I stood by myself on the small stage, watching three people talk about me as though I wasn’t there. I sort of felt like I was back in high school waiting to get a test back that I wasn’t sure I’d passed. Only in this case, I had just finished a mini-audition for a small cover band that played in a bar called Big Carl’s. I had been in Atlanta for two weeks without finding a job, and my funds were dwindling. I didn’t know what this particular job paid, but anything coming in would help stem my financial bleeding until I could find a real job. However, although beautiful, the group’s leader, Tanya, impressed me as being a total bitch. As much as I wanted into this group, I figured she’d tell me to take a hike.
As I stepped down off the stage, I watched her closely. She had put away her phone and was staring at me intently. I took the fact that she wasn’t snarling as a good sign. But then she wasn’t smiling either. Finally, Tanya had joined George and Simon. Both the guys were almost giddy with their smiles, but Tanya’s face still revealed nothing.
Finally, she smiled and stuck her hand out. “I’m Tanya Parker. The tall one here is Simon Ohbacker, and the other is George Sanders. I put this group together, and we’re known as “Tanya and the Crew.” And you are?”
I took her hand and replied, “I’m Robbie Wilder.”
“Well, Robbie Wilder,” Tanya said after releasing my hand, “do you have an acoustic guitar?”
“Do bears shit in the woods?” I laughed.
“Silly question,” she smiled and then went serious. “Here’s the deal. We get paid nine hundred dollars for singing three hours on Friday and three hours on Saturday nights. We also work behind the bar for the rest of the week. We put a tip jar out while we’re singing. I get three hundred dollars, and you guys split the rest. Any tips we get are split four ways. Your hourly pay for working the bar, which isn’t much, is yours, as are any tips you get while serving drinks. Is this something that would interest you?”
“Again, the thing about the bears,” I was ecstatic.
Tanya laughed and went back behind the bar. She returned fifteen seconds later with several pages stapled together. It was a list of songs. “The first three pages are the songs we do all the time. The other pages are songs that we drop in periodically. Check them out and let me know which ones you don’t know.”
I scanned down the first page and a half and knew all of them. Then I found a Glen Campbell song I wasn’t familiar with and pointed to it. Tanya pulled out a copy of her own and marked that song. I finished off the complete list and found five more songs I didn’t know.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Simon said. “Ty’s was with us for a year, and there were thirty or forty dozen songs that he either didn’t bother to learn or couldn’t play.”
“How soon can you go get your guitar and get back here?” Tanya asked as she looked at her watch.
“As long as it takes MARTA to get me to College Park, pick up my guitar and hustle back here.”
“Good, I’d like to have a little warmup practice before we go on.”
After they wrapped up my burger, I paid my bill and flew out the door. Luck was with me when I hit the MARTA station as a train had just come in. Twenty minutes later, I hopped off and ran to the Monroe’s house. I figured it was only a little before noon, so I had time to take a quick shower and change my clothes.
I walked on air back to the station with my guitar. Two hundred dollars a week wouldn’t be enough to cover all my expenses. Still, with tips and whatever I’d get paid for working behind the bar, I figured it would carry me until I found a full-time job.
When I reached the platform, I had to wait about ten minutes for the next train. All the while I was standing there, I bounced up and down, willing the train to come. I was back at the bar about a quarter after one. Tanya, George, and Simon were already playing when I walked in.
As quickly as I could, I got my guitar out and tuned it. Then I stepped up onto the stage and waited to be told what to do. I listened as the group played Glen Campbell’s Southern Nights with Simon and Tanya singing it as a duet. It sounded good. Tanya had a beautiful voice, and Simon had a decent bass quality to his. I didn’t really know the song, but I quickly picked up the melody, and when they were about halfway through, I was able to join in. They all looked over and nodded.
When the song ended, Tanya went to get some water bottles, and when she returned, she tossed me a blue t-shirt with “Tanya and the Crew” on the front.
