Kelly Jo by Linda Opdyke

direction several times before saying, "Ah...thank you, Lilly Malone."
    Next, the curtain raised for sixteen-year-old twin boys dressed as hobos singing, "Me and My Shadow".  One was excellent.  One was far from it.  Neither could dance.  Both had a ball.  So did the audience and the laughing boys danced off stage to thunderous applause.
    Then came Marko the Magician.  Or, more to the point, the wannabe magician. 
    After him came two high school seniors doing a Saturday Night Live "Weekend Update" skit, one that came to an abrupt halt when the curtain dropped after the second obscene word proved the first one was no accident.  The audience was quiet as the emcee lectured them behind the curtain, then reappeared, looking flustered, back at his corner of the stage.
    "Ladies and gentlemen, we now have fourteen acts from which to select our winner.  The 'Weekend Updaters' have been disqualified from the competition."
    A chorus of boos greeted that announcement, but the emcee ignored it and announced the next performer, an extremely proficient female tap dancer.
    Not bad, Jack thought as he watched her bound, bounce, tap and snap around the stage in perfect time to the band's Give My Regards To Broadway.  Then, like everyone else, he was totally caught up as the dancer finished and a young man came out and sang a heart-rending version of Spanish Harlem.
    The skimpily clad double baton twirler, who sang "Let Me Entertain You" while she twirled, was the last performer before intermission.  The cheers, wolf whistles, foot-stomping and raucous cheers told Jack that this was the sister the group beside him referenced.  Jack knew it was a good thing they'd decided to cheer instead of boo her, despite that she dropped her batons four times.
    Wylie leaned toward Jack and whispered, "When is Kelly Jo on?" just as the lights came up and intermission was announced.
    "She's last," Jack told him, not without a little chagrin.  "So you might as well get comfortable and enjoy the show."
    They stayed in their seats during intermission and about three minutes into it, the emcee, carrying something, came down the stage steps and headed toward them.
    "Are you Jack?" he asked.
    "Yes," Jack answered and rose to put the black jacket on.  Finally.  He'd be ready to take the stage as soon as Kelly Jo gestured to him, winging a song if he had to do so.  He just hoped she'd give him enough time to get to the side steps to join her without it being too disruptive.
    "I'm supposed to give this to you," the emcee said. 
    Confused, Jack said, "Give me what?"
    The man held out a black garbage bag and when Jack had taken it from him he walked back to the stage.
    "Hey,"  Wylie said.  "Isn't that the bag I gave Kelly Jo?"
    "Yeah," Jack said slowly, and knew opening it wasn't a good idea. 
    But he did it anyway.
    Inside was the black jacket Kelly Jo had been wearing.  And the backless heels.
    "I don't get it," Wylie said quizzically.  "She isn't coming out buck naked is she?"
    Jack put a hand up to rub his forehead.  Why did anything that had to do with Kelly Jo automatically give him a headache?
    "I'm sure she isn't," he told Wylie, then added, "And don't look so disappointed."
    Wylie grinned.
    Jack sat back down and put the bag on the floor between his feet.  "What all did you give her as a costume, Wylie?"
    "The jacket, the shoes, the pants...oh, yeah, and that little top.  Hangs off the shoulders."  He grinned, then grinned wider.  "I'll bet it's looking real good on her."
    Jack shook his head, stumped.  It looked like Kelly Jo's solution to being too modest to parade on stage in the tight, sexy Grease outfit was to take off even more of it.  That made no sense.  Not even for Kelly Jo.
    He didn't have time to dwell on how Kelly Jo's mind did or didn't work.  The audience trailed back to their seats, the lights dimmed and the emcee announced the start of the second half of the Budding Star competition.

 
    Chapter Twenty