Page 343 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

A held exhale rushes out of me. “Yeah. So. For anyone who somehow doesn’t know me yet, Hi. I’m Allison Taylor⁠—”

Clapping crashes into the room.

As much as it makes me smile,

it makes me even more nervous.

“Yeah… usually I’m not a speech person. Mostly ‘cause it’s something people only do when they feel like they have to, and I believe in freedom of speech, and the freedom to shut the fuck up.”

Laughter bursts through the room.

I side-eye Raymond.

He’s the only one not smiling.

I nod. “That was a test to gauge the temperature in the room. Good news, ‘fuck’ is funny here.”

I point at Raymond.

“Except for this guy.”

They cackle again,

some with hands over their mouths.

My shoulders relax. “There’s a story behind this duet a lot of you here probably never heard. One that started back in December of ‘87.” I grin into the mic. “My father, Corey Taylor⁠—”

Applause breaks out immediately,

roaring,

loving,

warranted,

and I fall away from the mic,

looking down to fight that warmth creeping in. “Yeah. That’s right.” I point toward the crowd. “C’mon, a little louder so he can hear.”

The cheering explodes, and I have to bite down to keep from throwing up emotion.

“Yeah. Best man I ever knew,” I say as the applause dies away. “He worked as a bartender at this shitty dive off Ludlow, right around the time my mother came to New York from Havana for the holidays. First time in the Big Apple. Biggest dream of her life.”

My gaze drifts to Andrew.

He’s watching from behind the bar,

a small grin stealing his face.

“And during the last week…

“she walked into a bar.

“Sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? Woman walks into a bar…”

I shrug.

“Guess if that’s true,