“Right.”
“Would you like my opinion?” Michael asked
“Please.”
“I say you keep going with Greg. Have fun. Let go of all this serious shit you’re worried about. Maybe getting out of your routine will help you get a clearer picture of what you want for your future.”
I thought about it for a bit. From an objective standpoint, he was right. I wasn’t having any success with the way I was currently doing things. Shaking things up might help me land on the right path. “Okay. I’ll keep it going and see what happens. Who knows, maybe I can convince him I’m someone he can count on.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
GREG
I was putting my tablet into my backpack when Jeremy came into the classroom, closing the door behind him. “How did it go?” he asked.
“Good,” I replied. “They were a good group. The new girl, Zari, has a lot of potential already.”
He nodded. “I saw that when she auditioned. Keep an eye on her for a couple of months. If she’s good enough, we can assign her an individual tutor.”
“Sounds good,” I replied. “I’m so impressed by what you’re doing with this community here. If it wasn’t for this school, very few of these kids would get access to music education like this.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
The sound of little feet running on the hardwood floor echoed in the hallway outside the classroom. Jeremy went to open the door. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
A little boy, around four or five years old, with a head of dark curly hair, came bounding into the room, followed closely by a man with short black hair wearing a leather jacket. Intricate tattoos covered the tops of his hands and I could see the edges of black ink on his neck as well. I vaguely remembered the little boy from a fundraiser we’d done the previous May for his UncleZach. Cody. That was his name. I had no idea who the man was, although his resemblance to the little boy led me to believe they were related.
Cody stopped when he saw me and ducked behind the dark-haired man. Jeremy went over to the little boy and held out his hand. “Cody, I want you to meet someone.” He brought him over to me. “This is Mr. Greg. He’s a piano teacher.”
Cody’s eyes brightened. “You are? Can you teach me?”
I glanced up at Jeremy, who in turn looked over at the other man. He nodded. “Yeah. That would be good.”
Jeremy smiled. “Greg, this is Nico, Cody’s dad. He wanted to meet you.”
I stepped forward and held out my hand. “Nice to meet you, Nico.”
“Same,” he replied.
I turned my attention back to Cody. “Do you like playing the piano?”
He nodded his head vigorously. “Mr. Jeremy taught me how to playTwinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
“That’s great,” I said with a smile. “Would you like to show me?”
I walked over to one of the keyboards and turned it on. I adjusted the seat so he could comfortably reach the keys. He clambered onto the bench, put his little fingers in the correct position on the keys, and played the tune with surprising accuracy. When he was finished, we all applauded.
Cody scrambled off the bench and ran to his father. “I did it, Daddy!”
Nico picked up his son and held him close. “You sure did, little man.”
Jeremy turned to me. “I’d like you to take him on as an individual student. He’s really not old enough for the regular group classes. Plus, I don’t think it’s wise to make him workmore than fifteen minutes at a time to start. You can increase the time as you see fit.”
I glanced at Nico. “Is that all right with you? Fifteen minutes isn’t a very long time. You’d probably have to hang around here until Cody is done.”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s fine. I only want him to be happy.”
His words sent a pang of longing through me. Those words had never been spoken by either of my parents when it came to me. I smiled. “Cody’s lucky to have a father like you.”
