Part Two

Chapter Fourteen

“Here, take it.” Tiffany tried it pass a joint on to Zoe. She waved it off and Lisa reached around and took it.

Tiffany looked at her best friend. “Oh, that’s right. You’re not getting high, are you?”

Zoe grinned and drank from her water bottle. “Nope. Remember, I’m pregnant.”

Tiffany shook her head. “Sorry, I’m high and I forgot.”

Gina laughed. “You could use that excuse all the time. ‘Sorry, I’m high and I forgot. ‘Blown Away Barbie,’ weed and wine not included.”’

Tiffany shook her head. “Oh, fuck you, Miss High and Mighty. Just cause I’m not some scholar like you. I’d rather be me, all beautiful and caring. I’ll take me over you any day. You’re nothing but a little fat turd with nose hairs and chin whiskers.”

Gina laughed. “Have you been practicing that one as you stare at yourself in the mirror each morning? Do you have to say it out loud and then write it down just to correct it?”

Tiffany was turning red. “Hey, not everybody can just roll wise-assed stuff from their brain to their tongue. Some of us are poets and just want things to be perfect.”

“C’mon, Barbie. You gotta do better than that. Do you want some help insulting me?”

“And what would you say, Miss Perfect?”

“Well, maybe we could talk about my perfect figure and my beautiful hair. Or we could talk about my talents and skills.”

Tiffany paused, then shook her head. “Hey, those aren’t insults!”

“Oh, that’s right,” she mimicked. I forgot what we were doing ‘cause I’m too high!”

Tiffany looked around at everyone wiping tears from their eyes. Suddenly, she held her face in her hand, and said quietly. “You’re right. I am a stupid, no-good person, and Mike is going to find somebody perfect and leave me behind.” Then, she bent over at her waist and sat there crying silently to herself.

The other Wildcats looked at each other and frowned. Nobody wanted to hurt her, but it looked like that’s what they’d done. Gina stood up from her chaise and walked over. “I’m sorry, Tiff. I thought we were just having fun. I apologize for making fun of you. Please, don’t get upset.”

Tiffany sat up and stared at her. She had no tears on her face. Instead, she had a huge grin. “Upset? How could a pimple on my ass upset me? I just ignore anything you say to me, you toad!”

Realizing that Tiffany had gotten the upper hand over Gina made them all smile and break into applause.

Teri looked away from the scene Tif and Gina were creating and looked at Zoe. “Are you going to be alright being pregnant on this tour and everything?”

Zoe smiled. “Sure. I’m doing all the right things and I’m even sitting upwind from the smoke. I’m taking special vitamins, still running with you guys every day, and it’s all good. I see my doctor and she told me that I can do everything I’m doing now right up until I can’t do it anymore.”

Teri shook her head. “I mean, I can’t even tell you’re pregnant.”

Zoe stood up and moved close to her. She took Teri’s hands and guided them to her belly. “Feel my little baby bump. That’s my body preparing a nest so when the baby grows big, they’ll be room for it to fit.”

Teri shook her head. “That’s just so crazy. I’ve never been around a pregnant woman before. Is that why we’re having a trainer, a masseuse, and a food truck for the tour?”

Lisa laughed and shook her head. “The trainer knows first aid and was an EMT. She’d also a licensed masseuse. The food truck will shop daily and provide fresh, healthy meals for us and the crew. So those expenses will pay off when we don’t get sick or feel bad because of something we ate. It’s a win-win.”

Teri turned to Lisa who had been listening. “What will those things cost us, sis?”

Lisa patted the side of Teri’s face and smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s not going to take away from your million-dollar payoff.”

Tiffany looked at Zoe. “Speaking of payoffs, Zoe’s baby starts out life as a millionaire. Seriously, Zoe gets a million buck payoff from touring, Bruno already has millions of dollars, and Conor has millions and millions of dollars. This baby is going to be the Prince of the Wildcats.”

Zoe laughed. “Or maybe, the Princess of the Wildcats.”

They all watched Tiffany refill her glass of white wine from the ice bucket she had by her feet. Lisa smiled. “Before Tiffany becomes incoherent, can we talk about Atlanta and our song list?”

Everyone nodded and watched as Teri raised her hand. “Uh, I have an idea. Well, several, but one at a time, right?”

