[speaking, spoken word, monologue] I stood in the mirror, trying to make myself cry. Coffy Town is nothing like the real world. Back there, disappointing me could be a proposition with consequences no one would want. But day one… before I ever found the nerve to confront my long‑lost mother, I was already swept up in the synergy of this little town. I was lost — until I found. It filled my soul with music. I tried to be mad at Miss Jacqueline Sinclair. Lady, they call her here. Respected, revered. I couldn’t help but be humbled in her presence. That night was wild. The whole cast played a trick on Detective Jimmy — the man from Fathers of the Guard. Not even on this beat, but tangled in a who done it he didn’t know he was in. It felt like a sign: telling me to stay, to open my own club in Coffy Town. So I hung pictures on the wall and settled into my flat above the ballroom. [spoken word] Watching Lotta Moxi’s heart break over Pete Prayer on the stage at Club Surrender — that was an eye‑opener. She reminded me of a girl I once knew, one I did not save. And I knew then: I was sent to save her. See, I had never loved anyone. In my old world, love was a disease you had to recover from. I told her as much when I offered her the headliner spot at The Upper Room. No, I couldn’t bother myself with anger. I spent nearly everything to get away from there, where I was wanted for doing what I had to do. [spoken word] True, I came here to find my mother. I half‑expected some magical connection. But I’m cool. Sometimes I scare people. Maybe she’s too scared to even try to love me. Tina — the woman who raised me, then tried to sell my soul — was gone. I heard about the funeral. No way I could go, even if I wanted to. All the usual suspects were there for certain. I bought myself some time, changed my name, my hair, my blue eyes. But I was still on the run. I stood in the mirror, trying to make myself cry. I couldn’t. That night I dreamed I was in heaven, walking in the clouds. Tina was not there. But my father was.
