Read Online Nine Volt Heart by Annie Pearson - Free Book Online Page B

my bag and scoot. I did make the effort. I unplugged
my laptop and wrapped up the cord, then I finished making the last set of notes
from the CD and DVD labels, and I stuck it all in my pack. Except there was a
sheet of handwritten music on the piano, and it distracted me for several
heartbeats. I couldn’t stop myself from playing it several times, struck by
both the melody and the golden tone of the piano. She was by my side, taking
away the music, hiding it, and saying, “I’m embarrassed that you saw this.” Her
voice had the same timbre as the piano.
    “It was rude to leave you here alone, but I needed exercise,”
she said. “After meetings all day yesterday, I needed to take a run before
everything we have to do today.”
    Dressed for business, she wore a suit jacket that accented
her erect posture and the tidy, efficient movement of her hands, showing off a
sophisticated, Katharine Hepburn-beating-up-Spencer Tracey charm. That
stiffness where she covered up the injury to her face reinforced the impression
that she was a serious woman, not to be trifled with.
    “Susi, I don’t know if I can help you.”
    She looked up from where she was manufacturing a breakfast
sandwich in a tidy flurry, her brow raised in faint consternation. “You know
about the plans for the Troubadours Institute, right? You received the advance
draft of the proposal?”
    “No, I don’t know anything about it.”
    She sighed as she slipped the sandwich into a pan on the
stove. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted email, but she insisted. I just want
you to look at the money. Our fundraiser Randolph keeps assuring me, but I
don’t trust him to tend to business correctly. I will relax when you tell me
the pro forma looks like what you’d expect to see if you were giving us money.”
    The sun went behind an April cloud. It was disappointing to
hear, I do admit. She didn’t want my body, she wanted my money.
    I said, “I’d like to help, but like Bruce said, ‘I left my
wallet back home in my working pants.’”
    She laughed as if I were joking, and then asked, “Who’s
Bruce?”
    “How about later?”
    “She said you would keep putting it off. You have to help
us.” She was busy scrubbing pots while shaking me down. “We are looking for a
great deal more money than either of us knows how to manage. We need you to
prove that we have a team member who knows this business.”
    “Susi, I don’t think I’m your man.” However, I was still
seeking to explore the territory and see what I could say yes to, before I had
to say no.
    “You committed, Jason. When we called, your partner or your
attorney friend, whatever he is, promised he’d get the information to you and
get it on your schedule.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Damn if I could remember what Karl said the day
before. Something about a foundation? I remember saying yes, but thought then
that I still had a chance to dodge it.
    “I’m asking for a half a day today and tomorrow, Jason. It’s
only a few hours of your time, but it’s my whole life.”
    “That is a bit dramatic. I’m not used to being the rescuing
hero.”
    Susi said, “She warned me that you’d be like this—putting it
off, as if you were lazy and got where you are through family privilege. Which
we both know isn’t true.”
    She put a folder in my hands, and I began leafing through
it.
    “I got where I am through my own hard work, thank you.” I
tried not to sound too tetchy, but failed.
    “So did I. Now I want to get further. This isn’t just for
summer fun—play with some kids, put on a show, and then forget it. This summer
is my chance to prove we can do it. I want to turn this into a permanent
project. I know I’m good at teaching, but I don’t want to stay at that school
where I’m working now. I can’t find work in the public schools, because there’s
no money left for performance arts. If we can do this, then we’ll create a
place to nourish kids who love music but aren’t wealthy enough