Paris Behind the stage, in the wardrobe standing in front of a mirror, I tried to fix my bow. A classical song played on a clock radio on the dresser next to the violin. Reggie entered happily.
"How's it going?"
"Good, trying to hang in there."
"Man, look at you, you look joli. That's a little French I learned last night in bed. That means 'great'!" I looked at him, shook my head, and laughed.
"I always look joli! As you've said."
"Yeah, yeah. Look at me, and then look yourself in the mirror."
We both looked in the mirror to compare ourselves.
"Carter," Reggie called. Then he paused.
"I'm listening.' "You look like me when I was your age."
We burst out laughing. Reggie bent over. We held each other's shoulders to laugh our asses off. Meanwhile, the classical song stopped.
"You're listening to RQP 93.9 AM, the English station with classical music. We have breaking news. We have just learned that flight 37 out of Los Angeles, bound for Paris, has crashed. We do not have any further information about this crash. But we will keep you updated throughout the day," the speaker announced.
Not again, my heart cried out. Why me? I stumbled against the wall. It was another horrible moment to fight off.
"Did you hear that?"
"Carter, Carter, calm down." Reggie tried to comfort me. I punched him away, kicking a chair. Amanda ran in.
"What's happened?"
"I repeat. Flight 37, from Los Angeles to Paris, has crashed. We have no further information about this crash," the speaker once again announced.
Amanda was astonished. She was speechless. She shivered. She tried to walk to me but tripped over the dresser.
"Carter, calm down," she whispered, looking for somewhere to sit down. She reached the chair that I had just kicked and sat down.
"Carter! Listen, listen, man. Everything's fine. I believe they are okay. God knows better, believe me," Reggie preached. He had a little cut on his bleeding lips.
"Shut the hell up, Reggie, shut up!" I furiously screamed at him.
I kicked, kicked, and kicked the wall. Then I squatted in the middle of the room.
"It's over, my life has been destroyed."
"Bullshit! Bullshit, man! You full of shit! You are out of your mind... You can't give up again," Reggie yelled at me heatedly.
"I quit. It's all my fault. If I hadn't come here, that would never have happened." I blamed myself.
"I'm not gonna do this contest. I'm sorry," I protested vaguely.
"No, I'm sorry. Too late, Carter, you can't quit now. We gotta do this concert, or else I'll get sued," Amanda replied.
