The band started playing “Ramblin’ Man” and the crowd went wild. So did Sherri. She raised her arms in the air and shook her hips. She mouthed along with the words. When it’s time for leavin’ I hope you’ll understand. The guitarist leaned forward and dug his guitar into his thighs, holding the instrument like a wild animal he’d just caught with his own hands. Sherri closed her eyes and wished the moment would never end. But it did, and after the hysterical clapping, Sherri wondered why the band refused an encore. Then she realized that that was the encore. She couldn’t believe it. They’d missed the entire show!

The drawbar setting Allman chose for the finish was dark but honest. The somber notes echoed ominously off the hillside and into her future.

After the show, Sherri and Mitch were walking along the heavily wooded path that led up the hill to the parking lot when, just ahead of them, Roberta caught sight of her. “Sherri?”

Sherri felt terrible. “Oh hey.”

“‘Oh hey’? I waited for you for over an hour. I was stuck by myself on the lawn.”

“Yeah, well I was busy.”

Roberta pointed at Mitch. “With him?”

“I couldn’t reach you.”

“You didn’t fucking try.”

Mitch walked ahead of them, clearly uninterested in getting caught up in a drama between two women.

Tough as Roberta was, Sherri hadn’t ever seen her angry, not like this. “I don’t even know you anymore.”

“I’m still me.” Sherri pointed at herself, her words slurred. Her blood was slushed with alcohol and her head was buzzing from a pill someone gave her backstage. She did nothing but stand there with a dumb grin on her face. She grinned!

“You aren’t still you. The Sherri I know would have never ditched me.”

Sherri tossed back her hair.

“You’re a slut,” Roberta said. “Everyone in town thinks so.”

“I’m not a slu—” She couldn’t even say the word, but she still felt the sting of it. Before she could say more, Roberta ran off and Sherri started to run after her, but Mitch grabbed her arm.

“Don’t worry about her. She’ll get over it,” he said. In her state of mind, it was easy to take his advice.