A long lane at night

1.2. CRUSHED CHEEK

** BRIAN **

MICAH WAS GETTING VERY GOOD. HE WAS ONLY eight years old and the love he had for music was so beautiful that it inspired me to be a good teacher for him. I've only been doing this for a bit over a year and he was my very first student. According to his mother, he had been begging to learn the piano since he was four and the lessons were his seventh birthday present.

I still remember the look on his eyes on his very first class and I think I'll remember it forever. It was this magnificent mix of yearning and wonder that swept me off my feet. If I recalled my dear late nanna correctly, that was the very same look on my face when I got my first piano.

His lesson ended when the clock struck four and I had half an hour to prepare for my next one. But Micah's mother texted me to say she was stuck in traffic, so I didn't know exactly when he would leave. I only hoped it would be sometime before 4:30. I didn't want to invade the next student's time. I'm sure Micah would be delighted to stay and just watch quietly, but I couldn't risk having his mother buzzing in the middle of a class, especially since it was the first one and there was so much to be discovered.

I do have to say I have a fair number of mothers approaching me wanting piano lessons for their kids. I always refused the title of prodigy, but I was indeed finishing my first world tour at the age of 15. So, when I moved here and decided to settle for a while, I thought I'd start teaching some lessons to keep practicing and make some money. I stand my ground refusing the title of prodigy, but I do accept the high fares that came with the little fame.

This next guy, however, was a whole different case. First, I wasn't charging as much as I did the others. His mother was one of my nanna's church friends and I did remember her a little bit from my childhood. Her visit yesterday had been at first packed with emotions as we fondly remembered grandma, and then quite confusing when she actually explained what she was doing there.

'You see, Brian' she said tenderly trying to make me believe she was looking for the best words as if I didn't know clearly what she wanted to say all along. Aaaaah, the perks of having worked in the music industry at a young age... 'I've always admired so much the talent that God has given you. So many times our dear Rosetta would put you in our prayers, God bless her soul. We followed you from afar with a lot of love and pride, you know? Oh, don't blush, sweetheart, it's the truth!' I didn't know I had, but okay. 'I just wish my sweet Allan would be so passionate about something as you are with music! Even when he went to college, I knew he was doing it just because people told him that's the way it is, not because he truly loved what he was doing.'

'I imagine how awful that must be' I said more trying to be sympathetic than anything else. How on Earth could I know? I had never once stepped into a university, unless you count theatre performances as a guest. 'So how do you think I can help?'

Damn it. The words escaped my lips before I could even process them. Not that I'm busy or anything, but isn't what she's wanting a little bit far-fetched? My constant need to please will be the death of me.

'Oh, I'm so glad you should ask!' her eyes gleamed at my words. I cursed myself in silence. 'I thought if you could spend some time with him, he might get inspired to find what he loves. But I know what you're thinking. I know you'll think you won't have the time to make new friends, even more with a stranger. So I already have a solution for that!'

I wish I could have felt a tenth of her enthusiasm.

'I want you to teach him how to play the piano. I'll pay. So he'll have something to look forward to and you can make some more money.'

'Please. No. I could never. I would never trade my friendship for money. Not now, not in a million years.'

'Oh, Brian, dear. How very sweet of you. But please. Hear me out. You don't have to be his friend. Just his teacher will do. For those lessons, I want to pay. If you think that you can become his friend and spend more time with him, than that's on you. What do you say?'