Page 9 of Call and Response

For the both of us

No handcuffs

I’ll go with no fuss

“Okay, I get it,” I spoke up, shaking my head.

The song was too polished to be off the cuff about me offending her, but damn if her delivery didn’t make it feel that way. She was looking me right in the face, with the voice of a well-seasoned angel, singing lyrics about me—I mean, some other dude—being… a bitch, basically.

A smirk spread over her lips and she stepped back, lowering the guitar. “So I’ve got your approval, then?” she asked.

“You never needed it, clearly.” I nodded. “But thank you for easing my mind.”

“You’re welcome. Your turn now,” she said, hefting the guitar into my hands.

I frowned, accepting the instrument to make sure it didn’t fall. “You already know I can sing.”

“True.” She smiled. “But before we get on this stage, I need to make sure we can vibe. We can’t execute my vision without chemistry.”

“Chemistry isn’t something you can… perform. Or practice,” I said. “It’s there or not. You have it or don’t.”

She nodded. “I agree. So… Let’s see if we’ve got it.”

I wasn’t exactlyconfusedas she walked over to the keyboard nearby and sat down, but I also wasn’t…notconfused.

I had no clue what she was expecting me to do.

Once her hands hit the keys though, playing the melody for “Nothing Even Matters”,the Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo duet she wanted us to perform, I understood.

It was time to step into it.

So… I did.

I put my fingers where they needed to be to accompany her on the guitar and I tuned myself in as she started singing the first verse. Not necessarily as her co-performer, but as her fella in the relationship we were crooning about.

It was key to getting the delivery right, if you asked me.

It wasn’t just about stepping on a stage to sing a song, it was about… expression.

Immersion.

Not a performance.

A dialogue.

In the absence of an audience… I was “talking” to Audra.

We were in conversation with each other and the words flowed easily—not just because I knew the lyrics.

This was my lane; this was where Ithrived.

Which was why it fucked me up so badly that I couldn’t seem to find my groove.

Not on my own, at least.

It wasn’t that Kyir hadn’t asked me to perform the song that had put my name back on people’s radar musically. Hehad,actually.

I’d refused.

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