This book reveals a tale of romance, music, and the tragedies encountered to some of the characters.

The way the story is told it will make you smile, cry, and feel sad. It will be hard to put the story down so you might end up reading the entire story at one time. I the author of this story have read it several times and I still cry reading it. I’ve been reminded many times that men don’t cry. If you have a love for music, this is the story to read. If you want to know what real hardships and tragedies are, read the story. You will feel the pains and realize how lucky you are to be the one reading the story and not being the characters in the story.

When you read this story, it will bring out some of your hidden feelings you didn’t know you had.

This story is shorter then most stories, but it carries a punch. If you are weak, this is not the story for you. Like surprises? Then you must read the story. If you feel a need to cry and can’t get it out, then you must read this story.

Nicholas Lawrence Portillo, Jr. was born February 5, 1946 in Albuquerque New Mexico. He was two and a half years old when his mother passed away. So he was put in the orphanage and lived there until he was around nine years old. He was sent back home to live with his father and stepmother. He comes from a poor family, living in a poor community. He never finished school. He lived a hard life, and that’s what brought him to writing this novel. He had never finished anything in his life. So writing this novel brings closer to all the unfinished circumstances in life. So for those who have always wanted to write, if I can do it, so can you.

Nick needed a little more time to organize himself. After all, this was his first performance in front of a real audience. Playing in front of the prisoners had been just fun and games to Nick, but this evening was quite different. Another reason Nick did not go to work was because he knew Sam would be asking questions about Charlee all day long. Nick planned for Sam to be in total shock when he saw Charlee for the first time. He knew that after the performance started Sam would be impressed by Charlee.

The talent show started at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening. All of the people that were to perform had signed the roster and been recognized by the stage manager except Charlee. The show was going well. They had Charlee scheduled as the last person to perform. There were ten short segments scheduled that evening. So the show was anticipated to end about 10:00 p.m.

The organizers were honored that the school board was attending the program. They needed to make a judgement on whether the evening programs were worth having after school hours. Their presence had been required, whether they want to be there or not. The audience seemed to be having a good time.

Backstage Jeanie approached Sam. They were waiting to meet Charlee. "Daddy" she said, "Where is this Charlee who is supposed to play tonight? I haven’t seen him. In fact I don’t even know who Charlee is. I’m getting a little nervous."

Sam replied, "I don’t know where Charlee is, let’s just be patient for a bit longer." Jeanie nervously turned to check the roster. Sam was pacing back and forth while mumbling, "I don’t even have Nick’s phone number. Oh yea," he remembered, "He doesn’t have a phone." Sam kept repeating that Nick said he wouldn’t miss this for the world. "I just hope he is true to his word. After all, he was the one who was responsible for this pianist. I hope they don’t let us down. Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this idea. It was stupid of me. I don’t even know this Charlee." The more time Sam thought about this, the more nervous he became. Soon he had worked himself into a state of panic. He recalled that Nick said Charlee could play anything, now he worried that Nick’s idea of music might not be what he wanted to hear. Sam had the idea that because he had worked in a music store for years that he was an expert on the subject.

"I’m going to feel pretty stupid and Jeanie will probably never speak to me again if this doesn’t go well." This was important both to Sam and Jeanie. "All I can do right now," thought Sam, "is cross my fingers and pray."

"Daddy, Daddy" Jeanie’s voice broke into Sam’s worried thoughts. "Charlee is here. I know Charlee is here." Jeanie was almost shouting with excitement. "Charlee signed the roster."

Sam asked, "Well where is he?"

They both looked around but could not see anyone they thought resembled a pianist. Sam and Jeanie were looking for a person dressed in a tuxedo like so many concert pianists. But they could not see anyone who fit that description.

"Maybe Charlee stepped out for a minute," suggested Jeanie.

"Well, I’m going to walk around and see if I can spot this Charlee. I’ll try the men’s room first." Sam was so nervous that he had forgotten what Nick said about assuming that Charlee was a male.