Soleil had invited some of her former classmates from the Musicians Institute. But she hadn’t told any of them about their back-up band. She knew some of the young hotshots would shit bricks when they heard Page playing Soleil’s licks. She invited a few of her former students, especially the ones who had been so kind to her after they heard about Mik’s demise. Of course, Toby, their old manager, and Lieberman, Mik’s attorney, were there. Soleil had even tried to bring her grandmother Charity from Oklahoma, but the crazy old woman refused to come. But she accepted the large check that Soleil had sent her. Her old high school friends, who were still drinking their lives away a decade after school, tried to hitch a ride on the Gravy Train that they assumed was Soleil’s new identity, but she would have none of that. Fame hadn’t changed Faith’s oldest progeny one bit. Besides moving to a better apartment, purchasing a few gifts and making endowments, Soleil hadn’t spent any of her money. She was as proud of Soleil as she would be of her own children. And, in a way, Soleil was her daughter, too.
She had tried to invite some of Mik’s family in Pittsburgh, but none of them wanted to come. Deidre had never forgiven her for accepting Evelyn as part of her extended family, and she had never forgiven Evelyn for accepting her part of Mik’s inheritance. She could understand the feelings of her husband’s first wife, but she couldn’t understand her unwillingness to forgive. When Evelyn dedicated a classroom at the University of Pittsburgh to Mik’s memory, Deidre had seemed offended by her very presence. And she despised Mika, her only grandchild. The little girl had looked forward to meeting her grandmother. She could not understand why Deidre had only glared at her when she offered her hand in love and friendship.
Mariah touched the elaborate necklace she wore. Since she didn’t want a guard from Harry Winston following her for the whole evening, she had to buy the necklace and matching earrings. Thankfully, the record company agreed to pay for the earrings.
A soft knock on the door announced Soleil’s arrival. She was dressed head to toe in Roberto Cavalli. Those Italian designers sure loved black rock chicks. She had also gotten a dress from Dolce and Gabbana, the red dress she had worn on the red carpet. D & G had also done Soleil’s dress. The shiny leopard mini dress she had worn on the red carpet had caused more than one photographer to run out of film. But the Versace had been just what she wanted for her performance.
“You look beautiful, Mariah.” Soleil kissed her cheek. Soleil looked so grown-up now. Something must have happened during the six months she had been sequestered in London, working on her first album. But she would never know until Soleil was ready to talk. If she would ever be ready.
“Look at you, darling!” She hugged Soleil tightly. They were almost the same height, since Soleil had on low-heeled leather boots. Soleil wore black velvet pants with a matching jacket with purple lining and purple ruffles around the collar. She looked like she was channeling Prince, but on her it looked good.
“I feel weird without my guitar.” She ran her fingers through her hair. It had grown to her ears, golden and brown ringlets that bounced around her head. She wore purple eye shadow. A platinum skull pendant from Crazy Pig in London stared up from her bosom.
“I’m sure Jimmy Page will do just fine.”
Soleil laughed. “You think so?”
* * *
They went to the front of the darkened stage and stood on their marks. Jimmy winked at her and Elton blew her a kiss. Phil twirled a drumstick. Chris raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“The next song nominated for Song of the Year is ‘Another Chance,’ words by Soleil DeSalle and Mariah Williams, music by Soleil DeSalle, Mariah Williams and Mik DeSalle. Tonight, the song will be sung by Soleil DeSalle and Mariah Williams, accompanied by an all-star band consisting of Elton John, Phil Collins, Jimmy Page and Chris Squire!”
The screams of music fans were so loud that the floor appeared to be shaking. No one had leaked the news about the back-up band. Soleil and Mariah grinned at each other and moved to opposite sides of the stage to their mikes.
Mariah sang her heart out. She sang for her Mama, she sang for her Papa, she sang for all of the churchwomen in Birmingham who thought she had turned away from the Lord. But there was more than one way to praise the Lord, wasn’t there?
But more than anyone else, she sang for him. She glanced at the ring on her finger as she raised her arm. The spotlight hit the diamond for just a second. And she didn’t feel the emptiness any longer. She felt enveloped in his presence. She sang like she had on that long ago summer’s day, when she was a young singer in her new Afro trying to impress a beautiful blond guitarist in a dark rehearsal space. This is for you, Mik. I love you.
