Chap. 4

Chapter Four

On the night of the county talent show, the local school's gym was packed. Justin was the last performance of the night, and so he had to sit through all the other performances, before taking the stage himself. All the other people's talents, were, well, very original.

During Martha Batten's trained chicken act, Justin's Father tapped Justin on the shoulder. "Relax, son, it's going to be fine. You'll bring down the house, trust me."

"Yeah, little dude!" chimed in Matt from behind him "The worst thing that can happen is that they boo you off stage!"

"Yeah. Great. Thanks a lot." said Justin

"Awww, kidding! You'll do the great! Oh yeah, I'm taping this whole thing." said Matt, holding up a camera, "Who knows? Maybe your future girl-friend will want to see it!"

Justin would have tackled Matt right then in there, if it wasn't time for him to go on stage.

The curtain drew again, and the Mrs. Harrow the librarian and Mayor Wentley appeared. The Mayor looked at his note cards, "Justin Fairway, please rise and come to the stage." Justin got up from his seat. The mayor looked at his cards again, "Justin will be singing 'You Had a Bad Day' for us tonight."

Justin looked at his parents, they smiled and his father gave him a thumbs up. Matt slapped him on the back. "You can do this, buddy!"

Somewhere as Justin walked up the dark isle, he lost all stage fright and gained nothing but confidence.

*~*~*

The radio continued the broadcast well past midnight. Just before the concert closed for the night, Justin answered random questions from the fans.

"Do you have a pet?" asked a little girl

"Well, yeah. I got some sheep, a pair of horses, a couple of dogs, a herd of cattle...and, of course pigs, but those don't count as pets, since we butcher them." The crowd thought that was pretty funny.

"Do you sing in the shower?" asked somebody

"Hahaha. Well, uh, I used to. I don't anymore. Honest."

"Where did you get those cool sunglasses?" asked a little boy

"Oh, actually at the grocery store right across the streets from here. They're nothing too fancy."

"What's your favorite gum flavor?" asked a kid

"Something hot. Like that cinnamon stuff."

"What's your most embarrassing moment?" cried a lady

"Awwww man, tough question, there was that time on tour last year, in Texas I think, when I was so caught in the song, I didn't really look where I was going and I tripped on the wires on stage. That wasn't fun. Believe me!" The crowd roared with laughter.

"Do you have a girl-friend?" asked someone

"Hahaha. No. I'm kinda busy, I wouldn't be able to handle a relationship like that right now. Mean, the girl would never get to see me! I'm all over."

"What's your favorite sport?"

"All of them. Seriously. I love all sports."

"How long will you keep singing?"

"Until you guys are all sick of me!"

*~*~*

The night of the talent show, Justin took the stage looking like any other kid, still in his jeans and muddy boots from the day's work. The crowd of locals waited in silence, wondering what Mr. Fairway's youngest son could do.

He jumped into the song at once, without a second of hesitation. The sudden start captured the audience, and for the full three minutes, they, including Justin's own family, was amazed.

Justin didn't perform or sing like the usual kid, in fact, it was scary how well he performed. After he finished, the crowd the dead quiet for a second, then they exploded into thunderous applause and screams.

After Justin had finished the song, the librarian, Mrs. Harrow and the Mayor Wentley came back onto the stage, this time holding a golden cup filled with dollar bills. Mayor Wentley held up his hands for silence. The crowd hushed. "I think it is clear who our winner is." said the Mayor loudly "I'm at a loss of words, really."

Mrs.Harrow smiled warmly. "Justin that was amazing." she said "I didn't know a boy like you could do such a beautiful thing. It is our greatest honor to give you this."

She handed him the golden trophy filled with money. "You deserve even more then this." said the Mayor, shaking Justin's hand "Keep it up, son, and you'll go places."

"Thank you!" said Justin, waving to the audience.

But it only got better the next few days for Justin. Matt took the recording he had made and posted it on the Internet, sending it to the state's leading newspaper. The paper ran a story and posted the video on their website. It wasn't long before Justin was getting interviews and offers from all over the country, thanks to his brother Matt.