Free Fated Memories by Joan Carney Page A

and whistles several people hurried forward to put their names on the list. Without the music, the decibel level decreased to a near normal level and only the talking and laughing of people having a good time lingered. Maggie and Simon had their heads together in a private moment. Not wanting to interrupt, Kitty excused herself to the ladies’ room.
    “Hurry back, Kit, don't be too long.”
    “Okay, don't get excited, I'm only going to the ladies’ room.”
    “Yeah, but hurry back.” Maggie’s eyes were wide and pleading as she jiggled in her seat.
    Jeez, is she that afraid of being alone with him? He’d impressed Kitty as weird, but not dangerous. She had planned to give them some private time, but she’d come back sooner if she could get through this damn crowd.
    As Kitty made her way back she noticed Maggie craning her neck watching for her. Something made her very nervous. Kitty wished Simon would take a break so she could get Maggie alone and find out what the hell it was.
    The decibel level had dropped now except for a few laughs and cheers as this poor half-drunk guy onstage sang this comedic version of The Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps”. Kitty admired his nerve and self-confidence to even get onstage, drunk or not. She clapped and cheered the same as everyone else when he finished. But she was floored when the MC called out, “Okay, thanks Alan, next up we have Maggie and Kitty singing “Wannabe.” Let's give a big O’Malley’s cheer for Maggie and Kitty!” The room erupted with shouts and chants of “Magg-ie, Kitt-y, Magg-ie, Kitt-y.” Kitty broke out in a sweat as the walls began to close in on her.
    “Lucy!” She accused her, “You're freakin’ kidding me! Tell me you didn't do this.”
    “Lucy?” Simon did a double take when he heard Kitty call her that, but Maggie impatiently waved him away.
    “I knew that if I’d asked you first, you would’ve said no, and then you’d have missed out on all the fun.” Kitty couldn’t tell if Maggie's face had turned red or if she was just seeing red. 
    Simon waved his arms pointing to them and shouted, “Here they are, over here.”
    The crowd practically carried them up to the stage. “Listen, you can kill me when we get home,” Maggie murmured. “Right now everyone's expecting us to sing, so let's just go with it.”
    Kitty’s anger now turned to fear. “Maggie, you know when I’m nervous I have a tendency to lose my balance. What if I fall on my face on stage? I’ll be mortified.”
    “Oh honey, don't worry. It’s just for fun. Look around, everyone’s so drunk they couldn't care less how we sound, and I specially chose “Wannabe” because we did it at Christmas and I knew you were comfortable with it. Remember how you fought with those men at the old house? What did you do to gather your courage then?”
    Kitty considered that for a second and, as the music started, she squared herself up as though getting ready for a fight. Which, in a sense she was; only the fight was with her own fears. A few seconds into the song she understood Maggie’s point. No one was listening at all because they sucked and still the crowd yelled and cheered them on like rock stars. Her heart thumped in time to the music, her arms waved with abandon, and she smiled so wide it hurt. But she didn’t care. They strutted back and forth across the stage as if they had rehearsed and performed the song a dozen times. The most remarkable thing to Kitty was that she stayed on her feet the whole time!
    No drug in the world could have duplicated the high she experienced as she left that stage. She could've conquered this world and the next single-handed, outrun a speeding bullet, leapt tall buildings in a single bound. Superman had nothing on her.
    “Did you see that? Did you see us?” Maggie hugged Simon so hard Kitty thought she'd break his ribs.
    “Of course I saw it. You girls were awesome.”
    Kitty started to raise her hand for the waitress, but she was