“Hey, Moll,” her dad said when she got home.
“Hey, Dad.”
Molly went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. After she dried off, she looked in the mirror. She knew what she wanted to say to her dad. Now she had to find the courage.
She sat at the table and said, “There’s a talent show in town next month.”
Her dad took a noisy slurp of coffee.
“I want to sing at it.”
His face went pale. His brow furrowed.
“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked.
“I’m just surprised,” he said. “I’ve never heard you sing. I mean, I didn’t even know you sing.”
“I love music, Dad. You’re the one who turns the radio off.”
“I like it quiet.” The look on his face became more troubled than surprised.
“I sing all the time,” Molly said. “I imagine in my head that I can sing just like the singers on my cds. I practice in the shower and walking home through the trail.”
She stopped. What she had said wasn’t exactly true. She had never sung a note in her life—not out loud. “Well…I don’t sing, exactly. I sing in my head,” she said. “I never sing the words out loud.”
Her dad’s forehead creased again. “You sing in your head? Not with your voice?”
“Yeah,” she said, recognizing how strange it sounded.
“Why?”
“Because…” She had told him enough. “Because that’s just what I’ve always done. But now I want to sing out loud, and I want you to listen to me.”
“Here? Now?” he said.
“Yes. Here. Now.” She knew if she thought about it for even half a second longer, she would lose her confidence. “I want to know if I’m good enough to enter the competition.”
“Don’t you need music or something?”
“No. I sing without music all the time.”
“You sing without your voice all the time too.”
“Dad.”
“Okay, honey.”
Molly got up and stood in front of the kitchen sink. “You look more nervous than I am.”
“I might be,” he said.
The truth was, Molly was terrified. She wasn’t afraid to sing. At least, she didn’t think so. She was afraid to break her promise. Molly couldn’t remember when she had made the promise. It was a long time ago, and it weighed on her.
Mom, I have a gift for you when you come home. I promise that you will be the first person to hear me sing.
The trouble was, her mom hadn’t shown up, and Molly couldn’t wait any longer. Her voice had to come out now, and that meant she was going to break her promise.
Molly straightened her back. She took a deep breath so the air went into her belly, filled her chest and came up into her throat.
But Molly’s voice had never come out of her mouth or entered a room before. It had only bumped off the walls of her imagination. All of a sudden she wasn’t sure whether her vocal cords could hold even one note, never mind carry a whole song.
“I’m ready, Moll,” her dad said.
A breath of air sent shivers down her legs and arms. Then she heard music. Her toe began to tap. She opened her mouth and started. “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy, fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high…”
She kept her eyes closed and pretended her mind was her only audience. At first her voice wavered, but after a few moments, it filled the room. It grew louder and stronger until she felt as if she were going to explode. When she finished the last chorus, she opened her eyes.
Her dad was shocked. “Wow, Molly,” he said. “You can sing.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, stunned by the sounds she had made. “And do you think I’m good enough to sing in a talent show?”
“There won’t be another kid in that show that can hold a candle to your talent, honey.” He pulled her onto his lap. “You sound like a pro.”
“Well, I have been singing ever since I can remember. Just not out loud.”
Her dad frowned and chuckled at the same time. “That’s crazy, girl.”
Molly told him all the details about the talent show. She explained how Paige had set herself up as the one to beat. She told him she was afraid to tell anyone at school that she wanted to enter the contest. The boys would tease her. The girls would make fun of her. And Paige would make her life absolutely unbearable.
“Could I enter the contest without telling anyone? Could I just show up and sing?” she asked.
“You’re tougher than that, Molly,” he said. “If you want to enter the competition, go through the front door.”
The truth was, now that Molly had sung out loud, all she wanted to do was sing some more. She didn’t really want to compete—not with kids from school listening to her, especially Paige and the other girls.
“Paige might be able to dance,” he said, “but you are a star. There is no doubt about that.”
Molly climbed off his lap. “Thanks, Dad.”
Later, as she lay in bed, Molly replayed her singing over and over in her mind. She loved how her voice had filled the room. If only her mom had heard her.
Molly had broken her promise. She had given her mom’s gift away.
“Mom, I am so sorry. I couldn’t keep my voice inside any longer. It just had to come out.”
She said sorry over and over again, hoping her mom would forgive her.
As Molly fell asleep, she heard Billie Holiday singing “Summertime.” Although she had been dead for seventy years, Billie’s voice pulsed through Molly’s body.
In the morning, Molly made a new promise.
“When you come home, Mom, I will sing just for you,” Molly said. “It will be just you and me.”
Her second promise didn’t feel exactly right, but it was the best she could think of. Her voice had always been her gift to her mom. It still was. Now if only her mom would come home and get it. One day, Molly thought, my mom will come home and ask, “What is your big surprise, Molly? Where’s the present you promised me?”
Molly would take a deep breath and sing. Her mom would be amazed. “Molly,” she would say, “I had no idea. What a wonderful gift. Thank you so much for sharing it with me.”
Molly felt a little better after she had made the new promise.
The trouble was, now Molly didn’t know what to do about the competition. One minute she wanted to enter, and the next minute she didn’t.
When she got out of bed, she found an envelope on the kitchen table. On the front it said, Here’s the registration fee. Go for it, Molly. You can do it. I love you, Dad.