'What the fuck would I be playing at that kind of a game for? Next week I'm going to send you some tapes so you can hear for yourself.'
'Fucking incredible! Where the hell did you get a name like Lisa Veranda and the Verandettes?'
'Out of a hat.'
'I'm knocked out of my seat. I was really looking forward to working with you on this new thing, but you sound so up on this new kick that, well shit, I'm delighted for you baby. Yeah sure why not! Do it kid! I would say I'd give you a week to think about it but you sound like you know what you're doing so I won't bother. You've got all my heart felt best wishes baby.'
'Toni… ' 'Yeah?'
'Thanks baby. Thanks for thinking about me and going to bat for me and everything, and I'm sorry if this kind of puts you on the spot with Louie and all.'
'Don't worry about that because it doesn't.,… '
'Anyway, I want you to know that I appreciate all of it because it shows me that you're really a true friend. They say a friend in need is a drag and all that but thanks again. Give my apologies to Louie and a big kiss and tell him I'll see you all soon on stage knockin' em dead in the aisles.'
'Sure baby. Good luck. Get up here as soon as you can and take care you hear?'
'Always.'
Lisa Veranda and the Verandettes opened at The Lucky Dice Lounge in Las Vegas on June 12. For a girl who had never sung before, Lisa certainly broke all the rules and surprised everyone who knew her; Lisa Williams above all. Her smoking, whiskey-voiced renditions of standards turned her into the overnight sensation of the small jazz clubs that dotted the perimeter of the city.
Lisa really had her act together. Visually she was a knock-out. Her plunging necklines hit the crest of her belly button, clinging sewn on gowns with the slit up to the top of her thighs, teased, intricate hairdos with the glittering highlights alone were worth the price of admission. Her newly discovered vocal talent and surprisingly sophisticated interpretations of many of the all time great jazz standards made up a package that delivered what it promised.
Tommy Corning was her manager and what he lacked in the brains department he made up for with hard work and non stop hustling. That Lisa was also a well established show girl around town who was liked and lusted after by many helped matters considerably. She got the top Las Vegas, show business photographer, Speer Webster, to do a series of stunning portraits that were used in the publicity campaign and there was hardly a club owner in town who upon seeing her eight by ten glossy handout didn't say, 'Book her I don't care what the fuck she sounds like!'
The Lucky Dice Lounge became home base for Lisa Veranda and the Verandettes. The Verandettes were Chico Rodriquez on guitar, Buddy Claret on stand-up and electric bass, Jody Morton on piano and organ and Jessie Tanden on drums. After opening night they were all making a good living salary with no limit on the ceiling of their future. Write ups in the columns flowed in gushing appreciation of this new act that was burning up the city. They came at a time when not much was happening musically and this fanned the flame of Tommy Coming's publicity oriented brain to new and greater heights.
'Is that unbelievable or is that unbelievable?!?' Toni asked Lisa three months later from her Ta-hoe office at the new casino, 'I mean it's like some fairy tale!'
'I've always been one for fairy tales,' Lisa said happily.
'Me too kid. I think it's just great. I've been listening to those tapes you sent me and I'll tell you, Lena Home has nothing on you. You've got a pretty hefty vocal range for a new comer.'
'I've just been doing my homework, that's all. You should hear the new material we're working on.'
'I'd love to. When are you coming to Tahoe?'
'As soon as my manager gets his finger out and lines up some dates. We've been working Reno now for three weeks and things are going pretty good. I'm tired but holding it together.'
'You going out with anyone special?'
'There's no time for a sex life or any other kind of a life for that matter. It's just work, work and more work. Mind you, I'm not complaining. It's a lot more satisfying than dancing and the bread's better too.'
Lisa had undergone an emotional rejuvenation in the past three months due to her sudden rise to the top of the local Nevada musical heap. Her motto had become 'Success is the greatest encouragement in the world' and her theme song was, 'Hey Big Spender'. But for all of this she felt like the bottom could drop out at any moment. Where she would land as a result was anyone's guess.
'And what's happening with you?' Lisa demanded.
'Same as you. Work, work, work. The club is going great guns and I mean I really want you to see it. It's really beautiful.'
'And what about your love life, huh?'
'Hot and heavy with Louie.'
'Louie Alfono?' 'Uh huh.'
'I thought you said he never mixes business and pleasure?' 'I guess some rules are flexible. He wants me to marry him.'
'Marry!'
'That's what I said. I told him, Look Louie I'm very fond of you but I'm not sure that marriage would be the right thing for either one of us in this atmosphere with all the temptations that we're constantly surrounded with'.'
'What did he say?'
'Umm, well he kind of agreed with me but I don't think he's given up the idea quite yet. I'm not spooked by it, in fact I'm flattered and he'd probably make a good old man.'
'Careful Toni.'
'Of course I'm being careful, but it's not every day you find someone as nice as him in a pit like this who happens to be genuinely crazy about you and he's fantastic in bed which makes it all just like steak and gravy.'
'I bet.'
It began when they were making the forty-five minute drive from Reno up to Tahoe late at night. Outside it was raining, inside it was very cozy. The back seat was piled with luggage and files from the Reno club and Louie's tennis rackets. Toni felt like she was in a spaceship; a moonless night, the road black and winding. Louie said 'watch this,' and turned the head lights and ignition off as they descended a steep grade between the swell of the towering mountains. Suddenly everything was black; the entire world plunged into darkness as the silent car glided downwards, the road invisible; the dashboard illuminating their faces eerily. That's when Toni felt like she was in a spaceship.
She was a bit scared as her eyes searched the road helplessly for the lifesaving white center line. 'Hey this is a bit dangerous isn't it?' Toni asked fighting to maintain her cool. The road evaporated like velvet under them.
'Nahh I do it all the time. I know this road like the back of my hand.' Toni looked at the back of Louie's hand on the steering wheel. 'Makes me feel like I'm in an airplane. You know, sitting up there with nothing but you and the stars.'
'That's exactly what I was thinking only it's more like a spaceship or a flying saucer.' The stars in the sky stood out brilliantly, etched like icy diamonds amid all the blackness around them.
'The think with this trick is not to get too carried away with it all. Like swimming too deep, you know how it is with a scuba tank. You go so far down and then you start to loose your sense of depth but you can't stop because it feels so good and then before you know it you can't figure out which way is up or down.'
'I've read about it but I've never done it,' Toni said, holding onto her seat and moving closer to Louie.
'The thing is it only works when there's no road lights.' Then he switched on the ignition and headlights and the road bounced back into perspective, reality swooping down on them like the rain that pounced gently on the car.
Toni was suddenly aware that she was pressed up very close to Louie; his hard thigh like an electric heating pad against her own. She made no move to stop him when he placed his arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her mouth lightly. Her hand dropped onto his knee and she lay back and sighed. Neither one of them said anything as they moved closer to Tahoe, watching the rain run into the headlights like moths drawn to a flame.
