Somewhere Boy

Chapter 8

"You hold your arm like this," Julia held the banjo in her grasp, sitting a chair facing John. She had her left hand on the neck, and the right arm over it, "then you strum from the wrist." She flicked her wrist over the strings, sound filling the room. She moved chords, and John watched in pure amazement and happiness. She began to sing.

"-No good Maggie Mae," She smiled and ended the song with a strum. John looked at her, his Buddy Holly glasses balanced on the brim of his nose.

"Who's Maggie Mae?" He asked. Julia smiled and sighed, letting her smile falter with her reply.

"Shes a whore." She stood up and gave John the banjo. John snickered and took it, holding it just how she had earlier.

"I figured that'd keep ya busy, if you're sticking around during school hours." Julia changed the subject as she pulled on an apron that was hung by the door. She tied it and turned to look at John.

"The chords I played, you saw me fingers yeah?" She spoke again.

"Yeah, yeah, go get busy. I'll give you some blissful music." He responded, strumming gently to get how the strings sound. Julia smiled and turned around, returning to much needed housework.

A week passed, and John was now in her living room sitting on a chair. He strummed the banjo with confidence, Julia playing the piano to accompany him. They sang together, before Julia suddenly stopped. She was looking at the doorway.

"Come on Julia!" John said, still strumming before looking up. Mimi stood in the doorway, dressed in black.

"John lets go." She said, her voice cold as ice. John shook his head.

"No." Julia said.

"He's not safe here Julia, and you should know it! You're only hurting him in the end. This all wouldn't happen if you had just stayed out of John's life!" She responded, pointing a finger at her. John stood up and grabbed his coat, confused about what Mimi was on about. He pulled it on and set the banjo back up.

"Lets go." Mimi said, leaving the room. He looked back at Julia, giving her an apologetic smile. A tear flowed down her cheek as the door closed and John walked with Mimi back to her house.

Once back, he got one hell of a lecture. John didn't seem to care, only focused on what Mimi said to his mother. After going up to his room, he flopped on his bed and shrugged it all off. He was in his wife-beater tank top, standing up by his bed now.

A small clank broke John away from his thoughts, as he looked at where it was coming from. Another clank. John looked at the window and approached it. He looked out of the glass, seeing Robyn at the bottom. She smiled and waved to him. John opened the window and peaked his head out.

"Hey there Robbie! Come on in." He said, looking down at his house. Robyn took off her heels and threw them up to John. He caught them with a struggle, one of them almost escaping from his grasp to hit her on the head. She climbed up the house, now barefoot, as her ponytail wavered in the wind. John grabbed her hand and pulled her up into the windowsill, her body fully making it inside once he pulled hard enough. She closed the window behind her and grabbed the heels from John, slipping them back on.

"Its nice to see you." She said, out of breath. He smiled and nodded, pulling her into a hug.

"Nice seeing you too, ya crazy." He replied, chuckling and gaining a laugh from her.

"I overheard what happened at Julia's and came to see if you were okay." She spoke. John nodded slowly. She heard all of that, how embarrassing. He hasn't seen her at school either, which means she probably thought he was ignoring her. He always made it out of the house as Robyn would be stepping out of that Art School, which means he never even saw her walking back to her house.