The Key of My Heart Chapter 2

Chapter 2 What was I going to do today, my dad asked me as we ate breakfast together – the only time I really saw him. He was already up, washed, dressed, tie neatly knotted, and I could see that me still being in my night wear annoyed him. I did think of suggesting that I was going to spend some quality time with him, but it seemed a bit petty. And it was too early as well!
What did he think I was going to do all day anyway? Go to the local world-famous museums like I did when I was in Vienna with mum on a conference last year (her, not me)? Now that had been interesting, even if I didn’t speak any German. And she’d made as much time to be with me as she could manage, and she’d looked up places I might like to see beforehand. It had been a compromise, but then what isn’t? At least she’d tried to meet me half way. If the truth be known, I think dad just hadn’t wanted me to go to Albania with mum – he didn’t approve of what she was doing there, and didn’t want me being infected with her ideals. Well, his ideals didn’t look too appealing to me from where I was sitting. What I did do was go back to my park, and hope that she would turn up again. And she did.
“You came. I was beginning to wonder if I’d imagined you.”
“No. I’m real.”
She was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and I had been right – they did look too small for her. And her jeans looked like they were trendily ripped at first glance, until you saw that they were actually worn with use. “I can’t believe I forgot to ask you your name. Mine’s Jasper.”
She smiled at me.
“It’s Elfrida. My dad was really into Anglo-Saxon linguistics. Most people call me Freddie though.”
But she didn’t look like a Freddie to me. More like an elf – small, shy and a bit elusive. I told her so.
“Not the Terry Pratchett variety then?”
I must have looked a bit surprised, because she said, “I love reading. It takes me away to somewhere else. Wet days, I go to the library – though I think I’ve read most of their stock by now.”
“Terry Pratchett’s one of my favourite authors too!” And that was it – we were away, discussing books for the next hour or so, until she spotted my guitar, and asked me to play for her as well. Elfrida came back the next day as well, and listened to me trying out the song I’d been working on for the last two weeks. She was a good listener – that’s kind of hard to define, but when she listened to me, she made me listen to myself, and hear how it sounded to her. She wasn’t just a good listener either – she was a good thinker too! I wasn’t happy with the third verse at all, but couldn’t work out why.
“It’s not definite enough. I mean, it’s either got to give you a resolution, or ask a question that leaves you realising you’ve no idea what happens next.”
“Go on – that’s interesting. What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s a boy-meets girl song, basically. So, what the listener wants to know is whether this is forever or not. So you have to tell them the answer, or ask them a question where they have to decide what happens next.”
And five minutes later, we were both sitting on the grass, roughing out new third verses between us. The stars were coming out when we finally parted. We’d written stuff together – and if we used her final verse, than I was going to have to re-write half the music in a minor key – and talked and laughed. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to be in her company.
“You won’t get into trouble for being out so late?”
“My aunt won’t care. And she’s taken all the children bowling tonight – it’s Chablis’s birthday. I hope the others remember to let her win. I’ll be home before they’re back.” Lying on my bed that night, listening to some of my favourite music, I couldn’t stop thinking about Elfrida. She had a sweetness about her that I couldn’t explain. The word that came to my mind was innocence. Mum would like her, I thought. My mother always has a soft spot for the underdog, and I got the impression that no-one really cared much for Elfrida. So how come she was so appealing, despite that? Who had brought out that sweetness in her? I wanted to get to know her better yet. Gerda always sleeps late in the morning. It’s my job to get the children up and fed and out to school more-or-less on time. None of them really enjoy it much, so it’s a bit of a struggle. But today I had something to look forward to. Maybe – just maybe – that boy would be in the park again. Feeding them in the evening is my job as well – it was bread and jam only because Gerda hadn’t done any shopping, and hadn’t given me any money either. I had a pretty good idea where she would be. Propping up a bar somewhere in town. Or dancing on the tables, trying to pull some bloke or another. Tamara’s father lasted the longest, and he still comes around from time to time. But he’s a long-distance lorry driver, and it’s sometimes months between his visits. I don’t know haw Tamara feels about this, but she boasts to the other three sometimes about how her father cares about her. I guess he does at least feel some sort of responsibility. Jasper and I had managed to see each other nearly every day for a couple of weeks now, and the more we saw of each other, the more we liked each other’s company. One afternoon, he took me out to a cinema which specialised in showing golden oldies at that time of day, and we watched a very silly musical about a large family of brothers trying to find wives. A lot of the elderly people there sang along to most of the songs. I came out, blinking in the daylight.
“You look sad, Elf. Why? Didn’t you enjoy the film?” “No. The film was great! I loved it! Thank you for taking me!” My words were almost falling over themselves.
“So why the sad face?” The only thing I could do was tell Jasper the truth.
“It reminded me of the last time I went to the cinema. It was my eighth birthday treat - I went with my parents and my best friend Linda. We had pizza out afterwards – I can remember it all so clearly. The next weekend, my parents flew to Strasbourg for a conference, where my father was presenting a paper. They never came back. The plane went down.”
I watched Jasper’s face change, and wondered how this would alter things between us. But he surprised me. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me for a long time before he spoke.
“You poor child. What an awful thing to happen to you.”
It had been years since anyone hugged me. Gerda never showed me any affection – I don’t know why she kept me, unless it was because I was useful with the children. But I think she could have coped herself, and it would have been one less mouth to feed – something she’s always complaining about. We went to the park afterwards and Jasper played me the song we’d worked on together a while back. He’d gone with my final verse and done a lot of re-writing of the music – I’d written a very open ending, and he’d made the music sound questioning and a little sad.
“Minor keys,” he explained. “Wonderful for setting the mood. Elf, can I see you again tomorrow?”
“If I can make it, I’ll be here. But what about you?”
“My father won’t care what I’m doing. He’s much too busy for me.” I finally got all the children into bed that evening, and then switched out the light. Wayne is frightened of the dark, and cries if the light isn’t left on while he falls asleep. Then I cleaned up a bit before going to bed myself. But my head – and my heart – were full of Jasper. It was so long since anyone had been kind to me. Tomorrow, I would show him my greatest treasure. It didn’t look much to anyone else, but I knew he’d understand its value.