Lost and Found
by Jack Kendle
Chapter 9
Was I hallucinating? Did I have JJ on the brain? What were the odds that I would meet two people in the space of a few hours with that exact hair colouring? Believe it or not, I had to blink and look again, just like in bad films or kids' cartoons. Yup, it wasn't a hallucination. But the individual to whom that extraordinary molten copper belonged couldn't have been more unlike JJ. He was tall and lanky. A sloppy teeshirt hung off his narrow shoulders half tucked into a pair of incredibly ripped jeans. The amazing hair was worn long, hanging down to his shoulders. I noticed he wasn't wearing the wooly cap so much in vogue with young men who skateboarded. He's probably too proud of his hair, I thought with a tight inward smile. He was slouching against the wall, a violin propped up against his legs, a skateboard leaning against the wall. He was listening to something on earplugs. Must have been something incredibly loud as I could hear faint hisses and bangs indicating the rock music so in vogue with the young. He hadn't noticed me, so involved as he was listening to the noises belting into his ears. I recovered myself, somehow and walked towards him. He finally noticed me and without taking the earpieces out, stared at me from under heavy lids. I tried to start talking to him and, ever so reluctantly, it seemed to me, he removed one of the earpods from an ear.
"Good morning," I said, deliberately being over formal. I already had the feeling that whoever he was, this young man and I would have a hard time communicating.
"Hm," was the short reply, without appearing to have the slightest interest in who was interrupting his musical experience. I put out my hand.
"Jack Kendle," I said. "Are you Daniel?"
"Mm," again with no interest or even good grace. This lad was quickly getting on my nerves. I kept my hand outstretched so that, finally, he couldn't ignore it. He quickly held out his hand and perfunctorily shook mine.
"That'll really damage your hearing, that loud," I observed, indicating the earpieces attached to his iPod or whatever it was.
"Nah, I've been doing it for years. No problem, man." Well at least it was a sentence, of sorts.
"My name is Jack or Mr Kendle, but certainly not Man," I replied rather tartly. Kids these days seemed to hold such little stock by basic good manners. I knew I got on well with kids generally, but they knew the ground-rules. One of them was good manners and civility... on both sides.
"Well, anyway, Daniel, if you can bear to switch off that thing for a bit, we can get better acquainted." He shrugged and switched off the player, removing the other earpiece.
"Ms Tomason wants me to hear you play," I said as I opened the door and ushered him in. "She thinks you might be good material for the senior orchestra."
"Whatever," came the laconic reply. This young man sure didn't waste words or even charm. I followed him into the room, noticing again his ripped jeans. How they hung together was beyond me. Somehow they did and through the rips I saw his boxers showing through, Normally a turn-on, but somehow, with this young man it seemed to be a challenge. With his violin in one hand and his skateboard in the other it seemed as if it really didn't bother him to be mistaken for a tramp. Strangely, though, despite his obvious lack of care in how he dressed, his rich coppery hair was very well kept. It gleamed in the sunshine and had obviously just been washed. What a paradox! Obviously trying to look as dishevelled as possible, he still took a lot of care over his hair. I found it not a little odd.
"I hope you didn't skateboard while carrying your violin," I said, knowing full well that he had. I just wanted to get a reaction.
"Sure. It's cool. I do it all the time. I don't fall off. Ever." Slightly defiant now, marking out his territory. Him the young rebel, me the stuffy old woman, worrying about something petty like a little violin.
I looked through my papers. Daniel Johnston. Johnston!!! That was JJ's surname! This must be the younger brother of my encounter this morning! It had to be, or else the chances of meeting two people with that unusual hair, sharing a surname within a few hours must have been one in a million, or several million.
"Where do you live, Daniel?" I asked as casually as possible.
"Up on the hill, erm... Leith Hill," he replied. "Why?" He looked almost suspiciously at me.
"I need to know where my students live," I explained rather crossly. So he was JJ's brother! "Otherwise how do I get in touch?" I continued. "Now, phone number please" he gave me a number which I wrote down. Now at least I had some sort of contact with JJ. Then I remembered he said they had split the house into two, so he wouldn't have the same phone number. Damn!
"Thank you. And do you have a cell?" He gave me that number too. "Is there an e-mail address I can get hold of you on?" Again, that suspicious look.
"Spoze" came the monosyllabic reply. It was like trying to get water out of a stone.
"And?" I asked, pen poised.