After handing out the water, Tanya started telling me what she expected. She decided which songs would be sung at each performance and in what order. I glanced at her list and didn’t find anything I couldn’t handle. Then she wanted me to sing Patsy Cline’s True Love with her.
It’s always a little dicey singing a duet with someone you don’t know. You’re never quite sure what your singing partner is going to do. Sometimes they come in late or early. Some hold a note longer than they should. Some sing at a faster or slower tempo than the song is supposed to be sung. I found Tanya very easy to sing with. We matched and harmonized perfectly.
Moments after we got into the song, I noticed that the other employees and the few customers had turned to watch us. When we finished, even though the numbers were small, we got a rousing ovation.
“We’re absolutely doing that song tonight,” Tanya said as she thumbed through her sheets. We did the beginnings of about a dozen songs, and Tanya called an end to the practice. Then George told me to follow him into the kitchen, where he gave me a bartender’s apron.
“I have to be honest,” I admitted with trepidation, “I can play the guitar and sing, but I don’t know anything about bartending.”
He laughed. “It isn’t rocket science. Tonight, we’ll just have you serving the beer in bottles and or draft. If there’s time, I’ll show you how to mix a few simple drinks. You’ll pick it up pretty quickly. Just remember to be quick and smile. That will get you more tips.”
At five, more and more people began to drift into the bar, and I was hopping back and forth, serving bottles of beer or pouring drafts. That night, I must have moved thirty cases of beer from the cooler out to the bar. I also learned how to install a new keg, sliced dozens of all kinds of fruit, and learned how to mix a half-dozen drinks.
I was pretty frazzled when eight o’clock approached, and we headed to the stage. However, when I looked around, Tanya wasn’t anywhere in sight. I just shrugged and re-tuned my guitar. About five minutes later, Tanya appeared to a round of applause. If my eyes weren’t attached, they would have dropped to the floor.
Tanya wasn’t wearing a blue t-shirt. She had changed into a blue and green sundress which was cut fairly low in the front. A good portion of her breasts was exposed, and the mystery of what remained, I’m sure, left many of the men in the audience drooling.
As I looked out, only about half of the bar was full. But the patrons that were there were already pretty well lubricated. I had learned that this could be good or bad. A crowd that was very relaxed with alcohol was easier to entertain. They also tended to buy more drinks. However, there is a fine line between a relaxed customer and an obnoxious drunk. Still, I was super excited to get the night going.
Tanya kicked off the night singing Dolly Parton’s Nine to Five, which got the crowd into it right away. Then we moved to a Johnny Cash song, followed by a Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again, with all of us joining in. After about an hour and a half, Tanya told the crowd that we were taking a fifteen-minute break, and we’d be back.
Sitting in the kitchen sucking down a bottle of water, I felt more at peace than at any time since my divorce. For the first time, I didn’t feel the dagger of pain in my heart. I hoped they wouldn’t kick me out of the group after tonight. The crowd had been great so far, and Tanya was certainly the focus of all the males in the bar. She also had the attention of a goodly number of women. But as soon as we started the second half of our show, I knew something was off.
There was a table of two women and three men close to the stage, and I knew instantly that they weren’t feeling any pain. They were also getting kind of boisterous and rude. They had crossed the line from relaxed to obnoxious. Tanya was into her second song when one of the men made a crude remark about Tanya’s ass. His comment wasn’t wrong; Tanya had a spectacular ass. But the comment was totally out of line. And I could see that Tanya was getting angry, so I decided to step in.
I had handled drunks many times before. Drunks, as a general rule, aren’t bad people; they’ve just lost their inhibitions. The best way to deal with them was with humor and a little embarrassment. So, when Tanya finished her song, I grabbed the mic from her.
“Thank you, thank you,” I said as the light applause began to die out. Tanya looked at me with annoyance but didn’t say anything. “We absolutely love it when people in the audience enjoy our shows. And this table over here seems to be enjoying the show more than anyone else. We like to show our appreciation for what you might call our super fans.” I then turned to the audience. “Would you like to meet one of our super fans tonight?”
