Page 14 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

Czech is beautiful, but I long to visit my roots once. I want to live where
my mother spent her childhood, know who she was connected to, how
would she spend her weekends, the place where she attended school.

She was a singer, that’s all I know, with clarity and confidence, and so am
I. It’s only when I compose my own music that I travel away from reality
and feel that she is standing by my side, holding my hand, forever.

My dad never stopped me from following my passion and so I have
found an excuse to forgive him for the mistakes I believe he committed in
the past. We don’t connect that well, dad and I. My step-brother Alan and
Dad are closer, I feel. More so because Alan’s mom is still with him, unlike
mine.

I would write through the nights I felt the pain. That’s how I composed
my first song at the age of eight. My music teacher as well as my
classmates broke into tears when they heard it. It was deep, dark, and insane
for an eight year old to write and sing with such intensity, they believed.
That’s when and how my career as a singer began.

Irena, my step mother, is a new-age fashion influencer and helped me set
up my YouTube channel. She isn’t really talented, but she married a wealthy
guy, and fancy social media accounts are part of the assets you create if you

have a lot of money. After all, rich people can afford to buy new clothes for
every post that they make.
Having said that, she is a nice person at heart. I don’t really hold anything
against her.

I’m not close to anyone at home. Not really. I’m close to my guitar. It’s
because it always meets my expectations. People? They often fail to do so.
Unfulfilled expectations lead to unfulfilled relationships.

‘Hey! Alara,’ says my step-aunt Betty as I enter La Epicurean. ‘You’ve
grown up to be a beautiful woman,’ she continues.
‘Thank you,’ I respond. I don’t talk a lot when it comes to Irena’s
siblings. They’re five women, full of gossip and unnecessary banter. Also,

here in Czech, women outnumber men, so they’re on a constant lookout for
a foreigner to settle down with. Betty is the youngest one and I heard her
own siblings discuss her relationship with a guy from New York who is half
her age. He is the one who gave her the name Betty too. Living the
American Dream has fascinated the world since the 1960s.

‘Which song are you performing tonight?’ she asks.