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here?” she whispered sharply.
    â€œI don’t know,” Orphelia said, her fingers intertwined in her lap.
    â€œHer name is Orphelia Bruce,” Madame Meritta continued. “Would you please stand, Miss Bruce, so that the audience can see you? Let’s show her our appreciation for her talents with a round of applause.”
    Not daring to look at Momma’s face, Orphelia stood up and then shot back down. She bit nervously on her thumb. A chance to go to the fair still?
    â€œOrphelia, I said what is this all about?” Momma demanded, but Poppa motioned to her to be quiet. Orphelia looked up at Poppa in surprised gratitude. She stole a glance at Momma. Momma was eyeing her with a strange, almost frightened expression on her face. What would happen now?
    Almost as soon as the show ended, Miz Rutherford steered Madame Meritta through the crowd to Orphelia’s pew and introduced the entertainer to Momma and Poppa and then Pearl, who was big-eyed and speechless for once.
    â€œMr. and Mrs. Bruce, your daughter is blessed to have such an amazing talent,” Madame Meritta said. “I would love to include her in my show at the fair. Is there any way we can work something out?”
    â€œThank you for your offer, but Orphelia cannot participate,” Momma said stiffly. “Minstrel music such as what I have heard is not morally uplifting, nor do I approve of proper young Negro women parading themselves before the public singing any songs other than religious.”
    â€œThen perhaps you would consider Orphelia singing religious songs during the program, since she is your church’s pianist-in-training,” Madame Meritta said smoothly. “She could represent your church if you wished, and if Reverend Rutherford is in agreement.”
    Orphelia looked from Madame Meritta to Momma. Momma’s face had gone blank. Orphelia grabbed Poppa’s hand and pulled on it. “Can I do it that way?” she pleaded.
    â€œA wonderful idea, Miz Bruce,” Miz Rutherford said.
    Poppa cleared his throat. He glanced at Momma. “This is something that we’ll have to discuss,” he said.
    â€œNo, we don’t, because there is nothing to discuss,” Momma said sharply.
    â€œI see,” said Madame Meritta. She smiled at Orphelia. “You look so much like your mother. You look familiar, Miz Bruce. Have we met before?”
    â€œCertainly not,” said Momma. “Now you must excuse us. It’s getting late. We must get home. We don’t have coaches to tote us about.”
    â€œMadame Meritta, you need to get settled down, too,” said Miz Rutherford. She looked so disappointed. “You pull out of here before dawn, don’t you? You need your beauty sleep.”
    Momma spun around and walked away, holding on to Pearl and Poppa by the elbows. Shoulders drooping, Orphelia looked up at Madame Meritta, then at Momma’s retreating back. She’d never seen Momma act so rudely to anyone before. She grabbed Madame Meritta’s hands. “Thank you for asking, Miz Madame. I really, really prayed that I could have been in your show.”
    â€œI understand. But just remember that your time for fame may still come eventually I would have loved to have you for this World’s Fair show. Perhaps there’ll be another time.”
    â€œOrphelia, Momma said come on!” That was from Pearl behind her. Pearl clasped her hand around Orphelia’s elbow and maneuvered her away.
    Momma was probably really on fire now. Well, let her be! Madame Meritta had wanted Orphelia in the show! She said Orphelia had amazing talent! That was proof from a famous person’s lips. Maybe if Orphelia could just figure out what Momma had against the music she loved, she could still change Momma’s mind. She’d missed her chance at next week’s show at the World’s Fair, but the fair itself didn’t end until December. Maybe Madame Meritta