Gina laughed. “Okay, Mozart. No moans or groans. Spill the beans.”

Tiffany said, “Oh, I had that game when I was little. Or was it Monkeys in a Barrel?”

“Well, I was thinking since this is our night and we can take our time warming this crowd up. Right?” She waited until everyone nodded. They were all used to Teri ideas and looked forward to them. Without a doubt, young Teri had brought a huge amount of energy to the band.

“Well, I saw some old reels of Jimi Hendrix performing live. He’d start out with a blues song that would get everyone’s attention. Once he finished that, he’d roll into the good stuff.”

Gina smiled. “I see your logic. We open with “Two-Thirty Blues” and then go into “Run, Run, Gone!””

Lisa was smiling. “Sure. All these people will have watched or heard all our stuff by now and expect Run to be our opener. This way, they can watch our talented musicians play the blues before we take their heads off. Ya got my vote.”

Everybody was smiling.

Then they turned back to Teri to hear her speak.

“Since we already agreed to have the Flowers in the second half of the show, I think we should make it a real second half. Kinda take a break like an intermission and then come back to slowly wow them. You know, for the second half, we can open with Fur Face, and do our Bach piece integrated with Chances. Then, everybody will watch as the Flowers come out on stage to help us with Summer Song and the tag where Iris sings her church ref. After that, we can do the B-52’s, Aretha, and Sam Cooke all with horns.”

“I vote for Stevie Wonder and Sly.”

“How about Prince?”

Tiffany smiled. “I want to do more. Really just funk it up.”

“Yeah, those would all work. More time with the Flowers, more variety for the crowd. Where we going to stick “Show Me Some Love?””

Tiffany stood up. “We can close out the first set with it as we go to black.’

Lisa listened than said, “I think we should end the second set with it.”

Tiffany was grinning. “A voice can say, The Wildcats will be back after a brief intermission. This will give us time to regroup, get our furry suits out, and play Fur Face. And then we can introduce the Flowers.”

Gina smiled. “And you know they’re going to want an encore. Shall we save the B-52s and Aretha for our encore?”

Lisa was clapping. “I suggest that we write down all our songs on the tablet so that we have some things to call out and play. I do like the idea of the first set being ninety minutes and the second set another ninety minutes. We can get a feel for this on Saturday night in Atlanta and perfect it on our first stop.”

“Wow. That’s a pretty big workout. Three hours?”

Lisa nodded. “I know we can handle it. The nice thing is that we don’t have to hurry our songs, more time to solo.”

Tiffany looked up. “Where’s our first stop?”

Teri looked at their schedule. “At the beginning of June we are booked for two music festivals, one in New Jersey and another in New York. And then we’re in Chicago for three nights, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. After that, it looks like we make several one and two night shows a week until July. There’s a ton of festivals back-to-back we might want to play.”

Tiffany yelled out. “And we get a bus!”

After that, it was a quote-out contest from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation starting with, “Yep. That there is an RV. I borrowed it off a buddy of mine.”

“Why is the carpet so wet, Todd?”

“It’s a bit nipply out here.”

“Shitter’s full, Clark.”

“Snot’s just yakkin on a bone.”

“Save the neck for me, Clark!”

“Is Rusty still in the Navy?”

Later, Jenn found Teri asleep on the bed. She shook her and when she rolled over, her eyes were all bloodshot. “Hey, what’s up, Rock Star?”

Teri had to wipe the sleep from her eyes. After getting high, she’d gone upstairs to write some lyrics. “Oh, hi. We were celebrating finishing up the recording of Chances for the movie. You know, the band gets a few cents whenever they show the promo.”

“So you guys all got stoned?”

“Well, except for Zoe. She’s already getting into shape for the baby. But Tiffany killed a half bottle of wine, too.”

Jenn shook her head. “How does she get up in the morning?”

Teri grinned. “It’s the funniest thing how she still leads us running every morning. She might be hung over, but the whole time we run, she curses at Gina. And of course, Gina just laughs at her. They really are a pair. Did you know they were together for four years riding across country in the old van?”

“Is that the same old rust heap that’s parked out by the tool shed?”

“Yeah. They want to save it for an album cover.”

