AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“English?” Luna was surprised that Chi-Chi did not greet her in her native tongue.
“I’m trying it on for size.” Chi-Chi’s face lit up with a big smile.
“How about ‘Buona sera’ since we’re having pizza?” Luna suggested.
“My, we are multilingual now.” Chi-Chi smiled again.
Cullen met up with them in the café. “Should we take one car?”
“I have to drop Wiley off at home, so why don’t you and Chi-Chi follow me there? Chi-Chi can ride with you, and you can bring her back to her car later.”
Cullen’s palms started to sweat as he recalled the conversation from the night before. “Uh, sure.”
“If it is not an inconvenience for you,” Chi-Chi offered.
“No, not at all. I have to come back this way.”
“Are you sure of that?” Chi-Chi asked.
“That I have to come this way? Yeah. Pretty certain. I live a mile from here.” Cullen was trying to add a little humor to the conversation.
Chi-Chi nodded and smiled. “Then I accept.”
Luna averted her eyes to keep from looking at Cullen. The die was cast. Now for the invitation. To dinner. The other one would be up to Chi-Chi.
Cullen and Chi-Chi followed Luna to her house, where she dropped off Wiley. Then she piled into the back seat of Cullen’s vehicle. Cullen seemed a bit nervous, so Luna suggested he turn on some music. “Cruisin’” by Smokey Robinson was playing, and everyone began to sing along.
Chi-Chi shocked both of them with her fine voice.
“Wow. Impressive.” Cullen snapped his head in her direction.
Cullen and Luna stopped singing as Chi-Chi took the second verse, vocalizing like a pro.
When the song ended, Luna hooted and clapped as if she was at a concert. “Oh my goodness! How did we not know you had pipes like that?”
Chi-Chi was trying not to be self-conscious. “It is how I learned to speak English. I was very happy to hear it on a television commercial recently. It is what you call a feel-good song.”
“What else do you have in your repertoire?” Luna asked.
“Almost every Motown song,” Chi-Chi replied.
“Motown, eh?” Cullen asked. “That’s a bit before your time, isn’t it?”
“It was my parents who introduced me to the music. Good music will always stand the test of time. The talent on those records was very different than what is coming out of recording companies today.” Chi-Chi was surprising them with another side of her. “Remember, they did not have the technology at the time. Recording sessions were the test for talent. They could not doctor it.” She let out a big sigh. “I suppose I am not the best consumer for today’s entertainment.”
“Neither am I,” Cullen confessed. “I like music where I can understand the lyrics and which has a melody I can remember.”
“I’m with you on that,” Luna chimed in. “Hit the next song on your playlist.”
Out from the speakers came the perky whistling of Bobby McFerrin singing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
“Oh, I love this song!” Chi-Chi began to sing along. “Ooh, ooh oo-ooh, ooh, oo-ooh.You cannot help but be happy when you sing this. And did you know he is singing all the parts? The bass, the percussion, the background? And he has an album with Yo-Yo Ma.”
“Such a talent,” Cullen added. “It’s in his DNA. His father was an opera singer, the first African-American male to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. He also dubbed the vocals for Sidney Poitier inPorgy & Bess.”
“Really? I thought that was Sidney Poitier singing.” Luna was truly surprised.
“I hate to break it to you, sis, but that wasn’t Audrey Hepburn singing inMy Fair Ladyeither.”
