Rosalita

This is my entry in the

A Song from My Story, a Story for My Song

challenge. It's inspired by Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)."

I'd like to thank my editor, Newell Post, any remaining errors are mine.

Rosalita's father never liked me because I played in a rock-and-roll band.

I don't know why he was such a jerk about it; it's not like I didn't have a good job. I just loved music, and I was pretty damn good at it, if I do say so myself. I didn't have to though, the number of fans at the gigs I played spoke for themselves.

There were times that I almost wanted to walk away, but I was in love. Of course, the fact that she was hot as a firecracker didn't hurt.

We had a date for my gig that Friday night. That morning my phone rang. It was Rosalita.

"Bobby," she said, crying, "I can't go."

"What do you mean you can't go? Are you sick?"

"No, it's my dad. He's closed me in my room; he says it's time I found a man with a real future."

I was seeing red now. What did he think, that this was the Middle Ages? Rosie was 18, she didn't need her father's permission to date anyone.

Some guys would have snuck around to the back of the house, helped her out the window, but that was never my style.

I put my guitar on the back seat and laid rubber with the radio blasting. I skidded to a stop right in front of her house and got out of the car. I didn't even bother turning it off or turning down the radio, and her father came out onto the porch, letting the screen door slam behind him.

"What are you doing here?" he said. "I thought I told you I didn't want you bothering Rosalita anymore."

"I'm here to take her to my gig. Why don't we ask her if I'm bothering her?"

"I'm her father, it's my job to look after her."

At that moment, the door opened and Rosalita slipped out, moved behind me and grabbed my hand.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's safe," I said, as I led her from her front porch to my front seat.

I got behind the wheel and in a concession to her old man, I didn't burn any rubber while Rosie looked back at her father. I pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss.

"Don't worry, Babe, it'll be okay. Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny."

"But he's so mad, and my Mama was crying."

"They may be tears of joy pretty soon. I heard a rumor that there might be someone from a record company there tonight."

"Really? What does that mean?"

"Well, if they think I'm any good, they might try to sign me to a contract."

"'Try?' Why would they have to try? Why wouldn't you sign? That's been your dream like forever!"

"It has to be the right deal. I've seen too many artists sign deals where the record company makes all the money and the artists get peanuts."

"Well, you're so smart, Bobby, I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

"Heh, your Daddy would say if I'm so smart, why didn't I finish High School?"

"Oh, Bobby, you were just bored, you could have finished if you'd wanted to."

At that point we pulled up behind the club and I had to get ready for the sound check.

I grabbed my guitar case, wrapped my arm around Rosie's waist and walked in the back door, nodding to the barback, not a bit jealous of the way he looked Rosie up and down. What's the fun of having a hot babe if nobody notices her, right?

Rosie headed up to the bar to get herself a drink. She wasn't "legal," but the bartender just pretended it was for me, as long as it was just the one. Nothing for me, only water when I'm playing.

The rest of the band was there getting set up. We were lucky. The bar had a good sound system; they even had a sound guy, so all we had to do was plug in, tune up and play.

We'd played this place before and the sound guy knew us, so we only had to make some tweaks to the mix and we were ready to rock and roll.

Rosie was already sitting at a front row table off to the side, and I went to join her.

"You nervous, Baby?" she asked.

"Not as much as I would have thought. The band's tight, we've got some good covers and some original stuff. All we can do is play and have a good time. If the guy's here and likes us, that's great; if not, it's not the end of the world."

"Well, they'll be crazy not to sign you. If they don't, they'll be kicking themselves in the ass when you're the next big superstar!"

"As long as I'm your superstar, Rosie, that's good enough for me," I said as I swung her around and gave her a big kiss.

"Put me down, you big doofus, I think the guys are waiting for you."

I looked over my shoulder at the band. They were all just standing there with shit-eating grins on their faces.

"What's the matter? You guys have nothing better to do?"

"Nope," said Jake, my sax player, "just waiting on you."

"Fame and fortune awaits, my love," I said as I got up on the stage and went over the set list with the band.

