by Lisa McManus
Her eyes began to water, and seeing her like that made me want to go after Beau and Brock, despite my stupid cast and sore ribs. “Thank you, Mrs. Wilcox. That’s um…” I really didn’t know what I was supposed to say. A glance over at my mom reminded me of my manners. “That’s very nice of you to say and I really appreciate it. Thank you.”
Shark stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Nick, you have some other visitors outside.”
Just then, in walked Josh, Amanda and…Felicia? Oh, groan. I looked like crap. What were they doing in my house? I ran a hand through my hair. I must have had the worst bed head ever, what with lying on the couch all day. And I bet I stank of B.O.
“What are you guys doing here?” I was suddenly embarrassed of our basement suite with our mismatched couches.
Josh just looked at me with a goofy, knowing grin. I realized he had something behind his back.
“Hey, Nick.” He looked at Amanda and Felicia, and they all smirked. “How’s it goin’?”
“Um, I’m fine…?” I questioned. I didn’t get what was going on here. How did he think I was doing?
The awkward silence that hung in the room reminded me I was being rude. “Hey, Amanda. Hey, Felicia. Thanks for coming by.” I still didn’t get what they were doing in my house. I could see Amanda coming with Josh, but Felicia? Why was she here? I noticed her blush when I said her name, and I also noticed how shiny her hair was. I never noticed that before. It’s weird the things you notice when you least expect it.
I tore my gaze away from her, and looked from Josh to Shark. Everyone just stood there looking at me with weird, goofy expressions on their faces, as if they knew something I didn’t. What the heck was going on?
“What?” I peeked over at my mom, and she was in full-blown blubbering mode. Even Mary, who was still sitting beside me, was grinning from ear to ear, her eyes starting to water. Again. What was with everyone? “What is up with you people?” I was starting to panic, and a nervous chuckle escaped as I asked, “What am I missing here?”
It was Shark who spoke up. “When we realized you couldn’t participate in the competition, I had to call Mike Swazi at Mike’s Music Store to cancel your competition entry. We got to chatting and I told him everything you had been up to.” Shark finger-quoted the last bit then went on. “He was so impressed with you that he wanted you to have this.”
He motioned to Josh who was grinning from ear to ear. He pulled out what he had been hiding behind his back and held it out to me. It was my guitar from the store!
I couldn’t believe it! This was what I had been dreaming of all summer! And it was in my house! In my hands! I looked down at it, running my hands over the glossy black finish. I gave it a little strum. It sounded like heaven. Better than the schools’ guitar. The girls gave a little excited clap as they bounced up and down, and suddenly everyone—Shark, my mom, Josh, Amanda, Felicia, and Mrs. Wilcox—was clapping; applauding me. Embarrassment was an understatement, especially with the girls there.
I had the biggest grin plastered on my face. I couldn’t help it. Embarrassed or not, I had my guitar in my hands. I wished so bad Grandpa was there.
Everyone was excited and spoke at once.
“That’s so cool!”
“Aw, honey I am so thrilled for you!”
“That rocks, man.”
“You should be proud of yourself, Nick.”
Shark spoke up, and everyone quieted down. “On top of that, Mike wanted you to have this.” He passed me an envelope.
I opened it. Inside was a $100 bill, new and crisp. Suddenly I got suspicious and my defensive walls went up. The guitar was already too much and now this money. I didn’t even earn it. The guitar was enough. I didn’t need other people’s charity.
I narrowed my eyes at Shark. “What’s this for?”
Shark was too busy grinning from ear to ear to notice my scowl. “While I was on the phone with Mike, we chatted a bit about the competition. I mentioned that recording I made of you on the computer…”
I flushed with embarrassment and confusion. Where was this all going?
Shark went on. “He asked me to send him the recording, as he was curious about it and you. Our voices on the recording prove it was you playing, and I could definitely vouch for you. He asked permission to use it as your entry, and although I didn’t come right out and ask your permission to use that as an entry,”—he paused waiting for my reaction, and continued when all he saw was my goofy grin—”I said he could use it. He and his judges kept your recording in mind when the live competition was held. Although they couldn’t give you first place or second place like they wanted—it wouldn’t be fair to the other entrants—they awarded you third place.”
Josh butted in, blabbering a mile a minute. “You should have seen it, man. At the competition I mean. At first everyone grumbled when they announced your entry wasn’t live, but when they said your name and played your song, everyone at the school watching the competition went wild!” He was practically bouncing off the walls as he told me. Sometimes I could strangle the guy, and other times…I just wanna hug him. Which wouldn’t be cool, but whatever.
Josh blabbered on. “When they announced you as third place winner, everyone was screaming and chanting your name so loud, I was totally sure the roof was gonna cave in!” Amanda and Felicia were nodding their heads in unison beside him. They practically vibrated with excitement, grinning from ear to ear and bouncing up and down on the spot.
I couldn’t find my voice at first, and when I did, I fought to hold back tears. Man, what is with all the crying these days? It was okay for everyone else to cry, just not me!
I composed myself enough to stupidly ask, “I don’t get it…why?”
“Nick, I know you don’t like handouts. I get that. Mike really wanted you to have the guitar, for what you selflessly did for Mary. And he felt strongly that you deserved third place.”
Shark went on. “He really felt bad that after all your practice and hard work, and to go through what you did,” Shark gestured at my leg, and then went on, “only to not be able to participate in the competition. He was impressed with your disregard for your own safety in trying to help someone else.” He sensed I was going to balk at it, and continued before I could say anything.
