Part Twenty Two
On the Friday night of that week, Nikki, Shaz, Victoria, Denny, Danny, Crystal and Barbara met in the house that Shaz, Denny and Ray shared. Danny hated to admit it, but at twenty-five he was still living with his mother. He brought over his drums and a bass guitar, with the others collecting together an assortment of guitars and Victoria's violin. Ray was out on a date for the evening so they had the place to themselves. They'd all been a little surprised to see Barbara, but Crystal knew Barbara threw their church going on a Sunday, and had persuaded Barbara to come along with her guitar.
"I took the liberty," Danny said handing out wads of photocopies. "Of digging out all the decent guitar music I have, and Babs being the star she is spent the entirety of this afternoon copying it."
"Jesus, you're eager," Said Shaz gaping at the amount of paper Danny had just handed her.
"Of course," He said brightly. "but there's a real mixture of stuff in there, I warn you. Most of it probably isn't to anyone's taste at all, but hey, you've got to start somewhere." Shaz had been thumbing through the various songs. Then she looked up at Danny with a little worry.
"Some of these say you need a capo. I've never used one of those." It seemed that everyone else had a capo at their disposal.
"In that case," Said Danny, always the one to compromise. "You'll just have to sing the ones that use a capo." Shaz grinned, "Okay."
"Why don't we start with something most of us should know," Said Nikki. Looking through her numerous pages, Victoria said,
"Why not the sound of silence?"
"Don't you need two blokes to sing that?" Asked Denny moving towards Danny's second-hand drums. Danny looked assessingly at Nikki.
"Do you reckon you could sing the higher part?" Nikki looked at the music sceptically.
"Yeah, okay. It's a bit low really but we'll see."
"And it's pretty simple chords so we should be okay," Danny said picking up his bass. As Nikki was the only one not playing, she moved her right hand to give an indication of the speed. Everyone was notably a little rusty and both Shaz and Nikki were very nervous at displaying their talent so openly. But once Denny and her drums moved it in to the song proper, all thoughts of shyness disappeared. Danny had thought that his bass and the drums would have drowned out the others, but with four guitars playing where there would ordinarily be two, this wasn't a problem. Danny's voice seemed to give Nikki more encouragement as the song progressed. When they reached the end, Shaz laughed as if from tension.
"That was great," She said smiling at the others.
"A little rusty around the edges, but yeah, for a first attempt it wasn't bad," Said Danny with his usual lack of tact and diplomacy. When they played it a second time, the majority of the rust had vanished, the rocking motion of the guitars managing to wipe any trace of nervousness from both Nikki and Shaz. Lost in the atmosphere she began to walk round the room, still singing. She stood for a while behind Shaz and Victoria, a hand on each of their shoulders. Not faltering in the least, Shaz looked up at her and smiled.
"Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you,
but my words, like silent raindrops fell," Nikki sang as she stood with her hands on the back of the sofa where Barbara and Crystal were sitting. Stood here, singing with a group of friends who clearly loved music as much as she did, Nikki didn't think that anything could rival the feeling of togetherness this inspired in her. When they came to the end, there was utter silence. As ever, it was Danny who broke it.
"Never knew you had it in you to be an honorary bloke," He said to Nikki. She laughed.
"Neither did I." She began flicking through what Danny had brought over.
"Why don't we try this?" She said holding up one of Alison Krauss's cover songs. "I thought it might give Victoria a chance to show off that Strad look-alike of hers." Victoria blushed.
"Wicked, I know this," Said Shaz.