"Redrocker@hotpost.co" he mumbled almost as if ashamed at volunteering the information. I suppressed a grin as I wrote down the information. Kids these days were still kids!
"Right, Daniel, or would you prefer Mr Johnston?"
"Same to me."
"OK, Daniel. How's about you play something for me?"
He lethargically took out his violin as if it were the last thing in the world he wanted to do. He took some care, though in tuning it, which I thought was a very good sign.
"What should I play?" he asked.
"Anything you like," I replied. "I just want a general idea of your playing. It doesn't have to be anything long and complicated. Just something you're comfortable with." There was a pause. After our brief introduction, I expected him to come up with something by Metallica or Iron Maiden or something similar. However, I was not prepared for what followed. As soon as he had the violin tucked under his chin, Daniel seemed to undergo a subtle transformation. Gone was the surly attitude and the disinteredness which he had displayed earlier. Instead, he stood up straighter, closed his eyes as he nursed the violin. It was quite a transformation. Without even hearing a note, I could tell that this young man was serious about this aspect of his life. I moved to the back wall of the music room and waited for him to play.
The first sweet, anguished notes of a Bach prelude issued forth. Bach! After only three or four years' learning?! This was almost unprecedented. And how he played! This lanky, thin, dishevelled youth with attitude was playing like a seasoned professional. Gone was the condescending dismissiveness of the boy and in its place I could see a real artist teasing the notes out of the instrument with what appeared consummate ease. Susan had not been exaggerating: this boy could go far. Very far. I let him play the whole piece. I was transfixed. Where had this talent come from? I could only thank God or whatever had produced this young man for this prodigious display. He seemed to glow from within when he played. Unselfconsciously standing there, looking for all the world like a tramp, this boy became a fiery angel, a divine spark illuminating him. I swear time stood still. So did I. I was rooted to the spot.
He finished playing. The silence afterwards was thick with emotion. It was as if the notes still hung in the air about his head. Yet another unbelievable experience! First Leo and his playing, now Daniel. It was incredible. The two boys could hardly be more unlike, but musically, they were twin souls.
"Daniel," I managed as the silence dragged on. "That was truly beautiful. Who taught you to play like that?"
"I learnt that one on my own," replied Daniel, his mien less arrogant. "My mum has a record of it and I liked it so I learnt it."
"But you must have the music, the notes?" I queried.
"Nah. It's no prob for me to pick things up," said the young man casually. I was flabbergasted. To learn a whole Bach prelude by ear was nothing short of phenomenal. Another Mozart!
"So, is that it, then?" he asked.
"I don't need to hear any more, Daniel," I said. "You are definitely in the orchestra. I'll put you on the first desk, assistant principal."
"Whatever," came the laconic reply. The light had gone out and the surly youth was back. But after that performance, I was prepared to forgive him anything... or almost anything.
I could hear sounds outside the door as the orchestra began to assemble. I went over and let them in. Daniel got curious glances from everyone and not a few of the girls, taking one look at him, giggled not too discreetly. Kids can be so cruel, sometimes. I peered over the heads of the kids coming in. I was looking for one blonde head in particular. Yes!!! There he was, with his sister. He caught my eye and smiled at me. I smiled back. My lovely lioncub is here and all is well with the world, I thought to myself. I was watching Leo when he got his first sight of Daniel. He did a double-take and stopped briefly in his tracks, until the crowd behind pushed him on. There was no doubt about it, he was staring at Daniel. For his part, the copper-haired boy practically ignored the influx of people. He lowered his eyes and appeared about as disinterested in the whole lot of them as it was possible to be.
"Come on, people, " I called. "Find your seats and let's get going. I want to introduce a new member of our orchestra," I continued as the players settled down. "Daniel, will you tell us a little about yourself, please?"
Daniel might have felt daunted or uncomfortable, but he didn't show it. He had got the bored look down to a 'T'.
"Daniel Johnston," he mumbled. "I play violin and I prefer to play in rock bands, but I've been told to come here."
"No-one is forced to be here, Daniel," I said. "How's about you give it a try? It's up to you whether or not you stay."
"Spoze," came the monosyllabic reply.
