9 TRACK 9

"Are you out of your freakin' mind? You want me to go through another night of horror?" I snapped at Dee.

"So..." She pouted her lips. "Is that a no?"

"You bet it is." I handed cash to the counter girl. "Now, let's get you home," I told Dee as I carried the bag of groceries.

"Enzo broke my Ukelele."

I stopped in my tracks, then turned to Dee. "What?"

"He barged into my room and smashed it to bits." She fidgeted her heart pendant while she lowered her head.

"That bastard! Did he hurt you?"

"No. He won't. Papa will destroy him."

"Tell your papa about what he did so he'll stop all this crap."

"Are you crazy? He'd be even happy that Enzo did that. Papa doesn't like me doing something music related."

"That's messed up." I shook my head. "But didn't you say he was a musical dude?"

"Ate Macy died, remember? And that sort of... changed him."

"Damn," I said with a sigh.

"Yeah. Damn."

I exhaled. "Well, okay. You can crash at my place in the mean time, but sooner or later, you'd have to confront your papa about this Enzo problem."

"I'll plan it while I'm at your house."

"Let's just get this one thing straight." I raised a finger.

"What?"

"You are not... to kick my balls again or any vital organ of mine for that matter."

"Well, I still have to defend myself if you try anything weird"

"What the... I'm a respected member of the teaching community. And... You're not exactly my type."

"Well, I don't like old guys either. So, we're even."

"Why you little..."

The counter girl snickered and covered her mouth.

In my apartment. The next morning...

"Wake up, sleepy head!"

I threw a pillow at Dee's face.

She sat up, with a large frown, closed eyes, and messed up bangs.

"Lolo. It's Saturday," she drawled.

"If you'll sleep any longer, it'll be Sunday already, young lady."

"Just five more minutes." She collapsed back to bed,moaning and making chewing noises.

I chewed my lip and crossed my arms. Then, an idea suddenly hit me.

"Oh my God! Enzo's here!"

She sat upright and screamed. "Aaaah! hide me, Lolo." She pressed her hands to her face.

I guffawed and slapped my thighs.

She growled and threw a pillow back at me which I evaded easily.

"Not this time, kiddo." I wagged my finger.

"That was a messed up joke, Lolo. I hate you!"

"What's new?"I struggled to catch my breath as I laughed my lungs out. "Now, come and have breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us," I beckoned to her.

She yawned and frowned once more, brushing her hair with her hands. "I came here to relax."

"I thought you wanted to learn songwriting?"

"Well, yeah. But. For now, I just wanna chill."

"Jeez. Can this generation get any lazier?"

"Can you get any older, Lolo?" she said with a laugh.

I huffed and chased her out of the room.

Later that afternoon...

"What's this got to do with songwriting, Lolo?" a frowning Dee asked while wiping my center table with a piece of cloth.

"You'll see..." You doubt your teacher?"

"No... Sensei."

"Just keep going at it." I said while feeding Combo Jumbo with a cat biscuit. "I always do general cleaning on weekends."

She grumbled. "Very convenient for you that I'm here to do your stinking chores."

I just laughed while she continued grumbling and wiping my furniture with force that could wipe of the paint. The scraping sound of wood against a cloth pushed by an angry hand finally stopped after a while.

"Done," Dee said as she handed me the cleaning utensils.

I stood up to inspect her work. "Wow. Impressive," I said while rubbing my chin. "Okay. Now, see that pile of books?" I pointed at a box resting beside my four leveled bookshelf.

She dropped her shoulders and sighed heavily. "Oh... my God."

"I need you to place them in that shelf and arrange them in alphabetical order, sorted by book title."

She pumped her fists and screamed. "This is slavery!"

"You doubt your teacher?"

She lowered her head and whispered, "No Sensei."

"Good. Now, get on with it. You're burning daylight," I shooed her away.

"Am tired." She clapped her hands to her face and pouted.

"Music never gets tired. So why should you?"

"What does that even mean?"

"You doubt your master?"

"No Sensei."

She walked away stomping her feet as I tried to hold back my laughter.

Moments later, she came back to me, stomping her feet. You could almost see smoke coming out of her nostrils. "Okay. I've had it. This is going nowhere, Lolo. I came here to learn how to write songs not to be your maid!"

My eye twitched as I turned to look at her. Sighing, I lowered the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hardbound I was reading and took off my glasses.

"Alright,. Come over her and take that little hourglass with you."

"What, this?" She pointed at the little object sitting on the TV stand.

"Yes."

She came forward and sat on the sofa opposite me, then handed me the little wooden hourglass.

"Now, this is here has about ten minutes of sand."

"Then, why is it called hour glass?"

I chewed my lip. "Stop asking questions."