The crowd started clapping and calling out, “Yes, Yes, Yes,” I smiled and, of course, singled out the loudmouth. I pointed to the rowdy gentleman and said, “You, sir, seem to be having the best time of anyone. Stand up and let everyone see you.”
The drunk jumped to his feet, swayed a little, and said, “Fuck You!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t swing that way,” I said with a smile. “Not that there’s anything wrong if that’s your preference.”
The crowd roared with laughter and started to whistle.
“What’s your name, sir?” I quickly asked.
“Frank,” he roared back. “And I still say fuck you.”
“I don’t know how much dating you do, Frank, but that approach isn’t going to win any woman’s heart.” Again, the crowd howled and laughed.
“Now, Frank,” I said innocently, “I can call you Frank, can’t I?”
“Fuck, yeah.”
“Boy, you have a one-track mind,” I said, laughing with the crowd. “Now, Frank, you seemed to have a strong opinion about one particular part of my friend’s anatomy. I think it is only fair that your same anatomy should be judged. What do you think folks, on a scale of one to ten, how do you rate Frank’s ass?”
A roar of laughter was followed by numbers being called out. “Four! Two! Minus ten!”
I let the number calling go on for about ten seconds before I announced, “it seems that you have fallen very short in that part of your anatomy. I hope there is nothing else that would fall short on your body.” Then I looked to the ladies sitting at the table who had been laughing as hard as anyone else. “Ladies, you know Frank. Does he have any other deficiencies?”
The two women were nodding and cracking up. Then one of the women held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. This brought the house down. Frank turned scarlet and stormed from the room, jarring two tables as he went.
When he was finally out of the front door, the room got very quiet. I looked around and spread my hands in mock confusion. “Was it something I said?”
The room went wild, and I got a standing ovation. As I handed the mic back to Tanya, she reached over and kissed me on the cheek. She said into the mic, “my hero.” This brought another roar from the crowd.
The rest of the show went off very well, especially when Tanya and I sang Patsy Cline’s True Love at the end. We got a standing ovation.
I was nervous as we started off the stage. I know the show had gone well, but I didn’t know what to expect at this point. I had overstepped my bounds by taking the mic, but it just seemed to be the thing to do at the time.
George was the first to speak. “That was our best show ever.”
Simon followed immediately. “Robbie, you had them eating out of your hand. Outstanding job.”
I turned to Tanya because I knew she seemed to have the final say. She just walked up to me and gave me a big hug. I guess I was in.
We weren’t expected to tend bar after our performance, but we wound up helping the regulars and helped with the cleanup. During this time, I learned that Simon was gay and lived with his boyfriend, Dave. I was relieved that he wasn’t offended by my comments directed at the drunk. In fact, he thought it was really funny to watch the guy squirm. George was single and a real womanizer. He had a girl waiting for him to finish. If George hadn’t made her show us her driver’s license, I would have sworn she was no older than fifteen. I was shocked to learn she was twenty-three. Lucky George.
Tanya was very closed. All I got from her was that she had attended Julliard in New York for a year. Tanya didn’t say anything about why she decided to leave school. All she said about her family was that her father had deserted them, and her mother was dead. I also learned that Tanya was single and rarely dated. I didn’t care; I was just thrilled to be able to perform and get paid for it.
We had another show the following night, and to me, it seemed like the crowd was slightly bigger, but I couldn’t be sure. However, after my first show, Carl had taken me aside and told me that he was impressed with how I handled the drunk. I thought we had another great show the second night, and Tanya and I sang three songs together. However, Carl pulled me aside again after that show, and gave me some advice, or maybe it was a warning.
“Kid, you got talent,” he said, patting me on my shoulder, “but in this business, don’t trust anyone. Not Simon, or George, or Tanya, and for sure, don’t trust me.”
