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Chapter 7: The concert
Walker picked up the last box, added a label to its side and taped the top shut. That was it. Final preparations for the next part of their South American excursion were complete. In the morning he and his family would catch a train that would take them to Ecuador.
“Are you done yet Daddy?” Taylor asked impatiently. Already stripped down to his pajama shorts he was ready for bed.
“Do you want a story tonight or a song?” Walker asked of his young son.
“We have a surprise for you.” Taylor exclaimed grabbing his
hand and tugging. “Come on, Mommy is waiting already,”
“Well, I guess I can’t keep Mommy waiting,” Walker exclaimed and he let his son drag him out to the living room.
Diana was sitting on the couch holding Jessica in her lap and Zac was curled up beside her. Walker lifted his son onto his lap and pulled him in close in a hug.
Ike and Taylor had dragged two kitchen chairs into the room and Ike was sitting on one with the guitar across his legs and has holding onto the neck. Taylor joined his brother and took his position at the strings.
“We’re ready to begin the show,” Ike exclaimed and then the two boys began to play the guitar in tandem. Ike fingered the cords and Taylor strummed the string s and they sang together in harmony. Sweet, clear voices full of enthusiasm and pure love of the sound they were able to create.
Diana and Walker Hanson laughed and applauded their sons efforts enthusiastically. It was the first time either of them had ever seen a guitar played in tandem. It was an ingenious solution to the problem, that neither boy had enough arm stretch to reach both the neck and the yoke by themselves.
The boys played and sang several songs and then there was a
loud knock at the door.
Walker interrupted the boys concert and invited the company
warehouseman, Bob Chambers into their house. He was there for the
inventory check before they left the company compound. Walker gave
him the short tour of the house while the man checked his inventory list
against the items in their house. He would return in the early morning,
take the key and be responsible for returning the furniture to the warehouse
before the next occupant took over the house. He was also responsible
for shipping their personal belongings on to Ecuador.
The two men discussed the list and Walker gave his final signature on the form.
‘We’ll also be leaving that large wicker basket and the guitar behind,” Walker informed the man.
“Daddy we can’t leave the guitar behind!” Ike protested.
“Ike, we didn’t bring it with us when we came and we can’t take it with us when we leave,” Walked explained.
“But, Daddy. It was all broken before. Now its all fixed up!” the boy exclaimed.
‘That doesn’t matter,” Diana interceded. “It still doesn’t belong to us.”
“Actually,” Bob interrupted, “you could keep it. It was left behind by someone else. If it goes back to the warehouse it’ll probably get busted up. It’s not like it belongs to the company, someone left it behind before.”
Ike and Taylor’s eyes lit up with hope at the mans’ words but their father still shook his head negatively.
“It doesn’t belong to us,” he repeated firmly.
Ike opened his mouth to protest but then he looked at his parents faces he just clamped his mouth shut in disappointment. Nothing he said was going to change his parents minds. The guitar didn’t belong to them.
Taylor started his own protest but he too, shut up when Ike shook his head at him slightly.
Ike put the guitar gently down inside the large wicker basket and turned and went back into the boy’s bedroom.
Walker spent a few more minutes with the Bob Chambers and then when the man left he turned back to his family. “Hey, let’s go back to our concert.”
Taylor looked up from where he was sitting, leaning against his mothers’ shoulder and said dejectedly, “I don’t think Ike wants to sing anymore.”
Walker looked around for his missing son and then met the eyes of his wife. She would agree with his decision but she was none to happy about it either. He had some fences to mend. “Come on, Tay.” he commanded. “I need to talk to you and your brother.”
Walker led his son into the small bedroom and called out Ike’s name. Ike came out from behind a curtain, his eyes were teary but he wasn’t crying. He sat the boys down on the bed, one on each side of him, and gave each one a one armed hug pulling them close to him. “Come on, boys. Losing the guitar isn’t the end of the world.”
“Daddy, we need the guitar for our music.” Ike complained softly.
“We can’t keep what doesn’t belong to us, Ike.” Walker explained patiently. “That wouldn’t be honest.”
“But no one wants the guitar. And, if you give it back, someone will just throw it away. It will get all broken up. That doesn’t make sense.” the boy exclaimed.
“And, you fixed it, so we should keep it!” Taylor added. “We need it for our music.”
“Your music, is your voices and the natural born talent that you have within you,” Walker explained. “You don’t need instruments to make music. Your voices are instruments. Songs are just notes and lyrics put together. It’s the magic of the sound of your voices that makes it music. The most beautiful song in the world, if sang by someone who is off key sounds terrible. And, a piano piece that is a work of art, sounds terrible if the person playing the piano doesn’t know how to play properly. You have plenty of time to learn instruments. Right now you need to concentrate on learning to control your voices and learn the harmonies. I promise you guys, when we get back to the states, you will have real piano lessons and lessons on any other instrument you wish to learn.”
When he didn’t get a response from either boy, Walker jiggled them with a hand on each of their shoulders. “Come on guys. You still have the keyboard. Tomorrow we get to go on a train trip.”
“Another adventure,” Taylor exclaimed with a grin.
“Another adventure,” Walker exclaimed giving him a squeeze.
He turned and waited for a response from his older son and finally Ike
looked up at him with a weak grin
“Okay, another adventure. Is it going to be raining
there too?” the boy asked.
“I have no idea.” Walker admitted and gave Ike a hug.
“Now, how about going back out and finishing the concert?”
“Yes!’ Taylor exclaimed and jumped up and hopped towards the door. Ike nodded his head and followed more slowly.
Ike didn’t retrieve the guitar, and because the keyboard was already packed away, he just began to snap his fingers to create the beat. Taylor followed his lead although he had some trouble getting his ‘snappers’ to work.
The boys launched into the songs that they knew the best--Good Golly, Miss Molly, Splish Splash, Respect... all the songs from the tapes that they had been listening to for months.
Walker and Diana just sat back holding their other two children and listened with wonderment. The boys had total memory of every verse and didn’t miss a word of the lyrics and their harmonies were perfectly on cue. Many of the songs they had worked with the boys on, but just as many of them they hadn’t and yet the harmonies were there. Each song was applauded and then when Diana finally called a end to the concert by warning. “One more, and then you have to go to bed,” they finished with a delightful version of “Summertime Blues”.
Then both their parents applauded loudly and gave whistlers and shouts of cheer and even little Zac clapped loudly. Ike and Taylor bowed awkwardly and then ran over to their parents for a hug and kiss and then ran off to their bedroom, still hearing the clapping to their exit.
Three year old Zachary was wide awake. He turned around
in his fathers lap and put his hands on both sides of his face to get his
attention.
“Daddy!” the little boy squealed.
“What Zac?” Walker questioned his attention on the little one sitting on his lap with wide brown eyes, bright with excitement.
“Teach me too!” the little boy exclaimed breathlessly.