Дэвид Балдаччи - One Summer

“Okay, we’re on next to last,” said Mikki, coming backstage at the Play House.

Liam looked at her. “Who’s last?”

Mikki made a face. “Who do you think? Ms. Reigning Champion. That way she gets a look at all the competition and her performance is the clearest in the judges’ minds.”

Liam shrugged. “I don’t think it’ll matter. I’ve seen the judges. They’re all cronies of her mom’s.”

“Keep the faith. We’ve worked our butts off, and we’ve got a terrific act.”

“How’s the crowd?”

“Big. With our families smack in the middle.”

When Mikki turned back around, Tiffany stood there wearing a short white robe.

Mikki eyed her. “Saving the debut of the skimpy for the crowd?”

“My daddy always said you don’t give it away for free, sweetie.” She looked Mikki up and down. “But then if you don’t have anything somebody wants, I guess you have to give it away.”

Mikki smirked. “Wow, that’s really deep. So do you do flaming batons?”

Tiffany looked at her like she was insane. “No. Why would I? That stuff is dangerous.”

“Well, to beat us you’re going to have to get out of your comfort zone. ’Cause the level of competition just got stepped up, big-time. Sweetie. ”

Tiffany laughed, but Mikki could tell by the sudden look of uncertainty in the girl’s eye that she had done what she’d intended to do.

Freeze her opponent.

Before the competition began, she and Liam went out to the audience to see their families.

The Armstrongs, Sammy, Charles Pinckney, and Jenna were all sitting together.

Jenna smiled and gave Mikki and her son hugs. “I’m really proud of you two.”

“Knock ’em dead,” called out Cory.

“Yeah, dead,” yelled Jackie.

Chelsea Murdoch walked by with her entourage. Her dress was too tight and too short and her heels too high for her age. She looked like what she was: her daughter, only a quarter century older.

She eyed Jenna. “Haven’t seen you here before.”

“Never had a reason to come before, Chelsea,” said Jenna. “This is Liam’s first time competing.”

Murdoch smiled condescendingly. “Tiffany’s going for four straight. Crowd always loves her routine. She’s thinking of carrying on baton in college,” she added loftily.

“Well, good for her,” piped in Mikki. “It’s always nice to have a career plan.”

Before Murdoch could say anything, Mikki added, “Okay, we gotta go. Show’s about to start.”

“Good luck, Mik,” said Jack.

Looking dead at Tiffany’s mom, she said, “It won’t be about luck, Dad. Like the sign says, it’s a talent competition.”

There were twenty-one acts, mostly younger people, but there was an older barbershop quartet that was pretty good. Mikki watched from the side of the stage, mentally calculating where the serious competition was. Liam just stayed backstage chilling and idly tapping his sticks together. She came back to him and strapped on her guitar.

“It’s showtime, big guy.”

“Cool. I was about to fall asleep.”

“Now, that’s exactly what I need: a drummer with ice in his veins.”

Liam smiled. “Let’s rock this sleepy little town.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Mikki.

At first the beat was mellow. Still, the crowd whooped and clapped. Sensing the rising energy, Mikki gave Liam the cue they’d practiced. She cranked her amp and stomped on her wah-wah pedal, and her hand started flying across the face of the Fender guitar. They dove right into a classic Queen roof blaster, with Liam moving so fast he appeared to be two people, alternating between drums and keyboard. The crowd was on its feet singing the lyrics.

Mikki knew that once you had the crowd right where you wanted them, and they thought you’d already given everything that was in your tank, you did something special.

You gave them more.

She unplugged her amp and pulled off her guitar. She actually pitched it across the stage. At the same moment, Liam tossed his stick in the other direction. She snagged the sticks, he caught the Fender, and they exchanged positions. Liam plugged in the amp and became the guitarist, his long fingers expertly traversing the Fender. Mikki perched on the stool and hammered away at the full array of the drum set.

The finale was a dual one, with a solo each. Mikki rocked the house with a six-minute broadside and finished up with a mighty crescendo, her hands moving so fast there appeared to be six pairs of them. And when the audience didn’t have any breath left and their palms were raw from clapping, Liam performed a guitar solo that would have made Jimmy Page and Santana proud. He held the last chord for a full minute, the amp-powered beat shaking the Channing Play House like cannon fire.

And then there was silence. But only for a few seconds as the crowd caught its collective breath, and then the applause and screams and cheers came in waves. Mikki held hands with Liam and took bow after bow. They finally had to motion for the people to sit down and stop applauding.

As they went backstage, the other performers rushed up to congratulate them.

“You rock,” said the fiftyish baritone in the barbershop quartet. “You took me back to my Three Dog Night days.”

Breathless and wearing wide grins, Liam and Mikki moved off to the side. Tiffany passed by them, not saying a word. She loosened her robe and let it fall off. The outfit underneath did not leave much, if anything, to the imagination. She turned to them and, using her fingers, formed an L on her forehead.

Mikki pointed to the stage. “You’re not a loser yet . That comes later, sweetie. ”

Other than stumbling twice and nearly dropping her baton, Tiffany did okay. The applause was polite except for the section led by her mother, which lasted so long that finally some people turned in their seats to see who was still applauding what had been a fairly mediocre performance.

A few minutes later, all the contestants were called to the stage in a single group.

Mikki found her dad in the crowd and gave a thumbs-up. Jack gave her two thumbs-up back while Sammy extended a crisp salute. Cory did an elaborate bow to his sister’s dominance on the stage, and Jackie copied him.

Jenna caught Liam’s eye and blew him a kiss.

The head judge stood and cleared her throat. “We have reached our decisions. But first I would like to thank all the contestants for their fine performances.”

This statement was followed by polite applause.

“Now, in third place, Judy Ringer for her sterling dance performance of The Nutcracker .”

Judy, a skinny fourteen-year-old, ran out to get her trophy and a bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you, Judy. Now, in second place, we have Dickie Dean and his Barbershop Four.”

The man who had lauded Mikki and Liam’s performance hustled out and received the award for his group as the crowd clapped.

“And now for the first-place champion.”

The crowd held its collective breath.

The judge cleared her throat one more time. “For the fourth year in a row, Tiffany Murdoch and her fabulous baton routine.”

Tiffany stepped forward, all smiles, and whisked over to get her trophy, hundred-dollar check, and flowers, while her mother beamed. Trophy and flowers in hand, Tiffany strode to the microphone. “I’m truly overwhelmed with gratitude. Four years in a row. Who would have thought it possible? Now I’d like to thank the judges and—”

“That’s a load of crap,” bellowed a voice.

All heads turned, including Jack’s and Jenna’s, to see Cory standing up on his seat and pointing an accusing finger at the head judge.