Louis fell asleep after a heavy gig in Newark, New Jersey. The hotel was average, and all the members of the band had separate rooms. Keely new he was exhausted but she had to tell him that she wanted out. She nudges him and he rolls over and he says, “Look, Keely, I am so tired. Tonight I was all over that stage and I am getting up there.” “Louis, I want a divorce. I just can’t do this anymore.” Kelly says as she watches him fall asleep again. He murmurs something to the effect, “Keely, we will talk tomorrow, promise.” She packed his trumpet away next to his violin and walked back over to min anxiously but just watched him sleep.
Keely looks at him smiling as she walks quietly out of the room. Louie started to dream. He heard the trumpet sounds coming from afar. He follows the sweetest sounds he has ever heard and wondered who was playing. He walks down the white corridor and stops I front of a double French door also in white. He opens the door and peeps inside only to see a man dressed in a white suit sitting in a chair blowing away at his shiny brass trumpet. The man stops playing and looks up at Louis. “Oh, Louis, come in, I am expecting you.” Louie walks in closer and asks who he is. “I am Gabriel, you know, the angel?” Gabriel says polishing his horn. Louie looks at him and then at himself and asks, “Did I die, I am not that old.” Gabriel says, “Not at all my friend. You are sleeping soundly in your bed. I do this for so many. It is just to see just where you fit in when you do finally pass. You know, I have been watching you and you seem to be having so much fun down there and make so many people happy.” Louie just says, “Well, I try. Give them all you got and then some, and always leave them wanting more.” Gabriel laughs and says, “You have married four times and they always seem to leave. Why do you think this is Louis?” “Louie smiles and says sarcastically, “Oh, I’m just a gigolo?” Gabriel laughs and tells Louie that he was never serious about women. He tells Louie that he just liked the fact that they worshiped him and marriage was just another sheet of paper to him. Louie thinks about what Gabriel said and tells him that Kelly was leaving him. Gabriel says, “I know this Louis but all is never lost. You will meet yet another woman and she will be forever. She will be your one true love.” Louie liked the sound of that and new one thing for sure, he didn’t like being alone. He says, “Listen, Gabe, I did love them you know.” Gabriel say’s, “No Louie, you were in love of the idea of love but when the real thing hits you, you will be so happy and finally know what love is.”
Gabriel was the barer of news for many. He tells Louis that he would love to sit and play sometime but he must be getting back, it was morning and he will be waking soon. Louie understood and started to walk out of the room. Gabriel stops him and asks, “Hey, don’t you have any questions for me? They always do you know.” “Louie thought about it and says, “Ok, so I meet the love of my life. I am in my fifties, so how much longer do I have?” Gabriel smiles and say’s “That’s up to you Louis, that’s up to you. I will be seeing you again in exactly thirteen years from this moment, sort of an update. We can play then.” With that said, Louie wakes up and Keely is walking out with bags.
A year passes and Louis meets a young blonde singer named Gia Miaone. He is mesmerized with her voice and then it hits him. He looks up at the sky and say’s “Thanks Gabe.” Mia shows Louis a picture she carries with her all the time and it is Louie’s Picture. The two are inseparable and wed a year later. They tour the club circuit and Louis is back on top of the world now knowing what true love is.
Louis was playing the clubs as usual and started to forget the words. He started to scat more then sing and Gia knew he would have to be checked so they went to the doctor the next day. The Doctor made an appointment for Louis to have a tumor removed. He was undergoing surgery when he saw something all so familiar and smiled. He saw that same white hallway with the two white double doors. He walks towards the doors and opens them as if he was at home. There sits Gabriel playing his trumpet. It was “When the Saints go Marching in.” Louie doesn’t hesitate and picks up a trumpet on off the floor and starts playing with him. Just then, in walks Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt and Gene Krupa. Then other famous musicians start playing in and it was a full blown jam session. Song after song the band played. Louis got to sing with Armstrong and was having a blast and even though he is tired but loves it. He sits next to Gabriel and says, “Wow, we have been playing all night long.” Gabriel smiles at him and says, “Louis, we have been playing for three years, your time. You made the choice my friend. Now there are two doors over on your left. You get to open both of them but can only walk through one of them and I know it will be a hard choice to make but I know you will choose wisely.
Louis opens the first door and sees nothing but white with clouds and angels floating everywhere. In the middle of the room stands God. He is dressed in white gowns and smiles at Louis and say’s “It’s ok; I think you will like it here.” Then Louie opens the second door and sees his life before him. It flashes by so fast until it comes to his true love. She is sitting by his bedside in the hospital sobbing. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life but Louis made his choice.
His body was still in that bed. No one else heard it but Louie did. The sweet sound of music, a jam session, and as Gia held his hand Louis seemed to smile. Louie’s spirit gets up and walks to a door. He turns and sees his lifeless body laying on the bed and Gia holding his hand. He looked at her as if to say, “I do love you Gia, but listen, do you hear that?” He walks through the door towards the music as Gia calls for a doctor. The doctor walks in, shakes his head no, and Gia begins to cry, and Louis was gone.
Louis Prima, lived a good life. His music to this day gives us so much pleasure, and now, he is playing with all the greats in that big band in the sky. God Bless you Louie Prima.
Bob D. Caterino 