Thank you for reading. I cobbled up an intro for the new reader to better understand where this story originated. I posted it separately, and it's called A Wildcat Summer Prologue. (Imagine David Attenborough narrating it.) Let me know what you think. LM

Zoe smiled. “Thank you, Teri, for offering to use your name for our coming boomer. But I think Bruno will want to contribute to the name of our baby since he’s pretty involved.”

Lisa’s voice cut through the chatter. “Okay. So, should we head to the club now or in three minutes?”

Gina laughed, “For a pretty, smiling blonde surfer chick from Allentown, You still like to be in charge. Does Smith ever complain that his girlfriend has the need to be on top every time?”

Lisa grinned. “Top? I have no need to be anything but me. No driving needs to dominate him. I can be myself and feel quite at home with him. He brings out my best. But you’re right; I’m not the demure groupie who follows him. I do kinda express my opinions.”

Gina shook her head. “As in telling him what to do.”

Lisa held up both her hands in surrender. “Nope. But Smith likes to think out loud or share his thoughts. I have no problem expressing my thoughts. I guess if he didn’t like it….”

Tiffany laughed. “I’ve seen it. You two are still in heat. But what happens when that wears off?”

Lisa looked back at her. “You tell me. Do you still pretend to hang on every word Mike says?”

Tiffany laughed. “He’s quiet. I’m the one that babbles all the time. But shocker, I have never felt more loved.”

Gina scoffed. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Tiffany laughed and grabbed Lisa’s hand. “Don’t try to analyze it. You and Smith had found a chemistry that has locked you both together. I know that you can’t go one minute without thinking of him. He’s always in the back of your mind, and the need to scratch that itch is more than sex.”

Zoe looked over at her best friend. “Well, surprise, surprise. You sound a little like a psychologist. When did you get so smart?”

Tiffany looked across the table and burped. She smiled. “Zoe, my buttercup, I am only telling Lisa how I feel about Mike. I’ve never had a relationship where we’re both equals. I don’t need a man to rule me; I just want a partner. There’s no ring in my nose. I’m not his chattel.”

She stopped and used air quotes. “He professes his love to me freely without worrying about me using it as a weapon. He’s sweet and caring. He likes pleasing me, and I want to shower him with everything I have.”

Gina stood up. She moved away from the table in the restaurant. “Okay, everybody talks about their true loves for a few minutes while I call Grace. Suddenly, I have this need to profess my undying love for her.”

Teri watched her walk away. “I know what’s happening. You are all getting nervous about playing tonight. You may be confusing our big-time show in Atlanta next week with appearing at the Rendezvous this weekend. Me? I’m looking forward to trying out new things with a group of fans who will love everything we do tonight.”

They all turned and looked at Teri. She wasn’t dressed for the show tonight in a typical Jersey Girl outfit. She wore skin-tight calf-length white capris and a tight red tee shirt that exposed her midriff. Her tee had a discreet P for Phillies on the right breast, and the back had big numbers 00 and the name Nelson printed on it. Her hair was parted in the middle and curled under to give her a bob style. She’d even managed to create cute silver bangs. The close-cropped sides of her head were lost in her extensions, and many earrings adored both ears. They saw a new pair of red high-topped sneakers that seemed covered in glitter when they glanced at her feet.

Teri saw their glances and squeezed Jenn’s hand. “Uh-huh. Jenn and I went to the mall and bought some fun stuff. What do you think?”

Lisa laughed. “No wonder you’re so chipper. You’re doing a Terry throwback tonight. You look cute as a button, and obviously, you’re happy with yourself.”

Teri nodded and smiled at Jenn. “Yeah, instead of the mall being a test of my courage, it just turned out to be fun. Jenn made me feel like it was old times again when we’d just wander around and stare at stuff. We even went into the arcade and blew a ton of cash playing video games.”

Zoe laughed. “You can dress her up but still can’t take the eighteen-year-old out of her. You go, girl!”

Lisa laughed. “Okay, enough dress-up envy. Maybe tomorrow, we can all have a dress-down experience. I’m sure Barbara at Jersey Girl will be happy to make us some outfits that could complement some Philly sports teams. But it’s time to go work for our living.”

Robert gave them all hugs and smiles. “It’s just so great to see your faces. Hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago that Mike was helping you shoot your first live video here on a Sunday evening.”

Zoe gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It’s more than that, Robert. You always welcomed the band back when we were still working on our sound. And let’s all admit that we weren’t the same band back then.”