"This one's in E-flat which definitely requires a capo, unless you're Jimmy Hendricks. So, Shaz, looks like you're singing this one." Victoria got out her violin and quickly tuned up. Nikki took her ever faithful guitar and ran her hands over it lovingly. At the lift and downward swing of Victoria's bow, they began. As Denny wasn't playing in this song, she simply sat and gazed at Shaz. As if feeling her stare, Shaz turned to face her, and opened her mouth. Denny had heard Shaz sing before, but to the others, this was a completely new experience. Combined with the clarity of Victoria's violin, the purity of Shaz's voice was exquisite. When she got to the words,
"Now you tell me that you wanna leave me, but darlin' I just can't let you," it momentarily brought tears to Denny's eyes. Even throughout all her clandestine activities with Shell, she had never been looked at or sung to with such love, and though the words of the song suggested Shaz was about to be abandoned like an unwanted puppy on the motorway, Denny knew that this was something she would never do.
After ironing out a couple of the rough edges, Crystal got a thoughtful look on her face. Danny saw her looking at one of the pieces, clearly unsure whether or not to suggest it. He came over and leant over her shoulder to read it. Seeing what she'd been looking at he said,
"How ambitious is everyone feeling?"
"Why?" Asked Victoria, wondering what he was up too.
"Look at the piece on page fourteen," Said Crystal. Shaz took one look and the only response she could come up with was "Bloody hell!" Denny took a look and simply said, "Jesus, I'm glad I don't play guitar." Nikki ran her eyes over the music meditatively.
"It's possible," She said slowly.
"Anything's possible," Said Barbara, beginning to wonder if that was really true.
"Why don't we try it and see what happens?" suggested Danny.
"Fine," Replied Shaz. "But I'm sitting out on this one." Crystal gestured to her.
"Shaz, why not watch me and Barbara, then you can join in when you feel like it." Nikki grinned.
"You've played this before, haven't you?"
"Yeah," Said Crystal. "It definitely took a bit of practice."
"This looks like it's supposed to have a banjo in it," Said Victoria.
"It does," Replied Danny. "We'll just have to substitute a guitar instead."
"I've never heard that much guitar music without words," confided Shaz.
"Then this is definitely the perfect introduction," Said Danny. The piece began with just Danny on bass and Crystal beginning the melody. But soon enough Nikki and Barbara joined in with a strumming speed that would have rivalled a galloping horse. Nikki took the part that was meant for a banjo and quickly wondered how Crystal could pluck at that speed and still look utterly calm. Shaz, looking over Crystal's shoulder was mesmerised by the hypnotic movement of her skillful fingers. she could hardly tell where Crystal's hands ended and the steal strings began. Over the other side of the room, Nikki was in trouble. She was gradually slipping more and more out of time. Denny, observing this, picked up one of her discarded drumsticks and using it as a batten, gave Nikki a clear beat to keep her going. Nikki smiled thankfully at her. Victoria's part was filled with enough double-stopping to give the impression of two violins instead of one. When they reached the end, Nikki wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Jesus!" She said. "I feel like I've just run the marathon."
"I think that might be the cue for some beers," Said Shaz walking towards the kitchen. Then suddenly remembering exactly who was there she turned and said, "There's either lager or orange juice." As expected, Barbara and Crystal passed on the lager in favour of something a little less masculine. Nikki, Victoria, Denny and Shaz all lit up cigarettes. Danny grinned at Nikki.
"So that's the secret of how you get down to a third octave E?"
"Nothing like nicotine for retraining the voice," said Nikki with a totally straight face. Danny walked over and put one of his Alison Krauss cd's on the stereo. He moved it to the track they'd just played.
"This is what it's supposed to sound like," He said. When Shaz heard the speed the bass was starting at she said,
"You must be bloody joking." Even Barbara looked a little dubious.
"I suppose it could be done," She said, "With a lot of practice."
"It'd be a challenge," Agreed Danny. Turning the volume up slightly he picked up the drumstick Denny had used as a batten and began conducting the guitars coming from the speakers.
"You'd think you lived here," Said Crystal smiling.
"He does most of the time," Said Denny.