Jenn shook her head. “They should take the photos now and then put it out of its misery.” She smiled and looked Teri over. C’mon. I’ll take you out to dinner. You look homeless.”

As Teri cleaned up and got dressed, she still talked. “Well, we did find out we have a bus on some legs of our tour, especially when we’re playing music festivals. And our first big show stop is in Chicago for two of three nights. Richard says they always leave another day available if the tickets sell out quickly.”

Jenn nodded. “The Wildcats have become part of a big money making machine. You need to talk to Smith. EBR were chewed up and spit up.”

“Well, I think that’s what the women were all hoping would happen. But I don’t think that’s going to happen to us. I trust Bill Wiggins and Gimli.”

“Yep, I was looking at your schedule on your website. There’s a lot of places when I can come out and share a hotel with you for a couple days at a time.”

“Wait, Jenn. You’re not going to go everywhere with us?”

“Nope. It looks like it’s just the Wildcats. You know, besides playing at night, you’re going to be working a lot in the daytime.”

“Huh?”

“Interviews, public appearances, signings. And people are going to win tickets to go backstage before your shows and they’re going to have crowds sit in on your sound checks, too. You’ll be busy.”

Teri shrugged. “Yeah. I never thought about all of that. But we’re being well paid.”

“Yep. There’s that.” Jenn grabbed her hand and the two of them slipped out to get a healthy dinner.

Saturday night, Teri stood in the wings of the big stage. She’d watched five people climb ropes so they could work the overhead spotlights. Once they were twenty feet in the air, they pulled up their rope ladders behind them.

Zoe was watching with her. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Teri nodded. “We should add lines to Chances about singing high in the air.”

They both peeked out at the crowd. The arena was packed. She could see just walls of faces everywhere.

A group of people approached them. They were dressed in all black with a tag that said ‘stage.’

One of the women smiled and stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Lucy. Our jobs are to get you to your spot on stage. There are some big cables in the back out there, so we don’t want an accident.”

As they were picking up their instruments, Zoe reached over and gave Teri a hug. “Have a great time. Enjoy tonight. Make the most of it.”

Teri looked at Zoe and smiled. “So, tonight there are six Wildcats. Your baby is going on tour, too.”

When they walked out on stage, each musician was escorted out to their spot by a stagehand holding a small pocket flashlight with a red gel on it. Teri placed her free hand on the woman’s shoulder who led her out.

What she noticed immediately was the hum of thousands of people talking. It was a sound she’d never heard before. She strapped on her guitar and touched the strings. She heard the low thrum of her guitar resonating with her speakers. Teri had a single amp head resting on four more. They were all hooked up to three six-foot tall Marshall speakers. When they’d had a sound check that afternoon with the Flower Sisters, she was surprised how much power it took to properly drive those big speakers to their full capacity.

They’d spent ten minutes catching up with the Flower sisters. Lily, Rose, and Iris were the most talented brass musicians they knew and were happy to include them in the live part of the album they’d recorded at the French Town Festival in New Orleans.

Teri stood there watching everyone find their places out on the stage. After they were settled, Zoe started playing. When a single spot found Zoe, the audience all started cheering. All eyes were on Zoe who was playing a slow blues guitar solo. The clean sound of her playing held the crowd’s attention.

After sixteen bars, Gina began drumming, and then Tiffany came in with her bass. Now there were three spotlights showing each woman playing. Before long, the tall blonde looked back at Gina and like a well-oiled machine, they picked up the pace from a walking blues to something faster, a Chicago style. That’s when Teri came in. The spotlight found her using a glass slide on her left forefinger to add a different layer to the song. Now, for her, it was all about bending strings and playing under Zoe’s solo which hadn’t stopped.

A light appeared in the middle of the stage and found Lisa holding onto the mic stand, singing the lyrics to “2:30 Blues,” Teri’s ode to last period study hall. While that time slot gave all the jocks at Allentown High School a chance to get changed and get on their sports bus, the geeks and nerds were herded into afternoon study hall trying to amuse themselves without talking or violating the code of conduct.

Lisa started signing in a mournful deep throated Bessie Smith style. If you knew the words, you couldn’t help but chuckle.

