Page 41 of The Big Easy & Other Lies
“So this last one is a song I wrote about a perfect day.” The opening notes tinkled out and it instantly had the throwback vibe of Hozier. Somehow, before the lyrics even started, the song sounded like summer. “Blue skies match your eyes, no clouds out today/Before I ask, I can already tell that you want me to stay,” he sang, and I hated the anonymous blue-eyed girl.
Livvie caught the look on my face and grinned. “He’d have said green eyes, but green skies don’t sound so nice,” she whispered. I had to laugh at myself and my jealous green eyes.
I leaned back to enjoy the song, one of the best summer mood pieces I’d heard in a long time. I’d admit being biased toward the super cute guy singing it, but when he finished, every pair of hands inside of Daddy T’s clapped, including Mr. Jerry’s when he took the stage, so I wasn’t the only one digging it.
“Let’s hear it again for Mr. Hawk Lee! It was a pleasure to be part of his first night on a New Orleans stage, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
Rhett smiled at this and waved at the audience. He made his way down the stage, stopping to receive the congratulations of several diners before he reached our table.
“Hi,” he said, sitting down next to me. His knee brushed my leg and warmth spread through my abdomen. Holy cow.
“Hey, yourself,” Livvie answered. “You’re good.”
Rhett smiled. “Thanks. I hope the manager liked it well enough to let me work up to some weekend performances.”
“He’d be crazy not to,” I said, then blushed. I should design a hat to perpetually shade me so he could never tell when my cheeks were burning.
“So does that mean you liked it, too?” he asked, his smile growing wider.
I nodded. “I loved it. That’s your capstone project?”
“The roots anyway,” he answered. “I want to do some original jazz compositions, but Dr. Alcott says they have to be new to this year, nothing I’ve done before. It’s going to take me a while to hook up with the right musicians, too. I’m hoping I can get enough club gigs to make some connections pretty quickly.”
Gigs. I’d heard other boys in bands talk about their gigs. It sounded stupid because they mostly meant unpaid shows at other kids’ houses. But Rhett said gigs, and suddenly it sounded real.
“How did you book this one?” Livvie asked, her iPhone out and set to record his voice notes. He eyed it. “I’m the senior reporter on theLaSalle Ledger,” she explained. “Claiming an interview is how I got out tonight.”
Worry darkened his eyes. “Uh, is it cool if I don’t do an interview? No offense or anything. It’s not my thing.”
Livvie frowned. “You haven’t paid enough dues to do the mysterious artist thing. And I never said I’d use the interview for anything. Just that I’d do it. So talk into the nice phone, please. How’d you get this gig?”
“I sent the manager a demo,” Rhett said, but he leaned back slightly from her phone. “He said I could come in and open during the slow hour one night.”
“And why do you use a stage name? Why not go by Rhett Lee Hawker? Three names is very Southern, and it already sounds like a stage name.” She held out her phone for his response.
“I plead the fifth.”
“I’m not prosecuting you for anything. Unless you’ve done something criminal and newsworthy?” she asked, her tone hopeful.
He shook his head.
Livvie shoved her phone back into her bag. “That was a pretty exhaustive interview, don’t you think?”
We all nodded.
“Come on, Cinderella,” Bran said, standing. “I have to go before my mama carves me up like a pumpkin.”
“Cinderella?” Rhett asked, his eyebrow lifted.
I flushed again. “Shut up, Bran.”
“Yeah, shut up, Bran,” Livvie said, standing up. “But we do have to go.”
“I can give you a ride if you want,” Rhett said to me. “I don’t mind.”
I minded. There was not a number high enough to rate how much I minded him coming to my house. “It’s okay,” I said. “We’re all kind of near each other, and I don’t want to take you out of your way.” I stood and pushed back my chair, and he did, too. Someone’s New Orleans mama had taught this Chicago boy some Southern manners.
“I’ll see you at school then,” he said.