Tiffany laughed. “Let’s face it. We sucked. But all those years of playing together and Teri's magic made us who we are today. Robert, we wouldn’t be who we are today without you and your club.”

Lisa laughed. “Okay, before this walk down memory lane becomes a tear fest, let’s get to work.”

Robert walked with them up to the stage. “Phil supervised a crew that came in and set you up. I never knew that he could tune everything, including balancing out Gina’s drums.”

As they put in their ear prices and attached their battery packs, the band looked at each other curiously.

Lisa smiled. “I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about our managers. We need to find out more about each of them.”

Teri held down a C on the keyboard so they could all test their tuning. As each one smiled, they realized their instruments were perfectly tuned.

Gina nodded. “Well, Lisa, you’ve got your wish. “True love, roadies, a manager, and an album. Anything else?”

Tiffany laughed. “I would have never guessed that the Genie in the bottle would be wearing red glitter high tops!”

Robert stood on the darkened stage. He nodded to the crew in the booth, and a pin light illuminated him. Three hundred people who had rushed in the doors at eight-thirty to order their drinks got quiet. This was the moment they’d been waiting for. The crowd felt the electricity that they were about to spend the night partying with their friends.

“Okay, folks, and welcome to the Rendezvous, the best club ever. And now, I have a real treat for you. Ladies and Gentlemen, are you ready to rock out?”

Robert watched as everyone started to cheer. When the music reached a crescendo, the stage lights came on, and he shouted, “The Wildcats!”

When they were still eighteen, Gina wanted a really cool name for their new band. She and Lisa had just invited Tiffany and Zoe to play with them. Those women were a couple of years older and had been playing in local bands together for several years. Lisa had contacted them and told them about her idea to form an all-girl punk band. It wasn’t an original idea; there had been plenty of tough chicks rocking the house.

After their first rehearsal, they discussed names. Gina kept pushing cat names. She liked The Lioness and the Panthers.

Tiffany was laughing. “Nah, way too lame. We need a name that separates us from all the shitty bar bands out there. People have to know who we are.”

Gina shook her head. “Well, I still like cat names.”

Tiffany faced off against her. “You mean little girl names like the Pussies?”

Gina shook her head. “C’mon. Just because I’m proud to be gay, it’s not like I need to wear a vagina on my sleeve.”

Zoe made her point. “The Stones had that crazy tongue album cover that made everyone think of how nasty they were. We need a name like that.”

Gina hopped back in. “You know, something that conjures an image. Maybe instead of a name, we should think of adjectives that should describe us.”

Tiffany looked at the drummer. Gina had been a massive shot in the arm when the coaches moved Lisa and her from the JV volleyball squad to Varsity. She was solid and quick, and there was something brilliant about her. “Adjectives? Fuckin’ adjectives? C’mon girl, and leave that school stuff out of it.”

Lisa tried. “Bold.”

Zoe smiled. “Powerful.”

Gina looked at Tiffany. “Crazy.”

“Quick.”

“Untamed.”

“Wild!”

Everyone remembered that moment, but no one was sure who said wild. But they all got goosebumps. “Wild is good,” Zoe had said.

“Wild Pussies.” Tiffany had a grin on her face.

Both Zoe and Tiffany had grown up loving another punk band. Four guys from Austin, Texas, had gone on and made fantastic music. They were called EBR, Eaten By Raptors. Tiffany was still on a crazy roll. “How about Eaten By Pussies or Wild Vaginas?”

After a good laugh and nixing Wild Vaginas and Wild Pussies, they settled on Wildcats.

Tiffany was not happy. “I’m not crazy about it. It doesn’t sound powerful enough. Seriously, Wildcats won’t fill people up with power or fear. It’s kinda like calling ourselves the Pussies.”

But the name stuck. Eventually, they agreed to become the Wildcats.

And woe to the drunken guy in a bar who disrespected the band or their new name. Tiffany stood six feet tall, and Gina, whose favorite sports were Roller Derby and Rugby, could easily take on anyone swinging a mic stand with a five-pound base weight. No one ever questioned that they could be wild.

They loved it when Robert yelled out, “The Wildcats”! It gave them even more energy as Gina started pounding her drums in a four-four time.

The rest of the band clapped until the whole place reverberated with that primal sound. Then, Zoe stepped up with her Gibson Flying Vee and let loose a solo with everyone cheering. The crowds had forgotten how exciting it was to hear her shred her strings in that small club.

