Listen To My Notes

Chapter 7

Haven's song above^^^^^

Haven's POV

I walk up the sidewalk to the simple light gray one story house, my house. The yard is freshly mowed and the gardens had been pruned. Mom must have been having a hard day. I walk up the steps to the chestnut door and unlocked the door. Inside was quiet. I took my coat and shoes off and put them where they belong. I set my bag down by the entrance to the hallway and my room. "Mom?" 

I continue to walk farther into our house. The empty spaces for pictures on the walls haunt me as I go and so do the few that we still have hanging up. I make my way into the kitchen. We have a simple kitchen. We have a stainless steel fridge and oven and granite countertops. We don't have a dishwasher so we have a drying rack next to the sink.

Inside the kitchen is as silent as the rest of the house. I walk over to the window facing our backyard. I see mother sitting with a cup of tea next to the big tree in our backyard, again. I find her here a lot. I walk to the slider to outside and leave the house barefoot.

I walk slowly up to my mom. "Mother?" I sit down on the grass in front of her. I can tell from her hunched over body and tired expression that it is a bad day. I stand up and sit next to her on the cold metal bench and pull her into my arms. "Oh mother." I feel something wet run down my bare arms and I knew better then to point it out. I just held my mother and gave her the comfort she needed.

After half an hour of me holding my mother she finally turns to me. "Can you play me a song?" She asks me in a soft voice.

"Of course." I stand up and pull my mother up with me. I walk us into the house. I turn left into the living to once we're in the house. I take my mother over to the chair next to the piano. I sit her down and settle myself on the piano bench. "Which song would you like me to play?"

"I Can't Breathe please." Again she asks in a soft voice.

The sheet music for this song is still on the stand but over the years I've perfected this song to memory. I play and sing through my mother's song of choice. A few tears fall from my eyes when I get to the last line. I play the last note and let out a sigh. I turner to look at my mother and she is crying too. Tears silently fall from her eyes. I get off the bench and kneel before her. I wipe the tears from her eyes and hug her.

"We are okay momma, we're okay." I continue to hold her.

A little while later my mother falls asleep in her chair. I put a blanket over her and go into the kitchen to get dinner ready. I need to get her to eat something. I make mothers favorite; pan grilled chicken Alfredo with garlic bread. I am in the process of setting the table when mother comes in.

"Something smells good in here." I jump slightly at the sound of her voice.

"I made your favorite." I put down the last fork and move over to the stove to fill up her plate. I bring her plate over to her and fill one up for me. I sit down and start to eat.

"How was your day dear?" My mother asks. I look up slightly shocked that she is asking about my day. On rough days like today I normally can't get more than a few words out of her.

I wipe my mouth with my napkin. "Um it went really well. I made another pastel piece which I'll bring to Nancy on Friday to have her sell."

My mother nods and continues eating. "Anything else happen?"

I look at my mother shyly. "Um I did get a visit from Principle Blackmore today."

Mother looks at me like I need to be speaking up. "And?"

"He asked if I would want to work with a music producing company on some new material for their artists."

Mother drops her fork on her now empty plate. "Really? Did the company ask for you directly?"

"Um no. They asked Mr. Blackmore if he had any students that he believed would be a good fit for the job." I tell her as I twirl a noodle on my plate.

I look up to see my mother's eye misting up. "My baby is so talented that in that whole school he thought of you?" I nod. Mother gets up and comes over to me and hugs me. I sit there shocked. Normally I am the one giving her hugs not the other way around. I sigh and hug her back. Mother pulls away and looks me in the eyes. "You are so incredibly talented I don't see why they wouldn't want to work with you."

"Thanks momma." I hug her again. "So I should take the job?"

Mother jerks back. Her eyes are wide with shock. "You mean you haven't accepted the offer yet?"

I sheepishly look down. "I mean no. I wanted to talk to you about it first."

Mother relaxes and has a light smile on her face. "Honey you don't need to talk to me about these kinds of decisions. I mean you are the one keeping us afloat now." Silence fills the room when she says that. Mother coughs to clear her throat. "Well I am going to get more of this delicious dinner." She stands up and grabs her plate and walks over to the stove and loads up her plate.

I stare that the strongest women I have ever known before me. Life has not dealt us a fair hand but we make it work as best we can with each other's help.

"So I should take the offer mother?"

"You better dear. I want to hear someone sing your beautiful songs and say 'my daughter wrote that'." I smile and nod.

"I'll call after dinner." She nods and puts her fork into her new plate of noodles. I stare at my mother and continue to eat with a smile on my face.

After dinner we clean up and I go to my room. I pull the sticky note that Principle Blackmore gave me out of my bag. Adrian Blackmore stands out to me in bold letters. Here goes nothing. I take my phone and dial the number. I start to feel nervous as the phone rings.

"Adrian Blackmore speaking." He answers.

Now or never. "Hello I'm Haven Tower. I attend Dale Academy of the Gifted and Talented and Principle Blackmore gave me your number to call about a job offer to work with your company." I take a deep breath once I finish explaining myself making me realize I forgot to breathe.

"Ah thank you for getting back to me. I am assuming you are the lucky student your Principle chose to work with me." He explains to me.

"I am."

"Well then I would love to work with the person my dear older brother deems talented enough to work with me." He laughs like he just told a joke.

"And I would love to work with you also." I start to relax once I realize this is happening. This is really happening. 

My baby is growing up *wipes invisible tear away* So we finally got to meet Haven's mother. What do you guys think? What are your thoughts on what happened to Haven and her mother?