Chapter 18

“John, we’ve got it really bad for these Knight women, don’t we?”

“We sure do, Randall. What Nancy and I see between you two looks magical.”

Carol entered the conversation by saying, “You two act like a couple who is married. It’s hard to explain what I mean.”

“I know what you mean, sis ... John and Nancy just have – something that we were lucky enough to find first,” I said.

“Anybody hungry, sex always makes me hungry,” said John.

Nan slapped him on the stomach as we all walked in to the kitchen. I picked up my clothes and put on my boxers and t-shirt. Carol put her panties and bra back on.

I responded, “I’ll fix something light to eat, everybody go ahead and get dressed. I’ll have some food in ten minutes, OK?”

Carol absentmindedly said, “Thank you 10.”

We all laughed at that, Carol made a face at us. In my best impersonation of my mother, I said, “Be careful dear, or your face may freeze up like that.” This time Carol joined us in the laughter.

My phone rang.

“Hello, this is Randall Knight.”

“Randall, tis is John Butler. Your BEAUTY AND ‘TA BEAST stuff is all here. Whenever you wanna com and git it, boyo?”

“Hold on a minute, John. You guys all want to meet a true character?”

It was yes all around.

“John, I’ll be there in about 45 minutes.”

“Will ya be bringin dat gorjus Carol wit ya?”

“You wouldn’t let me in without her, would you now, John?”

“You got dat one right ... Seeya.”

After our post-coital snack, we all piled into my car and headed on out to the Theatre Plus store. We all walked in.

“Well, now boyo. Ya brought the whole gang wit ya, didja now?”

“Yeah, John. You’ve met Carol, well ... this is John, my brother and his girl, Nancy.”

“Do ya sing and dance as well, ya two?”

John answered, “No, I’ve always enjoyed going to my brother’s shows. He told us all, this is where it happens before it happens on stage.”

“I like dat, John boy.” That remark made the girls both giggle. “I may use dat. Tis all right wit ya, if I ‘borra’ that expression?”

John laughingly waved his arm about and said sure.

“Ya know, if’n I did’na know better, dese girls look like sisters ta me.”

I hadn’t realized how intuitive John Butler was. Before I could say anything, my brother John said, “Yeppers boyo, the lassies certainly are sisters. We wouldn’t be the first brithers ta date sisters, yi know.”

Everyone laughed at John’s poor attempt at a Liverpool accent. John Butler said, while still laughing, “It tisn’t an easy accent ta pick up, is it now? Most people end up soundin like dere doin some kind of cockney with a wee bit of Irish. Be’in from Knowsley meself, I come by me accent the ole fashion way ... I was born wit it.”

“Look around, while I git ta BEAUTY AND DA BEAST stuff for Randall.”

I turned to my brother and said, “Nice save John. I forgot to talk to you two about how you wanted to deal with encountering people. Except for the piss-poor accent, you covered it well.”

Nancy gave him a kiss, just as John was coming from the back with the box.

“I dinna suppose dat your lovely Carol would sing for me, again. Randall?”

“Carol?” I asked.

She must have been ready for this, because she broke right out into:

“Little town, it’s a quiet village...
Ev’ry day like the one before
Little town full of little people...
Waking up to say...”

I helped by singing,

“Bonjour, Bonjour...
Bonjour, Bonjour, Bonjour,”

“There goes the baker with his tray, like always, the same old bread and rolls to sell. Ev’ry morning just the same ... Since the morning that we came to this poor provincial town”

I finished by singing, “Good Morning, Belle”

As before, applause rang out inside the store. John and Nancy were amazed that their little sister so expertly sang that song. The sisters got together and giggled, while I paid for and picked up the ‘Beauty’ box and we all left.

As we started to get into the car, John said, “That was amazing little sis, you sure got the chops to sing just about anything.”

She curtsied and said, “Why thank you, kind sir. It was this big lug here, who inspired me to try out for my first show ever.”

Nancy and John looked at each other, and Nancy said, “I’ve never heard this story before, Carol.”

I’d started the car. Carol began, “I’d just started my sophomore year of high school, and I heard they were putting on INTO THE WOODS and I really wanted Cinderella. I auditioned with ‘Steps on the Palace’.”

I jumped in by saying, “I helped her learn that song.”

“Be quiet, Rann ... this is my story.”

We all laughed, and Carol went on.

“I did pretty well, I thought. But, Chrissy Smothers got the role, she was a senior ... and I got Little Red Riding Hood. I still got to sing some songs, but I didn’t get the part I really wanted. OK, Rann ... you can tell the next part.”

“Thank you, Blue Eyes,” I said. “So, I got the minus tracks from John and I helped her learn all of her songs, including her one solo song, ‘I Know Things Now.’”

“Thanks, Rann ... I’ll finish the story. So, nobody knew that I had been practicing on my own, with my great big beautiful brother, Randall. When hell week started, we started complete run-throughs. I was doing the songs, but purposefully holding a little back, as Rann had told me to.”