What Matters Most (12 page)

And even though I don’t hang with Brooke and Amanda as much anymore (although I’m friendly to them), I’m not surprised that they want to put their two cents in as well.

“What’s there to think about?” demanded Brooke after I informed her that I was still weighing the whole thing.

“A lot.” I forced a smile.

“There wouldn’t be for me,” Amanda said. “If Redemption asked me to join up, my bags would be packed within the hour.”

“Don’t worry,” Brooke told her. “Redemption is not asking you to join them. You can barely carry a tune.”

“Thanks. Just the same, I’d go for it. Do you know that Redemption gets to do concerts with Iron Cross? And have you seen those guys? They are hot.”

“I’m aware that they perform with Iron Cross.” I glanced over to where Dominic was waiting for me to join him at the lunch table.

“And did you know that Chloe and Jeremy used to date?” asked Amanda. “He is so dreamy. I can’t believe they broke up.”

Now this is something I didn’t actually know, but I didn’t let on since it could just be gossip.

“Anyway,” continued Brooke, “I just don’t get why this is a hard choice for you, Maya. I mean, you’d be serving the Lord by singing and everything. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that I want to do what God wants me to do.” I wanted to add “and it would be nice if everyone else kept out of it.” But I’d already offended these two (they informed me a while ago) by not hanging with them so much anymore. I told them that part of my “outreach” plan was to share my faith with friends who aren’t involved in church. Of course, they didn’t really believe me. And Amanda reminded me that “darkness and light don’t mix.”

“That’s because if there’s a light,” I told them a few weeks ago at youth group, “the darkness goes away.”

“But that’s not what that scripture means,” Brooke said.

“How do you know?” I challenged.

“I’ll ask Caitlin,” Amanda said then.

I had simply nodded and tried not to appear smug, because I was pretty sure Caitlin agreed with me since she’s the one who pointed this concept out to me in the first place. But I’m glad that
both Amanda and Brooke are meeting with Caitlin—they have been ever since that old lawsuit business went by the wayside.

Now if Amanda and Brooke putting their oars in wasn’t bad enough, it got even worse when Vanessa and Becca chimed in. Naturally, they both think I should go. I’m sure there are two reasons for their enthusiasm—and not spiritual reasons either. Reason number one is Wyatt. Reason number two is Dominic. They think that with me out of the picture, touring the country for an entire year, they will immediately hook up with these two guys. I’m guessing they’re already planning to double-date to the prom.

So there’s another thing. I know it seems kind of shallow and silly, but I would like to go to prom—just once. And I might like to go to some of the other things and to graduate like I saw Kim do last spring. Oh, I know that I won’t be the valedictorian (like her) since I haven’t been in school long enough. But just the satisfaction of putting on that goofy hat and robe and being handed my diploma…well, I would never admit it out loud, but I think it’d be cool.

Cooler than being in a fairly well-known girls’ gospel rock band? I’m not sure. How do you measure something like that?

The only one who seems to think I’d be making a mistake to join Redemption is Wyatt. But then his motives are pretty obvious and suspicious. However, I do wonder what my dad would say. And I’m getting worried that Shannon might find out since this is a small town. But I’m also proceeding with my emancipation
plan. I have a court date in two weeks (not like with a jury and everything, since I simply appear in front of a judge for a legal determination). But my boss’s husband, Robert Bernard, has offered to go with me. Jacqueline already told him what was going on, and he refuses to let me pay him, although I plan to pay him for his legal advice regarding the contract, which he wants to speak to me about tomorrow after school. Hopefully his advice will help me decide. In the meantime I wish everyone else would just keep quiet.

Before I talk to Robert, I plan to talk to my dad. I’m expecting him to call early tomorrow morning. And although I know he probably won’t be very happy to hear that I might be hitting the road as a “professional” musician, I hope he’ll understand. And I hope he’ll give me sound advice and not just some fatherly knee-jerk reaction.

First of all I have to say that my dad didn’t surprise me much when I told him my “good news.”

“Why on earth would you want to do that?” he demanded.

So I tried to explain that it was a huge opportunity.

