Face The Music

A Day in the Life

I groaned as I rolled over in bed. Someone was tapping me when I was supposed to be sleeping after a late rehearsal last night.

"Mama! Mama!"

I opened my eyes to see my fifteen-year-old ready to go for school. It was her grade's ugly sweater party today. She looked adorable. I smiled up at her. I could never be mad at my gorgeous girl.

"What?" I both said and signed to her.

Every family with a deaf child was different. Some didn't speak at all, some only spoke, and some, like us, signed while we spoke. She'd worked so hard in speech therapy over the years. I was so proud of her. People who weren't close to us couldn't always understand her, but my mom and I never missed a thing she said.

"It's your big day!" she said.

"I know. Thank you for waking me up."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

"Have fun at school."

"I will. See you later."

"See you then, my love."

She left the room and I got a little more sleep before starting my routine. As a member of the night cast, I was out late, but I at least got to sleep in. I had a big healthy breakfast, did some stretching since I was sore, and then did a little doom scrolling on my phone.

I caught my first train at noon, then took my second one, which brought me to a stop right near the famous Radio City Music Hall. I had plans for lunch with my best dance friend, Sasha, and after that the both of us went over to our dressing rooms.

All the other girls and I had to do our own hair and makeup. It was something my many years of competition dance taught me well. My whole routine only took about thirty minutes, usually.

Once I was all dolled up, I put on my first costume. Mine was green and white, while Sasha had one that was red and white. It would be one of the eight costumes we'd be changing in and out of for each show.

Thirty minutes before curtain call, we all got signed in and waited in our dressing rooms. Sasha had the brand new iPhone 40, so we were tag teaming on holographic Candy Crush. It was good to get some rest, being that we were doing five shows today.

One of the staff members came to get us, and we waited in the wings, then took our position on stage. Sasha, being in her fifth season, was calm, cool, and collected as she stood in the front row. I, being a newbie, was in the back line.

The curtain opened and there they were: our audience of six-thousand people. Of all the times that I auditioned (five, to be exact) and all the weeks of training, I always imagined my very first performance as a Rockette, but it really just hit me that this was it. I made it.

We did our first performance, then all the rest of them. The curtain shut, there was a big round of applause, and then it was time for a break before moving to the next show, and the next, and the next, and then, finally, I was dragging my feet to the very last show of the night. However, this one was the most important, because my whole family would be there.

The curtain came up, and I tried my best to look for my mom, Mia, and Hudson, who was coming all the way down from Oak Falls just to see me. I pulled a few strings, and I got a glimpse of them in the front row.

I saw Mia looking all around the stage, then her face lighting up when she saw me. She was patting the arms of Hudson and my mom, trying to point out to them where I was. I was literally the proudest mom in the whole world. I could see that Mia was proud of me, too.

So many people told me I couldn't do it. So many people told me having a baby at seventeen, a special-needs one at that, would crush my dreams of being a performer. But look at me now! I was a Rockette, despite everything that got thrown in my way.

We finished our last number, and we got the loudest cheers of the whole night from the audience. Mia was on her feet, jumping and screaming. I saw her singing "Mom. I love you. Mom. I love you." in the audience. I wished I could've signed it right back to her.

Once the curtain came down, we all went offstage and downstairs to change, and then we had a giant group hug. There were forty of us in the evening cast, and we all got along. We were like one giant, dolled-up, exhausted family.

I went back to my dressing room and took out my hair, then did some stretches and leg massages to finish out the night. My mom and Mia were texting me about the spot where we'd be meeting up. I went back upstairs and found them not too far away on the sidewalk. I was damn near in tears. All three of them had a different bouquet of flowers for me.

"Wow, you guys! I didn't need this many!" I said to them.

"Best Mama gets the best flowers," Mia said.

"Thank you. Happy I have the best daughter," I said.

"Come here! You looked gorgeous!" Hudson said, giving me a big hug.

"You must be so tired. Ready to finally get home?" my mom asked.

"Yes, get me out of here and into a hot shower," I said, letting go of Hudson.

"To the subway!" said Mia.

We went down into the dingy subway station and got on the first train, sitting close to each other. The subway definitely attracted some different characters at night. I clutched my three different bouquets as Mia leaned her head on my shoulder. I had a great job and the three most important people here with me. How could my life get any better than this?