He had it tucked away in a cabinet that he called his “old-school cabinet.” I couldn’t even imagine it being hotter than July as I wiped sweat from my face and sipped an ice-cold bottle of water to cool down. I sat in a lawn chair next to Nana, who was singing and popping her fingers to the sounds of Lakeside, an old-school group that was performing onstage.“Hey now,” she said, and moved her shoulders to the music.I was tired of listening to old-school and wished that Alicia Keys would hurry up and appear. The radio stations had been hyping up the event all day and had even interviewed her twice on the radio. I’d been waiting for her performance all day. I was hot, and tired of hearing Uncle Keith and Cousin Benny sing the words to every song—off-key. Sabrina had said that she would meet us at Washington Park hours ago, but she hadn’t shown up yet, and I was starting to wonder if she was going to show at all. At least if she was there, I’d have someone my age to hang out with.
