The Missing Piece of a Piano By: Sean Roberts
Author's Note: Please send feedback to seanr_13@yahoo.ca Thank-you, and I hope you're enjoying!
Bar 4
Today he does not go to the library after school. It is Friday and he has plans to see Faye. Daniel showers for the second time that day, then debates putting on fresh clothes after he is finished. He does not want her to see this gesture for what it is--a desire to look his best because of how he feels about her. The shyness of the male sex. He reaches for the clothes he has thrown on his bed, but drops them again.
'What am I doing?' he thinks. He 'does' want her to think it is a date; he wants her to know that he thinks she's beautiful, that he wants her. He wants from her what he has wanted from all the other girls he met during the past two years but never got. He sprays cologne and wears his favourite shirt before leaving the house.
He follows her directions and finds her house without a problem. He walks up to her door and rings the bell, the sound reverberating in his stomach. He takes a small step back from the door. He cannot understand this nervousness.
Daniel looks up when the door opens. She steps outside quickly and closes it behind her.
"Let's go," she says. She does not say hi; she barely looks at him. She has started walking towards his car when he catches up with her and asks her what the rush is.
"My parents are fighting with my brother," she says while he opens the car door for her. They're all yelling their heads off, I just want to get out of here." He nods, closing the door. He walks around the back of his car, smiling because he noticed that she too has changed clothes.
She cheers up as soon as they leave the driveway, and she tells him where to go. For most of the tour they do not leave the car. In an hour and a half she has shown him almost all there is to see. She directs him to a coffee shop, and they take their order in the car--there is one more place she wants him to see.
They drive south, towards the lake. She points to a large, wooded area. "You can just park there," she says, pointing to the side of the road. They climb out of the car and he follows her through the trees. There is no path but she seems to know where she is going. During the five minute walk, she glances back periodically, checking that he is still there. It is dark and he can barely see, but she does not need light. "I've done this millions of times," she says when he asks her if she's sure she knows where she is going.
He sees her stop suddenly and he walks up beside her. They are in a small clearing at the edge of the trees, on top of a circular cliff. Below them are a small beach and a lake. The cliff wraps around one side of the lake, enough so that they can see the other side, which is bare. Faye tells him it is where people go to make out. He smiles from the realization that she wants the same thing he does. The beach and the lake merge smoothly together in the light of the moon. A small dock, extending from the beach into the water, is the only blemish on the landscape. "There's a marina at the other end of the lake," she says. "You can see it on a really clear day."
The weather is no longer that of the summer but they remove their light jackets when they sit. Their legs dangle over the edge of the cliff as he takes out his cigarettes. He is surprised that he has gone the entire evening without one. "Oh, nice Daniel," she says, giving him a playful push.
"Sorry," he mumbles. But he doesn't put it out.
Suddenly five figures run onto the beach. They can be seen clearly because of the light from the moon. They are three boys and five girls, all holding things in their arms. The three boys immediately begin undressing. Upon seeing this, the girls giggle and run behind some trees to change. Shamelessly the boys drop their clothes onto the floor and pull on their trunks.
"Oh my God!" Faye says suddenly. "That's my brother! On the right. My parents are going to kill him if they find out he's snuck out."
"Well their just swimming," Daniel says. "It's not that big of a deal is it?"
"Well no. I used to do it all the time with my friends. But he's grounded. My parents found weed on him. I think they handled the whole thing the wrong way. They just started yelling at him and there's no way he's going to listen to that." Daniel watches as one of the boys runs along the dock and jumps into the water. He hears a scream after the first boy does it. Though the air is pleasant, the water is cold. Faye laughs when the boy runs out of the water.
"Well, my parents had to do everything short of murder to get me to stop," Daniel says.
"You used to do it?"
"Yes. And coke, and I drank tonnes, and the smoking of course, which I haven't given up." He has not talked about this part of his life with anybody before this, and he finds that he is comfortable sharing this part of his life with her. "They were really scared when they found out. They didn't know what to do, so they were trying to be nice and supportive about it. The problem is that didn't work, so they basically started watching my every move until they were convinced I had stopped. For a while I wasn't even allowed to go to school by myself, one of them would drive me."
"Wow, that's pretty heavy."
"Yeah, it was. But it worked. How old is your brother?"
"Fifteen."
"That's when I started. But he'll be okay. I doubt he's doing anything close to what I was."
"No, I don't think so. He's a pretty good kid. He wants to learn the violin actually; I guess he got the music bug too. But we can't find anyone in this town to teach him, and he refuses to do anything else. But he needs a hobby. I mean he swims and plays basketball with his friends a lot, but when they do that they get up to other things. See what I mean?"
The girls have tried and failed to swim because of the temperature of the water. The boys, instead of warning them, probably said they were just waiting for them. Five of them stand on the beach, the boys still in their trunks while the girls have wrapped towels around themselves. One of the boys is handing something around, and Daniel sees them all lighting cigarettes.
"Well, I hope it works out."
"Yeah," she says. "Daniel, I think we should go. I don't want to watch this anymore. I hate it when people smoke." He looks at her. She smiles playfully at him but he knows that she is serious. He drives her home, an awkward silence in the car. He does not listen to the radio while he drives, and she is not comfortable enough with him to ask him to turn it on.
"Wait," he says after she opens the door. "Who's your favourite composer?" She laughs.
"Oh, I don't know," she says. "I guess I like them all. Good night!" He waves and she shuts the door. He watches her walk up to her door and waits for her to completely enter her house before he starts the engine.
When he gets home he goes straight into the music room. He turns on a light and lifts the cover off the piano keys. The grand piano is black and well-polished. He walks around it, running his finger along the smooth surfaces. He sits on the bench, his back straight with his feet resting on the pedals. His fingers are curled in the air; he is ready to play. He wants to think about Faye. He wants to remember the features of her face that somehow round off at the ends, making her look almost like a doll. In his mind he searches frantically for a piece that will do it. But nothing comes. If she had told him who she likes, he could have played one of those to summon her into his mind. He sighs and lowers the cover. In darkness he navigates the stairs and the hallway and then the boxes in his room. He does not un-dress before collapsing into his bed.