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GIFTS

Chapter 20: Surprise

They left her apartment and walked down the long, darkened hallway to another doorway. She had her keys at the ready and accessed entrance to the dark room. Reaching up to the wall, she flipped the switch and revealed her secret.

He was so stunned he could barely speak. It took several moments of his eyes darting around the room taking it all in before he could look at her directly. He said with amazement in his voice "You have a recording studio? Here, in the basement of a bar in Georgia"?

"Well, it's not state of the art, but it works pretty well for me".

"How did you do this, Sissy, I'm sorry, Bella"?

"Edward, The Bar belonged to my father. He bought it as a tax write off and had the studio and the apartment built in the finished basement. The studio is where daddy did his freestyle work when he wasn't under contract".

She turned to look at him. "Remember I said my father was in the music business? He was a sound recording engineer. He was one of the best in the business back in his day. Let me show you something".

She went to a wall closet and opened it to reveal shelf upon shelf of reel-to-reel tapes and stacks of photo albums. They sat down together on an old worn out sofa in the studio lounge.

"Here's a photo of daddy with Levi Stubbs during the recording of "Bernadette". This one is daddy with The Pips during a lunch break. They were just goofing off. Daddy told me Gladys took that picture. In this picture, he's harmonizing with Stevie Wonder. That one was his most treasured photo of all of them".

Edward looked at her in awe. Page after page after page of soul and R & B history and behind the scenes memories that a museum would covet, and she had it in a basement in a bar in Georgia. Unbelievable.
"My daddy was a major player in the recording industry back then. He could sing, too. His vocals are unaccredited on many songs that you and I love, Edward. Daddy earned a nice living and enjoyed a respectable career, until the booze and the drugs took over".

Authors Note: Not what you were expecting? Let's hear more of Bella's story...warning...angst ahead.