"Well, so-rry!" She rolled her eyes.

"When I turn this over, you have ten minutes to come up with a verse and a chorus - melody and lyrics with words from the titles of the books you put up on the shelf earlier."

She hunched over the table and grabbed a pencil and a wired notebook.

"Timer starts... now." I turned over the hourglass and placed it on the table as she scribbled away.

10 minutes later...

"Stop. Hands in the air," I said as the last grain of sand went to the bottom glass.

"Wow!" she said as she looked at her work.

"Give that to me before you start cheating." I put my hand forward to receive the notebook.

I wore my glasses then read the lyrics Dee came up with. "Not bad."I nodded and continued to chew on my lip. "This is actually nice, Dee. Can you sing it to me?" I handed her the notebook back.

She cleared her throat and sang while holding up the notebook.

That weird warm sensation climbed up to my chest again.

Goosebumps creeped under my skin when she hit the chorus with so much power and emotion, she had to close her eyes. When she was done, she opened them up and I had to shake my head to wake up from the hypnosis.

"Uh... so, what did you learn?"

"The words flow easier.. and faster!"

"Increased endorphins are excellent for creativity. Clearing the workplace brings in freshness. All of the things I asked you to do prepares your subconscious for a songwriting session."

"Amazeballs!"

"Everything has a reason, Dee. If you doubt my methods again, I'm calling off this whole thing."

She grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry Lolo... Sensei... Lolo Sensei."

"Why you little- bite her, Combo Jumbo!" The lazy cat just kept on licking his paw.

Dee laughed. "He won't bite me, Lolo. Your cat loves me. More than you."

"Blasphemy!"

The next day, after finishing the whole song, Dee and I set out for the park. Since it's Sunday, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for her to have a real audience to react to her new song.

"What are we doing here, Lolo?" Dee asked as we circled the fountain in the middle of the plaza.

"Well. Testing out your new song," I said as I craned my neck, looking for a spot in the plaza where Dee could busk freely. Combo Jumbo sat comfortably on my shoulder.

"But why here and not in the studio."

"You'll find out soon," I answered with a smile.

"I'm uncomfortable about this."

"You'll be alright, apprentice. Just believe in yourself." I ruffled her hair.

"Oh...kay."

"Just relax. Remember your training."

"What is this, some kind of war?"

"Just play the song. You ask so many questions!"

"Should've been used to it by now," she said with a laugh.

"The Margaux Dee curse is a bit difficult to get used to."

She frowned at me and squinted her eyes.

"This looks like a great spot," I said as I stopped by a tree. A concrete sitting area surrounds the foliage.

"Hold Combo Jumbo for a sec," I told Dee as I handed my orange buddy to her. I then unslung the guitar bag from my shoulder, opened it up and tuned it. Once I was done, I handed it to Dee, her face as red as her Paramore shirt.

"Come here, boy," I beckoned Combo Jumbo as Dee handed him back to me.

"You're leaving me here?"

"I'll be right there. Watching." I pointed to the grassy area in front of us.

"No. Play the song with me. I can't do this alone."

"You doubt your master?"

"No, Sensei." She bit her lip.

Dee fidgeted her heart pendant.

"You'll do great, Kiddo. Just play it like you did yesterday," I said with a wink.

"I trust you, Sensei."

My cheeks started to get warm. "I... uh. I'll be right there. Combo Jumbo and I will be watching.

Combo Jumbo and I sat on the grass, watching our Dee like proud parents.

"She looks cute playing under a park tree, right Combo?" He answered me with a meow. I laughed and stroke his back.

Some people pass by her not even bothering to look as she sang the verse.

With waves of my hands, I motioned for her to keep on playing. I cupped my hand over my mouth."Feel the song, Dee. Just like when you wrote it."

She closed her eyes and then out came the spine-tingling sweet voice that I recognized.

Soon, people stopped to watch her - mothers and kids, some male teenagers holding skateboards and even old people.

Some of them threw bills at the guitar bag resting on the ground. I took out my phone to record the whole thing.

Dee opened her eyes and was shocked by the crowd that quickly formed around her.

She ended the song to an applause and lots of smiles.

"More, more," shouted one guy from the audience.

Dee looked at me. I motioned for her to keep on playing.

She started strumming and then, she played the songs she and her band were practicing for a long time - my old songs.

My heart thumped against my chest and Combo Jumbo Meowed. I stroked his head and smiled.

"I know buddy. I'm proud of her too." I placed a finger over my lip. "Don't tell her though."

I smiled like as Dee enjoyed her first busk. "Looks like music has caught up again with me, Combo. There's no turning back now."

Everything was going well...

...until I saw a pale faced, pastel skinny jeans wearing dude standing among the crowd, clapping.

Enzo.