Part 18 (2/2)
”I bet we win!” she said as she reached for her slushy.
We fled past the box and found our seats in the second row of bleachers, off to the side of the stage.
”We got good seats,” Julianne said. ”I'm impressed.”
”Only the best for you.”
”It was a lottery, wasn't it?”
”Yep.”
”Well, at least we'll have an easy time getting out of here if your kid decides to enter the world this evening,” she said.
”Win, win.”
We were two contestants into the teenage division when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around to see Butch Dieter, the questioner from the board meeting. We shook hands.
”Haven't missed this in about fifteen years,” he said with a grin.
”Me, either.”
He s.h.i.+fted on the bleacher. ”You make any headway on George's death?”
”Nothing to speak of, no, unfortunately.”
He frowned. ”b.u.mmer.”
”I did talk to Matilda, though.”
He nodded solemnly. ”Yeah, she's hurting pretty good. Feel bad for her.” He paused. ”Sorry I couldn't tell you about her the other night.”
”I understand,” I said. ”Rules are rules.”
He nodded again. ”Club is strict. But she was pretty good for him, you know?”
”How so?”
”He was kinda messed up for a while,” Butch said. ”Not in a bad way or anything, but I think he was lonely, kinda sad. He wasn't the same old George. He stopped telling jokes. Stopped showing up for the occasional beer. Just was withdrawn for a while. But when he started seeing her, the old George came back.”
”Were they serious?”
Butch thought for a moment, then nodded. ”I think so. They were kinda low-key about their relations.h.i.+p, but they seemed pretty serious, at least from what I knew about them.”
I glanced at the stage. The MC was asking trivia questions to the people in the audience and tossing out T-s.h.i.+rts as rewards.
I turned back to Butch. ”You said he was down for a while? How come?”
”Bad relations.h.i.+p,” he said, shrugging. ”Look, I know all the jokes people were probably making about Matilda because of her size, okay? But she was ninety times better for him than anyone else ever was.”
Before I could ask any more questions, the music came up and the next singer started in on a horrific version of Journey's ”Don't Stop Believin'.”
Julianne leaned over so her mouth was right next to my ear. ”I used to love this song. Now I don't think I'll want to hear it ever again.”
I smiled and nodded. ”The sound of you screaming in labor will be more melodic than this.”
And the rest of the evening was much of the same. Bad renditions of overly popular songs completely butchered by people who'd clearly been lied to about their talent. Julianne and I tried to contain our laughter by burying our faces on each other's shoulders. Carly just looked at us like we were weird.
Nearly two hours later, the sun had disappeared, replaced by the moon and temporary floodlights to illuminate the stage. Mosquitoes were out in full force and the judges were now set to begin their deliberations.
Which meant karaoke.
”You going up this year?” Julianne asked.
”Very funny.”
She s.h.i.+fted on the bleacher next to me. ”If I thought it would force the baby out, I'd go sing anything.”
I put my hand on the small of her back and she released a small, grateful groan. I smiled at her and then took in the surprised look on her face. ”What?”
She pointed at the stage.
Matilda had the mic in her hand and was working with the MC on the karaoke machine.
”Oh, my,” I said, unsure I wanted to hear what might come out of her mouth.
Matilda pointed a finger at the screen and nodded firmly. The MC raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and punched a b.u.t.ton on the keyboard.
Matilda strode to the middle of the stage, hitched up her black sweat pants, which were stretched to their absolute limits, and stared down at her feet, either preparing herself or studying the construction of the stage.
”Isn't this the song from t.i.tanic?” Julianne whispered as the first notes floated out over the crowd. ”Celine Dion?”
”'My Heart Will Go On,'” I said, nodding.
”Oh, my,” Julianne said, clutching my arm, preparing herself.
Matilda's voice wavered with nervousness over the first few lyrics, then settled down, and I think everyone in the crowd was looking around at one another, wondering if they were all hearing the same thing.
Because she was pretty darned good.
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