Page 16 of Ex in the City
‘Is it easy to make music?’ Archie asks.
I don’t know why it warms my heart to see him so engaged, asking questions, clearly interested in what Dylan has to say.
Dylan surveys the room before turning to Jo.
‘Can I show them?’ he asks her.
‘Go right ahead,’ she replies curiously.
‘Great,’ he says. ‘Do you have any pencils? Oh, and some rubber bands too.’
‘Store cupboard,’ Ms Holmes, Archie’s teacher, says as she goes to grab them.
Dylan starts gathering various boxes and containers from around the room. Some he turns upside down, and others he covers with elastic bands. He twangs and arranges different elastic bands on the containers, tuning them by ear to get the sound he wants from each one.
‘Okay, here we are, musical instruments,’ he tells the class. ‘Who wants to try one?’
‘They’re not instruments,’ Maggie insists with a roll of her eyes.
‘They are,’ Dylan says confidently. ‘This whole room is full of musical instruments – the world is full of things you can make music with.’
‘How do we play them?’ Archie asks, clearly interested.
‘However you want,’ Dylan tells him. ‘Like this…’
He demonstrates, grabbing a pencil and drumming out the iconic beat to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ on his makeshift drum kit. The kids burst into laughter at the familiar rhythm. I smile as I see how into it Archie is. I don’t suppose he’s had much exposure to music.
‘Or,’ Dylan continues, ‘you can do this.’
He starts twanging different rubber bands, seemingly randomly, but the familiar notes of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ are there.
‘Come on, give them a go,’ he encourages the room. ‘Parents and teachers too.’
Everyone rushes forwards to grab an instrument to try.
‘I was such a big fan of yours, back in the day,’ Talia, one of the mums, tells him, almost flirtatiously. ‘It’s nice to see you’re still making music.’
Dylan laughs.
‘Yeah, well, it’s a little different to the old stuff,’ he jokes.
‘Is there any chance of the old stuff coming back?’ she asks nosily. ‘People would love to see The Burnouts back together.’
‘And there’s me thinking you really did like this,’ he replies tactfully, holding up a cardboard guitar, playing a few notes.
Everyone knows that The Burnouts only broke up because Dylan and Mikey fell out. It’s such a sore point, even I’m scared to mention it.
As Dylan watches the kids experiment and laugh, he turns to me, and there’s a softness in his eyes that I like.
I still can’t believe he’s here, saving the day. He’s somehow turned up right when I need him – in more ways than one – I just can’t help but wonder why.
10
Dylan and I are sitting in the car together, finally alone after spending an hour with the kids. For a moment, we just sit in silence. I don’t think either of us was expecting a day like today.
I grab the unfinished cup of coffee I abandoned earlier and take a swig.
‘I can’t believe you remember exactly how I like it,’ I say.