Soon the place filled up, and it was time to go on. I scanned the crowd, spotting a few of our regulars while looking to see if I could find any suits, but I saw nothing. I guessed that the rumors weren't true.

We opened with a couple of covers to get the crowd comfortable, then eased into some of our more popular originals. When we had them primed we started to really jam, and the joint was jumping.

Rosie was singing along with us, and her smile was like a spotlight. We were really on, and I hated to stop, but it was time for a break. We promised to be back soon.

The bar owner was happy because people bought more drinks during the breaks, and I went to help Rosie at our merchandise table. It felt a little odd signing autographs on our self-produced CD's, but hey, maybe they'll be valuable souvenirs someday.

If anything, the second set kicked ass even more than the first, but after two encores we had to call it a night. I set my guitar aside and went down to see Rosie. She didn't seem to mind how sweaty I was as she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a big kiss.

I reluctantly pulled away as I needed to help the guys pack up. Everything was packed up and loaded into the cars when I went back into the club to get Rosie. I didn't see her. I assumed she was in the restroom, when I was approached by a strange woman.

She was definitely over-dressed for the club, in a business suit and around three-inch heels.

"Hi, Bobby," she said, "I was very impressed by your music."

"Thanks," I said, "and you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Alice Conrad, A&R rep for Bullmoose Records."

My dumb look must have given me away.

"Ah, you were probably expecting a man."

I nodded.

"I get that a lot. There aren't a lot of women working in this area. Well, as I said, I'm very impressed by you, and I'd like to get together to talk about a possible recording contract."

Needless to say, I was stunned. As much as I had hoped for this day, or should I say night, part of me always thought that it was just a dream.

I came out of my stupor as Rosie came out of the restroom. Alice stuck a business card into my shirt pocket and patted my chest as I was enveloped in the scent of her perfume.

"Call me soon, so that we can meet and discuss the details," she said, then was gone.

The next thing I knew, Rosie was in front of me, and she wasn't happy.

"What did that bitch want, and why were her hands all over you?"

"She's with Bullmoose Records. She thinks they might want to sign me," I said as I fished the card out of my pocket.

Rosie glanced at the card before sticking it in her purse.

"That better be all that she wants," she said and stormed out of the club.

The bar owner just looked at me and grinned, I shrugged my shoulders and went after Rosie.

Rosie was already in the car with her arms crossed, and I didn't need to be an expert in body language to know that she was steamed.

I got in the car and put my hand on hers.

"Rosie, what's the matter? You have to know that there's nothing going on. Hell, I never even saw her before tonight."

"She seemed to be acting awfully familiar."

"Rosie, I may not be all that sophisticated, but I'm not naïve, either. She's probably hoping to sign me to a contract that might not be in our best interests, and thinks that she can sweeten the pot by making me think that she might be available."

"Well, you better make sure that she knows that you're not available."

"Don't worry your pretty little head about that. I'm a one-woman man, and you're that woman, Rosie."

"You better believe it," she said as she pulled me in for a steamy kiss.

I slid a hand under her shirt and massaged her breast through her bra as she arched her back in her passion. I moved back as I tried to lift her shirt over her head, but she pushed my hands away.

"I'm sorry, Bobby, but it's late, and my father will be waiting up. We don't want to antagonize him more than we already do."

I hated to admit it, but she was right. I sat back in my seat as Rosie straightened herself up, then headed back to her house.

As I pulled up in front of her house I could see her old man inside the screen door, so I kept the goodnight kiss PG-13, then watched as she skipped up the walk to the porch stairs. She climbed the stairs, then turned to give me a wave good night as her father opened the door to let her in. His glare wasn't pleasant as I drove off.

A couple of days later I pulled out the card, called Alice Conrad and made an appointment to go to her office in the city that Friday. Rosie wasn't thrilled about that, and immediately announced that she would be going with me.

"Come on, Rosie, this is just business, nothing you need to be worried about."

"Yeah, well I just want to be sure that there's no monkey business, and that she doesn't rip you off."

"Why are you being like this, Rosie?"

"I saw the way she worked you at the club; she was wrapping you around her little finger."