They tried the piece with no words a second time, this time with Shaz as a participant. Both Nikki and Shaz insisted on Denny conducting again and this time it was a passable imitation of the CD. They tried a couple of other random songs Danny had picked out, but returned to Alison Krauss for the last. They didn't need four people on guitar, but Shaz decided she'd done enough singing for one day. So, Victoria found herself singing and playing her violin in the breaks. As Denny played out a gentle rhythm on her drums, she marvelled at how Victoria could play and sing at the same time. Until tonight, Victoria had been something of an unknown entity to all of them apart from Nikki. They'd all heard the results of her swift and complicated bowing tonight but when she opened her mouth they hadn't known what to expect. Her voice soared over the swinging to and fro of Danny's bass and the soft chords of the other four guitars. It is often said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, but in Victoria as in many musicians, her soul was released through the music she made. The simple addition of Nikki and Danny softly adding the harmonies here and there made Victoria feel complete. When she sang,
"There is a way, to make you stay, darlin' don't turn away. Don't doubt your heart, or keep us apart, I'm right where you are. Stay," they could all tell she really meant it. Whatever she was really saying through those well chosen words moulded itself to the accompanying sounds of guitars, making them all feel like they'd come home. As the last chord of G major was played, Victoria looked over Nikki's and Shaz's heads and saw Ray standing in the doorway. He came fully in to the room and said,
"You guys are really good."
"Of course we are," Said Danny, the next party Meyer decides to throw at work, we're playing.
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Said Victoria teasing him.
"Absolutely," Said Danny with utter conviction. "You're surely not expecting to get away with not showing everyone else what we can achieve in our spare time, are you?"
"It'd really show them we could do something really cool," Said Shaz.
Not long after, Barbara gave Crystal a lift home and Nikki, Victoria and Danny left to walk as they lived much closer. Danny said he may as well leave his drums where they were if this was where they were going to be practicing. As they walked along the street, Danny took Nikki's guitar, put the strap round himself so he could play and started strumming a couple of the songs they'd already played that evening. The three of them found themselves singing in the cold, crisp air of late October. When they reached Danny's house, he handed Nikki's guitar back to her and said,
"We should do something for Christmas. The amount of singers and guitars we've got, we could maybe go round singing carols or something, you know, raise some money."
"Yeah, not a bad idea," Said Nikki. As Nikki and Victoria walked home, they became lost in their own thoughts. Victoria suddenly said,
"I really enjoyed tonight. It made me feel part of something again." Nikki looked at her thoughtfully. She didn't ask, but she wondered just how long it had been since Victoria had felt part of a group of people There had been something in that sentence, something that at that moment, Nikki couldn't begin to analyse. When they reached home, in silent agreement, Victoria put on some soft Tori Amos and Nikki opened a bottle of wine. When she handed Victoria her glass, she sat down on the other end of the sofa from her. Then she brought up the subject she'd been mulling over for most of the week.
"Victoria," She said gently breaking in to the other woman's silent thoughts, "We never really talked about what happened on Monday." Without looking at her, Victoria said,
"And I don't think we should."
"Why?" Victoria took a swig from her glass, as if to give her some thinking time.
"I'm sorry if I was a bit over protective when I said what I did to Tash. I was already pretty wound up and I think she just gave me the excuse to snap."
"Are you going to tell me what you were wound up about?" Said Nikki gently. Victoria couldn't help a slight shudder.
"No. It's not something I could or should talk about." Nikki scrutinized her long and hard. Victoria had to stop herself from flinching under Nikki's steady gaze. She could hardly tell her that she'd been ready to snap after having to hide her secret from Nikki all weekend. She'd had to eat every meal and then conceal her purging of it. That was no easy task when living under the same roof as someone, especially if that someone were as highly observant as Nikki usually was. They continued to sit in companionable silence, with the words of the conservatoire born and bred Tori Amos flowing through the room closely accompanied by her own hands playing a priceless Steinway. But whilst there was no verbal evidence of a pair of active brains, Victoria was feverishly wondering how she could possibly hide her shameful addiction on a more permanent basis, and Nikki sat wondering just what her new friend had inside her that made her so volatile one minute and so withdrawn the next.