“But no good can come of three young girls doing music out on the road. It’s a formula for disaster.”

When I tried to explain that we were a Christian band, meaning no drugs, no alcohol, no sex, he just didn’t get it. He honestly thought there was no difference between a Christian band and
the kinds of people he deals with on an ongoing basis. I think he’s jaded.

Finally we agreed to disagree. And he said that he was going to do some research on Redemption and that he planned to talk to some people and that he would get back to me. I almost reminded him that he doesn’t actually have any kind of legal say in my life since he doesn’t have custody of me and since in a couple of weeks I’ll probably be emancipated anyway. Instead, I thanked him and reminded myself that the Bible says kids need to respect their parents. But it can sure be a challenge!

This was made crystal clear to me later in the day. After school it was my turn to visit Marissa, and I wasn’t too surprised to see Shannon there. She called a few days ago to inform me that she was now volunteering at the nursing home. It had been Adam’s idea, and although she hadn’t seemed too thrilled about it, he must’ve convinced her since there she was, wearing one of those not-so-cute nurse jacket things. It was pink and blue with snaps. And not exactly something that Shannon (think designer-obsessed shopaholic) would have picked out for herself. And she had her hair in a ponytail. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her with her hair in a ponytail—well, not unless she was recovering from some wild binge. But to be out in public in a ponytail, well, that was different. It almost gave me hope.

But my hope was short-lived when I witnessed Shannon being unkind to one of the residents. She didn’t know I was watching. It was in the activity room, and she was trying to get an old woman
named Lillian to do something—I have no idea what—but Lillian wasn’t interested. Her feet were planted on the floor, and Shannon was trying to maneuver the wheelchair. Finally Shannon gave the wheelchair such a jerk that poor old Lillian almost took a dive. It must’ve scared her too, because she quit dragging her feet and allowed Shannon to wheel her from the room. But Lillian was crying. And that just broke my heart.

“What’s wrong?” I joined them, walking alongside Lillian. “Why are you so sad?”

But Lillian wasn’t talking now.

“Lillian is a stubborn woman,” Shannon said like Lillian wasn’t listening, and maybe she wasn’t. “But I showed her who’s boss.”

“Who
is
boss?” I asked Shannon.

She looked slightly stumped now.

“I mean, the residents here are the ones who pay the bills, right? Shouldn’t they be boss?”

“Oh, Maya.” Shannon’s voice grew condescending. “You can’t let the monkeys run the zoo.”

And since I had no response to that, or at least nothing I wanted to say in front of anyone, I headed on to Marissa’s room.

I decided it was time to tell Marissa that I was considering joining Chloe’s band. I figured she might need a little heads-up, especially if it somehow leaked to her that this was a possibility. So I quickly told her about the audition and how I might actually do this, and she seemed concerned.

“Chloe…Allie…Laura…and you?”

“No,” I told her. “Laura isn’t part of the band now.”

“Why?”

I explained about school, and then she actually remembered this and nodded. “Yeah. Laura is in college,” she said.

I smiled at her. “You’re really getting better, aren’t you?”

She got a frustrated expression. “Slow. I am so slow.”

This was a sign that she was now in Level 7. The good news was that she could do more for herself. The bad news was that she was more aware of her impaired abilities and would get frustrated more easily. I suppose it kind of felt like one step forward and two steps back to her.

“You might feel like you’re slow,” I told her, “but you’re actually becoming faster.”

“Not fast enough.”

“But you get to go home soon, right?”

She scrunched her forehead like she was trying to remember.

“I think I heard you get to go home this weekend.”

“This weekend,” she parroted. “Yes. This weekend.”

I was tempted to mention the fund-raiser on Friday, but I didn’t want to get her hopes up. The last time I mentioned the concert to her dad (without saying it was a fund-raiser), he had been cautious. The idea of taking her out is probably intimidating. Even though she can get around without the wheelchair, she’s not that strong, and her balance is questionable. Still, I’m hoping and praying they’ll both come.

“Shannon is mean,” Marissa said suddenly.

“Really?” I waited.

“She pushes me.”