I knew better than to argue with Rosie when she got her mind set on something, so I agreed that she could come.

When we got to the record company offices we were shown into a conference room, and as soon as Alice walked in I began to think that Rosie was right. First, the big smile on Alice's face turned into a frown when she saw Rosie there. Second, her hand immediately went to her blouse to button the lower button that seemed to be revealing just a tad too much cleavage.

She seemed to be aiming at a seat beside me, but shifted gears and sat down opposite me, enveloping me in a mist of perfume.

"It was a tough battle, but I got my bosses to agree to offer you a contract," she said as she slid a stack of papers over to me. As I started flipping through the pages she said, "There's no need to bother with that, it's a pretty standard contract."

"Yeah, I've heard about these "standard contracts," and I think I'll have a lawyer look this over first."

"I don't think you understand. This is a take it or leave it deal. If you leave without signing, the offer is off the table."

"Well then. I'm sorry to have wasted your time," I said standing up. I don't know if she noticed Rosie sliding the contract into her bag as she stood up, and we left.

"I'm so proud of you, Bobby, for not falling into her trap. We'll get someone to look this over, just to make sure."

"Thanks for your faith in me, Baby, I just hope that I haven't blown my big chance."

"Don't worry, Honey. You've got what it takes, you'll do better than this, I just know it."

I put on a happy face for Rosie, but I wasn't as sure as she was.

I pulled together some money and had a lawyer look over the contract, and was I ever glad that I didn't sign. Not only would I have been signing over the rights to my music for peanuts, I would've been tied into the deal for five years before I could get out.

Things were still icy between Rosie's parents and me, but we dealt with it as I threw myself more into my music. We lost and added band members, and if anything we got even better. We still played clubs, but we also got to open for some big-time acts.

One of the acts, the Rufus Brothers, took us under their wing, and eventually hooked us up with their record company. The difference between them and Bullmoose Records was like night and day. Not only did they not get upset when I wanted to get the contract looked at, they encouraged it.

I had the same lawyer look at the proposed contract, and he agreed that it was fair, although he did have a few tweaks to which the record company readily agreed.

I signed the contract and received my advance check. Now I was ready for the biggest step of my life; getting Rosie to leave the safety of her parents' home to come away with me.

I knew that Rosie loved me, but she loved her parents, too. Their approval would be huge. Would she leave with me anyway? Probably, but she would be sad, and I hoped that she wouldn't have to choose. I had what I hoped was a trump card in my pocket.

The Sunday after I signed the contract I had Rosie get her parents to invite me to have dinner at their house.

To say that the atmosphere was tense would be a gross understatement. Conversation was pretty much limited to complimenting Mrs. Juarez on her cooking, which was easy to do, as it was delicious.

After helping clear the dishes, we took our coffees and sat down in the living room.

"Okay, Robert," he said; he knew I hated to be called Robert. "You asked for this meeting, the ball's in your court."

I took a deep breath. This was it, showtime.

"Mr. Juarez, I know you don't approve of me . . ."

He snorted

". . . but I love your daughter, and I know she loves me." I glanced over at Rosie who beamed at me.

"So, I've come here tonight to ask you for her hand in marriage."

The women gasped and her father just glared at me.

"Just how do you expect to provide for my daughter? You certainly won't do it with your dead-end job, wasting your time with your silly dreams of a music career."

That was the opening I had been waiting for, and I reached into my pocket.

"Earlier this week I signed a contract with Hightower Records. This check is my advance against the royalties for my first record." I handed him the check. "As soon as we finish the record, we'll be going on tour, opening for the Rufus Brothers. If she accepts my proposal, I'd like to marry her at the end of the tour."

Rosie didn't even wait for her father's approval or for me to officially propose. She rushed over to me, jumped onto my lap and threw her arms around my neck, kissing me over and over.

"Yes, yes, yes," she said. "I wish I didn't have to wait for the end of the tour."

Mr. Juarez handed the check over to his wife. Her eyes went wide as she fanned herself.

"That's very impressive, Robert, but you'll have to sell a lot of records just to cover that advance, and Lord knows there are no guarantees in the music business."

