She taps her cane three more times whilst looking Viv straight in the eye. ‘I notice you are not denying this. Have you anything to say?’
‘Each girl for herself. This is business, it ain’t personal.’ Vivicious shrugs.
‘All I need to hear. Barry, Gary, get her out of here. Get her out for good and I will go and explain to the judges why she won’t be performing tonight.’ Jinx nods smugly at Viv as Gary and Barry each take an arm.
‘I’ll pack your things and leave them in the gutter,’ Lickety says as her fellow contestant is dragged out. ‘Right next to you.’
‘Oh, wait. No!’ Jinx shouts. ‘She’s my most serious competition.’ Cass bursts out laughing.
‘Well, thank you very much.’ Meryl purses her lips.
‘Shit, bitch,’ Oestregem cackles and slams her hand down so hard on her thigh the dressing table she is sat at jiggles.
‘I need to beat her. Phyllis, please. I need to win because I’m the best, not have it hanging over me that I only won because I didn’t compete against Vivicious.’
‘Really?’ Phyllis looks at Jinx’s face. ‘Thisisyour year –’she turns to Ann, who is making aseriously?face ‘– and you know it.’ Turning back to Jinx, she continues, ‘It was always going to be. You have come so far this last year. You are the stand-out best, whether she’s here or not.’ The room fills with murmurs of agreement and I love this place for exactly that. Phyllis is right, this is a place to raise people up, support them, and everyone in this room was doing exactly that, knowing how much this year means to Jinxy and how much work she has put in.
‘Please.’
‘Right, Barry, Gary, bring her back!’ Phyllis hurls the words over her shoulder and the two men march backwards with their arms still under Vivicious’ armpits, stopping and gently dropping her into the chair she had been assigned for make-up.
Phyllis bends down, gets very close to her face. ‘Do your very best to win. Do you understand me? Do your very best. But first you can help everyone find their shit. Everything. Clear?’
‘Yes. Although I don’t need to try that hard, look at them...’ ‘Them’ all start to hiss.
‘And you’re on first so you’ve got seven minutes, seven, to find everything and sort that out.’ Phyllis uses the tip of her cane to point to the ponytail, which is more than a little messy now. ‘Um... Ann, I’ll move you to second to last cos it looks like you still have a lot to do. Is that all right, everyone?’
Ann, who is in a bodysuit with a basket-weave structure around her torso and not much else, looks around to check everyone is happy and then gives Phyllis a great big hug – or as much as the basket will allow. Phyllis bats her off as if she is an insect and the room erupts in laughter.
‘Are you okay?’ I ask Jinx as the commotion dissipates and Vivicious has handed back some earrings, three lipsticks, the ukulele and a bottle of Hennessy.
‘Darling I am fine and dandy.’ She grins at me as she takes my lipstick back from Viv and tuts at her loudly. ‘Now get out the front there and get that crowd ready!’
Chapter Forty-One
Lily
The three of us have stood and watched Viv, who is going to take some beating. She starts with ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ and then segues into ‘I Want You Back’,finishing with ‘Good Times’. She is an absolute assassin when it comes to lip-syncing and her dance skills are off the scale. She is flipping herself here, there and everywhere, can power-slide like a rockstar, and the way she flips her long, long legs around a pole is terrifying. She knows exactly what tracks to choose to please an audience and get them participating. She is hugely impressive and the judges think so too, with her scoring a 9, an 8 and an 8. A daunting first act and not one I’d want to follow. However, despite Phyllis clapping by the side of the stage, Vivicious still shot daggers at her as she sashayed back down the steps.
She is followed by TwinkiBelle, dressed as a record to pay testament to the rich musical tradition of Bristol. OestreGem is a drag queen in the old tradition and belts out a Tina Turner medley with incredibly strong vocals and a whole lot of comedy in her delivery. Next up is Adore, who sings a song with her ukulele that I haven’t heard before and misses the mark a little bit. Cass looks at me and grimaces but in a sympathetic kind of a way. I nod and give Adore a congratulatory hug as she comes down the stage steps. It takes courage to perform, whatever the outcome.
During a break for everyone to grab some drinks, Cass looks across at me. ‘So, I think I need a wee.’
Jay looks at her slightly askance, but I smirk.
‘So do I, strangely,’ I reply. Jay looks at both of us and shakes his head.
‘What? You want us to wee on the floor?’ Cass says combatively in that way that only siblings can.
‘Fine. See you in a bit.’ Jay turns to go and speak to some of the members of the community choir and I follow Cass to the ladies. I am flattered that maybe she wants to talk to me about Jasmine and slightly terrified that she may instead want to speak about her brother.
‘So...’ Cassie calls through the stall. I giggle – I can’t help it. I never really had that whole hanging out and chatting in the loos at school thing.
‘So, I know your brother is made up that you’re here tonight and by the look of those bags you brought in, you’ll be staying with him for a bit.’ I finish the sentence for her.
‘Yeah, I think so,’ she says as I hear the pull of the loo roll. ‘Not for ever but for the foreseeable.’
‘How you feeling about that?’ I ask. It kind of just slips out and I am glad that the wall is separating us otherwise this would feel a bit like a session.