Climbing up my butt and dragging on my heels
Holding me back
hearing brakes squeal

Slowing me down by weighing on my mind
Keeping me chained
and wasting my time

I’ve got the two-thirty blues, baby.
Can’t seem to shake them off my mind.
Those two-thirty blues, baby.
And I get them all the time.

Count those minutes down, honey
Because I can’t wait

The clocks seem to slow
I’m starting to faint
Watchin’ the minute hand come to a stop
Times moving slower now I just wanna drop

I’ve got the two-thirty blues, baby.
Can’t seem to shake them off my mind.
Those two-thirty blues, baby.
Well, I get them all the time.

As each guitar took a solo, the crowd was clapping along with the song as it continued to rock out.

But then, Gina started pounding her drums upping the sound from a lazy blues to something heavier. It was not even close the slower rhythm they’d be playing. As she took over everyone else stopped playing. The other four Wildcats all walked to the front of the stage, holding their hands over their heads, clapping along with Gina’s pounding.

Suddenly, Zoe turned up her guitar and ripped a hard rock solo that shredded her strings. Everybody came to their feet, screaming and applauding. Then, the whole arena joined in clapping together, one beat, one rhythm.

Tiffany started to play a bass line that sent the whole place cheering. No-one could take their eyes off the tall blonde skillfully taking their sound to a higher level

Until Teri who was still clapping, now swung her guitar around and started to make it moan. Everyone watched as the sound of the guitar matched the young woman and she continued to use her glass slide and hold the notes. After she’d reach a crescendo, she’d resume chording with her right arm swinging pendulum style.

At this point, Lisa came up to the mic and screamed so loudly that her sound cut through all the noise that the band was making. After everyone’s eyes were on her, she began singing the lyrics to “Run, Run, Gone!” until everyone was singing along.

When they got to the chorus, everybody in the band would scream out Run! They all encouraged the audience to join in and shout with them.

After they played the complete song, Zoe wowed them with another masterful solo that would usually bring the song to an end. Instead, as they were ready to wind down, Teri started the chording the music to Downward Spiral and the song began. From that point, the Wildcats played one song after another with no break for thirty minutes. They were keeping the crowd clapping and dancing to the amazing beats that Gina would lay down. Thirty minutes of singing and playing non-stop had turned their concert into a dance party.

When they finally stopped, Lisa walked to the front and yelled, “Hello Atlanta! How Y’all doin’ tonight!?”

This brought a roar from the audience who had not stopped clapping and dancing since they’d started playing.

Lisa waved and did a 360º twirl sending her red dress spinning around. “I’m Lisa. Over the years, we’ve played throughout the south, but when we played at The Underground, I fell in love. We had so much fun and were tempted to take a few of your beautiful men home with us. Unfortunately, the women lassoed them back before we could temp ‘em with our northern love.”

Everyone was smiling and laughing. “So, we’re back again looking to trap some handsome, broad-shouldered, strong jawed lover boys who can satisfy Tiffany’s needs. Oh, yeah, speaking about that, let me introduce you to the Wildcats. Sitting back there, looking beautiful in her blue skintight spandex is our drummer, Gina! Gina likes roller derby and wants a man who can check her hard enough to knock her off her feet. Right, Gina?”

Gina had heard this nonsense for the past four years and smiled and pounded her drums in response.

Then Lisa turned and smiled. “Oh. And let’s see. Over there looking tall and blonde and beautiful tonight is Tiffany in her gold! I warn you, boys. Tiffany likes a party. As a matter of fact, she is the party and always likes to have a few spare men on hand in case there’s a blowout.”

All the guys yell and clap while getting dirty looks from their dates.

Lisa pauses. “So don’t be surprised if you’re handed a Golden Ticket tonight from Tiffany. Our gal is wearing a golden jumpsuit and four-inch stilettos, but don’t be afraid. She’s not interested in your jump shot. Right?”

As the crowd roared their approval as Tiffany curtsied, Lisa pointed to Zoe. “Now, men. You’ve already watched our lead guitarist, Zoe performs. You’ll be warned to know that she’s as intense as her solos. Any guy that Zoe picks out tonight has to have a full physical before they can be cleared to meet and greet our Zoe, who is wearing a white tuxedo top and sparkly green tights. Isn’t she just a dream with her flaming red hair and a personality to match?”