“How?” I hoped she’d elaborate, because if Shannon was being abusive, which would’ve surprised me if I hadn’t just seen her bossing Lillian, I wanted to know. And I’d have no problem informing Marissa’s dad either.

“She pushes me…to do things…myself.”

I considered this. “You mean like getting dressed and things like that?”

“Yes.” Marissa had a defiant look now. “She’s mean. She pushes me.”

“Some kind of pushing is good,” I told her. “I mean, the kind that encourages us to do new things and to grow and get better. Like playing your recorder. Have you been doing it?”

Marissa frowned. “They took it away.”

“Who took it?”

“The nurse.”

“Why?”

“Too much noise. She said too much noise.”

“Oh.” I nodded. I hadn’t even thought about that. I suppose it would sound noisy to some of the residents. “Well, you can practice it at home.”

“Home.” She smiled now. “I want to go home.”

“And how do you feel about Shannon being there to help you?”

Marissa looked unsure.

“Are you worried she’ll be mean?”

She nodded slightly.

“And that she’ll push you too hard?”

She nodded again.

“But you’ll tell your dad, won’t you?”

Now she looked confused.

“If Shannon is mean, Marissa, you have to tell your dad the truth.”

She just sat there, and I wasn’t sure if she actually understood me, but finally she nodded again. “I will tell.”

“And if you can’t tell your dad, you can tell me,” I said suddenly.

“I will tell you.”

But then I realized that I might not always be around for her to tell. I might be on tour. But maybe someone else would be there for her. Maybe I could talk to Caitlin about it. And I decided I’d better talk to Marissa’s dad too.

We played video games until four, and then I told Marissa I had to go talk to my lawyer. To my surprise she seemed to get this.

“About Brooke?”

“No, but you’re right. I did talk to my lawyer about Brooke. But that was last summer. This is something different. Something to do with the music business.” I didn’t want to go into much detail, so I just told her good-bye and that I hoped to see her again soon. “Maybe I’ll see you in your house next time,” I said as I left. I think that made her feel better.

Then I swung by Robert’s law firm, and before long he was telling me the concerns he had about the contract. “A year seems
like a long time to commit to, Maya. Especially when you’re only sixteen.”

“Almost seventeen.”

“Right. But just the same, a lot can happen in a year. For instance, what if you find you’re incompatible with one of the band members? What then?”

“Is there a way to change the contract?”

“That’s what I’m recommending. I think you should suggest a three-month trial, just to make sure you’re happy with the situation.”

“Yes,” I said eagerly. “That sounds good to me too. Three months is a pretty long time to figure out if we really get along or not.”

“And that will protect you from any financial risk,” he pointed out. “Otherwise, if you broke your one-year contract, they could hold you liable for financial losses due to canceled concerts or record deals.”

“I hadn’t really considered that.”

“I’ll rewrite this contract to include the probationary period, with a full one-year contract to be renegotiated three months after signing. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

“Totally.”

“Great. I should have it ready for you by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thanks.”

“So, shall I assume this means you’re going to join the band?” He made a face. “Because Jacqueline is not going to be happy.
She already told me she doesn’t want to lose you. She might even blame me for helping you now.”

I had to laugh. “Oh, Jackie will be fine without me. I’m only working about ten hours a week anyway.”

“Just the same, she likes having you around.” He winked. “But I don’t blame you for taking this opportunity. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

“That is unless we all decide we hate each other.”

“In that case you’ll be glad we added the probation clause.”

“Absolutely.”

And I can’t even express what a relief it is to have that part of the contract changed. Not that I’ve made up my mind yet. But I do tend to be leaning that way. I just hope my dad’s not too disappointed in me. Or maybe I’ll just prove him wrong.

So anyway, I was coming out of the law office when I saw Marissa’s dad heading for the coffee shop next door. “Hey, Mr. Phillips,” I said. “Taking a break?”

He paused by the door. “No doughnut jokes, okay?”

“Right.”

“And remember, you’re supposed to call me Adam now.”

“Have you got a minute, Adam?”

“Sure, want to join me for a cup of joe?”

I agreed, and soon we were seated at a table, and I just sat there, trying to decide where to begin.