As the weeks went by, I felt we were beginning to click on stage. But off stage, while George and Simon were very friendly, Tanya was a very cold and distant ice princess. That didn’t bother me at all as long as I could perform. To me, playing my guitar and singing fed my soul, and getting paid was just a huge bonus.
The routine for the next six weeks was the same, working the bar and playing music each weekend while I continued to look for a job during the week. However, I have to admit that I wasn’t looking too hard. I was covering my expenses with the money from performing, tips, and minuscule pay for working the bar. And with each passing week, Suzie was becoming a distant memory, and the pain was fading.
By my estimation, the crowds were getting bigger, but, again, I had no way to measure it. Even if it was true, Carl decided to make a change, and on that Monday, he told us that the upcoming weekend would be our last. He was bringing in a Beatles cover band for a six-week deal. I was devastated. That meant I’d have to once again start looking for a job in earnest.
Carl had proved his advice to be spot on. I thought he liked our act and appreciated it, but the truth was, he didn’t give a shit about us. Anyway, once Carl lowered the boom on us, I went out and bought a newspaper. I was scanning the want ads when Tanya stuck her head over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a smile.
“As much as I regret my decision not to do it,” I said, grinning back. “I never trained myself to only eat once a week. I have to get a job. In fact, all of us need to find gainful employment.”
“Already taken care of,” Tanya said as she grinned and walked away.
“What!” I said, spinning on my stool. “Did you find a job already?”
“No,” she said with a coy smile, “we all found a job.”
“No way. Where? What kind of job?” I responded in total confusion.
“George! Simon!” Tanya yelled into the kitchen. “Come out here. We have to talk about something.”
Once Tanya had us all together, she led us to a table on the far side of the bar. George and Simon were as confused as I was, but they didn’t say anything until everyone was seated.
“Okay, Tanya,” George finally asked, “what do we need to discuss?”
“I’ve got our next bookings lined up,” Tanya said calmly.
“Really,” George and Simon said at the same time.
“Yup, at the Abbey Tree Lounge in Alpharetta for four weeks, and then at the Uptown Club in Cummings for five weeks. Then we’re going to Charlotte, North Carolina. Brad Brooks and Honey Weston are doing two shows at the Spectrum Center. They’re opening act canceled on them, so we’re filling in.”
“What’s the pay?” Simon asked.
“At the Abbey, we’re getting two grand a week, but we have to perform six nights and two matinees, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. They also want us to tend bar like we do here. At the Uptown, they’re going to pay us Twenty-two hundred dollars with the same deal as the Abbey. For the two concerts in Charlotte, we’re getting four thousand dollars for the two nights.”
“The Spectrum is a big venue,” Simon said in awe. “That place holds at least twenty thousand people.”
“How did you arrange all of this since Saturday?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Tanya responded with a Cheshire cat look. “Actually, I’ve been working on it for a couple of months. An agent caught our show and liked it. He contacted me when the Spectrum job came available. But I figure if we do well in Charlotte, we could be on our way.”
We all looked at each other with huge smiles. Then Tanya chuckled. “I was going to tell Carl on Sunday, but he beat me to the punch. I didn’t say anything to him because I figured if he thought we were down and out, he might slip us a little something else.”
“Carl?” George snickered, “he’d steal his grandmother’s eye teeth if he thought he could make a buck off of them.”
“Before we get all excited,” Simon said as he put his hands up. “How are we going to get to Alpharetta and Cummings? MARTA doesn’t go there. And even if we get to Charlotte, where are we going to stay? Rooms for two nights could eat up a big chunk of what we earn.”
Tanya looked at me questioningly. “Robbie, you said you had a car. What do you say?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Actually, it’s an SUV, but yeah, I can drive us if you guys will chip in some money for gas. But Simon’s right about Charlotte. If it was just me, I’d sleep in my car, but with the four of us, that wouldn’t work.”
