Page 12 of Marcus: Sins of the Father

The food smells delicious. Once she retreats, I take a bite, and my mouth is filled with the most heavenly thing I’ve ever eaten. I groan around the mouthful, and Brandy giggles and points a fry at me.

“Was I lying?”

I chew and swallow. “Not at all. This is fantastic.” I take a drink. “So, tell me, what’s a librettist?”

“It’s like a screenwriter for operas.”

“Gotcha. I’m surprised it didn’t inspire you to be an actress or singer.”

“I want to be the storyteller who evokes that kind of emotion. To imagine that I could put something down with a pen and paper and have it cause people to laugh or cry or scream in rage… It just enthralls me. So here I am in California, pursuing my dream.” She pauses and looks a little dejected. “As a bartender, which is why I can’t tell my father any of this.”

“What do you mean?” I ask around a mouthful of burger.

“My father thinks I hung the moon, and the last thing I want to do is to hear his disappointment when I tell him I haven’t made it yet. Hell, I haven’t even finished my first ten-minute opera.”

“Success just takes a while.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t get it.”

“What don’t I get?”

“He paid a ridiculous amount of money for me to go to school, and now I’m a bartender.” She puts her elbows on the table and covers her face with her hands.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

She doesn’t respond.

“Babe, look at me. Please.”

Finally, she pulls her hands from her face.

“How long have you even been here?”

She rests her chin on her palm. “Thirteen months.”

“See? That’s barely any time at all, especially when trying to get into that industry. Am I right?”

Her shoulders lift and fall. “I suppose.”

“Tell me about your song or music thing.”

“Opera. Um, well, it’s a love story. The couple are both elites who meet at a ball.”

“Kinda like a fairytale?”

“Yeah, I suppose so, but it’s just not working.”

“Why not?”

“Something feels wrong about this couple.”

“Huh. Well, maybe you need some kind of tension. Sometimes wrong is right.”

Her brows furrow, and she seems to be pondering this while she finishes her fries.

I finish my burger and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “That hit the spot. Best burger I’ve ever had. No lie.”

“Good. We’ll have to come back sometime.”

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