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Chapter Twenty Six
January 1968
Perhaps because she had been going to church her whole life, Rose had never found the services as utterly boring as others did. Sure, she could understand why some people didn't enjoy being preached to, but to her it was a familiarity, something from her childhood that she hadn't lost like everything else. Still, she was enjoying it more now that she was playing the piano. Her grandmother had taught her as a child, but she'd been forced to abandon the hobby when they moved to America and her family were more preoccupied with paying bills than playing instruments.
Recently, her mother had inquired with the pastor about brushing up her skills and she had eagerly agreed. This service was the first time she'd be playing the piano, and it went off swimmingly. She found that, just like riding a bike, once she got started she quickly remembered how to play.
As usual, following the end of the service her parents hung around, mingling with the others. Sam's mother, Marie, was animatedly chatting to the pastor, most likely about some charitable endeavour she was organising, she lived for those sorts of things. Rose was standing off to one side, merely observing the crowd, when Peter Johnson approached her. They'd been acquitances for many years, but despite being in the same grade they had rarely spoken other than polite greetings. He was tall, a little gangly, with a mop of blonde hair and brown eyes. Cute, but nothing that would draw the eye in a crowd.
"Hey, you did a good job today." He said.
"Thanks." She said. "But I messed up one of the notes."
"Well, I didn't notice." He replied. "To be fair, don't know anything about music. But most of the people here probably don't, so I think you're safe."
"I hope so." She nodded. "How was your break?"
"It was good, sucks to be going back to school though." Peter said. "Only five months til summer."
"Then a year til we graduate." She added. "Terrifying, isn't it?"
"I think it's exciting." He said. "Anyway, how was your break? Bet you liked having your brother back at home."
"Yeah, the visit was nice." She said. "Unfortunately, he had to go back."
"At least he's probably enjoying it." Peter said. "My brother's at college and he thinks it's great. Don't know if we'll be able to get him to come back after he graduates."
Peter's attempt at making a joke fell rather flat. Instead of being entertained, all Rose could think about was if Diego enjoyed himself too much at college. Maybe he'd decide that he liked his independence too much to come home and have to live by someone else's rules. She quickly dispelled those fears. Her brother wasn't like that. He'd never abandon his family.
"So, uh," Peter stammered, "I was wondering,"
But she never got to find out exactly what Peter was wondering, since his mother decided to bound up to them at the moment, ignoring the annoyed look her son sent her. Rose had always found Mrs Johnson to be delightfully cheerful, in a way that may have been derisive if it wasn't so well-intentioned. Their whole family was that way, actually, as if their world was full of sunshines and butterflies and nothing bad ever happened.
"Oh, Rose, you did just wonderful, didn't she dear," Mrs Johnson said, turning to her husband her nodded along encouragingly. "You've been hiding your talents from us."
"Yeah." She muttered, not sure what else to say.
"If I'd know earlier that you could play I would have asked you this ages ago." Mrs Johnson continued. "But our Patsy has always wanted to learn to play, and it would just be wonderful if you could teach her."
"Oh, I don't know,"
"We would pay you of course," Mrs Johnson said. "$5 for an hourly session once a week. How's that sound?"
"Uh, that sounds fair." Rose nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."
Mrs Johnson clapped her hands together. "Wonderful, just wonderful. Patsy will be delighted." She said. "She's sick at home so we should be getting back to her."
Peter gave her an apologetic look. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah." She agreed.
Watching them walk away, she wondered what he had wanted to ask her. Most likely he was attempting to intercede on his mother's behalf. That, or he wanted help with homework, or something equally innocuous.
"What did the Johnson's want?" Her mother asked when she rejoined her family.
"Oh, I'm going to be teaching Patsy how to play the piano." Rose explained.
"That's nice, they're a nice family." Marta said, with a sly smile. "And Peter's such a nice boy. Such a shame you two never really became friends."
"Yeah, a shame." Rose muttered, still trying to figure out how she'd stumbled into employment.