“That’s already taken care of,” Tanya said quickly. “They’ve arranged a room for us for one night. I figured we’d travel up the day of the show, perform and spend the night. After the second show, we’ll head back. The only downside is that it’s only one room. And just so it’s clear with you three, I get one of the beds. If it just has a king or queen-size, you all are sleeping on the floor. If there are twin beds, you guys can fight over the other one.”
Both the Alpharetta and the Cummings engagements went well. The customers at both establishments were generous, and we made almost a thousand dollars each week in tips. In Cummings, after we sang True Love at the end of the show, this guy came up and said he’d pay us a hundred dollars if we’d do it again. So, we did.
The Spectrum was mind-blowing. None of us had ever performed before an audience that large. It was a little unnerving for George and Simon, but Tanya wasn’t intimidated at all. As for me, if you can survive farting in front of thousands of people, very little fazes you after that. Fortunately, we all pulled it together. And by the end of our set both nights, we had the crowd out of their seats, ready for the night’s main entertainment.
As we took our final bows the second night, I looked over at Tanya. Her eyes were shining. It seemed to me that Tanya was chasing the dream.
After the Spectrum appearance, we all thought we were really on the move up. However, the opposite happened; things really tapered off. We’d work a week or two and then nothing for two or three weeks. It got downright grim, and I was tempted to go look for a regular job. But I didn’t want to give up performing, and I didn’t want to leave Tanya in the lurch.
Right after the New Year, George and Simon told Tanya that they couldn’t do it anymore. Simon took a job as a waiter, and George took a job as a carpenter on a construction site. All that time, I worked with George and never knew he was a carpenter.
Tanya was about as down as one person could be. I have to admit that I wasn’t feeling like any ray of sunshine either. I was a little better off than Tanya because I still had some of my bankroll I’d brought from Tifton. Even with that, my funds were beginning to dwindle at an alarming rate.
I was about to throw in the towel when Tanya called me one morning and told me to meet her at the Pancake House. She, apparently, had an idea to jump-start our musical careers. I knew I should be looking for a job, but I just couldn’t say no to Tanya. I guess I was a little in love with her, even at that point. But I never said or did anything to let on. I didn’t want to get burned again, and I didn’t want to sour our musical relationship.
The next day, I found Tanya sitting at a table sipping a cup of coffee. I slid into the chair next to her and asked, “So, what’s your new idea?”
“He should be here in a few minutes,” she responded and then nodded to the front of the restaurant. “There he is now.”
Glancing toward the entrance, I saw a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed beard looking around. When he saw Tanya, he waved and headed in our direction. He seemed to be in his early fifties with a friendly smile. He wore a dark blue sports coat, gray slacks, and a white collared shirt.
“Robbie, this is Alex Misner,” Tanya introduced us. “He’s a musical agent. He caught our act and thinks he can help us.”
With very little small talk, Mr. Misner began discussing what we faced. “The music industry has changed dramatically with the advent of the internet. For the most part, people download the music they want. Gone are the days of cutting a record and trying to convince a radio station to play it. Anyone can download their music to the internet, so you have to create your own exposure, your own excitement, your own brand.”
“That sounds great,” I said. “But how do we accomplish that?”
“That’s what I do for you,” Alex said confidently. “The first thing we need to do is get you playing at as many different places as possible.”
“That’s the problem,” Tanya admitted. “We started to get some bookings and even appeared at the Spectrum in Charlotte, but then everything seemed to dry up after that.”
“I heard about your performance at the Spectrum, and that probably hurt you.”
“How could that be?” Tanya demanded.
“Well, from what I hear, you guys did pretty well,” Alex explained. “As a result, a lot of the people booking acts figured you’d want too much money, so they crossed you guys off their list.”
“So, you’re saying we were penalized for being good?” I asked in disbelief.
Alex nodded. “I guess that’s a fair assessment.”
