Page 55 of Finding a Melody

She chuckled, reaching over and patting my chest. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know. I’m still going to save you.” I flashed her a cocky grin, which only made her laugh some more. I really enjoyed her laugh. It wasn’t high pitched or obnoxious. She found the right balance of girliness and loudness so we’d notice, but didn’t need to cover our ears. When she laughed, we knew she was enjoying herself. She was too real to laugh when she didn’t want to. Oh, she would smile, but that was because even if we had shitty days, people expected to see smiles and that was how we hid. I used to do it all the time until Paul told me to stop. He didn’t want to see me doing it if I didn’t mean it.

And using his wisdom, I broke some of the guys of that habit too, for the most part. At least when we were together, they didn’t pull that shit. Looked like I would need to let Cadence know she didn’t need to force herself to smile if she didn’t want to when she was around us.

She needed to learn that her situation no longer required it. I hated that she still felt the need to hide herself. I hated that she wasn’t ready to confide in us yet so we could help her. I didn’t really get her whole situation. Even after all the shit her mother did to her, she was still helping that woman. Anyone else would have left her to rot, but Cadence was trying to help her mother get better. I couldn’t wrap my head around the why of it. Why still support a woman who hurt her so badly?

I was missing something.

The next hour went by quickly. I stayed by Cadence’s side, waiting for someone to recognize me and make a big deal about being back. I knew a couple of people but no one said anything. No one ever did. They knew to respect each other and whatever situation the other person may be in. You didn’t often hear others bullying others. Those situations were shut down quickly, with a no tolerance policy. Just because a mother sold her body didn’t mean her daughter was the same way. Or if a father beat a son didn’t mean the son was a pushover.

During that hour, Cadence greeted those she knew; she even clumsily did a round of jump rope with a couple of younger girls, who kept giggling every time they glanced at me. That seemed to amuse Cadence and I knew she was going to rib me about it later on.

Afterward, we went toward the music room where some kids had already gathered. Their faces lit up the moment they looked at Cadence and I stopped to just stare at the group and how much power she had over them. If Cadence wanted, I had no doubt she could create an uprising of children. I shivered just imagining the kiddies all going up against the adults, planning to take over the world.

I snickered, imagining Calvin right there at the front lines and Paxon right there trying to pull him back.

“What has you giggling?” Cadence asked.

“I don’t giggle.”

She rolled her eyes. “So sorry,” she dragged out. She deepened her voice as she said, “What has you doing your manly chuckle?”

I laughed and shook my head in disbelief. Sometimes she whipped out the most unexpected response. “No way. I’m not giving you any ideas, so I’m not sharing. Who knows what you’ll do with this information. The last thing I want is an uprising.”

She frowned, looking confused, and it only made me laugh again.

“Uprising?”

I made a zipping motion over my lips with my fingers. I wasn’t saying anything more about it.

She huffed before going over and opening the door. The kids pooled inside, filling in the few chairs facing the front. There were about a dozen kids, all eager. There was an older looking piano and instruments gathered around. The room had a huge array of them too, from guitars, to keyboards, violins, and even trumpets and flutes. I was impressed. This wasn’t available when I came here.

“This is new,” I commented.

“For about a year now,” Cadence said and her lips curved into a small smile. “Donors pooled their funds together to buy everything.”

“Awesome.”

She nodded. “Very.”

She turned to the kids, ready to start. There were a handful of teens mixed in there too. I found a stool and dragged it to the corner so I could watch her. Cadence was a completely different person around kids. Around people our age or older, she was quiet and shied away from them. She would glance around the room as if searching for an escape.

But with kids, she was the person she should be. Confident, happy, passionate, and caring. She was like that with Calvin, so no doubt if danger came, she would be protective too.

“Are we singing today or learning instruments?” she asked.

“Singing!” a good chunk of kids cheered, hands in the air.

She nodded. “Singing it is then.”

She organized the kids, already knowing how most of them sounded, and then went over to her bag and pulled out a huge folder filled with music sheets. She even pulled out some microphones, something that the room was still lacking.

She passed them around to some of the kids and then assigned people parts. The kids began grinning and a couple of girls and one boy stepped forward. Cadence nodded.

“You’ll do great. I know you guys have been practicing. Show me you’ve improved.” She went over to the piano and began playing. I didn’t recognize the song but had a feeling it was a Cadence original. How many songs did she have hidden away from the world?

The fourteen year old began singing and she had a nice strong voice as she belted the lyrics, putting her all into it, her hand tapping her thigh to help keep beat.