Southside of Heaven

Chapter One - The Voicemail

"Thank you, Los Angeles!" I waved to the roaring crowd and walked off of the stage. A backstage crew member grabbed my microphone and handed me a towel. I wiped my face off and made my way towards my dressing room.

"Hurry and get cleaned up, Jane. Meet and greet starts in thirty minutes!" My manager, Jennifer yelled from down the hall. I nodded my head and shut the dressing room door. Releasing a sigh, I sat down at my vanity mirror and picked up my phone to check the time.

1 missed call from Pecos, TX

1 missed voicemail

Shit, that could be Dad. Don't think too much about it. He probably just wants money. Although, it has been a few years since he's asked... I shook off the thought and got ready for the meet and greet.

--

The next morning, I make my way over to my brother Alex's house. He's four years older than me and just had his third child with his wife a few weeks ago. His tiny dog barked as I stepped onto the front porch of their house, signalling that someone had arrived. Alex gave me a hug and let me inside.

"What's up? I haven't seen you in a while." He pulled down a glass from his cabinet and poured me a glass of red wine. My favorite.

"Whatever. You saw me last week when you invited me to dinner with Alicia and the kids." I punched his shoulder lightly.

"What? I'm just saying that your schedule is pretty tight. Jennifer never cuts you any slack so you're always in the studio." I shrugged and took a sip of my wine.

"Well, I came to tell you that I got a phone call from Texas last night and they left a voicemail." Alex clenched his jaw and crossed his arms.

"Jane, you better not give him any money." He said coldly.

"Alex, I haven't even listened to the voicemail yet. I don't know if that's what it's about. I was too scared to listen to it last night, so I wanted you to be here when I did." He nods his head.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the voicemail, putting it on speaker phone.

"Hi sweetheart. This is Allison, your stepmother. I know you don't know who I am, but your father's had a stroke and I'm afraid he's not going to make it much longer. I'm sure he'd appreciate it if y'all came out to visit him one last time here in Texas. I hope to see you in a few days."