Page 86 of Together in Harmony
I love these aunts. We need to put our heads together to try and make a plan.
Brainstorming ‘Operation Fuck Around and Find Out.’ is not one hundred percent successful, but at least we are on the road to somewhere.
The plan is to discredit Screech and get him to admit all the lies he's told—somehow.
“I know you’ll figure it out,” says Sheila. “Let’s finish the visit with some fun!”
She asks us to accompany her and Patsy to the common area.
I don’t know what that is about, but there is definitely an air of mischief.
On the corridor walls are a series of framed paintings with scenes from the world over. The community room has a sitting area with sofas, high backed chairs and a fireplace. Through an archway the parquet floor leads to a huge dining room. To one side is a grand piano.
Sheila parks Patsy close to the piano, then perches herself on the chair next to her.
“So! Harmony said you boys are very talented, we want to hear it! The only live music we get in here is someone's grandchild butchering mozart every now and then. Give us old timers a treat!”
“Err? Harmony?”
She is giggling, and takes a seat next to her aunts. “You heard the lady,” she says. “Do you take requests?”
The boys look at me, and I grin. Anything for our baby. “You guys are the pianists,” I say to them. “What you got?”
“Stevie Wonder?” Lennox suggests. “I’ll play, you and Hugh can sing, maybe figure out some percussion.”
“Spoons?” suggests Patsy. I end up using a couple of large knitting needles to tap out a beat on the arm of Patsy’s wheelchair.
Lennox launches into the introduction of Stevie’s ‘In need of love today.’ It's just an awesome song.
We follow that up with some more oldies for the oldies. Beatles, Willie Nelson, things like that. After forty-five minutes we have run dry of songs to play, but have gained a huge roomful of wheelchair and walker-bound listeners.
“I think that’s it,” I tell the room.
“Can you play one more?” asks Harmony. “Can you play…” she looks shy, “...Meadowsweet?”
And that’s how we close out our impromptu care home setlist. There isn’t much applause when we finish, maybe a third of the audience is asleep. But the shine in Harmony’s eyes is all the praise we need.
Patsy wheels over and patting my hand says, “You have our blessing. Don’t let us down.”
I kneel next to the chair and look her clear in the face.
“Never."
HARMONY
We have only been away one night, but it still feels so good to be home. Lennox comes over to the cabin with me.
“Whoa,” I say as we step onto the porch.
“What’s up,” he asks.
“I think a magical handyman has been at work.”
The broken panes of glass have been replaced, so have the rotten porch planks. Weeds are cut back, and there is a shiny new gutter pipe on the porch, waiting to be installed.
I put the key in the lock. “Einstein?”
Einstein also looks like he has had a makeover.
