Soulful Strut (5 page)

“I’m guessing she paid up.” Monette brushed
her hair back into place and studied her face in the mirror
again.

“Damn straight. I ain’t having my check
docked cause of some wannabe baby player. I’m gonna rest my eyes
for a minute before I clean up.” Candi sank down on the bed with
her eyes closed.

Monette took out a legal pad with notes for
her next book. She tried to concentrate, but couldn’t. So she
arranged her belongings on the dresser top. After that she tried to
read material on the radio station that wanted her to host a show.
Her thoughts kept whirling around all the decisions she had to
make.

“Heard you did good at that workshop,” Candi
mumbled, her eyes still closed.

“Word travels fast around here. You were back
in this place maybe ten minutes or so? Dang.” Monette sat down at
the small desk set against one wall.

“Twenty minutes. You know how the grapevine
works, girl. Somebody hears you talking out in the hallway, tells
the next person. In a flash the whole house has the details.
Anyway, congratulations. I knew you would shine.” Candi shifted to
get more comfortable.

“Yeah. Glad everybody is so sure I can
perform,” Monette mumbled.

“Uh-huh. Heard you met fine-ass Jayson Odum,
too. Wish I could get some of that. But he’s too normal for me.”
Candi lapsed back into their prison slang for people who hadn’t
been into street life.

Monette stopped fiddling with the ink pen in
her hand. “What’s up with him?”

“Nice guy finishes first. Comes from a good
family, so they say. Kinda slow, but like I said, he is fine.”

“Slow?” Monette knew Candi meant he didn’t
party hard, but she wanted to keep more details coming.

“You know the type. He works long hours,
doesn’t hang at the clubs, and he’s a college boy.” Candi rose and
rested on one elbow as she gazed at Monette with a crooked smile.
“I hear you two was lookin’ each other over. Now you’re pumpin’ me
for the 411 on him.”

“I’m making conversation, alright?” Monette
laughed and shrugged. “Okay, and he is superfine, like you
said.”

“Exactly. More than one woman around here has
tried, girl. He’s strictly into sorority girls that he can take
home to the folks, if you ask me.” Candi stood and stretched.

“You don’t have to tell me. Still, I like
checkin’ out the goods. Umph, umph, umph.” Monette shook her
head.

“And he’s got a lot of goods to check out.
Lawd, Lawd, Lawd. Trust me, girl. Knowing you as I do, you’d be
bored after the first thrill. You need danger to go with a hot
body. Like me and the rest of us around here.” Candi nodded.

“Yeah. Look what it got us.”

“A lot of fun times and good sex?” Candi let
out a crude laugh. “I’m goin’ to hit the showers. Let’s watch Jerry
Springer later tonight. If we act all into it, Sherrial doesn’t
keep us too long at the evening group counseling.”

“Nah. I need to work on this book proposal.
Tomorrow I meet with the radio station manager, too.” Monette had
no taste for sleaze and chair-slinging, angry love triangles.

“Umph, okay.” Candi seemed about to say more.
Instead she flipped a hand and headed out of the bedroom.

Monette took out a copy of her book. Her
unsmiling photo on the book jacket stared back at her. Ticket Out
was a hot seller because Monette talked candidly about her
mistakes, including those with men. How she’d landed in prison made
her story unique, but ninety-nine percent of the other inmates
she’d met had suffered at the hands of some man.

Monette thought about her past and some of
what she’d heard at the workshops that day. She wanted more than
just trading on notoriety. Monette wanted to do something more with
her life, something to make her kids proud for once. Shoving the
book into a drawer, Monette wrote down ideas for the radio talk
show. Time for a change in more ways than one.

***

The next morning Monette arrived at the radio
station thirty minutes early for her ten o’clock appointment with
Chaz Franklin. After giving her name to the receptionist, Monette
took time to gaze at photos of on-air personalities. Glossy,
professional publicity photos stared back at her. Attractive young
faces smiled with confidence and made Monette wonder if she’d made
the right decision. Chaz had taken the unusual step of visiting her
in prison to offer her a contract as a talk-show host. The
sensational nature of the circumstances surrounding her parole had
helped.

