Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 00:19:51 -0500 (EST) From: Sean Roberts <seanr_13@yahoo.ca> Subject: The Missing Piece of a Piano - 1 The Missing Piece of a Piano By: Sean Roberts Author's Note: All feedback is very much appreciated. Please send to seanr_13@yahoo.ca For the real Faye, who's beauty and kindness inspired this story. Bar 1 Daniel pushes him, roughly but playfully, off the bench. He sits; the bench is cold against his bare legs. He brings his fingers down on the keys and begins to play a fast Beethoven. When the music starts, Keith stops laughing and stands behind Daniel. Daniel continues to play, faster than he should be, making dozens of mistakes. "Stop! You made a mistake!" Keith says, somewhere in the middle. Daniel stops playing but his fingers remain in their positions over the keys. "I made tonnes of mistakes," Daniel says, laughing. "Which one are you talking about?" "Go two notes back." Daniel remembers the notes he has played not more than a few seconds ago, and his fingers slide almost automatically to the appropriate place. He opens his eyes. His left middle finger is on the wrong key. He moves it a key to the right and plays the note. Then he pauses. "Why did you stop me for this one? Did this one sound worse than the rest?" He continues the piece. "Actually, yes. But that doesn't mean that all the other mistakes were okay. Daniel you really should just stick to the violin." Daniel feels Keith's hands on his arms as Keith bends down to kiss Daniel on the back of his shoulder. "Wait here Daniel." Keith leaves the room and Daniel, whose fingers have not moved away from the keys, presses down and continues the piece. "Stop!" Keith yells from the other room. "I can't take it any more!" Daniel laughs and stops playing. Keith returns with a large, rectangular cardboard box in his arms. "Happy birthday," Keith says softly. They sit, their legs crossed, each on either end of the box. Both are wearing boxer shorts -- Daniel's have blue squares and Keith's have red. At fifteen the visible areas of their bodies are smooth; the lines around their muscles clear. A large, pink bow is taped at the far end of the box. Just below it is a white envelope, also attached with tape. Daniel opens the card. To Daniel, Happy birthday. Love, Keith Daniel opens the box, revealing a dark brown case in the shape of a violin. "You got me a new case! It's really nice Keith!" Keith rolls his eyes. He leans over the case and pops the locks. "Look inside." Daniel opens the case. The smell and the sight escape from the blood red interior. Daniel looks at the violin for a moment, then up at Keith. Keith's hair has grown too long, and it hangs messily over his forehead, shadowing but not hiding his blue eyes. Daniel suddenly leaps over the case and pushes Keith to the ground. He kisses Keith furiously, his penis becoming erect as it rubs against Keith's leg. "Keith, this must have cost you a fortune!" Daniel says, kissing Keith's neck. "You got me something expensive for my birthday. And besides, I made it." "Y-you did what?" "I made it. Well, some of it. My dad knows this guy who builds violins. I couldn't do the whole thing of course, but whatever I could help with I did." The simplicity of the card versus the complexity of the present - Daniel cherishes both even more now that he knows the story behind them. "I don't believe it Keith!" Daniel kisses him again. "Thank you!" "It's tuned. I want to hear how it sounds." Daniel nods. The excitement is apparent on Keith's face. He lifts the instrument out of the case and holds it. It is the perfect size and weight and shape. He can feel that it has been made just for him. He lifts the bow and brings it across the violin. He plays Mozart. He is playing the notes too forcefully, wanting to release every bit of energy the violin has to offer. The sound is amazing. The smell of the fresh wood and varnish enrich the experience. He plays only for a minute--an orgasm of sound--before he puts the instrument down and kisses Keith again. "Keith this instrument is perfect." "I'm glad you like it." They kiss and Daniel follows him upstairs. Once naked they climb onto Keith's bed. Daniel remembers the sounds of the notes when he explodes from the touch of Keith's hand. Just two weeks later he is at Keith's funeral. His brother and his parents; Keith's sister and her parents; are all crying. He remains silent. He knows that crying will not console him. He does not want to be told by anybody that they are sorry, that they know what he is going through. Nobody knows what Keith truly meant to him--to the world they were just best friends but to each other, their relationship was indescribable. At home Daniel takes off his jacket, shirt and tie. He holds the violin in the air, ready to smash it on his desk. He wants to destroy his connections with Keith so that he can stop feeling the pain. He has not heard his brother enter the room. Mark takes hold of Daniel's shoulders. "How about I just hang on to this," Mark says. Daniel does not argue. He allows the instrument and its case to be taken away; then he shuts the door behind his brother. Now that he is alone he collapses onto his bed and cries. His friends, like his family, knew Keith as his best friend. Now, at school, things are un-comfortable. They do not know what to say to Daniel, or how to talk to him. None of them understand what he is going through. Slowly, Daniel moves from them to a group of people who know nothing about him. Some people call them the cool group; others the loser group. The ones he finds are most accepting of him are the ones who smoke on the public sidewalks during breaks; the ones who use pot at parties. He is included because he is willing to start doing those same things. He refuses to play a violin or a piano but music does not leave his life. He borrows scores of music from the library so he can read them and allow the notes play out in his mind. This exercise makes him feel like he is doing what he loves the most- -creating music. He finds that when the music is not real, he does not feel the pain. A few years earlier, his parents began restoring a house in a small town located a few hours away from Toronto, their current home. The plan was to move when Daniel graduates from high school and is away from home at university. This plan changes when Daniel is sixteen and his father answers a call from the hospital. He confirms over the phone that Daniel Thompson is his son, then he races over. In one night Daniel's parents find out about the drugs, the smoking and the alcohol. Too much of the combination one night put Daniel in the hospital. None of his friends are with him. They were all too scared of what might happen to them to stick around. After this, Daniel's parents watch him closely. He is barely allowed to bring in the mail without supervision. A year later the improvement has become stable. They are proud of their son; they buy him a car and tell him that they will be moving. Keith has not returned, and Daniel knows that he never will, but it is all he wants. For Daniel, the car and the move mean nothing. He drives his new car, for three hours, away from the city bustling with people into the town busy with woods. All around him there are trees not yet destroyed in the interest of building houses or stores or factories. As he drives, he becomes absorbed with the beauty of the peace of the forests around him. This is definitely an improvement over the city, he thinks. When he climbs out of the car at their new house, Daniel can hear the music the wind makes when it sets branches waving back and forth and leaves scurrying along the ground. The movers unload the truck and Daniel, exhausted, falls asleep in his new bedroom. Besides the furniture, the room consists of nothing more than boxes. He has not seen his violin for two years; he did not see it while moving. He has thought about it at times, but has never tried to ask his brother where it might be.