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Back The Wilderwomen Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. Copyright Notice
  2. Dedication
  3. BEFORE
  4. AFTER
  5. ONE THOUGHTS ON SUN HATS
  6. TWO TIME FOR CAKE
  7. THREE TWELVE MONTHS
  8. FOUR PSYCHIC KARAOKE
  9. FIVE A SECOND SLEEPING BAG
  10. SIX SIX MONTHS
  11. SEVEN THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE PANCAKE
  12. EIGHT SIX MONTHS
  13. NINE FOLLOW THE MUSIC
  14. TEN THE STARS ARE BRIGHTER IN THE DESERT
  15. ELEVEN SIX MONTHS
  16. TWELVE EVERY STAR HAS A SONG
  17. THIRTEEN PSYCHIC KARAOKE
  18. FOURTEEN ONE MONTH
  19. FIFTEEN A WELL-TRAVELED HAT
  20. SIXTEEN JOEL VS. THE VOLCANO
  21. SEVENTEEN TWO WEEKS
  22. EIGHTEEN HOUSE OF MEMORIES
  23. NINETEEN IF TREES COULD TALK
  24. TWENTY THREE DAYS
  25. TWENTY-ONE SEARCH PARTY
  26. TWENTY-TWO NOT THE SAME ZADIE
  27. TWENTY-THREE WAVES OF SMOKE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR THE DAY OF
  29. TWENTY-FIVE THE SKY IS FULL OF BIRDS
  30. TWENTY-SIX NEST
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. EPILOGUE
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT A SONG ABOUT A BIRD
  34. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  35. Also by Ruth Emmie Lang
  36. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  37. Newsletter Sign-up

As prompted, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The emcee returned the mic to its stand and walked off stage left. Zadie looked stage right at the glittering emerald curtain that her mom would ostensibly emerge from in her four-inch leather boots and Van Halen T-shirt that she had artfully torn and safety-pinned back together.

Ten seconds went by and the curtain still hadn’t stirred. The cheers were slowly replaced with people murmuring, Where is she? Zadie wondered the same thing. She slid halfway off her stool, planting one foot on the floor, debating whether to go back behind the curtain herself and look for her. She spotted the emcee. Someone was whispering in his ear. He nodded and climbed back onto the stage. “Looks like Nora has stepped out for a sec.” The crowd groaned in disappointment. “While we wait for her, let’s welcome our next act…”

Zadie stopped listening as a seed of worry sprouted inside her. Had her mom’s friends ever witnessed her disappearing act? Had they covered for her before? Based on the emcee’s reaction, she guessed not. It’s probably nothing, Zadie told herself. And again, It’s probably nothing. She repeated the phrase in her head throughout the entire next act, the words marching to the rhythm of “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles.

When the song was over, another performer who was not her mother took the stage. Then another. Twenty minutes went by. Zadie nervously stirred the ice in her empty glass with a straw, looking for her mom in the throng of neon-irradiated faces. She opened her phone to the ten unanswered texts she’d sent Nora and considered sending another. Instead, she shoved the phone into her pocket, climbed off the stool, and weaved through the crowd to the edge of the stage, where the emcee was standing, smoking a cigarette.

“Hi,” Zadie started nervously. The emcee looked down at her without smiling. “Umm, I was wondering … Do you know where Nora went?”

“She bailed,” he said gruffly. “One of our guys saw her sneak out the back.”

“Oh.”

“Do you know her?”

Zadie nodded.

“Good. Tell her if she wants a spot next week, she has some ass-kissing to do.” Something across the room stole the emcee’s attention. “Excuse me,” he said and walked off.