Gonna Sell The Bitch's Car Ch. 04

The lights came back on and Moira, Al, and I took a bow, waving our thanks to the quartet. Moira had a death grip on my hand. I made no effort to remove it.

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Sammi looked like she was about to charge the stage.

I took a microphone and addressed the crowd.

"Now that we've managed to depress you, let's try for something totally different. Fred-I mean Chance, could you come back onstage?"

He was surprised, having done all the things we had rehearsed. I caught him singing 'Pumped Up Kick' by Foster The People, and gave him hell. He just grinned.

"Just because I sing country doesn't mean I listen to it all the time. I might be pulling a Conway Twitty, most of the songs he did towards the end of his career were reworked rock songs."

"Besides, it has a really good bass line, doesn't it?"

He was right, it did have a good bass line.

We had rehearsed until we felt comfortable in anticipation.

Moira dragged him onstage while I started the song. Mel was walking around the stage doing vocal effects, and we more or less shoved the mike in his hands.

At first the crowd laughed, but he did a really good job, and the laughter stopped. When it came to the whistling part, Moira had tweaked it, with three flutes and the strings. We had even learned a little dance that Moira and I did while we bracketed him. He loved it.

It was getting time for me to finish my set, so I started my last song, dedicating it to Sammi.

'The Thrill Is Gone by BB King. We gave it the full treatment, horns and strings. I was wireless again, so I stood right in front of her while I sang. At first she was angry, but as I looked from her to Gary, she seemed to shrink. I think she got the message. By now even the crowd could figure out what was going on.

I was going to leave the stage but once again lost control. I had written a song and showed it to Moira. Once again she went in a different, better direction with it. She brought stools out and once again the spotlight was on us. She demanded I do the song, so I did.

'How Could You Love Me?' was written right after I found out Sammi was screwing Gary.

It was a song about heartbreak and betrayal, short at just two minutes and twenty seconds.

I was on a stool in front, and just behind me was Moira with my ES 125. It was perfect for jazz, and she did it in a jazzy, finger picking style.

The only other accompaniment were the horn players, just snapping their fingers in time.

As I sang the last verse I looked right into her eyes.

You broke my heart/baby that's a fact/love's all gone/and it ain't coming back.

You say that you love me/I know it's a lie/ cause how could you love me/how could you love me/ ooh how could you love me/and sleep with that guy.

I stood up and Moira handed me my favorite guitar. It's a 1958 Harmony Stratatone, an almost exact copy of the Les Paul Jr so popular at the time. It was the least valuable of any I owned, just seven to nine hundred, but the sound was distinct, especially for slide work. I gave five bucks for it at a yard sale. Someone had taken a paintbrush to it when the original finish became

worn. It took me two months to restore it.

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I walked over to the table while everyone else was setting up.

"I know about you and Gary. Why didn't you tell me and just move on? It would have hurt me but I would have respected you. Now, not so much."

"We moved everything that I knew was yours to Sandy's apartment. If I missed anything feel free to come and get it. You'll have to call, the locks are changed."

"Just for the record, the kisses you saw tonight was the only time our lips touched. She's still married, and I won't pursue her. And just so you know, almost all the times I hung out with her were while you were at work or we were working. I didn't take any time away from us. Can you say the same?"

"Still, you kept the house clean and as far as I know never brought him home. I think at one time you actually loved me. I've paid three month's rent, and I found you a really good used Camry, it looks a lot like your old one. If you want it, I'll cosign, but I won't give you any money."

I looked over at Gary.

"As for you, you're a low life motherfucker. You knew she was engaged, why didn't you leave her alone? Need another notch in your belt that bad?"

"Wonder what corporate would say about your seduction of someone who works under you? Think they could stand the publicity?"

He boiled over at the last statement.

"You son of a bitch! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

The dumbass actually swung.

I flipped my guitar and he slammed into it hard. If you look at the back in just the right light, you can see three little dimples. He broke two knuckles. He pulled back in pain, and I should have left him alone. But he was a wide open target, so I slammed the guitar into his nose, breaking it. Damn, I had to retune.

I heard later he tried to press charges, but the whole thing was taped from four different angles, and it was ruled self defense. It helped that most of the altercation was caught on audio.

Sammi stood through most of this with her mouth hanging open, and just as she was about to say something Moira and the girls dragged me back to the stage. Just then the opening notes of 'Fuck You' by Celo Green, rang out. Mel sang it.

A spot light stayed on their table, and every time they came to the chorus, I swear most everyone in the building sang along, just about evenly divided between singing "Forget you" and "fuck you". They grabbed Gary and fled the building.

When it was over I grabbed a mike.

"Well, that was interesting. Time for a break."

Backstage I jumped Moira. She didn't seem at all repentant.

"Whose idea was that?"

She just grinned. "Everyone's, actually."

What could I say?

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The final set. Damn, this had been a lot of fun.

We saved some crowd favorites from the first two nights, and added some new ones.

'Tell Momma', an Etta James song. Most of us were wireless and we followed Jenny, who was singing lead, up and down the aisles.

We followed that with our trademark, "Let It Rock', and everyone was screaming "slide, slide" so during her last solo I took off. Moira was waiting for me.

She usually wore jeans. When she did wear a dress or a skirt, she had thick black tights on. When she stepped up on me and I saw she had on thigh highs and a green silk thong, I did something I've never done as a professional. I stopped playing. She hopped off and grabbed my shirtfront, hauling me up. Then she gave me the most sensual kiss I've ever had. Then she whispered in my ear.

"My divorce was final Tuesday."

Then she dropped me and sashayed off.