommies, serenade me.”
While Shannon looks for a song she knows on Madison’s phone, Madison sings a song alone. Once Shannon has the song picked, she pushes play and they immediately start singing together. While they’re singing, Sam continues to text me.
Sam: I fall harder in love with them every time they sing. This is exactly what I need right now. They are so damn beautiful.
Me: I know. I wish you could see the smiles on their faces right now after reading your text.
Sam: I can hear it in their voices. God, I love them! I can’t wait to see all of you. These 2 weeks can’t go fast enough!
Me: Are you going to be at the airport when we land, or do you want us to come pick you up from your parents after we get in town?
Sam: No, I’ll be there.
Shannon and Madison sing several songs to Sam, before Shannon has to go finish the cinnamon rolls. Madison and I follow her and we just talk to Sam while Shannon rolls out the dough, brushes it with the sweet cinnamon butter, rolls it into a tight log, and then cuts it into large pinwheels. Each slice is the size of a small saucer and will only get bigger after they bake. After the cookie sheet is full of delicious looking pinwheels, Shannon brushes the tops and sides of each with the remaining seasoned butter.
“Sam, remember that food coma we put ourselves in after eating that entire chocolate mousse pie?” She laughs. “Yes, that was the most delicious mistake we ever made.” I laugh and lick my lips. “Well, you may not hear from me for a few days.”
“What? Why?”
“These cinn
amon rolls Shannon is making are probably going to be as big as my face when they come out and she made a whole pan of them. They look and smell amazing.” They laugh at me and Shannon playfully rubs my tummy. “I don’t think your little tummy can hold more than one or two, baby. You’re getting too ripped.”
“Wait. You got even sexier since I’ve been gone? Send me a picture.” We laugh, but Sam insists. “I’m serious. Maddi, take a picture and send it to me.”
Shannon and Madison pull me into the living room and make me stand against the wall.
“Lift your shirt and flex.” My face blushes and I shake my head. Both of them laugh and Shannon comes over to lift my shirt for me. “Flex, baby.”
I groan and contract my ab muscles. Madison smiles and snaps a couple pictures. She grins at them with her bottom lip between her teeth as she sends them to Sam.
“Damn. Too bad your parents are going to be at the airport waiting for you. I think I’d have to risk going to jail for indecent exposure and pornographic PDA if they weren’t.”
“It’s a good thing you’re moving here so we’ll stop being at risk of that every time we see each other.” Sam laughs hard. “No, we’ll just be at risk even more. Ok, I better call my crazy mother. Don’t forget to live chat with me later so I can watch Maddi singing.”
“I won’t. I love you.”
“I love you too. Later, babes.”
Chapter Three
Madison has to be the concert hall in the arts pavilion an hour before the concert is supposed to start. She suggested we just drop her off and we could go kill time before the show, but we want to make sure we can get good seats, so we decide to just go in. Madison gives both of us a short sweet kiss and then runs off through a set of double doors that leads behind stage.
I take Shannon’s hand and we approach a table with a few bored looking students waiting to sell tickets and hand out programs. I don’t recognize any of them, but two of the girls seem to recognize me. They keep staring at me in a weird way as we wait behind a couple of other people. As we step forward, one of them leans forward.
“Are you famous?” I laugh and shake my head. “No. I’m a student here.” She looks at me confused. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Wait, aren’t you that girl? The one in the videos.” Her neighbor has chimed in and has picked up her phone. She smiles and nods. “This is definitely you.” She holds her phone up for me to see and I smile. “That’s me. But I’m not famous.” Both of them laugh a little. “You’re internet famous. That airport dance was amazing.”
“I like the blindfolded dance the best. That was hot. Were you really blindfolded or was it a trick?”
“I was really blindfolded.”
“You should do more videos. But you should get a good camera and set up a channel online instead of letting people put these cellphone recordings up and making money off of your material. You’d go viral in just a few days.”
“What do you mean, making money off of them?” They look at each other and laugh a little. “People can make money on shit that goes viral on social media and they make money off of commercials on videos they upload to their channels. If you record it yourself, they can’t steal your stuff as easily and you’ll make the money. Combined between the different sites your videos are on, they’ve probably been viewed at least ten million times. It’s insane. People love watching you and that girl dance. You can make a really a good living off vlogging. You should look into it.”
“Ok, thanks. I’ll check it out.”
“If you need help getting started, let us know. We’re video majors, so we can help you get started with the camera and show you how to edit your videos.” The girl that recognized me from the video hands me a piece of paper with her name and number on it. “Ok. Thanks, Cass.” She smiles and hands me our tickets and programs. “You’re welcome.”
I walk away with Shannon and she giggles a little bit. I look at her and she’s grinning ear-to-ear. I laugh and nudge her.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re so damn cute. They’re right. You should do the videos. I think you’d all have fun doing that.”
“Don’t you mean, we’d all have fun doing that?” She blushes and shakes her head. “I’m not good enough for that.”
