a good idea,” he said quietly, “but maybe you can sing with a local band, and see where that leads.” She had a pretty voice, but he didn’t think she would wind up a big star, and she might get discouraged quickly. It was his fondest hope.
“Thank you, Dad,” she said, with an evil look at her mother, who understood nothing in her opinion, and she left the house shortly after to meet up with friends. None of the people she hung out with were interested in an education, they had big dreams that her parents thought weren’t likely to go anywhere, nor would Camille’s. What she really needed to do was stop dreaming of a career in show business, and grow up, but there was no sign of that yet.
“I think you’re making a huge mistake encouraging her,” Eleanor said unhappily, but she understood why he wanted to try.
“What choice do we have? Imagine if she runs away. She’s a stubborn girl.”
Eleanor didn’t know what else to say. They were at their wits’ end. Discipline didn’t work with her, cajoling, compromising, making deals, threatening her. Camille was determined to do what she wanted, and cared nothing for her parents’ wishes or concerns. In her mind, they were her enemies.
She managed to graduate from high school a few weeks later, by the skin of her teeth, tossed her diploma in the garbage immediately after the ceremony, and sang with a band she had known for a few weeks in a sleazy bar downtown, and a friend of the lead singer came by and heard her, and needed a girl to fill in in the chorus of his band. They were going to Vegas in a week’s time to open for a bigger band. It was the opportunity Camille had been waiting for, and the one her parents had dreaded. She told them the next day. They hated the idea, but she didn’t ask their permission. She told them what she was going to do, and the singer who had hired her for his band said they were going to make an album and were negotiating for a tour. If they kept her on, she’d be traveling around the country with them for three months if she was any good and they got the tour.
Eleanor felt sick thinking about it, but they reluctantly agreed. They told her they wanted to hear from her regularly, and reminded her that they hadn’t agreed to the tour, only to a brief stint in Las Vegas. She laughed at them. As far as she was concerned she was on her way. They were going to be cutting an album in Vegas while they were there, and she hoped to be on it. It was everything she had dreamed of for years.
She left two days later and drove to Las Vegas with the band. Alex and Eleanor had their hearts in their mouths when she left. The lead singer picked her up at the house. He was cocky and arrogant and good looking, in jeans, a T-shirt, and a black leather vest. He carried Camille’s bag to the car, and said nothing to her parents, as though they didn’t exist. Camille reluctantly hugged her parents before she got in the car, and thanked her father for letting her go. The singer, named Flash Storm, laughed when she said it.
“What are you? A baby? Your parents let you go? You’re eighteen, aren’t you?” She nodded, and looked like a child again to Alex and Eleanor, she was somewhat cowed by the leader of the band, who looked unsavory to them, with slicked down hair, and a cigarette behind his ear. “I hire women, not children. Remember that,” he said and got in the car. She slipped in beside him and they drove off, and as soon as they were out of sight, Eleanor burst into tears.
“He’ll ruin her,” she said, as Alex pulled her onto his lap in the wheelchair so he could hold her.
“We just have to hope she gets tired of it quickly,” he said, praying he had done the right thing.
Chapter 13
They hardly heard from Camille once she left for Las Vegas. She had called to tell them the phone number of the house where she was staying with the band, but when they tried to call her, no one ever answered. Eventually they spoke to a few of the band members, who lived at the house too, and they promised to