Chapter 35

Cindy's turn:

Riot weekend! We flew to Houston and collected an engineer and a flute-player. Okay, I said 'flautist' but Johanna said very few people still use that term. We flew? I flew. Dan handled communications with air traffic control once we entered the Houston traffic control area and fed me altitude and course data. I paid attention to ALL of that while we both watched for traffic. This is the most intense flying I've done, threading our way between TWO major airports, Hobby on the south side of the city and Bush on the north.

We landed and met Jo and Stoney, did the obligatory pit stop stuff, and then loaded up for the flight back. I sat in the back seat with Jo, mainly because I wanted to sit by my new friend, but also because I wanted to give Stoney some wiggle room for his leg. This was Jo's first flight in a light plane. Stoney said he'd been in Army helicopters before, so crossing the countryside at six or seven thousand feet isn't that big a deal to him, but Jo was happily amazed at the view. I'm exactly the opposite. I've never been in a commercial plane, just our Cessna.

We had a good trip.

I have to explain that I saw in Jo and Stoney a confident, poised couple, otherwise we wouldn't have dumped them right into the middle of the full community.

Made 'em play for their meal, too. Jo makes me jealous. That silver flute just seems to fit her, and when she plays, oh, gosh, I'm supposed to have a vocabulary, but words fail me. Comparison? Closest I can come is Mizz Ann with her violin when she's feeling classical. And I appreciate my Dan's guitar skills and Mister Jim's banjo skills, but honestly, Stoney is an order of magnitude above them. I asked him about that. He just pointed to Jo. "I'll never catch up, but I have to try. She makes me want to do it."

And when I heard Mizz Ann describe the performance where she'd seen Stoney and Jo in front of the university chamber orchestra, I was just a bit incredulous, but we're talking about Mizz Ann, whom I've sat beside at a concert or two in the past, and if she said it was memorable, then it must be. After all, I'd seen Jo and Stoney and Dan jamming in the apartment that one night. I can only imagine them with a real orchestra backing them up.

So we got the whole Auburn gang: Me and my Dan, Nikki and her Dan, Alan and Tina and Terri. Jo called her 'Terri-dactyl'. That's liable to stick. Susan and Jason. And Beck and Sim and Rachel.

I didn't know that Sim played violin. Yes, he does. Quite well, actually. "This bunch is making him come out of his shell," Beck intimated to me. "And that's not a bad thing at all."

I guess seeing so many people playing, making music, he just gave in and brought out his violin. I need to learn a few secrets about musical instruments and things, because they seem to have a way of applying parameters that make music work. I just know there's structure there. I need to look into it.

And today we're going to breakfast, me and Dan, Jo and Stoney, Nikki and Dan 2.0. The others had their own plans this morning. After breakfast we toured the university campus, like I'm some sort of expert. I was able to identify some of the buildings, as in "that's where they tortured me with math..."

Stoney turned back towards me and Jo. "Baby, what Cindy's talking about doing in a couple of days had me losing sleep for months."

"Scares me," Jo said, smiling at me. "I can't imagine."

"You play the flute like an angel," I said. "I'm just as envious of that."

"Cindy, I've been playing the flute since I was nine. I'd better be good at it."

"And Cindy got serious about math just over a year ago," Dan said.

I smiled when I remembered Dan being so patient with me. "Don't learn the problem, learn the principle. Then you're master of ALL the problems." I quivered just a little, thinking of the times I turned to look into his eyes when he was sitting there beside me talking, before we'd even decided we were supposed to be together. And after that night, when he was studying with me, and those eyes weren't about sex and lust, just my guy being himself. "Yes, I got serious once I had somebody in my life who told me it was good to be serious about school."

"Both my parents are college grads," Jo told me. "Well, Dad was West Point, but that counts."

"I wonder what it would have been like to have a normal family," I whispered to her.

"You probably wouldn't have him, sweetie," Jo whispered back. "Look what you DO have, not what might've been."

I smiled. Seems I've had this conversation before. Susan told me the same thing. And I'd related that conversation to Dan. "Inside that pretty and absolutely astonishing head of yours, baby, there's still a scared little girl who worries about the world she faces."

"I know," I told him.

"I'll be at your side, the whole way, cutie," he'd said.

I shook my head sideways, bringing my mind back to the present. My cellphone ringing jolted me all the way back. I looked at the display as I brought it to my ear. "Mizz Ann," I said. "How far out are y'all?"

"Twenty minutes," she said.

"Hurry! We can't wait! We're lovin' it. You should've heard last night."

"I bet," she said. "Jo plays like an angel. And Stoney..."

"We have a new violinist, too," I said.

"Who plays violin?"

"Mister Sim. We didn't know. He's a sleeper. But he's pretty good. We made 'im change gears pretty hard last night. Bluegrass to classical to Celtic."

"Oh, goodness," Ann said. "If that didn't scare him off, then he's okay."

"Well hurry," I said. "It's gonna be a riot!"

"Ann and Jim?" Jo asked.

"Uh-huh. Mizz Ann. They're twenty minutes out."

"How far are we?" Jo asked.

"Oh, maybe five..." I said.

Jo was smiling. "I love making music with people like we did last night," she said. It's like a music geek's dream."