On the Friday night of that week, Nikki, Shaz, Victoria, Denny, Danny, Crystal and Barbara met in the house that Shaz, Denny and Ray shared. Danny hated to admit it, but at twenty-five he was still living with his mother. He brought over his drums and a bass guitar, with the others collecting together an assortment of guitars and Victoria's violin. Ray was out on a date for the evening so they had the place to themselves. They'd all been a little surprised to see Barbara, but Crystal knew Barbara threw their church going on a Sunday, and had persuaded Barbara to come along with her guitar.
"I took the liberty," Danny said handing out wads of photocopies. "Of digging out all the decent guitar music I have, and Babs being the star she is spent the entirety of this afternoon copying it."
"Jesus, you're eager," Said Shaz gaping at the amount of paper Danny had just handed her.
"Of course," He said brightly. "but there's a real mixture of stuff in there, I warn you. Most of it probably isn't to anyone's taste at all, but hey, you've got to start somewhere." Shaz had been thumbing through the various songs. Then she looked up at Danny with a little worry.
"Some of these say you need a capo. I've never used one of those." It seemed that everyone else had a capo at their disposal.
"In that case," Said Danny, always the one to compromise. "You'll just have to sing the ones that use a capo." Shaz grinned, "Okay."
"Why don't we start with something most of us should know," Said Nikki. Looking through her numerous pages, Victoria said,
"Why not the sound of silence?"
"Don't you need two blokes to sing that?" Asked Denny moving towards Danny's second-hand drums. Danny looked assessingly at Nikki.
"Do you reckon you could sing the higher part?" Nikki looked at the music sceptically.
"Yeah, okay. It's a bit low really but we'll see."
"And it's pretty simple chords so we should be okay," Danny said picking up his bass. As Nikki was the only one not playing, she moved her right hand to give an indication of the speed. Everyone was notably a little rusty and both Shaz and Nikki were very nervous at displaying their talent so openly. But once Denny and her drums moved it in to the song proper, all thoughts of shyness disappeared. Danny had thought that his bass and the drums would have drowned out the others, but with four guitars playing where there would ordinarily be two, this wasn't a problem. Danny's voice seemed to give Nikki more encouragement as the song progressed. When they reached the end, Shaz laughed as if from tension.
"That was great," She said smiling at the others.
"A little rusty around the edges, but yeah, for a first attempt it wasn't bad," Said Danny with his usual lack of tact and diplomacy. When they played it a second time, the majority of the rust had vanished, the rocking motion of the guitars managing to wipe any trace of nervousness from both Nikki and Shaz. Lost in the atmosphere she began to walk round the room, still singing. She stood for a while behind Shaz and Victoria, a hand on each of their shoulders. Not faltering in the least, Shaz looked up at her and smiled.
"Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you,
but my words, like silent raindrops fell," Nikki sang as she stood with her hands on the back of the sofa where Barbara and Crystal were sitting. Stood here, singing with a group of friends who clearly loved music as much as she did, Nikki didn't think that anything could rival the feeling of togetherness this inspired in her. When they came to the end, there was utter silence. As ever, it was Danny who broke it.
"Never knew you had it in you to be an honorary bloke," He said to Nikki. She laughed.
"Neither did I." She began flicking through what Danny had brought over.
"Why don't we try this?" She said holding up one of Alison Krauss's cover songs. "I thought it might give Victoria a chance to show off that Strad look-alike of hers." Victoria blushed.
"Wicked, I know this," Said Shaz.
