3. Practice Makes Perfect

If only there was a button for success.... maybe then Denise would have turned it on but here she was.... alone and striving to become better.

Denise looked at the script that she had been given and sighed for the a hundredth time. It was a movie that Diamond Studios was going to produce with newcomers only and it wasn't going to be easy she knew that among the newcomers, there would be those who had connections and they would have a direct ticket to the movie. And here she was, without anyone to even read the script with her. She hoped that it was true what people said that among all the entertainment houses in the country, Diamond Studios was among the most upright. It was rumoured that Diamond Studios never looked at one's background or who they knew in the industry. If you didn't have talent, then no one would consider you in there regardless of who you were. It was said that the president and CEO of the studio was a man who had worked his way from the bottom and he knew the struggles of fighting in a world where everybody thought that they are better than you.

Having being an actor himself, he knew all the traps that can and could be set against a newcomer especially if they were talented and had no one to fight for them. That's why he set up a studio where it was wrong to bully anyone let alone scheme against a fellow artist signed to the studio. Also, apart from bullies and schemers, it was also illegal in Diamond Studios to try and use one's influence to gain favours or resources. Such an artist would be disowned by the studios and their contract would become null and void as it was one of the binding clauses of the contracts signed by all the artists of the studio regardless of the department. This meant that if one was lucky to appear in any of the movies they produced every two years full of newcomers, then as long as they were talented and then get signed by Diamond Studios, the studio would support theem and give them the resources they deserved.

D, as she likedto becalled, prayed and hoped that she would be able to ace these auditions and hopefully become a part of Diamond studios. She wasn't a seasoned actress but she knew to have come this far in her life, she had had to act a lot in that household.

According to the newspaper where she saw the advert of the movie, it was supposed to have at least fifty characters with six being the main. She wanted the second female lead, Laura King, because she was a thief. The specifications said that she should be a lady not shorter than 5'7", should be between twenty and twenty five and should be able to speak English fluently.

Denise knew how to grift. She was a good grifter and that's how she was able to fool her family that she was an idiot for all those years. She was also a good thief in that house. She had learned from a young age how to steal food so as to survive in that house without being caught. She knew that she would be able to act out the part. It would be like acting out her life. She also hoped that if at all she was lucky to get the part, the studios wouldn't succumb to the pressure she knew her family would put on them.

The short script she had involved where the lady thief (Laura King) had gone to steal from a rich man's house so as to avenge her friend who had been killed by the said rich man. They knew he was a corrupt man and they thus broke into his house to steal papers from his safe with all the evidence. Whoever had investigated the man was wrong because Laura was caught red handed trying to break into the safe. The script was about her talking her way out of the situation as she tried telling her partners in a coded language that she is in hot soup. D really practiced although she found it hard because she didn't have anyone to read the script with her or even tell her how her acting was. But she practiced, practiced and practiced. She did it until she was sure that she showed all the emotions Laura was supposed to show well and accurately. She was a believer of the saying that 'practice makes perfect'.

She was ready for the auditions and she wasn't really a religious person but she really prayed. She prayed that all will work out for her. She hoped that God would forgive her for all the times she did not pray in. the past but isn't it said that God is merciful? She hoped that he would be merciful to her.

One evening onthe eve of the auditions, Denise was coming from her evening run as usual. The road she used had part of it passing through a small park that was dark at night since there were no security lights there. They had been vandalised a long time ago. But since Denise knew that she was alone in that big house she called a home, she used to train in karate and taekwondo secretly. She did this so that she could be able to deal with all the bullies in her house.

This gave her the courage she needed to live for twenty years in that house till she was through with her high school education and she was ready to move out. Thus, she wasn't afraid to pass through the park at night because she was confident that she would beat down any vagabond who would ever dream of accosting her.

Although she was poor now and she didn't know what the future held for her, she didn't lag behind in her practice. She knew life was unpredictable and she didn't want to be at a disadvantage when the moment called for it. So, as she was running this evening, she thought she heard voices in the deep part of the small forest. She ignored it thinking that it was those slum delinquents usually doing their business in hiding but she heard a scream. She listened well and her heart couldn't let her go away without having a look because that scream sounded like a girl. She tiptoed slowly towards the place where she thought she heard the voices. When she neared the place, she could clearly hear the voices.

"The boss said we had to do away with her after we have done our business. So why are you two hesitating? You know we can't be able to go against the boss. He would kill us if we double crossed him," one man said and by now Denise was crouched behind a tree and she could see their faces clearly as it hadn't turned completely dark.

There were three well built men who were standing around a girl that seemed barely fifteen. She was tied to a tree wearing very little and she was trembling. Denise could tell that the girl wasn't trembling due to the cold but the fear in her heart. It wasn't easy hearing people plan your death in your presence and you can't do anything about it. She had been gagged and Denise could tell that it was after she had screamed. The girl seemed to be in so much fear and Denise felt for her. She wondered who the young lass was and who was the boss who had commanded them to rape and kill her.

She started strategising on how to save the girl without hurting herself because she had auditions tomorrow and the last thing she needed was to miss the auditions. Ah, she wished she didn't have to involve herself but she couldn't let harm come to such a young girl.

The sight before her made her remember what happened to her in that house when she was around ten years old.