“So, what do we do now?” I asked, churning inside at the unfairness of the system.
“Again, that’s where I come in,” the agent said as he stirred his coffee. “I can get you booked in a bunch of different places, but they’ll only be for a night or two, and then you’ll be on to a new location.”
Mr. Misner then looked over at me. “Tanya tells me that you write songs.”
“Yeah, I do,” I admitted, “but so does she. I’ve got three shoeboxes full of them. But we’ve never used any of them in our shows.”
“Do you have any that revolve around kids? It can be babies, toddlers, teenagers. Anything to do with children.”
“I’m sure I have some,” I admitted. “But some of the songs aren’t that good.”
“I have a couple, also,” Tanya chimed in. “But my songs are pretty rough also.”
“Doesn’t matter. Try to polish up your songs as well as you can. We’re going to record the best ones you have. Then I want both of you to go through and pick out the best six to eight songs with the same theme made famous by other artists.”
I looked over at Tanya, and she appeared to be as befuddled as I was. “Okay, we can do that, but what’s the point?”
“I have a friend who works for a magazine that caters to child-rearing. He’s always looking for new ideas to write about. I pitched him with the idea of a singing group putting together an album about kids, and he liked it. Now, if he likes the music, he’ll do the article about you two.”
Alex Misner really knew his business, and I was getting excited. But the big question I had was, what does this guy want in return? It was Tanya who posed the question.
“It all sounds good, Alex,” she said in her no-nonsense voice. “What do you get out of all this. I assume you’re not working for free.”
He chuckled. “Tanya, no one in this business works for free. If you want my help, you’ll have to sign a standard contract that makes me your exclusive agent. You can take it to any attorney you want, but you’ll find it is pretty similar to most contracts out there. Let me hit you with some of the important highlights. First of all, I get ten percent of what you earn. That’s non-negotiable. But I don’t get a penny unless I get you paying gigs. Second, the contract is for five years with an option for five additional years. Also, I get the final say about the outfits you wear, the music you play, and the group’s name. Sorry, but Tanya and the Crew doesn’t cut it. Your new name will be “The Wind Dreamers.”
Tanya didn’t like that at all and argued to keep the original name. Alex was adamant about the change, and in the end, Tanya acquiesced. Then Tanya spent twenty minutes reading through the contract. She could have been a damn good lawyer with her smarts and attention to detail. When Tanya finished reviewing the contract, she had no objections but did pick up two spelling mistakes. We then both signed it.
The next six months were like a blur. I found six songs in my box that weren’t horrible. Alex especially liked two I had written – A Small Child’s love and Daddy’s Little Helper. Tanya had two songs he like as well, Pretty Little Girl and Mommy’s Angel. The other two were mine definitely weren’t memorable.
I didn’t care too much for my outfit. It had me in tight leather pants, a fluffy long-sleeved white shirt with a leather vest. Tanya’s outfit, on the other hand, was hot. She wore a short leather skirt and a blouse that was really cut low. One other change that Alex made was the addition of a synthesizer in our act. With George and Simon gone, he wanted more than just my acoustic guitar. Alex hired several different guys to man the synthesizer. However, a young guy named John Tynan was the one who performed with us the most.
We were playing every night and even a bunch of matinees. We played in every venue you could think of, from bars to college auditoriums to churches. The churches were fun for me because of my familiarity with gospel music. Tanya hated doing those performances because the men would leer at her, and the women would stare daggers. And this was with a blouse that was cut much higher.
I was on the go so much that Mrs. Monroe stopped me one morning as I was on my way in to collapse into bed.
“Robbie, I worry about you,” she said with kind eyes, radiating sympathy. “You’re on the go all hours of the day and night. I don’t think you’re getting enough to eat, and I know you aren’t getting enough sleep.”
“Thanks for worrying about me, mom,” I teased her as I gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m doing good, though.”
