With my arm finally beginning to feel better, I was able to strum my guitar with it only causing a slight amount of discomfort. Not enough to deter me, and with Del checking the wound and explaining that there was no longer risk to the stitching, I was ready to get back to what I loved – music.
I lay my guitar across my lap, running my hand over the smooth varnished surface and smiling to myself. The need to play ached in my bones. Music was everything and anything I could see in my life. With music, I could get lost in a world full of chaos and crazy. I could feel the strength of the words in the songs that other people had written and use it. The songs, the lyrics, the beat, they all had a purpose. A part to play, and together they moved in harmony to make something so beautiful.
Music was more than just memories for me. Yes, I had grown up around music, having it as part of my life was a given. But music had forced its way through me and become part of my soul and my heart. It lifted me up and empowered me.
I took a breath, but before I could pluck a single string, my phone began to ring. I hung my head, telling myself I should just ignore it, but my mother’s ringtone blared loudly in the small room.
I placed my guitar on the bed, looking at it longingly before I reached for my cell and held it to my ear. “Hi, Mama.” I tried to sound upbeat, but my voice failed me.
“What’s wrong?” she quickly questioned, her voice strained.
“Nothing, Mom. How are you?” The line was silent for a minute. “Mom? Are you all right?”
“Yeah, honey. I’m okay.”
I laughed. “That was convincing.”
“Yeah. Just stressed I think…” she trailed off, her voice was a little shaky and alerted me immediately. My mother was never shaken, upset maybe, but she never sounded defeated.
“Mom…what’s going on?”
She cleared her throat. “I just had a weird phone call today. Nothing to worry about.”
“From who?” I heard her shuffling, she was nervous. There was a soft knock on my bedroom door. I muttered some profanities. “Mom, I have to go, but I’ll call you back. Okay?”
“Yeah baby, it’s fine. We’ll talk soon,” she said quickly like she was relieved that I’d given her an out.
“I’ll call you back, Mom,” I reiterated again, this time a little more sternly, indicating that she wasn’t going to get away with acting all weird and then not explaining herself.
There was another knock on my door and I tossed the phone onto the bed. I caught sight of my guitar again, its strings sparkling in the sunlight. I sighed, contemplating ignoring the persistent person behind the door and locking myself in Kit’s bathroom just so I could play.
Just one song.
I groaned loudly. “Damn it.”
I twisted the door handle and pulled it open, ready to tell whoever it was that I was busy. I was instead met with two of the most hypnotizing eyes I’d ever seen in my life. They were such a light shade of green that at first glance they almost seemed yellow. I couldn’t help but stare, my mind not even registering that I probably looked like an idiot, or that I was being extremely rude. When the woman blinked the colors seemed to swirl, the shade of them changing once again.
“Can I come in?” a soft voice asked. Shaking me from my haze and suddenly making me take notice of the woman standing right in front of me with a sweet smile on her face. Her hair was a brilliant burgundy with just a few gray strands sprinkled throughout. It hung over her shoulder in a thick plait and reached almost to her waist.
“Um, I’m sorry. Who are you?” I asked the woman as politely as I possibly could.
Her smile grew. “The boys call me Bright Eyes,” she offered, as though that would explain to me exactly who she was, but I was drawing a blank. “I’m Kit’s mother.”
My heart began to race and a flurry of curse words flew through my mind like they were on a high-speed conveyor belt.
“Oh…yes…c…come in,” I stammered. I quickly pushed the door open and gestured for her to enter.
“Thank you.”
She moved toward the bed, sitting on the edge as I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I managed to force out as I stood under her beautiful studying eyes. “I’m Harmony.”
“It’s nice to finally put a face to this name I’ve heard about.” She smiled kindly, her voice was soft and sweet, but I sensed an air of authority around her. “Tell me about yourself, Harmony.”
I moved over to Kit’s desk and leaned against it. “Um, I grew up in LA. Well, all over really, but that’s where I was born. Moved to Athens up north Alabama four or so years ago. I’m at the college there studying.” I wasn’t sure what else she wanted to know, or what she already knew, so I kept things simple. She didn’t seem like the type who was afraid to ask questions.
“What is it that you’re studying?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.