At this point, Teri waked over and snatched the mic from her sister’s hand. As she held it high in the air, Lisa playfully tried to jump for it, but Teri was two inches taller. As Lisa gave up trying to get it back, Teri spoke. “Hi, Hotlanta! I’m Teri and I had to interrupt my talkative sister and tell you about that vision in red standing right next to me. Now, my sister, Lisa, is dressed for a party in her beautiful mini dress because she is all of that and more. And that’s really the problem we have to face every time we play. No one has ever, and I mean ever, been able to last a night with my big sister. Sure, you say, a pretty blonde who seems so nice, what could go wrong? Believe me when I tell you that Lisa is so powerful that she sucks the blood out of vampires. Every one of those walking dead know her portrait because she’s in every vampire post office throughout their world. Last warning, boys. Watch out for those fangs!”

As Teri went to put the mic back in the stand, Lisa stood there expressing anger. Teri pretended to ignore her sister and finally said, “And, oh yeah. I’m Teri, Lisa Nelson’s little sister. My mom says I’m too young to date, but what does she know, right?”

With that, Teri turned her guitar around and began the intro to Jimi Hendrix “Foxy Lady.” Her guitar roared as she played hard and loud. As she did, Tiffany started in on her bass. Pretty soon, Gina slammed down her drums and joined in on the power trio. Teri approached the mic and surprised the audience when she was able to sing as clearly and as well as Lisa. As she sang, “You know, you’re a cute little heartbreaker” she grabbed the mic stand and pointed it out into the audience as everyone sang back, “Foxy Lady.”

The trio played all the way through the song as Teri demonstrated that she could handle Jimi and rev it up. When it was done, everyone’s cheering was drowned out with Zoe’s intro to another Wildcat original, “Electric Cars.”

And that’s the way it went for another hour. They didn’t give the audience a chance to breath as their catchy beats and beautiful harmonies kept everything going. At ninety minutes, the Wildcats took a break. Lisa yelled out, “We’ll be back. Plenty of time to get another drink. See you in fifteen minutes.”

As they walked off the stage, any fears they had of having to fight to handle the big crowd were gone. When they all reached back stage, they stood together with a group hug. They were laughing and talking until Zoe said, “Bitches, we own this place! I’m going to need four men to help me carry my guitar back to my hotel!”

Teri knew they were all kidding around, but she was feeling confused. She had never been this high. She worried that she’d probably lose control on the first warm body that gave her a hug.

She immediately knew it was time to kiss Jenn, seriously hydrate, and find a candy bar.

Before she had a chance to look around, a blur wrapped Teri into her arms, hugging and kissing her. “Oh, Rock Star! You guys are incredible tonight. You’ve never sounded so tight and wonderful. Everything was perfect.

They both heard a deep voice laugh and call out. “You’re right, Jenn. Your girlfriend is a rock star.!”

Turning to look, they saw Gimli and Bill Wiggins standing there. There were smiles all around. Gimli laughed. “Now, Teri. Do have any more doubts about the Wildcats filling an arena?”

Teri carefully answered. “Well, I don’t have any doubts that you can fill an arena for the Wildcats.”

Bill Wiggins laughed. “Good answer, Teri. And that’s why Gimli is going to be the advance man for the rest of the summer. He’s going to make sure that everywhere you go will be sold out!”

By that time, the other Wildcats had come over with their lovers in tow. After introductions, Bill Wiggins spoke. “We are witnessing a phenomenon here. Two months ago, I bet my job that these ladies would become the next supergroup. Fortunately, I can still recognize talent before everyone else. And that’s why the Wildcats get the best treatment from Warner’s Records.”

To start the second half, the Wildcats came out on stage in their Furries outfits. The whole place rose to their feet screaming “Fur Face.” No one in the audience knew that their famous costumes had started as an inside joke with Barbara of Jersey Girls, their wardrobe outfitter.

Because everyone else was communicating well with their clothing designer, Tiffany started getting frustrated. All this guy wanted to do was keep dressing her in were furs and leather like Eskimo Barbie. She kept saying that she wasn’t from Sweden but from New Jersey. She needed something more, but unfortunately, her man wasn’t listening.

And when they were all eating together, Tiffany was sharing her grievances with Barbara. Her designer heard that and made some nasty remarks about Tiffany’s body not measuring up to his designs. Barbara fired him and Tiffany was given designers who would listen.