I made the necessary seating adjustments, placing Daniel at the front as assistant concertmaster. There was a slight ripple of surprise, which ran through the players as I did this. It was very rare for a newcomer to be placed in a position of such authority so soon. I just hoped I had made the right decision and that Daniel would live up to my expectations and that we could win him over to being a member of the orchestra. Leo, I noticed, could hardly keep his eyes off the newest arrival. I'm not surprised, I thought. I, too, had been mesmerised earlier that day by that wonderful hair-colouring. I looked down at Daniel. He really was a very handsome boy, his good looks marred only by the almost constant frown he wore. He had looked totally different when he had played for me. He shared his brother's eye-colouring and his complexion was creamy. Another lucky adolescent: no acne. As the orchestra tuned, I stole a look at Daniel's crotch: the ripped jeans were miraculously whole there, and he had a promising package which rounded out behind the fly. I looked up again and found Leo's eyes on me. For some reason, I felt guilty. Leo's face was slightly flushed. But he didn't smile at me when I caught his eye. He made a great show of tuning his violin and looked away. My! If he isn't jealous! I thought. I would have to be very careful how I behaved around these two boys. I certainly didn't want to create more problems than there already were.
We rehearsed for an hour or so. I was glad to see that Daniel had no problem with reading notes... it had occurred to me that his talent was purely aural, but he read well. But he looked so bored! I tried everything I could to raise a smile, the whole orchestra reacted to my bad puns and attempts at humour, but the semi-scowl never for a moment left Daniel's face.
We took a break. I wanted to try and get Daniel better integrated, but he left the room. I couldn't go chasing after him, if he was going to the restrooms. I saw Leo, looking at the door through which Daniel had just disappeared. It seemed to me he was trying to decide whether he needed the mens' room or not. I think he was trying to screw up the courage to follow Daniel. In the end, however, he sighed and went over to the table for juice with the others. I was chatting to various students, trying at the same time to catch Leo's eye, but he seemed to be studiously avoiding me. I excused myself from some gossiping girl and went over to Leo.
"How's it going, Leo?" I asked.
"Fine," came the short reply. O my God, I thought; this terseness is catching!
"Well, I hope, so, Leo," I said. "You will let me know if something's bothering you, won't you?" I added, in a lower voice.
"Yeah," came the one word. I patted him on the shoulder and moved away. His sister, Cat, came up to me.
"Jack," she said, "he's okay really, he's been a bit quiet this week, but I think he's fine. He's been thinking a lot."
I raised my eyebrows at this. Cat saw my surprise at her words and added, "Leo and I have no secrets from each other," she said, "no secrets at all." She looked candidly at me and I blushed.
"He's … he's lucky to have you around, Cat," I said lamely.
"It's not me he needs," came the reply. I was lost for words and covered up my confusion with a general call for the rehearsal to resume. I glanced over at Cat. She smiled at me and seemed to mouth the words: "It's alright!"
Daniel had by this time returned and Leo, I saw, had his eyes on him for most of the rehearsal. I somehow felt both sad and happy for him. And not a little jealous that my lioncub seemed to be interested in someone else! No. I corrected myself. Leo wasn't my lioncub. I had said so in so many words. I even had told him to find someone his own age. So I couldn't possibly justify the slight pang I felt. The problems would arise, though, if Leo ever made a move on Daniel and would be rebuffed. I don't think he would be able to take it, poor kid.
The end of the rehearsal came. I desperately wanted to talk to Leo, to try and tell him nothing had changed: any excuse to be with him, to look at him. But it was Daniel who thwarted me. Whilst I was trying to catch Leo's eye, Daniel materialised in front of me.
"So that's your senior orchestra, then?" He seemed to say with a hint of a sneer.
"They're a good bunch, and they work hard," I said, doing my best to defend them.
"Whatever. Am I supposed to turn up every Saturday then?"
"If you decide to, then yes, you are obliged to," I said somewhat pompously. I wasn't going to force him to be somewhere he didn't want to be.
"I'll think about it."
He turned and began to leave the room. What an arrogant boy! But with that talent, I had to grudgingly admit, he was entitled to a bit of arrogance, but I wouldn't tolerate too much of it, if His Nibs decided to become a permanent member of the group.
I noticed Leo's eyes following Daniel as he walked past him on the way out. Daniel glanced up, and for a moment, their eyes met. I noticed no reaction from Daniel. He just continued out of the door, without even acknowledging the only other boy in the room. I could tell Leo was crushed. But he tried manfully to hide the disappointment in his eyes. He looked at me. I tried to give him a reassuring smile. Leo just looked miserable, but at least he had acknowledged that I did exist. I so wanted to take him in my arms and console him. Leo looked again at me and gave a sad half-smile. I hadn't completely lost him then!
