Starting a Band

The girls had fun singing and playing the keyboard while the boys had fun with their video games. Jasmine encouraged them to create their parodies while she made dinner. She cooked Spaghetti with Italian sausage, corn, and garlic bread. It was one of their favorites and Jasmine liked that it was non-dairy. They could add parmesan cheese on top of their pasta if they wanted to. Her mom bought Country Crock butter, so it was already non-dairy. She spread the 'butter' on the sliced bread and topped it with garlic salt to make the garlic bread.

Soon dinner was ready, and she called her brothers over. They were currently on a mission and Christopher said, "Five more minutes." She said, "Ok" The spaghetti would stay warm for a while. The girls started to make their plates while the boys finished their game. After they finished the boys came into the kitchen and made their plates. They all ate at the table happily.

After dinner, Jasmine told the boys to go take showers and get ready for bed. The girls cleaned up the kitchen together. Jasmine put some leftover spaghetti in a container for her mom. Usually, she would eat at work, but she could use the leftovers for lunch tomorrow if she wasn't hungry tonight. They would either eat at the banquet after the cars were parked or get some cheap fast food on the way home.

Jasmine asked her sisters, "Were you able to come up with any new songs?" Amber was shy but she nodded. Caitlyn said, "I thought of half of a song." Jasmine said, "That's a great start. I can help you if you want." Caitlyn nodded. She asked, "What about you Amber?" Amber said, "I thought of a new song. I'll play it for you." She went to the keyboard and played a sad song about a girl who just wanted to know her father's love." I almost cried when I heard her sad song. I said, "Do you want to make it a church song about God's love?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. She said, "I don't want to change it." I nodded my head. I said, "That's ok. Do you want to sing it?" She shook her head again and said, " You can sing it and I'll sing back up." I nodded and gave her an encouraging smile.

I knew she had a great voice. Sometimes we would sing while we were cleaning up the ice cream shop and we would face each other during the high notes. I loved the way our voices reverberated through my chest. It was almost magical! Like a siren's song or a witch's spell. I believe there is magic in this world. How else was I able to be reborn? It was unexplainable but beautiful. We had to be careful not to abuse our gifts. I wanted to focus mostly on positive songs, but one or two sad songs would be fine. I think it was therapeutic for Amber. I had 25 years in my past life to accept that my father was not perfect. He died from Cirrhosis of the liver and Hepatitis. Too much drinking and sharing dirty needles. He was a cautionary tale. I would not end up like him or allow any of my siblings to share the same fate!

We cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for bed. We talked about our band all night until we fell asleep. We were debating band names. Sister Acts, Sisters in Crime, Jasmine and her sisters, The Power Puff Sisters. The last one worked because we each had a different hair color like the Power Puff Girls, but I'm not sure if it would be infringing on a Trademark. I decided we should go with Jasmine and her sisters for now, but we could change it later if we came up with something better. We didn't have the same last names so we couldn't follow the Jonas Brother's example. Spice Girls were popular, we could come up with something similar. Sugar Girls? Sugar and Spice Sisters? Sweet and Sour Sisters? I don't know. I'm not the best at coming up with names. Lol!

I knew eventually I would like to be in a band with Thomas, but I didn't know if he would want to join our band or start a new one. He played Cello for school and guitar at home. His best friend played bass and he had some friends who were drummers. They just needed a singer. We could try to combine the bands and see if we worked well together. Maybe they could help us come up with a band name. Thomas was good at coming up with parodies without even trying. Sometimes they were funny mix-ups where he got the words wrong.

I remember the time we were driving with my nephew and the song 'Handclap' came on the radio. He thought the lyrics were, "I can make your *ss clap!" It was hilarious! He was like, "Wow, that is a little vulgar and upbeat for such a dirty song!" I asked, "What are you talking about, it's about clapping your hands at a concert." He said, "Oh, that makes more sense." We all laughed. He was funny, sometimes unintentionally!

I knew about the Fair Use Act that allowed parodies and fan fiction to not be sued. We just had to make sure our songs were different from the originals. Maybe we could write some original music as well. Amber was more talented in writing originals than I was, while I was good at parodies. If Weird Al Yankovic could become a millionaire from parodies, so could I! I would just be less weird, hopefully.

My mom came home late at night after we were already asleep. She wanted to talk to James but was too tired. She needed time to process what she learned from her daughters. She also wanted to protect them from him. She thought about talking to James' ex-wife and asking her about why they divorced. She never thought about it before because she thought the ex-wife might be biased, but she needed to know. She also had to warn her, from one mother to another. They might be exes, but they had to consider the children. She was worried about what would happen to Caitlyn and Jimmy if they were divorced. When she met James, he was barely able to support the three of them. His ex-wife remarried and he didn't want the kids. She would have to talk to her sometime. She was not looking forward to it, but she would do anything for her kids and stepkids.

The next morning, they woke up early to go to church. Jasmine got ready and helped her siblings get ready. She was not a morning person, but she knew her mom would be tired from working last night. She didn't have to make breakfast because they usually offered muffins and donuts at Sunday School. They had juice for the kids and coffee for the adults. Everyone got ready and headed to the car. We had an extra-large Tahoe. We needed extra seats in the back for all the kids. My mom didn't like it, but it was necessary. To save on gas, she had the logo of the ice cream store on the side of the van. She was able to claim it as an advertisement expense and a company vehicle.

I didn't mind riding in an ice cream truck to church. It was smart of my mom to use it that way. The younger kids liked the attention because other kids always tried to be nice to them to get free ice cream. I was like, "We don't even get free ice cream. We must work for it!" Over the summer we spent all day working while James would relax in the office. Since Amber and I were tall for our age, we worked behind the counter. Most people thought we were over 16 years old. Caitlyn worked the cash register while standing on a stool to reach it. She was a tiny 9-year-old and people would always ask her, "Are you sure you are old enough to work here?" and "Is this the correct change?" I would double-check it if they had any complaints, but she was smart. She always gave them the correct change. Usually, they would be embarrassed and apologize with a tip. She would beam and give them a full-toothed smile. That usually made them laugh. It's hard to be in a bad mood while eating ice cream!

Church went by quickly. Amber and I stayed with my mom while James played guitar, and the younger kids went to Sunday School. In my past life, I brought Thomas to youth groups so we could hang out after school. His parents didn't force him to go to church, so it was all new and interesting for him. I could ask you to bring him next time!