Chapter 26

Tami and I pulled up to the Sugarman house a few minutes after school let out. Robbie was seconds behind us.

Sally Reyes was leaning against the hood of her brother's car, with Chad Davis leaning against her. I'm not sure when those two had become an item, but they had. It was sometime after the road trip, 'cause in Wyoming, she had treated him like another brother.

Toby was in the car, fiddling with an MP3 player. I wondered how he felt about his sister and his best friend. I had a quick flash of Traci and Robbie together and decided that I wasn't going to worry about it.

"They haven't decided yet," Sally said when she noticed she and Chad weren't alone anymore.

Robbie looked at her watch. "They better decide soon. It takes time to set up those pots and kettles you bang on." Sally's van was parked behind her Toby's car. We assumed her drums and the keyboards were inside.

Sally shrugged and went back to inspecting Chad's tonsils with her tongue.

The problem was weather. We were scheduled to do an outdoor concert at the Sugarman house, and right now the weather was beautiful. Sixty-two degrees with clear skies, but the forecast was for a rain storm to hit sometime tonight, and we didn't know exactly when. As a backup, they'd reserved the ballroom at the Elks Club. It was just before four. We were scheduled to perform at six. So if the rain held off three or four hours we were good, if it didn't...

Mrs. Schmidt came out of the house and walked over to us, glancing disapprovingly at Sally and Chad. "The executive committee hasn't decided yet."

"We need to know," I said. "It's going to take time to set everything up, especially the sound system." Cousin Cinnamon was supposed to have an electronics wiz who took care of things like that. We had to do it for ourselves.

"Just be patient," Mrs. Schmidt chided. "It's an important decision."

I looked at Robbie and shrugged. She looked up and studied the sky for a minute. "Here," she said finally.

"Chad, Toby, let's get set up," I said. I knew that once Robbie had made up her mind, the rain wouldn't dare start before eight.

"But..." Mrs. Schmidt sputtered.

I'd opened the back of Sally's van and pulled out a drum. Toby was beside me grabbing one of his keyboards. Chad was still playing tonsil hockey.

"The executive committee," Mrs. Schmidt protested.

"Yeah," I agreed, walking by her toward the large porch we were going to use as a stage. "You'd better let them know."

Mrs. Schmidt walked back to the house, her face alternating between being perplexed and being annoyed.

"You enjoyed that too much," Tami accused. I grinned and went back to the van for another drum.

It was after five by the time we got everything set up and the sound system adjusted to Robbie's satisfaction. Mom pulled up with the brat a few minutes later. Traci had had some kind of field trip today. Then Mom took food orders and made a Wendy's run. I really had to put Mother's Day on my calendar this year. I'd really lucked out in that department.

People were starting to arrive by the time she came back with the food, a few glancing warily at the grey clouds that were starting to move in.

At six o'clock on the dot, Mrs. Schmidt stepped in front of us and started a long-winded spiel thanking everyone for coming and supporting the grand old Sugarman House.

About six ten I gave Sally a nod, and she started beating out a soft rhythm on her snare drum. Mrs. Schmidt looked back annoyed but then continued. Some people just can't take a hint. I nodded to Chad and he picked up on Sally's beat with his guitar. Then Toby joined in. Still keeping it soft, a subtle hint that someone was taking way too long.

"Is that a song?" Traci asked from beside me in the wings.

"Define song."

Traci looked annoyed.

"If you mean, has anyone else ever played it, I don't think so. I think they're improvising."

"Too bad."

"Why?" Tami asked from my other side.

"'Cause I can hear the perfect lyrics for it in my head."

"Write em down," I said quickly.

I scrunched down and walked out to Toby on the stage. Cousin Cin had used headsets when they were on stage at Otter Park. It occurred to me that my cousin might be more advanced than I was. Not that I'd ever admit it.

"This is an improv, right?"

He nodded without missing a beat, then hit some keys above the keyboard and changed his whole sound.

"Try to remember it. Traci thinks she's got lyrics."

He nodded again just as Chad jumped to a whole different rhythm with Toby and Sally only a half-measure behind...

When I got back to the wings, I went over to our sound board and slowly, over a minute or two, raised the volume on the instruments and cut it for Mrs. Schmidt's microphone. I think her mic had been completely dead for over a minute before she noticed and stomped off the stage.

From the other side of the stage, Allie and Robbie walked out holding their own mics. I faded the volume on the instruments down slowly, then cut it completely as the girls got to the center of the stage. It actually wasn't much of a stage. The Sugarman House had a huge porch that ran the entire length of the front of the house and extended outward almost thirty feet. We'd hung canvas curtains on either side to give us wings and a place for the sound system and other stuff.

