Take Me to the Water

PART 8 // Music

Uncle Calvin didn't know much about powers. The only gifted person he ever knew was my mother, but that didn't stop him from trying his best to help me.

Every night he'd sit down in his lazy—boy chair and let me practice my powers on him. I'd place my hand on his head and he'd lay back and close his eyes. I didn't know what was supposed to happen and neither did he, but every time I touched him I'd have that same warm feeling over my entire body, and he'd have the most peaceful look on his face.

"What's happening?" I'd ask.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's powerful."

My hands would get so hot that I'd have to let go. Uncle Calvin told me the more I practiced, the stronger I would get, and he was right. With each passing day, I could hold on to him longer and longer, and eventually I began to see things when I touched him, things that didn't make sense.

Sometimes I'd see him swimming across the ocean, and other times I'd see him playing his saxophone underwater. Uncle Calvin would sometimes ask me if I could see anything about his life, and I would always say no. I thought that if I told him I could see things, then I would have to tell him what I saw about Felix, and that scared me. I didn't want Felix to know that he was going to die, and I didn't want him to be worried about when, because I didn't know when.

Sometimes Leah would walk by and stand for a moment and watch as I held my hand on Uncle Calvin's face. She looked curious, but she would never say a word, and after what Uncle Calvin told me, I never said a word to her either. I took his advice to heart and I left her alone. She didn't talk to me about her life or her powers, so I didn't talk to her about mine.

*******

When we weren't practicing my powers, Uncle Calvin worked with me on music, which I loved.

Practicing my powers was draining. Every night after I got done touching Uncle Calvin, I had no energy left. I'd drag myself up to my room and collapse into my bed, and I wouldn't wake up until the next morning. But practicing music was the complete opposite. I felt alive when I played music, and no matter how long I practiced I always had energy to do more.

Uncle Calvin made me memorize every single note and chord on the piano, and how they should sound. He didn't know how to read music and he said I didn't need to know how to either.

"All the best musicians play by ear, baby girl. We don't need no sheet music. If we can hear it, we can play it"

Uncle Calvin would put on classical music, jazz, blues, you name it, and I had to try and play it. He'd sit at the table watching me as he drank whiskey or gin, and he'd tell me to play a certain tune to a match whatever mood he was in. His favorite was Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.

"Baby girl, play In a Sentimental Mood."

I always obliged. I'd play and he'd hum the saxophone part and smile as he disappeared into the music. If I messed up a note, he'd say "no, no, no. Start over Eve. You're messing it up. Listen." Then, he'd make the right notes with his mouth. When I found the right keys, he'd smile again and close his eyes. "Perfect."

I practiced music so much that everything else fell by the wayside: practicing my powers, school activities, my grades. All I really cared about was music, and Uncle Calvin didn't try to get in the way of that. As long as I laid my hands on him before I went to bed, he was okay with me being consumed with music, and I got good at it—fast.

By the time I was 12, I could play any song I heard. When the guys came over for Thursday night jam sessions, I was now playing the piano and singing, and Uncle Calvin would direct us all. We'd jam out to old school music like Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane. We'd play Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, Etta James and Al Green. When we free—styled, Uncle Calvin would play something on the sax and then I'd come in and play a few notes on the piano. It was a game to me. He'd play a sound, and I'd play a sound, trying to top what he did. Then he'd play a fancier combination and I'd do the same. We were speaking through music. He was saying, "can you top this?" and I would say yes with my fingers. It was a competition to me, but all of the sounds went together beautifully. Felix would join in on his guitar and so would Ray, the new guy who joined us after Gary left.