Page 38 of Together in Harmony
I go over and put my arms around him. He is stiff at first, then slumps into me.
“I don’t know how to fucking help her,” he curses.
“What did she say?”
“Her usual Clara crap, ‘Live your best life darling’, and all that.”
“You know she truly means that, don't you.”
Lennox shrugs me off, “Whatever. Did you know Clara is dating Teddy Jones?”
“The Wonders Teddy Jones?” I ask.
“Yep.”
“Good for her.”
“What did Clara make of Harmony?” Hugo asks.
Lennox breaks into a smile. “Clara was cackling her head off when I said we were all after her.”
Hugo frowns. “I’m not after her.”
Lennox and I meet eyes.Yeah, right.
The cloud has lifted from Lennox slightly, and now he goes over to sit on the bench by the grand piano. He puts his cell phone on the glossy black surface.
“Listen to this…”
At first I just hear some chords playing, while in the background there is all sorts of banging and clanging. Then I hear Lenny start to sing.
It's something completely new.
He's singing the same phrase over and over, but tweaking the intonation and melody. After a couple of minutes another voice joins him. Sightly unsure, but hitting the perfect notes to create a beautiful…
“Harmony?”
Lennox nods, and clicks off the recording.
“At Clara’s show, afterwards. I challenged her to write a song with me.”
“It’s good. Kinda sad and joyful at the same time,” says Hugo.
Lennox explains about the mayflies.
Going over to the drum kit, which is usually Lennox‘s instrument, I pick up the sticks and gently start playing a swing beat.
“Play it now, with this…” I suggested. Instead of going to an acoustic to strum the chords, he slips the strap of my bass over his head.
“Hugo, figure out more on the guitar part,” Lennox directs. “I had an idea for the bass line, what do you think of this?”
We play together for a while, every now and then switching instruments. The weight of Clara’s diagnosis isn’t lifted from Lennox, but he seems more peaceful now. Music the healer.
“What are the next verses?” asks Hugo. “Seems like we have the music down.”
“No idea. I am going to have to ask my girl to keep writing it. She’s really good. Did you know she writes poems?”
“Maybe she can help us write the whole album,” I suggest. I mean, why not? She obviously has the knack, we need some help, and it would also mean Harmony hanging around with us all for the summer. She could give up that crappy job of hers.