Jerry Hines, Winn Barron’s former
investigator, had finally supported Monette’s story after years of
silence. After being charged with a crime, Hines had confessed that
Barron had framed Monette in retaliation after she’d ended their
affair. That Winn Barron had become Louisiana’s attorney general
and came from a wealthy old money family had ensured that Monette’s
story would go national. Before it was over, Barron had been forced
to resign. Unfortunately, no one else had backed Hines’s account.
Still, the governor had approved Monette’s parole, mostly to save
Barron’s family more embarrassment. Lies, sex and politics—lurid
details that made her story one juicy tabloid headline after
another. As Monette looked at the smooth faces on the wall, she
suddenly felt like damaged goods. Sure, she’d been framed, but
Monette had been guilty of making a lot of foolish choices. Before
she could give in to the urge to run, the station manager came into
the lobby.

“Welcome to KTQL FM 106, Monette.” Chaz
strode out dressed in an impeccable olive green suit. He held out
both arms as though Monette were his long-lost superstar returned
home.

“Hi, Chaz. Hope I didn’t mess up your
schedule by arriving early. The bus system here is better than I
thought.” Monette shook his hand.

“No indeed. Come on and I’ll show you
around.”

Chaz gave her a tour for twenty minutes. KTQL
shared the studios with three other stations. Monette visited the
country music format, a gospel station and a classic rock show. All
three had their own call letters. She met a dizzying number of
staff members. Still, Monette had learned to remember faces and
names in prison, where knowing the players had been a survival
skill. In no time she had built a mental file of who had done what.
Chaz led her to a sound studio. A man smiled as they entered the
room. He worked a control panel like a real expert.

“Last but not least, let me introduce you to
Irvin Halston, your producer. And that lovely young lady is Nikolya
Lands.” Chaz pointed through a glass wall to a female disc jockey
on the air. The woman waved to them and kept talking into the
microphone.

“Nice to meet you, Monette. Look forward to
working with you.” Irvin shook hands with Monette, and then went
back to the controls.

Another man stuck his head in the door.
“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Franklin. You have a video call coming in
from Los Angeles.”

“Right, right. That must be Magic Johnson’s
people. I’m on my way.” Chaz slapped his hands together. “Irvin
will walk you through the details of the technical side. Nikolya
will give you a short intro. You know, let the listeners know that
your show will start Monday.”

“What?” Monette grabbed his sleeve when he
took a step toward the door.

“You’re in good hands. I know you’ll be
fantastic. Take care of her, Irvin.” Chaz patted her hand, worked
his way free, and was out the door in a second.

“What?” Monette turned to Irvin with her
mouth hanging open.

Irvin smiled reassurance back at her. “You’ll
do fine. Nikki is a pro.”

“I’m not ready. Monday. Today is Wednesday. I
have five days to do a show? Damn.” Monette sat down hard in a
chair and pressed a hand to her forehead.

As if answering a signal, the young woman
came through the door separating the two studios. “Hi, Monette. I’m
thrilled to meet you. Got your book and can’t put it down.” “Hi,”
Monette managed in a dazed tone.

“We are all so excited about your show.”
Nikki put a hand on Monette’s arm and lifted her from the chair.
She gently steered her through the door to the other studio.

Before Monette knew it, she was sitting down
again next to Nikki. A microphone that seemed to grow until it was
the size of a watermelon loomed in front of Monette’s face. She
blinked at her surroundings, and then looked up to see Irvin give
her a thumbs-up to encourage her.

“I didn’t know I’d be on air today. I’m not
ready.” Monette thought ahead to Monday. She wasn’t ready for that
either. Icy waves of fear sent shivers down her spine.

“Don’t you worry, girl. This is just you and
me talking. I’m going to introduce you, say a few words, and it
will be over. After I do your spot my show ends. Then we can
brainstorm your first show.” Nikki kept an eye on Irvin as she
spoke. She put on a headset and adjusted her microphone as the
commercial faded. “Just relax. Here we go.”

Monette swallowed past the bone-dry,
sandpaper feeling in her throat. “Okay.”

Nikki gave her one last smile, then started
talking. ‘That’s right everybody. Check out Hope’s House of Unisex
Style. You wanna look good for the weekend, right? You better
believe it. Okay good people, we’ve got a special treat for you.
Best-selling author Monette Victor has joined the KTQL team. That’s
right. Monette has her own hot new show starting Monday. Welcome,
Monette. We’re excited to have you here.”

