Rico and had made a serious bet in the car: If Rico won the competition, I would sing backup for him, and if I won, he would sing backup for me. Because he couldn’t audition, my audition would determine what the both of us would be doing with our future.
Rico and I started to dream. If you win, we’ll stay in hotels and order room service, he would say. And I would say if I win, I’ll be able to buy Zion all the teddy bears in the world. And Rico would say, If you win, you can buy us all a mansion, and I said, If I win, I will buy Mama some clothes. And Rico would say, If you win, I will be your bodyguard and backup singer on tour. And the dreams just kept going and going, growing and growing.
After we returned from singing karaoke, an older black security guard called me over and said, “I heard you singing. I suggest that you take the pierce out of your lip. You would be much prettier without it.” He looked like my uncle Jute, so I said, respectfully, “Yes, sir, I’ll do that.” People say I am old-fashioned to refer to people as “ma’am” and “sir,” but that is the country way in which I was raised, and it is one thing that was easy to remember and even easier to do. “Sir” and “ma’am” go a long way where I’m from.
The piercing was just one of the things I had done because I was so bored. I had gotten it when I saw an advertisement for a piercing place. I just went in there to ask about it, and I ended up having them pierce my face, just over my top lip. Someone in the piercing place recommended that I get the piercing exactly in the same place where Marilyn Monroe’s mole was, right above her lip.
Rico and I didn’t want to spend the night on the floor of the Georgia Dome, and our cousin, Junebug, lived in Atlanta. We decided to go over to his house, eat, and then come back early in the morning so we could at least get a good meal and a good night’s sleep. The next morning we arrived back at the Dome to find that the doors had been shut. Locked. The guards had been instructed to not let anybody else into the building. There were too many people in the Dome, and the producers were worrying about how they were going to keep order when so many people were coming in and going out.
There were about a hundred people outside the Georgia Dome, cryin’, cussin’, and yellin’ at the security guard, who just kept sayin’, “No one else is getting in.” We all had been told that we could get back in that morning, but no one expected it to be so many people, I guess. The scene was a mess. Everyone else was carryin’ on, and I just started cryin’ to myself and prayin’. I prayed aloud, “Lord, if you can get me in that door, I will change my life.” I prayed, but we still were not gettin’ in. Rico and I left the Dome with all of those dreams draggin’ behind us like a torn tail.
I cried all the way to the car, and once I got into the car, I pulled out a cigarette to calm my nerves. I had been smoking for a couple of years. It was what I saw all the people around me doing to “calm their nerves.” I needed one at that moment, so I picked up my pack of cigarettes. We got back to Junebug’s house, and I called home to tell my family what had happened. Everyone at the house said, “Go back!” I told my mother, “I’m not going to make myself feel even worse by bein’ turned away a second time.” Sadly, I said, “It just wasn’t meant to be.” I hung up the phone slowly and almost before the call had disconnected, Daddy was calling us back and saying, “Go back to that Dome! Go back! You hear me, you go back!” That force in his voice brought me right back to all the years that his voice made me shiver with the excitement of having a real daddy in our house. That presence that he always had was still there after all those years. Not wanting to disappoint my father, Rico and I did as we were told. We even said, “Yes sir!” Rico and I drove back to the Dome.
We went
Rico and I started to dream. If you win, we’ll stay in hotels and order room service, he would say. And I would say if I win, I’ll be able to buy Zion all the teddy bears in the world. And Rico would say, If you win, you can buy us all a mansion, and I said, If I win, I will buy Mama some clothes. And Rico would say, If you win, I will be your bodyguard and backup singer on tour. And the dreams just kept going and going, growing and growing.
After we returned from singing karaoke, an older black security guard called me over and said, “I heard you singing. I suggest that you take the pierce out of your lip. You would be much prettier without it.” He looked like my uncle Jute, so I said, respectfully, “Yes, sir, I’ll do that.” People say I am old-fashioned to refer to people as “ma’am” and “sir,” but that is the country way in which I was raised, and it is one thing that was easy to remember and even easier to do. “Sir” and “ma’am” go a long way where I’m from.
The piercing was just one of the things I had done because I was so bored. I had gotten it when I saw an advertisement for a piercing place. I just went in there to ask about it, and I ended up having them pierce my face, just over my top lip. Someone in the piercing place recommended that I get the piercing exactly in the same place where Marilyn Monroe’s mole was, right above her lip.
Rico and I didn’t want to spend the night on the floor of the Georgia Dome, and our cousin, Junebug, lived in Atlanta. We decided to go over to his house, eat, and then come back early in the morning so we could at least get a good meal and a good night’s sleep. The next morning we arrived back at the Dome to find that the doors had been shut. Locked. The guards had been instructed to not let anybody else into the building. There were too many people in the Dome, and the producers were worrying about how they were going to keep order when so many people were coming in and going out.
There were about a hundred people outside the Georgia Dome, cryin’, cussin’, and yellin’ at the security guard, who just kept sayin’, “No one else is getting in.” We all had been told that we could get back in that morning, but no one expected it to be so many people, I guess. The scene was a mess. Everyone else was carryin’ on, and I just started cryin’ to myself and prayin’. I prayed aloud, “Lord, if you can get me in that door, I will change my life.” I prayed, but we still were not gettin’ in. Rico and I left the Dome with all of those dreams draggin’ behind us like a torn tail.
I cried all the way to the car, and once I got into the car, I pulled out a cigarette to calm my nerves. I had been smoking for a couple of years. It was what I saw all the people around me doing to “calm their nerves.” I needed one at that moment, so I picked up my pack of cigarettes. We got back to Junebug’s house, and I called home to tell my family what had happened. Everyone at the house said, “Go back!” I told my mother, “I’m not going to make myself feel even worse by bein’ turned away a second time.” Sadly, I said, “It just wasn’t meant to be.” I hung up the phone slowly and almost before the call had disconnected, Daddy was calling us back and saying, “Go back to that Dome! Go back! You hear me, you go back!” That force in his voice brought me right back to all the years that his voice made me shiver with the excitement of having a real daddy in our house. That presence that he always had was still there after all those years. Not wanting to disappoint my father, Rico and I did as we were told. We even said, “Yes sir!” Rico and I drove back to the Dome.
We went
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