Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton

Author:Dhonielle Clayton [Clayton, Dhonielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2021-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

A few nights later, Jo and Zora were squeezed in the backseat of Phillip’s car as it darted through the French Quarter, headed for the Garden District. Miles had set them up with a house gig: singing and playing at a private party. Rocco and Phillip argued about this and that while Jo and Zora traded whispers and gossip.

Zora handed Jo a few pieces of sheet music. “Think we should sing these?”

“I don’t think we’ll have the acoustics for ‘Heart Blues,’ and I don’t have no Vivi Turner kind of voice tonight. I’ll need tea to do it. You’d have to take the soprano.” Jo placed a newspaper cutout on top of the sheet music. A black-and-white photo of the Eiffel Tower stared back up at her. “This! This right here.”

“What?”

Jo flipped the page. A big ship sat above a list of dates and times. The headline: “The Mighty Water Boulevard to Europe.” “Let’s convince the boys”—she nodded in their direction—“to go to Paris.” Her voice tinkled like a tiny bell. “Could you imagine? Shopping on the Champs-Élysées, the croissants and tarts, performing at the clubs there, and not having to worry about colored this and colored that all the time.”

Zora tried to imagine herself in the European city. The winding cobblestone streets. The long, snaking River Seine. The wonderland of lights she’d read about in the New York newspapers. It would be even farther away from home. Across an entire ocean from Mama instead of merely a train ride. The dream flickered in her chest, feeling both real and unreal.

But then she thought about Mr. Winsome and the San Francisco residency. The card tucked beneath her pillow at home; her hope that one of these nights she’d wake up from a dream and just know what decision to make.

“Admit it... you’d love to go.” Jo’s eyes brimmed with excitement.

“I would,” she admitted.

“So, don’t say no yet.”

Zora kissed Jo’s cheek. “Your dreams are as big as the Woolworth Building, you know that?”

“What’s the Woolworth Building?” Jo’s eyebrow hitched with confusion.

“Never mind,” Zora said with a laugh. “Now, look over this music. I hope I picked the right songs for these rich white folks.”

Jo burst into a fit of giggles as Phillip slowed down, looking for the right address. The houses in the Garden District had the most beautiful gas lamps that made the houses glow as if they’d trapped fireflies in glass.

“It’s that one up there,” Rocco said, pointing out the window. “Look at them fancy cars all lined up. Oooo weee. Y’all are about to make some money tonight. And me too.” He leapt out of the car as soon as Phillip parked.

Zora thought the gaudy cars of the rich folks looked like Fabergé eggs, and they didn’t impress her. “A whole pile of money can’t cover up rot,” her daddy would say. The garden and double porch spilled over with well-dressed people sipping drinks and eating.

“Wait here,” Phillip said.

Zora and Jo lingered on the edge of the garden as Phillip and Rocco went to the front door.

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