When Nikki winked at her, something inside
Monette clicked. Her gift for talking her way out of tight spots
kicked in. ‘Thanks, Nikki. I’m excited to work with a group of
talented people.”

“Okay, so Monday morning at nine o’clock
you’re going to debut your talk show right here. From what I hear,
you’ve got some hot topics coming up. Just what we need in the
city, somebody to educate and illuminate. Tell us more.” Nikolya
gestured that Monette should keep it going.

“Well, uh, I’m going to talk about real
problems that affects real people. We’re not going to sugarcoat
anything, nothing but the real deal. ’Course we’ll have fun, too.
I’m going to mix it up for y’all.” Monette rolled out a line of
bull, the same way she had when trying to wriggle out of
trouble.

“Can you give us a sneak preview of what’s to
come?” Nikki gestured again that Monette should continue.

“Since I’m so notorious, I’m going to talk
about how I ended up on the wrong side of the law. I’ll talk about
life on the inside of a women’s prison. Who knows? I might even
share some tidbits that didn’t make it into my book, Ticket Out!'
Monette wasn’t sure what she was saying, but it sounded good.

“Intriguing indeed. I’m gonna be listening in
for sure. Okay y’all, tune in to the hottest new ticket in town.
Monette Victor’s talk show starts Monday nine o’clock a.m. on the
FM. That’s right, FM 106. Check it out. That’s all for me, good
people. I’m gonna get outta here and let my man Shawn Dell slide
behind the microphone. Until next time be safe, take care and be
cool.”

When music played, Monette let out a long
sigh. “Whew.”

“You did great, girl. I can’t wait to hear
that first show.” Nikki draped an arm around Monette’s shoulders as
they left the studio.

“Thanks. Now all I have to do is deliver on
those big words.” Monette shook her head. Monday seemed far off
right at the moment. She didn’t feel nervous, but maybe the
adrenaline rush of thinking on her feet hadn’t worn off.

“Hey, you must have met a lot of interesting
people inside and outside of prison. I’m sure you can come up with
guests.”

“Uh-oh. Guests. I’ll need to line up guests.”
Monette’s rush came to a screeching halt. “By Monday.”

“Chaz probably didn’t give you much notice.
The man moves at the speed of light. Don’t worry. I’ll bet you’ve
got more resources than you think. Here is the office. We share it
with two other disc jockeys. They both work overnight shifts.”
Nikki led Monette to a large room with four desks and a long table.
“You can use my phone to network if you want. I’m going to get some
coffee. Want some?”

“I can tell we’re going to be good friends,
Nikki. I would love a cup. And thanks for helping out in there.”
Monette grinned at her with affection.

“No problem. Just settle in. Chaz will
probably sprint in here any sec.”

Monette had a flash of inspiration. She dug
Jim’s business card out of her purse and dialed his office. Her
luck held. Jim’s secretary said he was in and could talk to her.
After a few minutes of chitchat, Monette invited him to be her
first guest. Jim hesitated, and then asked her to hold on while he
checked his schedule. Monette spent the next two minutes praying.
When he came on the line again Jim said he was available. She then
spent another two minutes thanking him profusely. Just as Monette
hung up, Nikki came back carrying two large black mugs with the
KTQL logo on them.

“Here we go. Brought sugars and cream, too.”
Nikki put the mugs down and took out the small packets from her
pants pocket “Found a guest?”

“As a matter of fact I have.” Monette started
to say more when Chaz walked in.

“Irvin says you were fab on air. Knew you
would be. Listen, sponsors are lining up for your show. Does my
heart good to hear about ad spots being sold. In fact, you can meet
one of your sponsors right now. Hey, Darlene. You finished your
meeting with our new account?” he called down the hall to someone.
“Excellent.”

Monette wasn’t sure she could take any more
of Chaz’s surprises. She drank coffee for fortification and
prepared to memorize another face and name. When the tall dark man
appeared next to Chaz, Monette was definitely pleasantly surprised.
Jayson turned on his radiant smile and brightened her day more than
a ray of sunshine ever could. Dressed in a crisp white shirt and
charcoal gray slacks, Jayson took the phrase “business casual” to a
stunning new level.