“It depends on the choreography, and you’ll just keep getting better the more we dance. We’ll talk about it as a family when we go home at Thanksgiving. I had an idea for a video that we’d definitely need equipment and editing software for.”
“What kind of video?” I smile and lick my lips. “A music video with you and Maddi singing and I alternate between each of you dancing through the song.”
“Oh my god. I’m not singing on camera.” I laugh hard and wrap my arms around her. “But, I love your voice, baby.” She smiles and blushes. “How am I supposed to say no to those beautiful blue eyes and that smile?” I smile wider and kiss her lips. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” She smiles really big and giggles a little. “Yes, but you can tell me again.”
Shannon is wearing a simple black dress that reaches just above her knees with a V-neck that shows off just a tiny hint of her beautiful chest, with an emerald green cardigan sweater overtop since it’s kind of cold out. The green sweater makes her green eyes glow like bright green gemstones. Her beautiful white smile is wide with a cute dimple in her right cheek. I inhale deeply and press in closer to her.
“Exquisite.” She bites her bottom lip and kisses me for a moment. “And with one word, you make my heart race. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We find two end seats pretty close to the stage, on the side of the auditorium Madison told us we’d have the best view of her. After we’re settled, I take Shannon’s hand in mine and I kiss the top of her hand and her knuckles. Shannon smiles and leans over to kiss my cheek.
When the lights finally start to dim to signal the start of the concert, the entire hall is packed with only a few empty seats. I sit up straighter and excitement rushes through my veins. Shannon squeezes my hand and I look at her with a big goofy grin on my face and she laughs.
“You’re so cute.” I lean over and peck her lips and she smiles really big. “You better get ready to live chat with Sam.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot!”
I quickly pull out my phone and open the app to send her the chat request. The connection comes through as someone comes out on stage to welcome everyone.
I put my finger to my lips and whisper to her, “Hey, baby. It’s just starting.”
Sam smiles and blows me a kiss, before she sends a typed message through the app.
Sam: Thanks for remembering.
Me: Thank Shannon later. She had to remind me. Sorry, baby.
She smiles and shakes her head in amusement at me.
Sam: I love that you always tattle on yourself. You would make a horrible secret government agent, baby.
I laugh hard, and have to cover my mouth. Sam smiles and puckers her lips at me.
Me: Ok, its starting. I’m going to close your video feed to reserve the battery. I’ll bring your beautiful face back when Maddi’s not performing.
I cut the video so it’s only transmitting to Sam and I switch the camera so she’s not looking at me anymore, but looking at the stage. Just as the curtains are pulling apart, I push the record button and our ears are filled with a slow violin melody coming from a single violinist standing center stage. As soon as she’s illuminated by a single spotlight above her, Madison’s powerful voice fills the hall. A low humming awe of the collective awestruck audience drifts low under her voice like the quiet praise of pious angels worshipping below the throne of their creator.
“Wow.”
Madison has sung for me many times, but this is a higher level than she’s ever revealed before. She’s singing a jazz song and her voice is able to shake, rattle, and roll like smooth butter. Her body sways and moves with the beats in the music and her fac
e shows she is doing what she loves. She looks absolutely perfect and beautiful up there. I have tears of pride streaming down my cheeks. I’m going to be a blubbering idiot before this concert is over.
When the song ends, I see her eyes scan our section and just as she’s about to turn, our eyes meet and she smiles really big, making my heart burst with happiness.
“Oh my god. She’s so amazing. Shannon, can you believe that’s our baby up there?” Shannon wipes her eyes and laughs a little. “She was incredible.”
Sam: I’m bawling like a baby. Maddi is amazing!
Me: So are we.
We watch several performances before Madison takes the stage again. When she comes back out, I can sense the audience’s happy anticipation. They remember my girl and know she’s about to deliver. She’s back to back with a girl holding a saxophone just to the left of the stage and there’s a single spot light on a folded figure in the center of the stage.
The saxophone starts and the figure on the floor starts to slowly unfold and rise. It’s like a cobra being tempted out of a basket by a flutist. As the figure reaches a fully upright position, Madison starts singing about love and magic. It’s beautiful. The whole piece is beautiful. The single dancer is dressed like a blossoming flower and dances slowly in beat to the saxophone and Madison’s slow romantic song.
There are several pieces with Madison singing in small groups or the entire chorus, but she also has a couple other solo pieces. She is by far the best voice in the school. Every time she takes the stage, the audience reacts with excitement. I feel like I’m watching the birth of a star. It’s obvious that she loves being on stage and she loves singing.
When the concert ends, I let Sam know we’ll call her when we get back to the apartment and I disconnect the video chat so we can go meet Madison. It takes several minutes to get out of the concert hall, and at least ten minutes to locate Madison in the crowd. We spot her against a wall surrounded by people adoring her. We stand back and just watch. She’s smiling really big and shaking hands, or giving younger girls and boys hugs, and taking a lot of compliments. Its adorable. She keeps looking up and scanning the crowd, but it takes her several minutes to notice us watching across from her. When she catches my eyes, she smiles really big and starts trying to tear herself away from her adoring fans.