Allie smiled at the audience. She hadn't originally been part of the show but saw the speech I'd written and demanded that she got to give it. "Thanks Mom," she said, holding the mic in front of her face. "For that ... that ... that..." she turned and looked at Robbie. "You're pretty smart. What's an adjective I can use that won't get me grounded for a month?"

The crowd of probably six or seven hundred roared.

"You could say inspirational," Robbie suggested.

"Daddy says I'm not supposed to lie." Allie delivered the line so deadpan that the audience completely cracked up. I could see Allie's mom sitting with the other committee members in the front row and glowering at her daughter.

"How about insipid?" Robbie suggested.

"I may not be blond, but I am a cheerleader." Small laugh. "What's that mean?"

Robbie leaned close and whispered in her ear, holding the mic so that it picked up every word. "Tasteless. Lacking in flavor."

"That'll get me grounded till June. Hey Tony!"

I stuck my head out of the curtain.

"I need an adjective," Allie whined.

I pretended to think. "How about innocuous?"

Allie nodded. "That'll work." She looked straight out at the audience. "Thanks Mom, for that innocuous speech."

The audience applauded. I looked at the first row and saw Mrs. Schmidt's seat was empty.

"I ain't standing next to you anymore, she'll ground me too," Robbie said and walked off the stage. The audience laughed again. Allie looked over at me and smiled. She was having fun.

"The youth chorale and city orchestra were supposed to perform tonight but due to scheduling conflicts, couldn't be here." The conflicts had come up when Allie's mom had shown up at their practices and tried to tell them not only what to play but how to play it. "So tonight you're stuck with Unrehearsed." The applause made me feel pretty good.

"We're just kids. But we think it's great when people do something. My mom and the historical society think this house is historical and should be saved. And they're doing something about it. They organized this concert for you, so that you would have to think about it."

Polite applause.

"We thought that tonight, we'd try to pick songs that mean something. Not just the same old tired love songs that Tony sings to Tami every time we let him near a microphone."

Allie looked over at me and grinned as the audience laughed again, even though she knew I'd written her lines.

"I won't be singing tonight, and if you see people looking skyward and saying thank you, they're the ones who heard me when I was in sixth grade chorus. Joining us tonight as a guest flute-est ... flutist ... fluterian ... on the flute, Miss Christine Warther.

Chris, a slightly overweight blond senior, walked out and stood next to Chad. He adjusted a spare microphone stand for her. We hadn't had time to arrange any kind of lights, so we couldn't put a spot on her.

Allie walked off over toward me. I gave her a quick kiss, and Tami hugged her. Then Robbie came out and set down a stool, and a half-dozen first-graders sat in a circle around her.

Chris lifted her flute to her mouth and started playing as Robbie sat and opened a large book. Toby had written an overture to lead into the simple start of Robbie's song. Mostly we needed the flute for four or five measures at the beginning and end of the song. Toby had said he could sample it on his keyboard, but Robbie and I thought the real flute was a nice touch of class.

Chris finished her overture and started into the song itself. Robbie lifted the book as if showing the kids a picture. On the last measure Chad and Toby came in with Toby's keyboard sounding like a regular piano.

"Listen children to a story,
that was written long ago."

Sally picked up a tambourine and came over behind Robbie, shaking it to the music.

"Bout a kingdom on a mountain,
and the valley folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure
buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own."

As she sang. Robbie kept up the pretense of telling a story, turning pages and showing the kids an occasional picture.

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor;
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You'll be justified in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing,
On the Judgement Day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away.

"So the people of the valley,
sent a message up the hill,
asking for the buried treasure,
tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came the answer from the kingdom.
With our brothers we will share,
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there.

"Now the valley cried with anger.
Mount your horses, draw your sword."

Two of the first grade boys stood and pretended to sword fight until Sally separated them and sat them again.

"And they killed the mountain people,
so they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure,
on the mountain dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it,
'Peace on Earth' was all it said.

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor;
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You'll be justified in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing,
On the Judgement Day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away."

Sally and the little kids all joined in as Robbie reprised the chorus again.

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor;
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You'll be justified in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing,
On the Judgement Day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away."

We should have gone fade-to-black, but instead, Robbie closed her book, stood, set it on the stool, and she and Sally walked off to the other side. Then, one by one, the first graders stood and walked off toward me. I gave them each a high five, and Tami led them off to where their mothers were waiting.

Allie walked back out into the center of the stage as Sally came back and grabbed the book and Robbie's stool. I reminded myself to get the book back. It was my only copy of Green Eggs and Ham. Mom said I made her read it every night was I was little.