"I realize that, Mr. Juarez, and that's why I'm encouraging Rosalita to continue her education while I'm on tour. Hopefully, by the end of the tour we'll have a better idea of my chances for a successful music career. Meanwhile, Rosalita will be investing in her own future."

A pregnant pause hung over the room, then Mr. Juarez spoke again.

"All right, Robert. I won't say that I totally approve, but I can see that you have a well thought out plan. I am going to insist that Rosalita does her part to continue her education, and I'll be watching your career with great interest."

We all stood up, and Mr. Juarez shook my hand as Rosie hugged her mother. Then Rosie hugged her father as I hugged her mother, before we escaped in my car.

"Oh, Bobby, I was so nervous, I never thought you would get my father to accept us being together."

"We're not all the way there yet, Babe. You still have to sign up for school, and I have to record a kick-ass album."

"Don't you worry. I'll make you so proud of me, just like I'm so proud of you."

With no gig scheduled, we actually had some time to ourselves, and my mother was out of town to boot.

We went back to my house and I took her to my room.

I took her chin in my hand, turned her face to mine, and kissed her gently. Our lips parted and our tongues dueled as I lowered her back down, her legs rising up to stretch out on the bed.

This time I encountered no resistance as I lifted her shirt over her head. While she was still half-sitting up, I removed her bra, admiring her firm breasts topped by erect nipples.

I pulled off my shirt and lay down next to her, kissing her again as I caressed her breasts.

I shifted so that I was kneeling over her, straddling her legs, and reached for the top of her jeans. I hesitated for just a moment until she nodded her approval. I unbuttoned and unzipped the jeans, tugging them down her legs as she raised her butt to assist me.

I stood up and paused to take in the vision of her in just her lacy panties, then pushed down my pants and underwear in one move. It wasn't our first time being naked together, but all the other times it had been in the back seat of my car. This was her first time seeing me in all my glory, as it were, and she was a little taken aback.

I got back on the bed and pulled down her panties, already damp from her arousal. She kept her pussy shaved almost bald, with just a short landing strip. Her lips were glistening, her clit was sticking up and it was all I could do to not just dive in, but I had to return to her sweet mouth first.

Rosie was squirming, so I didn't linger there. I moved down to pay my respects to her breasts, then teased her cute little navel before reaching her treasure.

I've never claimed to be the world's best pussy-eater, though I've never had any complaints. Then again, Rosie's is only the third one I've ever had. Rosie's squirming increased, and she nearly bucked me off as her first orgasm hit, but I held on until I gave Rosie her second.

She was gasping for air as I moved up her body to resume kissing her mouth. Rosie never minded tasting herself, it even turned her on.

My cock was at her entrance, and before I could make a move Rosie raised her butt off the bed and took my cock part way in, and with one thrust, I was fully seated.

We hesitated for just a moment before we began moving in concert. I tried my best to hold off, I wanted her to have another orgasm, and just as it seemed like I couldn't hold off any longer, she came again, her vaginal muscles contracting and setting me off.

I lay on top of her for just a moment before rolling off. I pulled her over, resting her head on my chest, and closed my eyes for just a moment.

It seemed like I was out for only a moment before Rosie was nudging me, telling me that we had to get cleaned up and dressed so that I could get her home before her father got out his shotgun.

We were ready in record time, and I pulled up in front of her house right on time. Rosie leaned over, gave me a quick kiss and dashed up to her house. She turned around and waved, I gave a little honk and I took off for home.

The band and I spent hours in and out of the studio writing and recording. Rosie was there as often as she could, and all I had to do was look at her and I'd be inspired.

Everyone was pleased with the album, and it was ready for release just in time for us to head out on tour with the Rufus Brothers.

While we had done some openers before, it was somehow different being an official part of the tour. I was sad that Rosie couldn't be with us, but she had started classes.

The album had just come out, so it took a few shows before there was much of a buzz when we came out, but before too long we were greeted with loud cheers.

The Rufus Brothers were cool, kidded us about maybe we should switch places, and during the last part of the tour they called me up to join them on a few songs.