“This is not a handout, Nick. You earned it. You worked for it. And in fact, he was so impressed with your musical ability that he wants to talk to you about a job in his store starting sometime after Christmas. He thinks you would be great at mentoring kids who come in for music lessons on the weekends.” He paused for a moment then gave me a pointed look as he said, “If you want the job, of course.”
My mom gave a little shriek, and there were murmurs from Josh, Amanda and Felicia. Mrs. Wilcox was still sitting beside me, and she blew her nose with a big honk! I looked at the money and the guitar in my hands, and then up at Shark.
“Take it Nick and enjoy it. Do something good with the money, and don’t ever stop playing.” Shark’s grin on his big face was the biggest I had ever seen.
I looked up at my mom. I knew exactly what I was going to do with the $100. I sat stunned for a moment, too overwhelmed by everyone there and everything given to me. I was overcome by Mike’s kindness, a guy who I had only met once at the store, and who likely didn’t remember me. I had done nothing for him.
Right then, I knew it wasn’t charity. I had worked hard for it. My practice had paid off; I was a great guitarist. And the one of the best parts was that I was going to be like my Grandpa—teaching others. I looked around at everyone in my basement suite with our crappy couches and walls so thin I could often hear my mom breathing in the next room, and I knew right away. My mom was right when she always said money doesn’t matter when you have people in your life who care as much as they do.
I used to be a newbie at playing the guitar. I guess I wasn’t anymore. Those who have money might think of us as broke and poor, but those jerks didn’t matter. It’s those who care – who are c
losest to us – are who really count. Money doesn’t. A job I knew I was going to love was waiting for me in a few months, and right then, I felt like the richest man in the world.
“Hey, Nick, why don’t you play us a song?” Felicia asked shyly, glancing from me to the floor.
“Yes, Nick, I would love that,” said Mary who was still beside me. She patted the knee of my good leg affectionately.
The attention of everyone staring at me was unnerving. I nodded anyways. “Okay, just one song. This is really weird….um….” I trailed off and chuckled awkwardly. I looked up at Felicia as my mom came and stood beside her.
I shuffled myself up to the edge of the couch as best I could with a cast so big and, setting the guitar on my good leg, I strummed my fingers over the strings. Beautiful. It felt like a hot knife through butter, so sleek and smooth and rich. I gave the pegs a few turns, listening and tuning, and grinned as I did so. I was in complete awe of the instrument in my hands.
Shark spoke up, and as I looked at him, I realized that although I would never be able to repay him for all he had done for me, the satisfied look on his face told me I had already paid him back. “Good thing I taught you how to tune, eh Nick?” He chuckled.
I could only grin as I started in on the song I had been practicing for the competition. I looked up from the strings now and then as I worked through the song. I looked at each person in the room who had become a little part of my life—even Amanda and Felicia—and knew they were each more important to me than money or being embarrassed about being a charity case. It had been a long last few months, and even though it didn’t all end the way I hoped or imagined, I was better for it.
As I finished the song and everyone clapped, one voice spoke up.
“That was really great Nick. Could you teach me how to play?” Felicia stepped forward, blushing and smiling in a way no one had ever done so about me before. I didn’t realize her smile was so pretty. I wondered if her shiny hair felt as smooth as the guitar in my hands.
And right then I knew. There would be much more to playing a guitar than I thought.
Biography
Like many authors, Lisa McManus started writing at a young age. When she was nine-years old she wrote a sci-fi/horror story about an acid-spewing spider that attacked her in her sleep—it would be her first and last story for many years. Although the story was never published and eventually met its fate in the garbage dump (paper recycling wasn’t around back then), the seed was sown.
Her love of books started when her dad read her The Bobbsey Twins At Big Bear Pond when was too little for such big novels. Within time it was Judy Blume who kept her up well past her bedtime—”Just one more chapter!” An outgoing teen by nature yet a reclusive bookworm at heart, her summers were spent on her back porch reading everything from Nancy Drew to Sweetdreams teen romances (it was the 80’s!), to Agatha Christie and Danielle Steele. Her library card took a beating—the path to the Richmond Public Library in Richmond, BC was well worn.
Although not very academic and not destined for the accelerated classes in school, some teacher somewhere along the way must have seen something in her homework for in grade eight, and much to her surprise, Lisa was placed in an advanced English class—with all the “smart kids.” There she stayed for the rest of her high school years: dissecting novels, conjugating verbs, and writing essays—which she all secretly loved. She won an award for best poem in grade 12.
But the writing bug hadn’t bitten her, yet.
Soon married life and motherhood became her world, but books were still her passion and escape during those busy years. Then, eventually, her deep-seated writing-spirit finally surfaced when her second son was two years old. A slice-of-life story she wrote on a whim was accepted in a local parenting magazine. The call from the editor is something she will never forget.
And from there it started.
Multi-published in magazines locally and internationally, as well as in numerous anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Soul under the name Lisa McManus Lange, her slice-of-life stories of humour, wit and inspiration have been drawn from the world around her.
As a mother to two teen boys, it only made sense to write for kids and young adults—but it took her a while figure it out. It was only upon reading countless young adult novels in recent years - stories that speak to her teenage self - that she started to find her place in the fiction writing world. With a nudge from a fellow young adult author, she wrote Newbie Nick, a novel geared towards 12–15 year olds.
While juggling her family of three men, her office job and her writing world, she also blogs at www.lisamcmanuslange.blogspot.com. You can find info about her young adult books at www.lisamcmanus.com or write her at [email protected]