* * *
Of course they won Song of the Year. He wasn’t really gone. His spirit would continue to live on, in his music, in the blood of his children, in the fans that still remembered and those who were just finding out.
He had left them with One Song, and it had been enough.
About the Author
Beatrice M. Hogg was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and raised in Lawrence, Pennsylvania. The daughter of an illiterate coal miner, she has a BA in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh and a MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. Since moving to California in 1988, her articles and essays have appeared in many magazines and newspapers, such as the Sacramento Bee, Sacramento News and Review, Black Issues Book Review, Reminisce, Astronomy, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her work is featured in over ten anthologies, including Life’s Spices from Seasoned Sistahs, Amazing Cat Tales, Our Black Fathers: Brave, Bold and Beautiful, Eating Her Wedding Dress, Becoming: What Makes a Woman, Robot Hearts: Twisted & True Tales of Seeking Love in the Digital Age and Can I Sit With You Too?, as well as several online journals. For five years, she facilitated a writing workshop for women at St. John’s Shelter Program for Women and Children in Sacramento, CA. Besides her writing accomplishments, she has worked for various government agencies over the past thirty years, determining eligibility for programs such as public assistance, unemployment benefits, Social Security Disability and SSI. She is also an accomplished editor, having served as the Communications Coordinator for the 12,000-member National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter. She can be contacted at HoggPen57@yahoo.com and her short essays on family, music, and more can be found on her blog, www.marvellaland.wordpress.com.
2012 eBook Titles
*also available in print from Genesis Press
January
Blow by Blow*
Keith Thomas Walker
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-626-5
ISBN-10: 1-58571-626-X
The Art of Love
Celya Bowers
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-647-0
ISBN-10: 1-58571-647-2
February
A First Class Act
Mildred Riley
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-648-7
ISBN-10: 1-58571-648-0
So Different*
Ruthie Robinson
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-649-4
ISBN-10: 1-58571-649-9
March
Believe in Me
Regena Bryant
ISBN-13:978-1-58571-636-4
ISBN-10: 1-58571-636-7
Straight from the Heart
Sean Young
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-637-1
ISBN-10: 1-58571-637-5
April
Mind Games*
Bernice Layton
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-638-8
ISBN-10: 1-58571-638-3
Mama Said
Wendy Byrne
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-639-5
ISBN-10: 1-58571-639-1
May
Liar’s Web
Sandra Bell Calhoune
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-640-1
ISBN-10: 1-58571-640-5
Shadows of the Past
Alysha Adams
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-641-8
ISBN-10: 1-58571-641-3
June
Harlot*
Keith Thomas Walker
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-642-5
ISBN-10: 1-58571-642-1
2012 eBook Titles (continued)
July
Painted Passion
Latisha Brandon
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-644-9
ISBN-10: 1-58571-644-8
Seasoned Just Right
Renee Wynn
ISBN-13: 978-1-58571-645-6
ISBN-10: 1-58571-645-6
August
Three Chords One Song
Beatrice M. Hogg
ISBN-10: 1-58571-643-X
September
October
November
December
Other Genesis Press eBooks*
*Starred titles are coming soon…
2 Good*
Celya Bowers
A Dangerous Woman*
J.M. Jeffries
A Dead Man Speaks
Lisa Jones Johnson
A Good Dude
Keith Thomas Walker
A Love Built to Last
L.S. Childers
A Lover’s Legacy
Veronica Parker
A Perfect Place to Pray
I.L. Goodwin
A Place Like Home*
Alicia Wiggins
A Taste of Temptation*
Reneé Alexis
A Voice Behind Thunder
Carrie Elizabeth Greene
Against the Wind
Gwynne Forster
All I’ll Ever Need
Mildred Riley
Allegro
Bennett, Adora
Always You
Crystal Hubbard
An Unfinished Love Affair
Barbara Keaton
Another Memory*
Pamela Ridley
Anything but Love*
Celya Bowers
Best Foot Forward
Michele Sudler
Best Friends Better Lovers*
Celya Bowers
Best of Luck Elsewhere*
Trisha Haddad
Between Tears
Pamela Ridley
Blame It on Paradise*
Crystal Hubbard
Blindsided
Tammy Williams
Bliss, Inc.*
Chamein Canton
Blood Seduction
J.M. Jeffries
Blue Interlude*
Keisha Mennefee
Burn
Crystal Hubbard
Caress
Grayson Cole
Caught Up*
Deatri King-Bey
Caught Up in the Rapture
Lisa G. Riley
Checks and Balances*
Elaine Sims
Choices*
Tammy Williams
Corporate Seduction
A.C. Arthur
Crossing the Line*
Bernice Layton
Crush*
Crystal Hubbard
Cupid
Barbara Keaton
Dawn’s Harbor*
Kymberly Hunt
Do Over
Celya Bowers
Dream Keeper*
Gail McFarland
Dream Runner*
Gail McFarland
Ebony Angel
Deatri King-Bey
Ebony Eyes
Kei Swanson
Enchanted Desire*
Wanda Y. Thomas
Everything In Between
Crystal Hubbard
Except on Sunday
Regena Bryant
Fireflies*
Joan Early
Fixin’ Tyrone
Keith Thomas Walker
Fractured
Wendy Byrne
Friends in Need*
Joan Early
From This Moment
Young, Sean D.
