Page 73 of Strings

She smiles. “Sure! They’re down the hall. Second door on the left.”

The sound gets louder as I approach. Then I hear his voice.

“Okay, everyone, stop for a second.”

There’s a small window in the door. I can see Sebastian standing in front of about fifteen kids of various ages. They each have some sort of instrument in their hands, or have one sitting in front of them. It’s hard to miss the big kid in the back with the Tuba. His smile isn’t hard to see, either.

“I want everyone to close their eyes for a moment.”

I smirk. He sure does push theclose your eyesstuff.

“Focus on the sounds around you. Martwaine, what do you hear?”

“I hear… a car alarm in the distance.”

“Good. Leticia, what do you hear?”

“I hear the murmur of the radiator.”

Sebastian snaps his finger. “Excellent. And Ty, what do you hear?”

“All I can hear is Dwayne’s stomach. It’s really loud.”

Everyone bursts into laughter.

“Alright, open your eyes. In order to play an instrument, not only do you need to know where to place your fingers, how to read notes, and when to play loud versus soft, but you have to know how to listen. Tyler needs to listen to Martwaine, Martwaine needs to listen to Leticia. Part of being in a group and playing together well is learning to become one. What happens if I don’t listen?”

Hands shoot up all over the room. Sebastian points to a small boy with a violin in the front. “You gonna come in at the wrong moment or maybe the wrong key.”

“Yes! Brilliant. Everyone take a deep breath; in through your nose, out through your mouth. Now place your fingers. Eyes on me.”

He lifts a stick into the air and swishes it around along with his other hand.

The kids start to play. At first I can’t tell what it is, but after I listen for a while, I recognize Drake’s “In My Feelings.”

It makes me smile. Watching Sebastian makes me smile. After they finish, Sebastian claps. “Much, much better!”

“Mr. Nov?” One small girl in the back raises her hand and points toward the door where I’m standing. “Who is that?”

Sebastian turns and does a double-take when he sees me. “Let’s take a little break. There’s juice and cookies in the cafeteria. Two each.”

The kids rush out past me and loudly trample their way down to what I assume is the cafeteria.

“Hi.” I walk in when the room has cleared.

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Amy called. She thought I might want to know you were volunteering today.”

“Amy, huh?” He smirks. “She seems to be full of ideas.”

“Yeah.” I lower my head and shuffle my feet, trying to find something to say. “That was really cool,” I say, pointing toward empty seats.

“They’re great, aren’t they? How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough to see how good you are with them and how much they look up to you.”

He smiles shyly. “It’s easy to be good to them. They’re amazing kids. Would you like a tour?”