Chapter 4

The next day, I was up early and tackled pools. I collected money from over half of them and left bills and envelopes for the rest. I was beginning to figure out when to clean each pool to maximize collections. Anyone who wasn’t normally home on a Saturday got moved to Friday afternoon.

With three pools left, I swung by Licorice Pizza and picked up two tickets to see Traffic at the Santa Monica Civic Center later that month. I’m sure Nelson Jadok would give a great show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion but he was no Steve Winwood. I stashed the tickets in my glove box and walked next door to A&W Root Beer for not one but two Papa burgers, fries and a shake. Cleaning pools makes you hungry, especially if you skip breakfast. It crossed my mind that the last thing I had eaten was Fallon and I laughed.

I finished my last three pools, belching burger belches and laughing about how loud I could be. When I got home, I unloaded my gear, took my tickets, cash box and receipt book up to my room. I counted my haul and calculated what I’d still receive in the mail. Even after buying Traffic tickets, I was set for the month and more. I looked out the back window and saw three of the four Musketeers at the pool. Lisa was swimming but Tina and LuAnn were sunbathing. I looked for a couple of moments and reminded myself that it was still August. Still, they both made their bikinis look good. Mouth wateringly so.

Mom was downstairs in the kitchen. I asked about a TV news party that evening and she was way ahead of me. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and ate while she told me what chairs to move into the living room. I moved everything the way I thought she wanted it and then went back into the kitchen to help. She asked about our night and I told her we didn’t make a fire. We just enjoyed the sound of the waves and being together.

“She’s growing on you, isn’t she, buddy.”

“More than that, Mom. I love her.”

“Do you?”

“I’d do anything for her. But what’s weird is that I know I love Lu and Tina, too.”

“I don’t think that’s weird at all.”

“Maybe I could become a Mormon and move to Arizona.”

“And marry all three of them?”

“Yeah. No. But I’m pretty sure of two things.”

“This should be good. Especially after the Mormon Arizona comment.”

“I know that I love Fallon more than either Tina or LuAnn.”

“And the other thing?”

“I don’t know it yet but I think I’ll feel the same way about LuAnn in September and Tina in October.”

“Do you think Tina’s plan might work? To date you last, knowing how fickle you are?”

“Is that what I am? Fickle? I think I just signed up to be smitten. Three times. What was I thinking?”

“You were probably thinking that being smitten might be a good thing. How do you feel when you’re with Fallon?”

“Smitten. Totally, radically smitten. And good. She makes me feel good and I feel good when I please her. I’m proud of her and I’d do anything for her.”

“Yup. You’re smitten alright. I need about twenty celery sticks and the same for carrots. You can cut the carrots into six-inch strips, quartered. They’re for dip.”

“You know what else is crazy?”

“I’m an attorney. My current client list has five or six people that are crazy and probably two that are certifiable but I bet you have something else in mind.”

“Do you guys have a psychologist on staff?”

“No. But now that you mention it.” She thought about it for a moment. “That might not be a bad idea. We often use one for expert testimony. I bet that’s not why you asked.”

“Actually, it is. I got off track and it seemed like something you would do.”

“It’s not a bad idea. I’m not sure we could keep one busy full time but we might want to keep one on retainer. We could have used one this week, that’s for sure. If we get the right one, he might even help with jury selection. I’m going to talk to your dad about it. See what he thinks.”

“What’s crazy is that any of them would want to date me or maybe even more.”

“That’s not crazy at all. Do you think I have good judgment?”

“Yeah, Mom. The best.”

“And yet I married your father.”

“Ooh. I see what you mean. There’s just no figuring out a woman’s mind, is there.”

“Hopeless. But you have a couple of things going for you that you might not realize. First, girls tend to think about this stuff before boys do. And they tend to think about it more seriously. Where you are figuring this out for the first time, they probably each have been thinking about it for months. Maybe for a couple of years. Second, you have the benefit of proximity. They’ve each known you for years and you haven’t done anything to disqualify yourself. Truth be told, I doubt there are many boys out there your age that could stand up to that kind of scrutiny. I think they know that.”