It made them even more excited when Teri stepped up and played a counter-point solo that topped out when Tiffany started pounding out the place with her bass. The place was ready when Lisa stepped up to the mic and screamed, then immediately went into their opening number.

Everyone there knew the Cats. Everyone there had downloaded their songs from their website. Everyone there had watched the reruns of Ellen and the Tonight Show. They’d watched the Live from the Rendezvous and Live from the Underground tapes on their YouTube channel. And no one minded watching the Wildcats become famous and maybe a little rich. After all, this was Allentown; anybody who did well was a hometown hero.

The Wildcats hadn’t publicized their donations to local charities, although the site announced them. Their ticket did say in small letters that all the proceeds from their weekend were going to local charities, but the attention these places received helped their donations double.

Everyone sang along. They roared through Run, Run, Gone, and when they switched it up to Downward Spiral, no one missed a beat. They danced, sang, and drank up as the band powered through forty-five minutes of Wildcat songs. Richard challenged them to have one set of all original tunes, and they banded those expectations. They owned several hours of originals and loved to play and promote their upcoming album.

But they wanted to please their audience. When the second set started, they were pleased to see the band all come out with dry-erase markers and whiteboards. Everybody started cheering when Terry stepped to the center stage mic. “Okay, Allentown. One more thanks to Robert and the whole crew at the Rendezvous.” After the applause died down, Teri smiled. “It’s time to hear from you guys. It’s your turn to choose your favorite songs. Yell them out, and these beautiful women will write them down. Gina, Tiffany, and Zoe strutted around writing down songs as Teri approved them.

Teri only chose hits, not Wildcat songs. Lisa sat at their Hammond Organ and played roller rink music while the boards were filled. After that, they huddled in the middle, and Teri offered to run the set.

Tiffany smiled. “You’ve come a long way, Little Shit. Who would have thought that little boy could become such a superwoman?”

Teri wrapped her arms around and kissed her smack on the lips in front of three hundred cheering fans as they yelled out the lyrics to Show Me Some Love.

Finally, Teri returned to the mic and said, “Oh, Tiffany, you look so beautiful tonight!” Everyone cheered as she held her guitar and yelled, “C’mon and help me sing!” They started with Journey, then Bruce and Madonna, and for the next forty-five minutes, played the most popular songs ever to break through the Billboard hits. They finished with Sweet Home Alabama. When the set was done, and the stage went dark, five Wildcats stepped into the back, snacked, and used their private bathroom.

As Terri returned to take her turn in their bathroom, Tiffany came up alongside. She put her arm around her waist. “You realize kissing me on stage lit up my fires, girl. I used to think you were a cute little boy, but when Mike gives me the night off, I’m joining you and Jenn up in that third-floor bedroom. I gotta see what we can all do together.”

Tiffany walked her to the door and kissed her again. “There, I’m giving you your cooties back.”

Even though Teri had finally joined the other side, admitting that she couldn’t fight the tide, she still thought about Tiffany using what was left of his boy's brain. Boy brain, no brain. She knew that girls still excited her. Gina, Grace, and Tiffany were still fantasy dreams. She tried to imagine romping with any of them and realized that rolling and tumbling were foremost in her mind. Teri realized that she loved it all but was not into pinning some girl and making love to her. It would have to be a mutual giving.

As she was spacing out, Zoe stepped in front of her. “You all right. I saw how you glazed over coming out of that bathroom. Who were you fantasizing about?”

Teri turned red with embarrassment. “Uh, well.”

Zoe grabbed her around the waist. “You’re cheating on me in your mind, aren’t you? Who was it this time? Tiffany, Gina, or the lovely Grace Goldman. Damn girl, I can’t have you cheating on me.” She laughed and gave her a squeeze.

“Okay, ladies. Somebody has to crack the whip around here. You can’t be mooning over some fantasy; you must be on point. We’ve done a perfect job tonight but must end on a high note. I know Thursday is a warm-up, but those fans paid as much money as the crowds on Friday and Saturday night. And even though Teri is dialing down her look, we need to rock their socks.”

“Show Me Some Love, Summer Song, and Sam Cooke are musts.”

“Aretha?”

“Are we getting the cello out tonight?”

“Well, we’ll have time to rehearse a new version of Bad Boys tomorrow. It’s the same piano and cello piece but a new sad rocker attached.”

Lisa looked at Zoe and Teri. “Sure. That’s great that our writing team is back to work.”

“Aye, aye, General!”

Lisa wagged her finger. “It’s yessir, not aye, aye.”