But when the group discovered Tiffany’s designer secretly had a furry fetish, that sealed the deal. They all decided to dress as furries for one show. Gina had always called Teri her hunny-bunny, so naturally she was dressed as a cute little rabbit with long ears and a big white cotton tail. Zoe opted for a red fox with a big tail to match her flaming red hair. Gina chose a white cat, but Tiffany insisted that she resemble Garfield and be a fat tabby. Lisa said she’d like to be a cute yellow chick and naturally Tiffany had to be a pink poodle because that’s all her original designer dressed her in was fur and pink.

Teri wrote a faux heavy metal song and Fur Face became a multi-million viewed reel on Instagram and TikTok. It was even played on the Today Show.

After singing their slightly R rated lyrics, Tiffany did her rap along with half the people in the audience. As they were finishing up, everyone was riding the “Fur Face” wave along with them.

After that, the stage went to black. It came back to a single spotlight revealing Teri playing the piano. It was the introduction to Bach’s Cello and Piano Suite. As she played, it was obvious she’d had lots of lessons in her youth. As everyone’s eyes were on Teri, Tiffany carried out her electric cello and sat down on a small stool. Once a second spotlight found her, no one could take their eyes from the majestic beauty with her legs wrapped around her twenty-first century instrument. The band humorously referred to this segment as the Revenge of the Blondes, which is what they called their strange showstopper. Common sense told all bands that you never stop the momentum by doing a ballad.

The audience grew quiet listening to every note that came from her cello. Teri and Tiffany dueled with the Bach piece as another spotlight found Lisa sitting on a stool between them. Teri and Tiffany switched from Bach to the introduction to their song, Chances. Lisa started to sing slowly and mournfully.

Looking down at the thin cable
Stretched tight out in the night
It was the path to home

One foot in front of the other
A breath, a blink
Only one way to go

One foot in front of the other
A breath, a blink
Only one way to go

A deep breath stepping off
Never looking down just focusing ahead

One foot in front of the other
A breath, a blink
Only one way to go

One foot in front of the other
A breath, a blink
Only one way to go

Once you start, there’s no going back
No changing your mind, no turning around

One foot in front of the other
The only one way to go home

As the music continued, Zoe started a Hendrix style feedback solo that built in intensity until Gina started pounding on her drums. Everyone was watching Zoe and never saw Tiffany leave her cello in its stand as she picked up her bass. Now, the Wildcats were playing an upbeat version of Chances with Teri on the synthesizer, Gina on the drums, and Tiffany on her bass, as Lisa ripped loose with a passionate delivery of the same song.

But as they were playing the song through again, each musician stopped until it was just Zoe noodling on her guitar. Then she stopped and the light went out. But Tiffany’s cello filled the arena. The spotlight went on and found her playing the end of the Suite as the crowd roared its approval.

A minute later the rest of the Wildcats appeared walking over to their amplifiers and speakers. As they did, three beautiful women mounted a riser behind Teri. Each one carried two horns. They all set one of their brass into a rack and readied themselves to play.

Everyone watched Gina as she counted off. Teri was at the Hammond organ and Lisa was center stage. Two of the Flower Sisters held a trumpet and a sax. The third sister, Iris, had her own microphone and was joining Lisa at center stage.

Everyone on stage began to stamp their feet, and clap their hands until the whole audience joined in. Each Wildcat began shouting, “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!”

As everyone clapped and yelled ‘Hey,’ Lisa began to sing, “Beat is gettin’ stronger.

Iris sang, “Music gettin’ longer, too,”

Then it was Teri’s turn, and she sang loudly, “Music is flashin’ me”

Everybody in the band yelled “Hey, hey, hey, hey!

Now Iris took the lead and sang,” I want to, I want to, I want to take you higher!”

Now, it was Teri’s turn as she sang, “I want to, I want to, I want to take you higher!”

Then Lisa sang out, “Baby, baby, baby, light my fire.”

All three vocalists sang, “I wanna take you higher!”

Then, the entire band sang, “Boom laka-laka-laka, Boom laka-laka-goon-ka boom.”

Then, they did it all again with the horns blasting, the slap bass making them all stamp their feet, and the guitar and organ giving them the melody. They all took turns singing Sly and The Family Stone’s hit, “I Want To Take You Higher.”