“Wow, Mom. I’m probably going to need a bigger pillow.”

“For your giant head. Yup. You’ve got the rest of August for fact finding. You need to know more than just how you feel. You’ve as much as said so. Fallon’s something of an open book. LuAnn might be a bit more difficult to decipher, but you’ll have had practice with Fallon.”

“And even more with Tina. This is making Tina seem smarter all the time. I keep thinking I might know what I want to know by the end of October but I still might not know what’s best for me. Or who is. Also, I keep thinking each of them might end up knowing too much about me and none of them will want to date me after that.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. When I told you that LuAnn was ready to pick out drapes, that was true and I don’t think it’s changed and I don’t think it’s going to. She simply doesn’t express it outwardly as much because she doesn’t want to piss off her friends. Tina has made her intentions clear, and she is a force to be reckoned with.”

“And Fallon?”

“Fallon is so new to all this. You’re outside her circle. She probably has the most to figure out.”

“So, Tina and LuAnn are interested in me and they might have enough knowledge or experience to think I’m a good deal but Fallon might find out differently. She just doesn’t know, yet.”

“I think that’s pretty much how I would characterize the situation. Do not take any of them or their affection for you for granted.”

“I’ll do my best not to. Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate your ideas.”

“Just like before, you need to trust your gut. My counsel is worth about what you paid for it.”

As she finished that, Fallon and her mom, Mrs. Deplanes, knocked on the kitchen door and my mom motioned them to come in.

“Emily. Good to see you,” Mom said and they exchanged a brief hug.

Meanwhile, Fallon latched onto me like a life preserver in high seas. When Mom and Emily broke their little hug, they turned to us to watch. I was a happy captive. I ran my hands lightly over her back as she nestled her head into my shoulder and held me to her as tightly as she could. My mom mouthed, “wow” to me and I nodded.

When she finally broke the hug, she stepped back and said, “I get it. I get it. I uncorked it. I played Clair de Lune like that today. You know. Uncorked. The second time through felt amazing. So, I tried La Campanella like that. It was so different. I don’t know who to thank more, Nelson Jadok or you, but you’re right here so you get his hug.”

“Don’t even think of hugging Jadok like that,” I said and we all laughed. “Go say hi to everyone else. There’s a crowd gathering,” I said and she left and her mom went with her.

I looked at Mom to get her reaction. “I think you can safely disregard everything I just said about Fallon, buddy. You might be smitten but it’s pretty clear that she is too. She’s got it bad. Careful.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Whatever she meant by uncorking it sounded pretty powerful for her.”

“Jadok told her to play more emotionally. He told her to uncork her emotions and pour her soul into the music.”

“And what do you have to do with that, young man?”

“I guess I’m just an emotional guy,” I said and ducked out of the kitchen before any more questions could follow.

The living room was getting crowded. My mom had put a vegie plate on the table and Dad was on the way home with a bunch of pizzas. The TV was on with the sound off, the antenna adjusted and the picture was clear. Doctor George and the weather forecast wouldn’t come on until twenty minutes after the hour. We had time.

Fallon grabbed my hand and dragged me outside on the back deck.

“You’re amazing. What you did to me last night was beyond anything I could have imagined but it was even more amazing because you said you wanted me to feel like the piano would feel after La Campanella had been played on it. But what you did was even more.” She was breathless telling me this. “I went home and fell asleep. I probably went into a coma I was so wiped out. But when I woke up, I started thinking about it. I played The Moldau and tried to uncork it. It was better but not what I was hoping for. And then I thought about what you said and did. So, I played Clair de Lune, but I did it as though I were trying to give the piano pleasure. Michael,” she whispered, “I basically had sex with the piano. It sounded amazing.”

“Wow. I just said what it seemed like Jadok was trying to say. Did you try La Campanella?”

“Yes. Holy crap, Michael. I played it once through and then I uncorked it. I tried to give the piano pleasure.”

“And it worked?”

“Boy did it. You want to hear something crazy?” I nodded. “When I was finished, I was wet. I was aroused.”