She swatted my arm. “Go get some sleep, and I’ll fix you something to eat when you get up.”
The article for the child care magazine was a big hit. And Alex sent us into a studio to produce an album. That used up most of my reserve. Anyway, it was released to the internet the same day the article was published. We had incorporated the four songs that I already mentioned with eight songs made famous by others.
The way it was set up, people could buy our album or individual songs online. Our internet sales were just short of terrible. However, we did pretty well selling our CDs at each of our performances. We could buy the CDs for five dollars each, sell them for twelve, and sell between twenty-five and fifty a night. That was like a hundred and seventy-five dollars to three hundred and fifty dollars extra each night.
All during this time, Tanya and I were getting closer. We had even started dating. I felt that Tanya was way out of my league, but I loved her anyway. Still, Tanya kept telling me that I was the only one she truly trusted and loved. I had been the only one who stood by her when things were at rock bottom.
I remember the first time we made love. We had been necking off and on for weeks, but Tanya didn’t want to take it any further. And I wasn’t about to push for anything she didn’t want. But then, one night, we were just sitting there, and she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I want you.”
That’s all it took, and we were all over each other. Tanya couldn’t get her clothes off quickly enough and ripped at my clothes because I wasn’t fast enough either. Once on the bed, I knew Tanya wanted me inside her immediately. But I remembered back to when I was married to Suzie. She would get horny and wanted me to fuck her immediately, but I would force Suzie to slow down, and it would be incredible. Suzie always told me that what I did drove her crazy, and she loved it. She loved it but just not enough to stay with me. Yet, at the moment, Suzie was the farthest thing from my mind.
Still, as Tanya kept telling me that she wanted me inside her, I decided to go slow and build the passion. I caressed her tits and sucked them while I ran two of my fingers in and out of her pussy. She was already wet as could be but was now clamping down hard. I kissed my way down her stomach slowly. As I got closer to a position between her legs, Tanya’s breathing got heavy, and she moaned. As I moved my tongue inside her, Tanya’s hands gripped the sheets tightly, and she arched her back.
Moving my tongue in further, I finally found Tanya’s G spot. In the space of ten minutes, Tanya had three major orgasms. I lifted my head up and kissed her lips. Her tongue suddenly began to explore my mouth with a frantic urgency.
“Please, I need you inside me,” Tanya pleaded.
I slipped slowly into her, and I felt her pussy clamp down as I rocked in and out. I was so lost in the wonder of making love to Tanya. I didn’t even think to ask about coming inside her until it was too late. I flooded her with my hot juices, and Tanya screamed in pleasure. After that night, there was no going back. I was hopelessly in love with and committed to Tanya. Two months later, I asked her to marry me, and she said yes.
It was Alex who floated the idea of filming our wedding and releasing it on DVD. I was very hesitant about doing that, but Tanya was all for it. She thought it would give our careers a big boost. Finally, I agreed, and it was decided that we’d do it during a performance we had scheduled for one of the larger churches in the Atlanta area.
I don’t know how Alex convinced the church people to go along with his idea, but they did. Still, I hoped that it would be a relatively quiet wedding mixed with music and love. I got two out of the three. The wedding, from my perspective, was filled with glorious music and tons of love. Quiet, however, the wedding was not. The local media had gotten wind of it, and being a slow news cycle, they descended on the church in hordes.
I didn’t want to let the media inside, but Tanya and the church board overruled me. Still, the church board had laid down very strict guidelines that kept the media from being their usual boorish, arrogant selves.
Tanya and I discussed our wedding vows in some detail. Finally, we decided to sing a song made famous by Peter, Paul, and Mary — This is Love. It was Tanya who first suggested the song. I loved the idea but was surprised that Tanya would pick it. The song has a very deep religious tone, and I knew that Tanya wasn’t religious at all. However, the song is tailor-made for a wedding. It is probably used in tens of thousands of marriages each year. I especially felt that the final lines said everything about our love.
