Miss Dove would start singing over me, with riffs and notes that were
not
part of the arrangement. At first, I tried to be nice. I walked closer to the singers and sang with them. When I asked them if they knew their parts, they all nodded and smiled, but when we started to sing again, the only voiceI could hear was Miss Dove’s. I motioned for Paul to stop the music, and Michel came over and asked me if everything was okay.
“No, it’s not,” I said firmly.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Dove’s singing over me, and she’s fucking everything up,” I said.
“You think so?”
“Can’t you hear her? She’s singing stuff that’s not even in my songs. I’ve asked her once to sing it the way I told her, but when we sing I can hear her trying to out sing me,” I said as I folded my arms to let Michel know that I wasn’t happy.
“But Dove is one of the top backup singers in the business. I think she’s pretty close to getting her own deal,” Michel said.
“Then let her sing that loud and that off-key with her own act. She’s not messing up mine.”
“Yancey, the Roxy performance is one week off. I don’t know if we can get another singer at this late date.”
“Then we’ll have to make do with Guy and Terri. Fire that bitch right now,” I demanded.
“Yancey, are you sure?”
“Fire her now!” I said as I stormed off the stage. When I got close to my dressing room, I heard the chatter of my assistant, Amy, who was already making a habit of being late. Sometimes it was ten minutes, and a couple of times it was two hours. She always had her cell phone attached to her ear, talking to either a girlfriend or her boyfriend, Jermaine.
“She’s back. I got to go, Jermaine,” I heard Amy whisper. As I walked in, I rolled my eyes to let her know I was not pleased.
“Hey, Yancey B. How’s the rehearsal going?” Amy asked.
“Fine. Did you get the items I asked you to pick up?” I asked as I sat in front of the mirror.
“I got everything but the cold cream. I forgot what kind you wanted,” Amy said.
“Noxzema! Why didn’t you write it down like I told you?” I screamed.
“I forgot,” Amy said. I looked through the bag of toiletries and didn’t see the vitamins I’d asked Amy to purchase. “Where are my vitamins?”
Amy placed her hand to her mouth and giggled nervously. “I guess I forgot them too.” Now I was steaming. I wasn’t going to pay my hard-earned money to someone who couldn’t follow simple instructions and operated on C.P. (colored people’s) time. Amy needed to join Dove on the unemployment line.
“Do you know what you want for lunch?” Amy asked.
“No,” I said, trying to figure out how to let Amy go.
“How about some shrimp fried rice?”
“Is that what you want?” I asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
I pulled a twenty-dollar bill from my purse and handed it to Amy. “Take this and go have yourself a nice long lunch. I don’t want anything right now.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of you. I might go to Ollie’s Noodle Shop. You sure you don’t want anything?”
“Yes, I want something,” I said coldly.
“What?”
“When you finish your lunch, don’t come back. I don’t want to see your face again.”
“What cha mean? You firing me?”
“You got that right. And you don’t even have to write that down,” I said as I headed for the shower.
The Rodeo Kings …(or Queens)
I was kinda depressed because I hadn’t heard from Basil since I invited him to
The Lion King
. When I called his office, he was always on the other line. When I called his house, the answering machine picked up. He was a little upset the first time I called him there and wanted to know how I had gotten his number. For some reason, I told him the truth. Well, my version of the truth. I told him his number showed up on my caller I.D. when I checked my messages the morning after we met. What I didn’t tell him was that I’d checked my messages on purpose from
not
part of the arrangement. At first, I tried to be nice. I walked closer to the singers and sang with them. When I asked them if they knew their parts, they all nodded and smiled, but when we started to sing again, the only voiceI could hear was Miss Dove’s. I motioned for Paul to stop the music, and Michel came over and asked me if everything was okay.
“No, it’s not,” I said firmly.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Dove’s singing over me, and she’s fucking everything up,” I said.
“You think so?”
“Can’t you hear her? She’s singing stuff that’s not even in my songs. I’ve asked her once to sing it the way I told her, but when we sing I can hear her trying to out sing me,” I said as I folded my arms to let Michel know that I wasn’t happy.
“But Dove is one of the top backup singers in the business. I think she’s pretty close to getting her own deal,” Michel said.
“Then let her sing that loud and that off-key with her own act. She’s not messing up mine.”
“Yancey, the Roxy performance is one week off. I don’t know if we can get another singer at this late date.”
“Then we’ll have to make do with Guy and Terri. Fire that bitch right now,” I demanded.
“Yancey, are you sure?”
“Fire her now!” I said as I stormed off the stage. When I got close to my dressing room, I heard the chatter of my assistant, Amy, who was already making a habit of being late. Sometimes it was ten minutes, and a couple of times it was two hours. She always had her cell phone attached to her ear, talking to either a girlfriend or her boyfriend, Jermaine.
“She’s back. I got to go, Jermaine,” I heard Amy whisper. As I walked in, I rolled my eyes to let her know I was not pleased.
“Hey, Yancey B. How’s the rehearsal going?” Amy asked.
“Fine. Did you get the items I asked you to pick up?” I asked as I sat in front of the mirror.
“I got everything but the cold cream. I forgot what kind you wanted,” Amy said.
“Noxzema! Why didn’t you write it down like I told you?” I screamed.
“I forgot,” Amy said. I looked through the bag of toiletries and didn’t see the vitamins I’d asked Amy to purchase. “Where are my vitamins?”
Amy placed her hand to her mouth and giggled nervously. “I guess I forgot them too.” Now I was steaming. I wasn’t going to pay my hard-earned money to someone who couldn’t follow simple instructions and operated on C.P. (colored people’s) time. Amy needed to join Dove on the unemployment line.
“Do you know what you want for lunch?” Amy asked.
“No,” I said, trying to figure out how to let Amy go.
“How about some shrimp fried rice?”
“Is that what you want?” I asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
I pulled a twenty-dollar bill from my purse and handed it to Amy. “Take this and go have yourself a nice long lunch. I don’t want anything right now.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of you. I might go to Ollie’s Noodle Shop. You sure you don’t want anything?”
“Yes, I want something,” I said coldly.
“What?”
“When you finish your lunch, don’t come back. I don’t want to see your face again.”
“What cha mean? You firing me?”
“You got that right. And you don’t even have to write that down,” I said as I headed for the shower.
The Rodeo Kings …(or Queens)
I was kinda depressed because I hadn’t heard from Basil since I invited him to
The Lion King
. When I called his office, he was always on the other line. When I called his house, the answering machine picked up. He was a little upset the first time I called him there and wanted to know how I had gotten his number. For some reason, I told him the truth. Well, my version of the truth. I told him his number showed up on my caller I.D. when I checked my messages the morning after we met. What I didn’t tell him was that I’d checked my messages on purpose from
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