"I never imagined anything like that happening," Stoney entered.

"You know," I countered, "I've had some déjà vu moments with music. It's another 'Dan's fault' thing."

"She showed me that she had a voice and liked singing. We got lucky and found people who'd join us. Now she's sung in public in three states," Dan proudly stated. What Dan doesn't say is that he was right there on the stage beside me for every one of those.

Jo leaned over and whispered, "He adores you, doesn't he?"

I giggled. "Two-way street. You and Stoney?"

"You betcha," she said. "Life is good."

It kept being good as we pulled into our parking slot at the apartment. Five minutes later we were walking across the lot to the back door of the lab. Jo, Stoney and Dan were carrying musical instruments. I had a milk-crate full of sheet music. When we got there, Terri was holding the door open to let us in.

"Hi, Terri-dactyl," Jo said to her, brightening Terri's already dazzling smile.

"Hi, Jo! I'm excited," she said.

Rachel was looking over Terri's shoulder. "Dad will be here in a little bit. He's bringing his violin."

It sounded exciting. The Hardesty SUV pulled up in the front parking lot and we met them at the door, the guys shaking hands and clapping each other on the back, the rest of us hugging and laughing.

Teresa looks noticeably more grown up. It's amazing to note that I'd last seen her live a couple of months ago, but she was definitely beginning to fill out in the ways that made Mizz Ann so pretty.

"Look at all the redheads!" Mister Jim said. "Hi, Cindy! Hi, Jo!"

Jo smiled broadly. "The rest of them will be here in a bit," I said.

"What're we looking at?" Mister Jim asked. "Instruments?"

"Two violins, two banjos, a flute and a guitar," I replied. I glanced at Teresa, caught her smile. "Two singers, one of whom is receiving voice training."

Teresa smiled demurely. She was happily moving along with her voice training, coming forth from the school chorus and the church choir to work with a voice coach.

I looked at Billy. "Did you bring your bass?"

He nodded. "But I really feel outclassed sometimes. I mean, Mom's a concert violinist."

"And you're a pretty good bass player. Are you having fun doing it?" I asked him.

"Uh-huh, but still..."

"It's supposed to be fun, Billy," Jo said. "Work sometimes, but fun, too."

I hadn't imagined Billy to be bashful, but I guess, Jo, pretty as she is, talking directly to him, he got tongue-tied. He's a little too old to hide behind Mizz Ann, so he stood there bravely and accepted the compliment. I saw Mizz Ann smile, so I know she saw what was going on.

"Ann," Jo said. "I have been looking forward to this."

"Don't get your hopes up too high," Mizz Ann said. "You're active. Me? Not so much."

Mister Jim shook his head. "Jo, she's been practicing quite a bit on her classical works. Limbering up."

We scooted chairs around and arranged tables and music stands (courtesy of a thrift store scavenging trip). First up was Stoney and Mister Jim, two banjos. I was trying to imagine how that would work out. I've seen both of them play. Truthfully, Stoney had an edge in my mind, because I've seen him play together with Jo, running that flute and harp piece, as well as some Celtic things and even a bit of bluegrass. I'd only seen Mister Jim playing with Mizz Ann and Dan and various people who'd played with us after our concerts back in the park.

I imagined two guys who were comfortable with their skills and that's what I got out of two banjos. Dan joining in with his guitar and Mizz Ann with her violin, and bluegrass erupted. With a flute.

Being good Baptists, Mizz Ann and Mister Jim had quite a repertoire of bluegrass hymns. I know. Teresa and I'd sang the list when we did that Dinner on the Grounds back before we moved up here to Auburn. I noted that Jo fit right in.

"You know all these?" I asked her.

"I know a lot of 'em. And what I don't know, I just watch Stoney's fingers. I know what chord he plays, then I know what notes I can play." She says it like "What else could it be?"

I'm like that with much of my engineering coursework, so I can easily see how she might be there with music. I heard the back door open and then the sound of Rachel zipping in, looking for Terri. That meant that Beck and Sim were here.

Dan introduced Sim and Rachel to Ann and Jim and Teresa and Billy. Sim was carrying his violin.

"You're not going to scare me to death, are you?" he asked Ann.

Ann's got that smile, you know, the one she uses for her students. "It'll be fun," she said. "Have you played with this bunch much?"

"No, but I've listened to them. Yesterday Beck elbowed me for the last time."

"Interesting, isn't it," Ann replied.

"Playing with them, it certainly is."

"Whaddaya think of bluegrass?" Jim asked him. "I understand you're from up north."

"Oh, indeed," Sim said. "Actually we're from a Jewish community. Bluegrass isn't too much of a surprise. I mean, we had klezmer."

Ann placed her violin under her chin, the bow landed, and soaring, alien, joyous strains flowed out. She smiled.

Beck said, "Sim, she KNOWS!"

"Yes, I think I know some things," Ann said. "My instructor in college conservatory was an elderly Jewish man. I asked. He showed me. Beautiful."

We played, we sang, we laughed.

Teresa started one of the simple hymns we used to sing. Ann looked at Beck.

Beck caught the questioning look. "Oh, Ann, don't worry. We've heard as many Christian hymns as you can imagine. You're certainly not offending us."