Page 34 of Justice for Daesha

“Yeah. She is,” Amos said, agreeing. “That’s my girlfriend.”

“Then you’re a lucky sumbitch, buddy. I don’t care if you have money?you’re getting a drink on the house for managing to catch that beautiful woman.” An on-the-rocks glass with two fingers of lovely amber liquid appeared in front of Amos, and he grinned. Boy, the evening was turning out to be quite an eye-opener.

When they finished the song, there was clapping, screaming, and whistling all over the bar. She bowed, but not before bowing to the band, and they all nodded to her. “You guys having fun tonight?” she yelled into the mic to a chorus of “hell yeahs” and “fuck yeahs.” “We’re LimestoneLegends. Lemme introduce you to the guys. Over here on the bass guitar is Gary Smothers. He’s one fucking amazing bassist. Right here in the house is his wife, Beth.” Daesha yelled, “Raise your hand, Beth!”

A younger woman in red leather threw up her hands and yelled, “WOOO!”

“There she is, folks. When you get a chance, go by and offer her your condolences, and ask her how an ugly motherfucker like Gary managed to get a babe like her!” The whole bar laughed. “And over here, on rhythm guitar, is BarryGalloway. Don’t get too close to him. He’ll lean over you and tell you to open your mouth.” A bunch of people in the bar laughed. “He’s a dental hygienist by day. And back here on keyboards is the Korg wizard, RockyPenny! Rocky’s got a heavy hand from all that pounding he does all day with a hammer in his hand.” Amos took it to mean he was a carpenter. “Back here is our best drummer, MarcusColby! Well, okay, he’s our only drummer! But if you’ve got a body to hide and you want to give them some concrete shoes for Christmas, Marcus is your man.” The drummer twirled a stick in the air and pounded outBadda-rump-bump-CHING!

Somebody in the back screamed, “WOOOO!” and Amos laughed.

“And here, right here, on this stage, is one of the finest guitarists I’ve ever met, Mr.Greg Wiley!” People screamed and clapped, and Amos wondered if they knew him. “I see his posse has followed him here tonight. Glad y’all could come,” Daesha said, pointing around the room. Apparently the guy had a following. “Greg’s a magician. Did y’all know that?” The room laughed and people shook their heads. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He can make a beer completely disappear, folks! Bottle and all! But watch him. He likes to take people’s money.” Ah, yeah. She’d told Amos there was a banker in the band. That must’ve been him.

“And me? I’m DaeshaWilkerson, and my superpower is teaching grownups to walk without falling over. True story. We’re glad y’all have come out tonight, and we’re going to try to give you a good time without breaking anybody in half, so let’s rock ‘n roll!”

What commenced from that point was something Amos would never forget. Daesha’s voice ground through Audioslave’s “Set It Off,” explicit lyrics and all. In minutes, she was singing a BonJovi ballad, and that was followed by R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion,” “Under the Bridge” by the RedHot Chili Peppers, and PearlJam’s “Jeremy.” At that point, she yelled, “Are y’all havin’ a good time?” and the bar exploded with screaming and cheering. “I’m gonna give Gary the mic and we’re gonna hit some Metallica. That okay with you guys?” More screaming.

To Amos’s surprise, Daesha donned a guitar and away they went with Gary singing lead. Daesha skipped over to where Greg was standing and they started to play. There was no holding back at that point?Amos was on his feet with everybody else, and he marveled at the six of them. They were crushing the cover, and he had to blink a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t Hetfield singing. Daesha ripped the lighter lead parts above the rhythm guitar, leaning into the mic for the harmonies, and Amos wanted to run to the stage, rip her clothes off, and fuck her right there in front of everybody. The woman was powerful, a force to be reckoned with plugged into an amp, and the crowd was eating it up.

They followed up with Saliva’s “Click Click Boom” and then slowed it down with U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” When they finished it, Daesha stuck the mic in the stand and leaned in. “We’re takin’ ten, y’all. Hang around. There’s more to come.” Somebody off to the side tossed towels to the band members, and that was the first time Amos realized that Daesha was drenched in sweat. She was working under the hot lights, and he didn’t know how she kept going, but it was obvious she loved every minute of it.

He was grinning from ear to ear when she stepped up to him at the bar. “Well? Whaddya think?”

“My god, woman, I’m just totally blown away. That was pretty fucking amazing.”

“Thanks! Can you grab me a drink? Lemon-lime soda. I’m going to the restroom. Be right back.” Amos watched as she walked away, and she hadn’t made it five steps before a guy grabbed her arm and stopped her. He could feel something rising up in his chest as he heard her say, “No, I’m with the band. I’m not free for the night. Sorry.” He was on his feet, and then he felt a hand grip his arm.

It was Greg standing there. “Hey, you’re Amos, right?”

Amos pointed at the guy he wanted to punch. “Yeah, I?”

“Watch.” Greg pointed and Amos saw the keyboardist, Rocky, fall into step about five feet behind Daesha. He followed her down the hallway until she disappeared into the restroom. “Look, man, I know you want to be protective of her, but that’s the way it is when a woman’s in a band. But you never, never have to worry. We’re always watching her, and somebody’s just a few steps from her at all times. I guarantee if you walked back into that hallway, you’d find Rocky standing outside the ladies’ room door. She’s like our little sister. We wouldn’t letanythinghappen to her. But if you go after every guy who grabs her ass or tries to kiss her or grope her, we’d never get to play another gig because you’d get us kicked out of every bar in town. Daesha, she can handle herself, and when she can’t, she’s got us. You never have to worry about her.”

“Uh, thanks, man. I appreciate it.” Amos meant that, but he still wanted to beat the shit out of the jerk.

“You’re welcome. We’ve got this, man. Let us do our jobs and you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Liking it so far?”

“God, you guys are incredible. I mean, it’s just… she’s just…”

Greg laughed. “Yeah, I know! She’s pretty fucking awesome. The next set will be different, so you’ll get to see her execute some other vocals that you’d never dream she could pull off. By the way, thanks for coming tonight, and I hope you come back.”

“I will.” Amos laughed. “I guess I can honestly say I’m with the band!”

“Hey, if you’re good enough for Daesha, you’re good enough for us!” Greg extended his hand and Amos shook it. Some of the dread gathering in his gut dissipated just knowing the guys were watching out for her.

Sure enough, when she made her way back to the bar, Rocky was just a few steps behind her. As soon as she walked up to Amos, the keyboardist turned and headed to the other side of room. “So you liked it?” she asked as she picked up her soda.

“Liked it? I loved it. You’re amazing, babe. And I have to admit,” he whispered as he leaned into her ear, “I’m turned on as fuck from watching you up there. Jesus, you’re the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Stop! You’re being silly again!” she said and giggled.

“No, I’m not. Every guy here wants to take you to bed, and I’m the lucky sumbitch who actually gets to do that. That hasn’t escaped me, my warrior princess.” A thrill ran up his spine when she set down her glass, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him an open-mouthed kiss right there in front of the entire crowd. Sure, maybe nobody was looking, but it made Amos feel ten feet tall.

The rest of the evening was equally as entertaining. For shits and giggles, they did “Material Girl” and followed up with a VanHalen tune, one from Journey, and WhitneyHouston’s “I Will Always Love You.” That got some couples up on the dance floor, and Amos wished she could sing and dance with him at the same time.

By the time the evening was over, Amos was exhausted just from watching them, and he knew Daesha had to be falling-down tired. As the guitarists started packing up their instruments, he stepped up to the stage and smiled up at her. She grinned back. “Did you have fun?”

“I did! This was really fun, although I think all of you must be about to drop.”

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