From there, they went right into the intro to Prince’s song, “Kiss” which included all the brass and musicians pumping up the beat. No one noticed that Tiff had handed off her bass to Zoe until Tiffany stood at her mic and in the prettiest voice sang, “Don’t have to be beautiful to turn me on!”

Since the audience had not seen Tiffany sing solo the crowd went wild. And it didn’t hurt that she was dancing the whole time. Everyone was mesmerized by her singing and dancing as she shouted out, “everybody sing with me!”

And everybody did, “You don’t have to rich to be my girl, you don’t have to be cool to rule my world,” finishing up with “I just want your extra time and your KISS!”

As they sang out the song, Tiffany stood at her mic and waved as the audience cheered.

As she waved, the band did the intro to “Pink Cadillac,” a song made famous by Aretha Franklin. While all three Flower sisters played their horns, Lisa had moved over to the Hammond organ. Zoe played the song on her guitar. while Teri covered the bass. Tiffany sang.

Everyone in the audience realized that each musician was able to play different instruments and sing without missing a beat. They were mesmerized.

As the song came to an end, the band started the intro to “Respect” and once again Tiffany sang the lead. As they finished the song, Tiffany went to get her bass back from Teri. But Teri smiled and wagged her finger, no. Then she started the play the bass intro to the B-52’s “Love Shack.”

As Tiffany sang the song with everyone’s help, she also did all the old dances that this song was a homage to. The crowd couldn’t get enough as Tiffany did the Frug, the Twist, the Swim, the Pony, and all the corny dances that had sprung up long ago. They were all singing along with the chorus and when the song was over, everyone gave Tiffany a standing ovation.

Tiffany acted like she just won Miss America as she paraded around throwing kisses to the crowd.

Lisa thanked them for their enthusiasm. “And now, we all want to do our version of Sam Cooke’s “A Change If Going To Come.””

As Lisa sang the slow ballad, the band played behind her.

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh, and just like the river,
I’ve been running ever since.

It’s been a long, a long time comin’
But I know a change is gonna come.
Oh, yes it will.

In the middle of the song, Teri walked up to the front and start to play the melody with the traditional vibrato guitar as it was written into the song. As she played, everyone else in the band stopped and watched.

Teri went back and played the melody, then she’d riff on it. Then she played more of the song and riff on that. The third time, she didn’t stop her riff. Instead, she played a guitar solo that just floated away on its own.

It was a long solo that incorporated feedback, and the harpsichord sound you get when you play the fret board with all ten fingers. She used more feedback and layered her solo by using a loop machine that could repeat what she played. Before the audience realized what was happing, Teri had layers upon layers of guitar solos playing all at once.

As she played, her body seemed to be connected to her guitar. She swayed and bent and then stood up as tall as she could.

People would later say they heard so much in her solo. In Teri’s music they imaged hearing protestors marching, police sirens, dogs barking, and momma’s crying over their lost children. They’d say they heard a church choir and angels until finally they heard a thunderstorm and thousands of rain drops falling.

The audience seemed to be holding their breath during Teri’s solo and not a sound could be heard in the large arena.

When Teri returned to playing the vibrato guitar written for the song, Lisa finished singing it. The audience just stood there silently as Teri walked back to her spot on the stage.

Suddenly, the dams broke loose, and the entire place went wild. They’d never seen or heard anything like that before and would talk about it together after the show. But in the meantime, they all roared their approval, clapping and stamping their feet, crying out the words Teri, Teri, Teri! When one of the cameras on stage got a close-up of Teri, no one could miss the tears streaming from her smiling face on the large projector screens on each side of the stage.

Lisa let the applause go on for a while before she thanked everybody for their contribution as the best audience, they’d ever hand. “You guys are great, and we’d like to thank you by playing a song they’re playing on the radio, “Summer Song.”

Everyone watched Tiffany come out and play the island style reggae bass that was the signature of this song. Soon, everyone had started to play the song. Lisa was playing Teri’s guitar, while she sat at the Hammond organ. When they band started singing the words, the whole audience joined in, while swaying the beat.