"This one's in E-flat which definitely requires a capo, unless you're Jimmy Hendricks. So, Shaz, looks like you're singing this one." Victoria got out her violin and quickly tuned up. Nikki took her ever faithful guitar and ran her hands over it lovingly. At the lift and downward swing of Victoria's bow, they began. As Denny wasn't playing in this song, she simply sat and gazed at Shaz. As if feeling her stare, Shaz turned to face her, and opened her mouth. Denny had heard Shaz sing before, but to the others, this was a completely new experience. Combined with the clarity of Victoria's violin, the purity of Shaz's voice was exquisite. When she got to the words,
"Now you tell me that you wanna leave me, but darlin' I just can't let you," it momentarily brought tears to Denny's eyes. Even throughout all her clandestine activities with Shell, she had never been looked at or sung to with such love, and though the words of the song suggested Shaz was about to be abandoned like an unwanted puppy on the motorway, Denny knew that this was something she would never do.
After ironing out a couple of the rough edges, Crystal got a thoughtful look on her face. Danny saw her looking at one of the pieces, clearly unsure whether or not to suggest it. He came over and leant over her shoulder to read it. Seeing what she'd been looking at he said,
"How ambitious is everyone feeling?"
"Why?" Asked Victoria, wondering what he was up too.
"Look at the piece on page fourteen," Said Crystal. Shaz took one look and the only response she could come up with was "Bloody hell!" Denny took a look and simply said, "Jesus, I'm glad I don't play guitar." Nikki ran her eyes over the music meditatively.
"It's possible," She said slowly.
"Anything's possible," Said Barbara, beginning to wonder if that was really true.
"Why don't we try it and see what happens?" suggested Danny.
"Fine," Replied Shaz. "But I'm sitting out on this one." Crystal gestured to her.
"Shaz, why not watch me and Barbara, then you can join in when you feel like it." Nikki grinned.
"You've played this before, haven't you?"
"Yeah," Said Crystal. "It definitely took a bit of practice."
"This looks like it's supposed to have a banjo in it," Said Victoria.
"It does," Replied Danny. "We'll just have to substitute a guitar instead."
"I've never heard that much guitar music without words," confided Shaz.
"Then this is definitely the perfect introduction," Said Danny. The piece began with just Danny on bass and Crystal beginning the melody. But soon enough Nikki and Barbara joined in with a strumming speed that would have rivalled a galloping horse. Nikki took the part that was meant for a banjo and quickly wondered how Crystal could pluck at that speed and still look utterly calm. Shaz, looking over Crystal's shoulder was mesmerised by the hypnotic movement of her skillful fingers. she could hardly tell where Crystal's hands ended and the steal strings began. Over the other side of the room, Nikki was in trouble. She was gradually slipping more and more out of time. Denny, observing this, picked up one of her discarded drumsticks and using it as a batten, gave Nikki a clear beat to keep her going. Nikki smiled thankfully at her. Victoria's part was filled with enough double-stopping to give the impression of two violins instead of one. When they reached the end, Nikki wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Jesus!" She said. "I feel like I've just run the marathon."
"I think that might be the cue for some beers," Said Shaz walking towards the kitchen. Then suddenly remembering exactly who was there she turned and said, "There's either lager or orange juice." As expected, Barbara and Crystal passed on the lager in favour of something a little less masculine. Nikki, Victoria, Denny and Shaz all lit up cigarettes. Danny grinned at Nikki.
"So that's the secret of how you get down to a third octave E?"
"Nothing like nicotine for retraining the voice," said Nikki with a totally straight face. Danny walked over and put one of his Alison Krauss cd's on the stereo. He moved it to the track they'd just played.
"This is what it's supposed to sound like," He said. When Shaz heard the speed the bass was starting at she said,
"You must be bloody joking." Even Barbara looked a little dubious.
"I suppose it could be done," She said, "With a lot of practice."
"It'd be a challenge," Agreed Danny. Turning the volume up slightly he picked up the drumstick Denny had used as a batten and began conducting the guitars coming from the speakers.
"You'd think you lived here," Said Crystal smiling.
"He does most of the time," Said Denny.