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name
There is Love, there is love.
We sang the song before the actual wedding ceremony, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the church. I noticed that even some of the media people were misty-eyed. After reciting our vows, Tanya and I sang a song I had written for the occasion — You are my one and only True Love.
When our voices began to fade away, the congregation and our friends were on their feet with a roar. It took almost five minutes for them to quiet down. Then we began the performance we had been contracted for. We had tailored our song list to include more love songs with some of the more uplifting hymns.
One part of the performance was very special. I had invited the Monroe’s to the wedding and even had them sitting in the same row as my parents. Mrs. Monroe loved Nat “King” Cole and especially his song When I fall in Love. I had arranged to do my version of the song for Mrs. Monroe. Thank God for the Synthesizer because Nat had a full orchestra behind him when he recorded his version.
Before I began, I let everyone know that this song was for my second mother. I must not have done too badly because I could see tears running down Mrs. Monroe’s cheeks as she snuggled close to her husband. Even Mr. Monroe’s eyes were misting. Yes, my mother was also crying. My father tried to pretend that he had something in his eye. He did; it was tears.
During the reception, I cornered Mr. and Mrs. Monroe with their sons. I told them I had left presents for all of them in the garage. For Tabor and Tyron, I had gotten them the latest Apple phones. Years later, when I learned about Tabor’s death, they told me he was clutching that phone as he died. For Henry, I had gotten him the best table saw I could find. He was always doing odd jobs around the house. Henry had told me that he would get a table saw when he could afford it, and then he’d really be able to fix up the house. For Mabel, I got her an expensive BOSE CD player and the complete CD collection of Nat “King” Cole. She had about worn out her record collection, playing them over and over again.
After the reception, Tanya and I left on our honeymoon to Key West, Florida. It was the happiest week of my life up until then – sun, surf, and Tanya.
During the honeymoon, we had chosen a location that had no television or internet access. As a result, we had no idea that our wedding DVD was selling like hotcakes. The two songs – There is Love and You are my one and only True Love — were released as singles and were climbing the charts. There is Love would make it to number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100, and You are my one and only True Love made it to number nineteen on the Country top 100. Now we were starting to make some money and never seemed to lack bookings. We were even invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
With this surge, Alex felt that Tanya should become the face of our group. I totally agreed; she was a lot more fun to look at than I was. So, I willingly let Alex do his thing. For the next four and a half years, we did well. Still, Tanya was not content. She felt that we should be doing a lot better.
I always put musical talent into three categories. There were the A-list people and groups that included the cream of the crop. I’m talking about people like Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood or groups like the Statler Brothers or the Charlie Daniels Band. They were the stars that everyone knew and had most of the big hits. Then there was the B list with people or groups like Tanya and me, who had a few hits but weren’t big stars. And finally, there was everyone else.
The vast majority of entertainers never were able to support themselves singing. Tanya and I had done amazingly well. I considered us in the lower half of the B group. Still, we were doing fairly well. We frequently opened for some of the A-list acts. The fact that we had two minor hits was more than ninety-nine percent of all performers ever achieve. We were making a mid-five figure income each year.
We weren’t superstars, but we were known. We had our own fan base and had played at the Grand Ole Opry. Still, despite our good fortune, which was mostly due to Alex’s planning and promotions, Tanya wanted to reach the very top. I loved Tanya’s passion, but I knew we weren’t good enough to crack the A list. Even more worrisome to me was that Tanya had totally fallen into the trap my grandfather had warned me about years ago. I wondered how she would handle it when Tanya finally realized that she would never be a superstar. Still, I trusted her and Alex to keep us moving forward, or I should say moving upward.
Everything changed, however, while I was away visiting my parents in Tifton. Tanya and I had planned to go together, but she had a cold and didn’t want me to pass it on. So, I went by myself. I had planned to spend a week with my parents. That’s when things changed, and the snake was allowed to slither into our garden.