As Summer Song was about to end, Teri started playing a church choir organ and Zoe started banging out a counter melody on their piano. As they did, all the voices on the stage joined in singing the last verse of “Summer Song” turning into a church revival. It was like they’d found the happiness at the beach and went straight to heaven.

This was not on the record and was just a free form version that they’d cobbled up for fun. As they were applauding, Tiffany started playing a familiar bass line if you knew the Wildcats songs. As she played, all the rest of the band played the hypnotic rhythm, Tiffany crooned out, “Oh, Teri, you look so beautiful tonight. Oh, Teri, you sang so beautifully tonight. Oh, Teri. I want to hold you tonight.”

As the crowd cheered, Teri went up to her mic and looked at Tiffany. All she did was breath out and back slowly like she was making a pornographic phone call. Finally, she started saying “Oh, Tiffany. Oh, Tiffany” as the crowd started to cheer.

When Lisa chanted the lyrics to Show Me Some Love, everyone chanted along. When she raised her voice, everyone raised their voices, too. When the lyrics changed, everyone followed along.

As they reached the psychedelic portion of the song, both Teri and Zoe went out on their own tangent using feedback to move the song along.

Finally, they came back to Lisa chanting, repeatedly. As the neared the end, she yelled out, “You know what to do! Atlanta show us some love!”

And with that, the audience stood up and cheered. When it was over, everyone was gasping for air. Twenty-thousand people had never had this much fun together. The Wildcats left a big impression that night.

As they walked off the stage waving and blowing kisses to the twenty thousand people who’d been listening for over two hours, they gave a lot of love to the Flower Sisters. Everyone was telling the sisters they had to think about giving up their real lives and coming on tour with them. Tiffany even offered to get them their own bus.

When it was all over, Teri was sitting on an empty couch staring off into space. She had used several towels to dry herself off and loose the stage makeup. Now, all she wore was a little mascara. As she sat there, she felt a familiar body sit next to her to her. She turned and there was the love of life. She reached out and pulled Jenn in close to her body.

As she did, Jenn laughed. “Oh, you are soaking wet. You sweated through all your clothes tonight.”

Teri laughed. “Uh-huh. We gave it all we had. It was a milestone for us.”

Jenn whispered in her ear. “Rock Star, how much did you make tonight?”

Teri shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe like seventy to a hundred thousand.”

“Just you?”

Teri nodded. She was thinking about how last winter she was struggling to find enough money for college tuition.

As Richard called them all together, he announced that there were coach buses out back to take them all to dinner. “We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”

As they all stood up, Teri looked at Jenn. “Remind me to take a clean set of clothes for after the show. And lots of towels.”

Jenn smiled and saluted. “Aye, aye, my captain.

No one did anything on Sunday afternoon after they returned to Allentown. As their energy came back, Richard sought everyone out on Monday. “Okay. So, congratulations on a great Saturday night. We’ve collected all the reviews from the local music critics and printed them out for your scrapbook. A year from now, you’re going to look back and smile when you realized that our Atlanta concert raised the band up to the big show.”

He smiled as he got out a list on his iPad. “Here’s what’s coming up. Barbara wants to get the Cats down into Philly for a summer wardrobe design meet-up. She wants to make sure you’re always wearing Jersey Girl on and off the stage. She said they’d be bringing in a new wardrobe for each musician every week from now until the end of the summer. They’ll collect the laundry and see that everything gets cleaned and mended before it gets back to the tour.”

Lisa laughed. “She’s trying to stay on our good side because we renegotiate her contract in August. She knows she’s going to pay bigger bucks to outfit all of us.”

Teri laughed. “Heck. She even wants Jenn to come in and get her own designer, too. She said that would be a gift to us.”

Richard laughed. “Speaking of sponsors, Glow wants us in New York for a day. So that might have to be sooner than later since Gimli is booking music festivals for the band. Festivals are simple. We fly to an airport, bus in to the festival, do 60-to-90-minute show, then bus out. Wiggins is high on those because of the exposure for your new album. I assured him that all the songs from the album will be played at each show.”

Gina laughed. “That’s easy because we don’t have any more songs to play until Teri and Zoe write us some new ones.”

“Well, we did “Chances” this week and we were successful tying that into the Revenge Of The Blondes.”

Lisa looked around. “Well, folks. It looks like tour is officially starting.