Chapter 11
Buzz' hands stopped on the laptop keyboard as he remembered. He'd loved playing. He'd acted like the lessons were a chore, but he'd enjoyed them. Well, practicing wasn't fun, but when he had mastered a difficult passage and his mother had smiled at him...well, it was worth it.
Then when Lyla had smiled at him as he played...well, that was worth it in a different way. He was woefully out of practice, though - he hadn't touched the piano since Lyla died. She wouldn't have wanted that, he didn't think. Buzz got up and went upstairs.
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He coughed at the resulting dust as he pulled the sheet off the piano, then sat down at the keyboard. He tried a few notes, which made him wince - "out of tune" didn't even begin to cover it. Well, if he was going to do this....
Buzz went into the closet and got out the tuning forks and other tools that he knew were in there and started tuning the piano. His mom had insisted he learn how to tune a piano as well as play one, and now he was glad of it. He finally got it in tune and put the tools away, then came back and stared at the piano for a while before sitting down again. He had to start slow as he was really rusty, but eventually it began coming back. Buzz smiled as his hands, that apparently remembered the notes better than he did, began to move faster and faster.
He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this until now. Buzz lost himself in the music, moving from classical to jazz to rock and back again, losing all track of time.
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"Admit it, you liked it!" Buck said to his older brother Ripp.
"Ok, yeah, it was a fun movie," Ripp said, tousling his brother's hair. They'd gorged on soda and popcorn, then had gotten greaseburgers to top it all off. They'd even managed to do some shopping - Ripp couldn't wait to listen to his new CD. Speaking of music... he thought as they walked into the house.
"The General playing music?"
"I don't think so, Ripp - you can feel it in the floor...I think that's the piano!" Buck said.
"He's playing Mom's piano? No way, he can't be - that's like, actual music coming out of it!" Ripp said.
"What is it, Tank?" Buck asked. Their eldest brother had the oddest look on his face.
"You know...I kind of remember...back when Mom was alive. I'm not sure that is Mom's piano," Tank said.
"Who else's could it be?" Ripp asked.
"Well, given what's coming from upstairs, I think it might just be Dad's," Buck said, and Ripp had the grace to look a bit sheepish at that.
"C'mon, let's go upstairs and see," Tank said.
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Ripp, Tank, and Buck stood and stared at their father as he played. He obviously hadn't even heard them come up the stairs, he was that engrossed in the music...and it was some great music. While the songs he was playing were old, they were skillfully played - some of the best piano playing they'd ever heard, in fact.
It was Buck's quiet "Wow," that brought Buzz out of his reverie. He abruptly stopped playing and turned to look at the boys, who were now looking at each other, trying to figure out what was going on. "How was the movie?" he nonchalantly said.
"Great!" Buck said, which made Tank and Ripp just look at their brother.
"Um, Dad..." Tank began, but Ripp ran right over the top of him.
"Omigod, Dad, where did you learn to play like that? We thought was Mom's piano...I mean, just...wow!"
"Your grandmother taught piano for years, Ripp - I learned from her," Buzz said, replacing the key cover on the piano and wiping his finger across it. He really needed to dust this thing.
"Howcome you never play, Dad?" Buck asked. Buzz hesitated before answering, and Tank, calling on vague memories, answered.
"He used to play for Mom," Tank said, and Buzz nodded.
"The music...it left me, when she died," he quietly said.
"Why have you started again?" Ripp asked.
"I...realized she wouldn't have liked that I stopped....I don't know." Buzz said, then turned and strode out of the room. The three boys watched him go, confused looks on their faces.
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Buzz threw himself down on his bed and remembered all the times he'd played for Lyla, how much she'd loved his playing.
He, Dave, and Lyla had practiced together as a group, of course, and sometimes when someone wasn't available the other two would practice alone. It had all been completely innocent...well, innocent other than some decidedly less-than-innocent thoughts that Buzz was thinking about Lyla, until that one day....