Free Growl Power! by Deborah Gregory

India. Now we found out that his car has been spotted on Sycamore Road, but we don’t know anybody who lives over there.”
    “Don’t you worry, Aqua,” Galleria says confidently. “When we get there, and once we take care of our business, we’re gonna put our Cheetah Girl heads together and get to the bottom of this.”
    Angie talks to Galleria for a few minutes, and then we
finally
sit down to eat breakfast. I feel so overwhelmed by everything that is happening that I don’t know if I should cry or laugh. I know we’re only singing one song in the benefit, but it’s a
big
deal. And I know Uncle Skeeter is probably okay, but that is a big deal too. Please God, help us through this.
    Ma gets up from the table and puts the phone in the living room. “I don’t want to hear another phone ring all day!” she says.
    “Amen to that!” Angie and I say together.

Chapter
9
    W e’re disappointed Ms. Dorothea can’t come down with Galleria, Chanel, and Dorinda to Houston. Galleria, on the other hand, is tickled silly to be away from her mother.
    “Free at last!” she screams, practically jumping on top of me when we meet her at the airport.
    “Have you seen Karma’s Children yet?” Chanel asks.
    “No, we haven’t,” I assure her. “You’ll be the first to know when they hit Kemah Boardwalk—you and everybody else!”
    “Girls, I hope you don’t mind, but we’re gonna have to take you right over to rehearsal first,” Ma informs our friends.
    “That’s cool-io with us,” Dorinda says.
    Ma chuckles, “You girls have such a cute way of talking!”
    “That’s how we flow in the Big Apple!” Galleria shouts.
    “
Gracias pooches
, for letting us come stay with you,” Chanel says, making Ma chuckle some more.
    “You’re quite welcome. I haven’t seen my girls this excited before—about
anything
!”
    Angie and I start talking a mile a minute about everything that has happened so far. Dorinda is especially keen on hearing about Fish ’N’ Chips.
    “You actually got them on the bill with us?” she asks, surprised.
    “Well, hopefully we did!” I say. “You should have seen the committee’s faces when we sang ‘It’s Raining Benjamins.’ At first, we thought we picked the wrong song—”
    “Hold up,” says a breathless Galleria. “You told them we’re gonna sing ‘It’s Raining Benjamins’?”
    “Why, yes,” I say, flustered.
    “Aqua, you can’t make those kind of decisions without us!” Galleria says, getting agitated. “
I’m
the one—I mean,
we
decide
together
what numbers we’re going to perform.”
    Everybody gets real quiet. Now I know exactly how Chanel feels when Galleria rags on her!
    “Well, what’s done is done,” Galleria huffs, giving up for once. Thank gooseness.
    “Ooh, look at all the water!” Dorinda coos as we pull up to Kemah’s Boardwalk.
    “This is Galveston Bay,” Angie says proudly. “You should see it in the spring when all the flowers are in full bloom—it almost looks like a tropical paradise.”
    “Word. I
feel
like I’m in paradise,” Dorinda chuckles.
    “Y’all are staying for the rest of the holiday weekend, aren’t you?” Ma asks, like she’s not taking no for an answer.
    “Yeah!!!” Galleria, Chanel, and Dorinda say in unison. Angie and I smile at each other. Who woulda thought
we
would be showing
them
the time of their lives?
    “Here we are,” Angie says, as we pull into the parking lot of the Crabcake Lounge.
    “This is so dope,” Dorinda says, marveling at everything. Walking through the parking lot, we pass a group of people wearing cowboy hats, fringed jackets, and boots. “Word, look at their outfits!”
    “You know the rodeo is real big in Houston,” I explain to the New York Cheetah Girls. “Everybody has at least one cowboy hat and pair of boots.”
    “Well, howdy doody, I’m diggin’ it,” Galleria says, tipping an imaginary hat to the ten-gallon cowboy hoofers, who are staring at us like we’re the main