"That was Robbie Tate and the theme to Billy Jack," Allie announced. "Next we have Tony Sims and one of his favorite Harry Chapin songs. If any of my teachers are in the audience, I never saw this guy before."

I walked out, nodded to the audience, then gave Allie a kiss on the cheek.

"You can do better than that," came a voice from the back of the audience where we'd planted Ricky.

So I grabbed Allie and twisted my body, bending her backwards in a long deep kiss.

As I stood her back up, Allie pretended to stagger, then said, "I still don't know him," and disappeared into the wings.

"How come I never get to kiss the girl?" Toby asked into his mic.

"You know, it's not fair. Tell you what. After the show, I'll set you up with the cute drummer."

Toby growled and started playing. His keyboard was still set to sound like a piano, but now he worked out a ragtime beat.

"Harry Chapin died before I was even born, but I miss him. He seemed to have the ability with his songs to reach inside you and pull out thoughts and emotions you didn't know you had. And who besides Chapin would even try to write a song about a sniper on a rooftop, or the dance band on the Titanic as the ship went down. When he died, he didn't leave much in the way of money--because he did most of his concerts for charity--but I think he left a legacy that not many entertainers have even tried to live up to. I think this song sums up modern education."

I looked back at Unrehearsed and nodded. The ragtime changed into a simpler rhythm. Then I looked back at the audience.

"The little girl went first day of school,
She got some crayons and started to draw.
She put colors all over the paper,
For colors was what she saw."

Tami came out of the wings wearing a jumper and carrying a big piece of construction paper and a box of crayons. Her hair was tied into two long ponytails with big red and white bows. She lay down on her stomach off to the side and started to color.

"And the teacher said ... What you doin' little girl?"

Robbie, who'd slipped on a white blouse and grey skirt, strode across the stage in front of me and started wagging her finger at Tami.

"I'm paintin' flowers she said.
She said, It's not the time for art little girl,
And anyway flowers are green and red.
There's a time for everything little girl,
And a way it should be done.
You've got to show concern for everyone else,
For you're not the only one

And she said,
Flowers are red little girl,
Green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than they way they always have been seen."

Tami looked up at Robbie.

"But the little girl said,
There are so many colors in the rainbow,
So many colors in the morning sun,
So many colors in the flower and I see every one.

"Well the teacher said, You're sassy.
There's ways that things should be.
And you'll paint flowers the way they are.

"So repeat after me,

And she said,
Flowers are red little girl,
Green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than they way they always have been seen."

"But the little girl said again,
There are so many colors in the rainbow,
So many colors in the morning sun,
So many colors in the flower and I see every one."

Robbie reached down and pretended to lift Tami by her ear, then marched her over to the edge of the stage.

"Well the teacher put her in a corner.
She said ... It's for your own good.
And you won't come out 'til you get it right,
And are responding like you should.
Well finally she got lonely,
Frightened thoughts filled her head.
And she went up to that teacher,
And this is what she said ... and she said."

Tami walked, head down over to where Robbie stood tapping her foot.

"Flowers are red,
Green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than they way they always have been seen."

Tami and Robbie walked off as the group played a musical bridge, then Tami came back and sat down as stiff and straight as she could on the edge of the stage, holding just two crayons. She put a piece of paper on her lap and pretended to color.

"Of course time went by like it always does.
They moved to another town.
And the little girl went to another school,
And this is what she found,"

Allie came out with a big smile and a fistful of crayons.

"The teacher there was smilin'.
She said ... Painting should be fun.
And there are so many colors in a flower,
So let's use every one.

"But that little girl painted flowers,
In neat rows of green and red.
And when the teacher asked her why,
This is what she said ... and she said,

"Flowers are red, green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than the way they always have been seen."

Allie shook her head and walked off. Tami just kept coloring.

"But there still must be a way to have our children say...

"There are so many colors in the rainbow,
So many colors in the morning sun,
So many colors in the flower and I see every one."

Again, we should have gone fade to black, but instead, I walked over, held out my hand to Tami, helped her up, and we walked off.

Allie came back out. "The views expressed by some of our performers are not necessarily those of this announcer or our sponsors."

That got Allie another laugh.

"This is the part where Darlene Carter was supposed to sing, but she decided that strep throat was more fun. So, once again, here's Robbie Tate!"

Sally had replaced Toby at the keyboards and the boys had disappeared into the wings. She adjusted the keyboard and had it sounding like a piano again, and now she picked out a melody with just a couple fingers.

"She walks to school with the lunch she packed."

Robbie's voice came through the sound system though she hadn't appeared on stage yet. Now Sally was playing with both hands, but still she keep the melody simple.

"Nobody knows what she's holdin' back."