“Holy crap, Fallon. When was that?”

“A half hour ago. I am so amped up right now I can hardly stand it.”

“What can I do?”

“Clothes on and all,” she said and I got the idea. We went behind the pool house and I slid my hand down her shorts. I fingered her for about thirty seconds while we kissed and she came hard and fast.

I looked at her face and she seemed a lot more relaxed. “Are you good?”

“Michael, I’m a slut for music,” she said and we laughed. It was pretty funny. “And you. Oh my god that was amazing.”

“La Campanella as foreplay. I’ll never watch you play piano the same way again.”

“No one can know. No one.”

“No one. Let’s go inside. You’re sort of the reason everybody’s here.” I knelt down and rinsed my hand in the pool as we walked by.

We went in and the other Musketeers made room for her on the couch. Sports was almost over and Dad turned the sound on. We had no idea how the segment would start so it got really quiet. I did a quick headcount and we had twenty-two people gathered around the TV.

Sports ended and Doctor George came on. “I traveled to Ocean Guitar Center in Costa Mesa yesterday to see a very special piano. But this isn’t about the piano. It’s about the very special pianist that made beautiful music. Stay with us and I’ll share that story after the break.”

It cut away and everyone joked and kidded about the very special pianist. Truth is, everyone was excited for Fallon. After two car commercials and one for Marlborough’s, Doctor George came back on.

“We met up with famous concert pianist Nelson Jadok yesterday and asked him about the famous Bösendorfer piano but he refused comment saying that day belonged to little Fallon Deplanes. Here she is playing what is commonly considered the most difficult piano classic, La Campanella.” It switched to Fallon playing and everyone leaned forward to watch. They had captured a particularly difficult section and zoomed in on her hands. The song continued in the background as they cut back to Doctor George with Fallon.

You’ve been listening to Fallon Deplanes perform Liszt’s La Campanella. I’m not sure my ears can listen that fast. How long have you been playing?”

“Since I was five. My parents saw me play on a toy piano and they bought an upright.”

“I understand this piano is a little bit nicer piano than the upright. What makes it so special?”

“The Bösendorfer has ninety-seven keys instead of eighty-eight so it has an entire extra octave and that’s nice. But what I really like about it is how rich it sounds. It’s the best sounding piano I’ve ever played on.”

“You’re obviously very talented. Do you ever get nervous?”

“No. I just play for my man and if he smiles, I’m happy.”

“Must be special. What’s next for you?”

“Well, I’m just a sophomore but when I graduate, I want to go to Thornton. That’s the music school at USC.”

“I think you’ll be ready for that by the time you graduate.” He turned to the camera. “I think the question is, will Thornton be ready for you. You can see this wonderful piano at Ocean Guitar Center in Costa Mesa. Now, let’s take a look at tomorrow’s forecast,” he said and told us what we already knew. Tomorrow there would be early morning low clouds and fog along the coast burning off by mid-morning turning into late afternoon sunshine. It was so regular; Doctor George had begun putting the acronym at the bottom of the screen; EMLCAFATCBOBMTILAS.

Everyone congratulated our newest celebrity and it got pretty rowdy. With two minutes left in the news my dad got everyone’s attention with a booming voice.

“Listen up.” Everyone got quiet. “That might have been it but every now and then, they use something from the show when they run the credits. That should happen in about a minute so let’s keep it down and find out. Just give it a couple of minutes.”

We all settled down and watched. My Dad was right. After the last story, we saw, “This is Joseph Benti. On behalf of the entire Eyewitness News team, we hope you have a pleasant evening. And now, here’s one more look at Fallon Deplanes.” As the credits rolled, they showed Fallon playing and just as the last credit scrolled up, Fallon finished with a flourish and looked right at the camera.

We hollered enthusiastic praise for Fallon and about half the crowd promised to stick around to see it again at eleven. Fallon was excited but emotionally drained and only the two of us knew why. We ate pizza. I ate a lot of pizza. When we finished, I told Fallon she should spend time with the Musketeers and she agreed.