“Oh, God!” Charlie said. “That’s priceless!”

“Poor Sonny,” I said, envisioning Sonny’s landing in Cher’s Netherland the way a small plane is snagged by a wire across the landing deck of an actual aircraft carrier.

“You could say you dated him first,” Momma said.

“Momma? You’re right!” I said. “There are lots of possibilities of things you could drop into a monologue, in between songs, or take little pauses.”

“Exactly!”

So, until noon, when Charlie had a block of time reserved with a theater coach, we built a character that Charlie felt comfortable enough to become. His humor surfaced along with his sense of irony and satire. It was like unlocking Pandora’s box, except there were no evils to be released, only humor, and it didn’t take long for that humor to become outrageous.

“Just imagine actually being Cher’s identical twin sister!” said Suzanne, who had come by to help, laden with pastrami sandwiches and the best half-sour pickles I’d ever had, a rare find in the Lowcountry. “You can have costumes for the Sonny stage, the Gregg Allman stage, the Hollywood stage, the Broadway stage . . . I mean, you’ve got a treasure trove. But so you know, you’d also be seventy-two if you were her twin sister.”

“Cher is immortal,” Charlie said. “I could be her twin at every stage of her life, couldn’t I?”

“Now you’re thinking like a superstar!” Suzanne said, and we all applauded.

We gathered at the kitchen barstools, Suzanne helping Momma hoist herself up.

“Wooo!” Momma squealed.

Suzanne must’ve taken a little grab.

“Suzanne!” Charlie said. “The QB is still my mother-in-law!”

“Sorry,” Suzanne said and shook her head to mean no, she wasn’t sorry.

Momma giggled, something I had hardly ever heard her do.

“Cher was born Cherilyn. I could be born Charlene!” Charlie said. “Oh, I knew that was the right name for me!”

“I think you should go by Char,” I said. “Char! Cher’s Long-Lost Twin!”

“Agreed,” Charlie said.

“Now we’re having real fun,” Momma said. Suzanne winked at her.

“You know, Cher actually does have a half sister named Georganne,” Charlie said.

“Let’s not confuse the situation with facts,” Suzanne said. “But it’s worth noting that one of the reasons Cher has enjoyed such a long, successful career hinges on her ability to roll with the times, change with the times, you know, reinvent herself whenever it was time to do it.”

“That’s it,” Charlie said, “and her self-deprecating sense of humor. She had perfect timing, and speaking of timing, it’s time for my drama lesson.”

“I’m coming with you,” Suzanne said. “You need supervision. Let’s lay this whole concept on the coach and see where it goes.”

“Excellent idea,” Charlie said. “See y’all later.”

They left and I turned to Momma. I had questions, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted the answers.