The Blues

Chapter Two

Nini: "So, the next day in class, Ricky and I shared with everyone our idea for booking the Blues Brothers to the 'End of the Year' show. We did a ton of research last night and, as it turns out, there's still a Blues Brothers band performing at the House of Blues restaurant in Chicago."

Ricky: "And we placed a call to the restaurant manager – his name's Eduardo – and, unfortunately, he says that the band isn't accepting long-distance gigs."

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            "Well, didn't you tell this 'Eduardo' what the gig was for: a non-profit, end-of-the-school-year performance show?" Miss Jenn asked.

            Nini shrugged. "We were too embarrassed to say."

            "It is non-profit, which is an immediate deal breaker," Ricky admitted.

            "So much for that idea," E.J. said. "What do we do now?"

            Miss Jenn looked on E.J., a little offended by his give-up attitude. Ever the driven one, she declared, "We are still getting the Blues Brothers here and on that stage. I'm going to Chicago myself and bringing them to Salt Lake, even if I have to drag them by their fedoras!"

            Her declaration ensued some applause from some of the Wildcats, particularly Carlos, Seb, Ashlyn, and Kourtney. Carlos was most of all inspired to tell Miss Jenn, "You're not going to do it alone. I'm going with you."

            Miss Jenn was touched by his offering. "Aw, honey. I can't ask you to..."

            "I'm going, too!" Ashlyn stepped forward.

            "You can count me in!" Kourtney followed.

            Then the rest of the class followed, save for E.J., Ricky, and Seb – each of whom provided specific reasons for being unable to go along on this bold class excursion:

            "I've got to make sure my dad is cool with it," Ricky said.

            "I've got to see if I have any off days I can take from my job," E.J. said.

            "And I've got to see if the farm will be well-tended," Seb said.

            In spite of their hesitation and engagements, they were able to make the necessary provisions to allow their field trip to Chicago. Miss Jenn forwarded the idea over to Acting Principal Bluth, who was more than willing to fund the trip, much to the amazement (and skepticism) of Miss Jenn and the Wildcats.

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Carlos: "Is it just me or does Mr. Bluth want us to get the Blues Brothers to our school more than Miss Jenn does?"

Kourtney: "Something is very sus about that man."

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            Two days later, the drama club arrived in Chicago via three-hour plane ride. Despite being there for business instead of fun, that didn't stop them from taking in much of the city sights on a shuttle bus. After all, they had to do a bit of sightseeing to find the House of Blues venue.

            Their search brought them to the slums of Chicago – a rougher-than-anticipated community that was predominantly African-American and Puerto Rican. There were a lot of gang-ridden territories, claimed by the spray-painted callsigns along the outside walls of rundown, abandoned zones.