I didn’t know if he could play a single chord. He’d said he knew a bit but I had no reckoning on what “a bit” meant.
He started playing. It was a simple song, just three main chords, but the kid wasn’t terrible. He had a good sense of the song and the timing was great. It was a catchy song. I couldn’t recognize it, but that meant nothing. For all I knew, it could be the most popular song on earth. I didn’t keep up with that kind of thing.
He wasn’t an absolute beginner, that’s for sure. He had basic skills. He needed to get faster at changing chords and a few other things. His technique was as sloppy as hell but he had the sense of what he was playing, the things that couldn’t be taught.
As I watched his hands on my guitar, I had the urge to rip it off him. His hands, my guitar. Even if I couldn’t play it myself, it killed me to see someone else play her. She suited him too. He curled his body around her as though she fit him just right. It was too good a match.
“How was that?” he said when he finished.
“Not bad,” I replied. “You need to loosen up a bit for starters but then you’d not really warmed up.”
He nodded, as though my words were gold he needed to commit to memory. His hand ran up and down the neck of the guitar as he sat there. I stared at his hand. Those hands mocked me even if he didn’t realize what he was doing.
“What was the song?” I asked.
“It doesn’t have a name yet.”
“You wrote it?” I was surprised. The kid had more talent than I’d thought.
He nodded. He started playing something else. It was Holden’s song, “Rock Princess”. The one he’d written about Carlie. It was a much more complex song to play and he missed a few notes but he had the basics.
Then he sang along. His guitar playing might be a step above what I’d expected but his singing was rough, very rough. He should never sing, ever.
“Just stick to the guitar,” I said. “Leave the singing.”
As I watched him play, I itched to ask him about his date. Where had they gone? What had they done? Had he kissed her? I’d want to punch him if he kissed her. It was better I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know if he planned to see her again or any of that. Those moments they spent alone, I hated him for them.
He finished the song.
“I like that song,” he said. “If Holden hadn’t sung it then maybe he and Carlie would’ve never gotten back together. Although, if she goes on tour with him, I’ll miss her like crazy.”
Me too.
I gave him a few exercises to do. The boring, shitty stuff that helped you learn.
“It’s not all fun and games, you know. It’s hard work and bloody boring to start with. You have to practice and practice until your fingers bleed. Then keep going some more. If you don’t ache to be the best, then don’t even bother. Get a book from the music shop and teach yourself at home.”
Drew nodded. “So, you’ll teach me?”
Hell, had the kid tri
cked me into giving him lessons? It’d not been as painful as I’d thought it would. Sure, it hurt but it’d reminded me of the pleasure I’d felt myself when I’d first started learning. But it wasn’t a bad pain. It hurt like crazy but there was something else there too. A bit of satisfaction.
“You understand that I can’t show you what to do? If I tell you how to play a chord, you’re going to have pick up it from my instructions. It’s not like I can pick up the guitar and play it for you. Got that?”
Drew nodded. I gave him a simple instruction and waited for him to follow.
He understood.
“And no missing lessons. Skip one and that’s it. And I expect you to practice between lessons too. If you slacken off, I will know.”
He nodded again. “There’s just one problem, Jackson. I don’t have a guitar.”
I nodded to the guitar in his hands. “Take that.”
His eyes grew as big as saucers. “You’re kidding? I can take this? I’ll protect it with my life. I’ll treat it like precious. And, when you want to play it again, I’ll definitely give it back to you.”
“That’s not going to happen.”