Chapter 11 - Kitty's Tragic Story

After travelling many miles, the amigos and amigas decided to camp out in an open area close to an oasis in the desert, where they could rest. While the men built up a fire, the women decided to gather some water for everyone. As he was resting, Ned thought he heard some beautiful singing. He got up and walked towards the source of the sound, and there was Kitty - by herself and fetching some water from the pond while singing:

Remember me,
Though I have to say goodbye,
Remember me,
Don't let it make you cry.
For even if I'm far away,
I'll hold you in my heart.
I'll play a secret song for you
Each night we are apart.
Remember me,
Though I have to travel far,
Remember me,
Each time you hear a sad guitar.
Know that I'm with you
The only way that I can be.
Until you're in my arms again,
Remember me.

Ned was so mesmerized by Kitty's singing, that he didn't notice her walking into him! "Excuse me!" Kitty said, feeling a little annoyed.
"Oh!" Ned cried when he saw the brunette, "I do apologize. I was just resting a little, and I heard singing, and I saw that it was you!"
"You did?"
"Yes," replied Ned, "Did you know that you have the loveliest voice I've ever heard before?"
"Why thank you," the brunette said with a small smile.
Ned then asked with slight concern, "So why didn't you sing during the show yesterday?"
Kitty gave a sad look on her face and said, "It's best that I not talk about it." She then went on her way back to the campsite, and Ned slowly followed her, with his mind still questioning why Kitty didn't sing along with her friends the day before.

Later that evening, everyone was sitting at the fire, eating toasted bats that Dusty and Ned had caught. Angel wearily took a bite out her bat and said, "Mmmmm! This is not too bad."
"Oui," agreed Cecile, "I didn't know bats would taste as good as escargot."
"What's escargot?" asked Dusty, before he took a bite into his bat.
"Cooked snails," replied the French woman with a smile. Dusty looked at her as if she had lobsters crawling out of her nostrils.
"To change the subject," said Lucky, "Kitty, Ned said that he heard you singing with a lovely voice, and he wonders why you didn't sing with your friends yesterday."
Kitty looked around a little and said, "To tell you the truth, I haven't sung in front of a crowd in many years. And it's best I don't do it ever again after this one incident."
All the men looked at her with pity and shock, and Ned asked, "What happened? You can tell us, Kitty. Trust me."
Kitty sighed and said, "Okay, I'll tell you. It happened ten years ago…"

Flashback: Santa Fe, New Mexico – 1908
Ten years ago, the amigas were still travelling showgirls known as "Flowers of the Desert." Of the three, Kitty had the best singing voice, and people always came to the girls' shows just to hear Kitty sing. However, on this particular night, Kitty was still recovering from a sore throat, and had no other choice but to perform in front of a packed audience. For the first fifteen minutes of the show, Kitty and the others were fine. But then, Angel felt a queasy pain in her stomach, since this was her "time of the month."
"Kitty, would you mind entertaining these people for the next ten minutes or so?" Cecile asked when Angel needed help.
"We won't be gone long," said Angel, "It's just that the crimson tides are messier than ever tonight, and they can't wait."
Kitty wearily added with a small smile, "Okay. I can try, but then my throat needs some rest."
"We'll be right back, I promise!" said Cecile, "Just sing for the crowd for a little while, sil vou plais?"
With those words, Cecile helped Angel to a nearby privy outside to take care of her "time of the month."

Meanwhile, back on stage, Kitty sang a happy song for the audience. However, when she came to a high note, Kitty's voice croaked like a frog! Everyone gasped in shock, but the brunette kept singing some lower notes. At the next high note, though, she croaked even louder, and everyone started laughing! "Get off the stage, you ugly toad!" scoffed one man, throwing a tomato that hit Kitty in the chest. When Kitty felt what happened, she gasped in anger and shock.
"How dare you?" she inquired, "I'm recovering from a sore throat, and-"
Her sentence was cut off when another person threw an egg at her foot. Then, the other people in the crowd began to throw tomatoes and eggs at Kitty. The poor woman tried to escape, but she tripped over a cord on the stage and fell, making everyone laugh harder! The white scarf that was tied around her green dress came undone, and a couple of Mexican men grabbed Kitty by her arms; they humiliated her even more by tearing the sleeves off her dress, her star necklace from her neck, and green bow from her hair! "Let's see how you like it when you're a real frog!" sneered one of the Mexicans. He and his comrade got a bucket full of ice cold water, and splashed it onto Kitty's dress!
As the poor girl winced in chills from the water, another person from the crowd cried, "Let's hear more croaking, now!" Kitty had no choice but to croak like a frog.

Back at their privy, Angel and Cecile heard the commotion from inside the tavern, and ran inside to investigate. They were horrified when they saw poor Kitty get humiliated, just because she messed up a song with her sore throat. Angel decided to do something about this; she furiously ran into the crowd, and punched one man in the face! Everyone went silent and stopped what they were doing to see what happened. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ASSHOLES?!" Angel asked with rage.
"This frog did some croaking!" remarked one person, "And she was so funny!"
"Funny, my ass!" shouted Angel, "You blithering bastards should be ashamed of yourselves, picking on a poor girl who's recovering from a sore throat!" Angel then slammed her heel onto another man's foot, making him cry in pain. "WHO'S NEXT?!" The dirty blonde asked. Everyone backed away from Angel silently as she made her way to the stage to help Kitty.
"Angel, why?" Kitty asked when her friend approached her, "Why weren't you here with me sooner?"
Angel felt like lashing out, but she exhaled deeply and explained, "I'm sorry, Kitty. I never wanted any of this to happen while Cecile and I were gone. I didn't know which would be worse – my friend getting or humiliated or a whole audience to boo us for not entertaining them long enough."
"Is reputation all that matters to you?" Kitty asked, breaking into a sob.
"No," replied Angel, "But I couldn't predict this disaster and blasphemy. Let's go back stage." So Angel helped Kitty back to behind the stage, while giving the audience a deadly glare.
End of flashback

"And then Mr. Azhell found out, and he was both angry and proud," said Kitty, "He was angry at Angel for assaulting a couple of people in the crowd, but he was proud of her for standing up for me."
The amigos looked at Kitty with sympathy and awe, and Angel added, "Cecile and I tried to coax Kitty several times that nothing like this would ever happen again, but she wouldn't listen."
"I worry all the time that I'm gonna screw up again, and I know that both my parents would hate me if I did!" Kitty said, getting ready to cry.
Ned went over to comfort her and said, "I don't think so, your parents probably still love you, no matter what." When he said those words, however, Kitty started sobbing into his chest. Angel gave the auburn-haired amigo a dirty look. "What?" asked Ned.
"Kitty despises talking about her parents!" said Angel coldly.
Ned kept silent, because he didn't want to make Angel angry. Instead, he hugged Kitty tightly and she eventually stopped crying in a few minutes.
Later at night, the amigos and amigas fell asleep after they put out their fire. Kitty, however, laid down not too far away from Ned and pondered in her head. Did Mr. Nederlander really care about her or was he only saying that, because he only liked her appearance. Kitty thought she'd think about it more in the morning as she fell asleep under the stars.

Author's Note: The song "Remember Me" is from Disney/Pixar's Coco. No copyright infringement needed.