Frost on My Window*
Angela Weaver
Havana Sunrise
Kymberly Hunt
Heart of the Phoenix
A.C. Arthur
Holding Her Breath
Nicole Green
How to Kill Your Husband*
Keith Walker
I Take This Woman
Chamein Canton
I’m Gonna Make You Love Me
Gwyneth Bolton
If I Were Your Woman*
La Connie Taylor-Jones
Inside Out
Grayson Cole
Ironic
Pamela Leigh Starr
It’s in the Rhythm*
Sammie Ward
It’s Not Over Yet
J.J. Michael
Lady Preacher
K. T. Richey
Let’s Get It On
Dyanne Davis
Lies in Disguise
Bernice Layton
Lies Too Long*
Pamela Ridley
Light’s Out
Ruthie Robinson
Look Both Ways*
Joan Early
Looking for Lily*
Africa Fine
Love in High Gear
Charlotte Roy
Love Lasts Forever
Dominiqua Douglas
Love Me Carefully
A.C. Arthur
Love Out of Order
Nicole Green
Love’s Secrets*
Yolanda McVey
Many Shades of Gray
Dyanne Davis
Mission
Pamela Leigh Starr
Misty Blue
Dyanne Davis
Mixed Reality*
Chamein Canton
Moments of Clarity*
Michele Cameron
Mr Fix-It*
Crystal Hubbard
Never Say Never*
Michele Cameron
Nights Over Egypt
Nihon Nights
Haddad, Trisha; Haddad, Monica
No Ordinary Love
Angela Weaver
Not His Type
Chamein Canton
Not Quite Right*
Tammy Williams
Notes When Summer Ends
Beverly Lauderdale
Oak Bluffs
Joan Early
One of These Days
Michele Sudler
Only You
Crystal Hubbard
Passion’s Furies*
AlTonya Washington
Promises Made*
Bernice Layton
Promises of Forever*
Celya Bowers
Red Sky*
Reneé Alexis
Rehoboth Road
Anita Ballard-Jones
Reye’s Gold
Ruthie Robinson
Riding the Corporate Ladder
Keith Thomas Walker
Rise of the Phoenix
Kenneth J. Whetstone
Rivers of the Soul – Part 1*
Leslie Esdaile
Rock Star
Roslyn Hardy Holcomb
Save Me*
Africa Fine
Scent of Rain
Annetta P. Lee
Second Chances at Love*
Cheris Hodges
Secret Thunder
Annetta P. Lee
Separate Dreams
Joan Early
Show Me the Sun*
Miriam Shumba
Sin and Surrender*
J.M. Jeffries
Sinful Intentions
Crystal V. Rhodes
Singing a Song…*
Crystal Rhodes
Six O’Clock*
Katrina Spencer
Small Sensations*
Crystal V. Rhodes
Small Whispers
Annetta P. Lee
Southern Fried Standards*
S.R. Maddox
Steady
Ruthie Robinson
Still Waters Run Deep – Part 2*
Leslie Esdaile
Still Waters…*
Crystal V. Rhodes
Stolen Jewels*
Michele Sudler
Stolen Kisses*
Dominiqua Douglas
Stolen Memories*
Michele Sudler
Storm*
Pamela Leigh Starr
Swan*
Africa Fine
Sweet Sensations*
Gwyneth Bolton
Tempting Faith*
Crystal Hubbard