My Boy Hood

I rode home in the car with Dad, Lala tagging along. When we got into the house and made our way to my room. Lala quickly shut the door as I flopped down on my bed, “Okay!” She squealed, “Now since the game is done I better tell you what the big surprise is.”

I rose up on my elbow, I’ve almost forgotten all about Lala’s surprise after the game. I was curious now though, I asked her what it was, and she squealed again, jumping up and down, “There’s a talent contest going on downtown for those that qualify! It’s supposed to be a huge deal! A lot of people will be there to watch, and the judges will vote in the top five!”

This was new, “And what happens with the top five?”

“They will have to undergo a series of concerts once a month, then the judges will vote who will stay in and such.”

“And the winner?” I asked.

“They get a free trip to L.A. for a photo shoot for J-14 magazine!”

“And I’m guessing you already signed up for this?”

That was when she got silent for a minute, “Well, I actually signed us both up.”

I shot off my bed at the sound of that, “What?”

She waved her hands, “It required two or more people and you were the only one I could think of to sign up with me.”

I sighed, no wonder she said she needed my help, “Fine, what do you want to do?”

She sat down, “Well, there’s this song by Chris Brown I want to sing. It’s called All Back and I think it’ll be a good song to practice.”

I nodded, though I knew plenty of Chris Brown songs, I never quite heard of this one. I grabbed my Mac and search the song on YouTube. We both listened to it, and I decided that it was good enough. I asked her when the contest started, “Two weeks from today.”

I lay back down on my bed and thought to myself for a moment. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

She thought, “The music? You know how to play the piano don’t you? You can play that as I sing.”

It’s been years since I had my piano lessons when I was a kid. I hated playing, but my teacher was fun. I haven’t touched the keys of a piano since I was eleven, when Lala asked me to teach her to play Mary Had A Little Lamb for her music class. “We can only perform for ninety seconds, so it shouldn’t be that hard!” She added.

That meant I had to reteach myself to play and get familiar with the keys. With basketball in my schedule, that would take way longer than two weeks. That meant I needed someone to help me. Summer came to my mind suddenly. I never heard her play before, but Penny said she was good. “Okay, I’ll figure something out.”

Lala jumped up from her seat, “Thank you! Thank you!”

She ran from her seat to jump on my bed, “Lala! Calm down!”
She didn’t. She was way too excited to do anything else. I was glad she was happy, but I made a mental note to get the song and talk to Summer. The rest of the weekend I listened to the song, getting into the beat. Once it seemed I memorized the whole thing, Monday came.

I walked to school early, a demand that Penny texted me yesterday. Summer always went to school at seven thirty to get ready for her music class. I waited by the gate, and soon enough, Summer came. She was alone, and walking up the street with an armful of music sheets. I smiled at her as she saw me and drew closer.

She smiled, and I took half the stuff she was carrying, and it was slightly heavy. It made me worry how such a small girl could carry this stuff. “Morning, Summer.”

She nodded in silence, and I felt sort of bad for her. A nice girl who couldn’t talk seemed to be hard to live with. We walked to the music department in silence. It was my first time in the Arts building, and it was filled with projects kids have done inside. We went up a flight of stairs and came across a room that had a piano in it. Summer tried to reach for her pocket for something, “Let me hold your stuff,” I said.

She smiled apologetically and sat the stack in my arms. I held the stack as she fished for a key and unlocked the door. We went in, and she pointed at a table to put the stuff on. As I put them down she went to the piano and raised the lid. I figured now was the time to ask.

“Hey, Summer, I was wondering… could you help me play the piano?”

She looked up, confused. I gave her the details, and she smiled at me at the end. I knew what her answer was. It was like she was saying, “Sure, let’s get started.”