They tried the piece with no words a second time, this time with Shaz as a participant. Both Nikki and Shaz insisted on Denny conducting again and this time it was a passable imitation of the CD. They tried a couple of other random songs Danny had picked out, but returned to Alison Krauss for the last. They didn't need four people on guitar, but Shaz decided she'd done enough singing for one day. So, Victoria found herself singing and playing her violin in the breaks. As Denny played out a gentle rhythm on her drums, she marvelled at how Victoria could play and sing at the same time. Until tonight, Victoria had been something of an unknown entity to all of them apart from Nikki. They'd all heard the results of her swift and complicated bowing tonight but when she opened her mouth they hadn't known what to expect. Her voice soared over the swinging to and fro of Danny's bass and the soft chords of the other four guitars. It is often said that the eyes are the windows of the soul, but in Victoria as in many musicians, her soul was released through the music she made. The simple addition of Nikki and Danny softly adding the harmonies here and there made Victoria feel complete. When she sang,
"There is a way, to make you stay, darlin' don't turn away. Don't doubt your heart, or keep us apart, I'm right where you are. Stay," they could all tell she really meant it. Whatever she was really saying through those well chosen words moulded itself to the accompanying sounds of guitars, making them all feel like they'd come home. As the last chord of G major was played, Victoria looked over Nikki's and Shaz's heads and saw Ray standing in the doorway. He came fully in to the room and said,
"You guys are really good."
"Of course we are," Said Danny, the next party Meyer decides to throw at work, we're playing.
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Said Victoria teasing him.
"Absolutely," Said Danny with utter conviction. "You're surely not expecting to get away with not showing everyone else what we can achieve in our spare time, are you?"
"It'd really show them we could do something really cool," Said Shaz.
Not long after, Barbara gave Crystal a lift home and Nikki, Victoria and Danny left to walk as they lived much closer. Danny said he may as well leave his drums where they were if this was where they were going to be practicing. As they walked along the street, Danny took Nikki's guitar, put the strap round himself so he could play and started strumming a couple of the songs they'd already played that evening. The three of them found themselves singing in the cold, crisp air of late October. When they reached Danny's house, he handed Nikki's guitar back to her and said,
"We should do something for Christmas. The amount of singers and guitars we've got, we could maybe go round singing carols or something, you know, raise some money."
"Yeah, not a bad idea," Said Nikki. As Nikki and Victoria walked home, they became lost in their own thoughts. Victoria suddenly said,
"I really enjoyed tonight. It made me feel part of something again." Nikki looked at her thoughtfully. She didn't ask, but she wondered just how long it had been since Victoria had felt part of a group of people There had been something in that sentence, something that at that moment, Nikki couldn't begin to analyse. When they reached home, in silent agreement, Victoria put on some soft Tori Amos and Nikki opened a bottle of wine. When she handed Victoria her glass, she sat down on the other end of the sofa from her. Then she brought up the subject she'd been mulling over for most of the week.
"Victoria," She said gently breaking in to the other woman's silent thoughts, "We never really talked about what happened on Monday." Without looking at her, Victoria said,
"And I don't think we should."
"Why?" Victoria took a swig from her glass, as if to give her some thinking time.
"I'm sorry if I was a bit over protective when I said what I did to Tash. I was already pretty wound up and I think she just gave me the excuse to snap."
"Are you going to tell me what you were wound up about?" Said Nikki gently. Victoria couldn't help a slight shudder.
"No. It's not something I could or should talk about." Nikki scrutinized her long and hard. Victoria had to stop herself from flinching under Nikki's steady gaze. She could hardly tell her that she'd been ready to snap after having to hide her secret from Nikki all weekend. She'd had to eat every meal and then conceal her purging of it. That was no easy task when living under the same roof as someone, especially if that someone were as highly observant as Nikki usually was. They continued to sit in companionable silence, with the words of the conservatoire born and bred Tori Amos flowing through the room closely accompanied by her own hands playing a priceless Steinway. But whilst there was no verbal evidence of a pair of active brains, Victoria was feverishly wondering how she could possibly hide her shameful addiction on a more permanent basis, and Nikki sat wondering just what her new friend had inside her that made her so volatile one minute and so withdrawn the next.