ft. casey's aunt barb.
“Already at it, huh? That sounds beautiful, Casey.” Aunt Barb stood in the entryway with her shoulder against the wall, arms folded.
Casey glanced over his shoulder, fingertips idly doddling across keys as a smile tugged at his lip. It had been years since he played his grandmother’s piano, but he thought about it every time he sat down at his own. He turned his attention back to the keys, running his fingers along to feel the little nicks in them. “I didn’t wanna wait,” he admitted. “I really missed playing this one.”
“Even over your pretty one back home?” Barb jabbed. “We follow you, we see what you play.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my piano. But I have a big soft spot for this one.”
Barb laughed, coming to sit beside him. “You know, when your granddad brought this home from church, he was really hoping me or your mom would be interested.”
Casey lowered his hands to his lap, watching her. “You never did, or?”
“Nope. Both took one lesson and hated it. Grandma knew how to play, so we kept it around, but even she didn’t play it all the time. I think he saw it as kind of a sign when you came over for the first time and couldn’t leave it alone.”
Casey smiled. “I remember that.” The piano was nothing spectacular or particularly worth fawning over. The wood was chipping on the sides, and the handle on the keylid had broken off long before his grandparents even came into possession of it, but it was special in its own right. Even with all its imperfections, it was the light of the whole room to him.
“I’ll never, ever forget the look on your face when you banged your hands down and realized that wasn’t all it took to make a song happen.” Barb recalled fondly. “When you looked at your grandma, and you were like ‘ how come it doesn’t sound like when you play ’?”
Casey laughed, shaking his head. “I unfortunately remember that too. You guys really witnessed my stupidity in its prime.”
“You were a kid, it was cute. We all knew you were gonna be great at it though.”
“You guys believed that even more than I did for some time,” Casey mused.
“Of course we did.” Barb straightened up. Although Casey wasn’t looking, he could feel her staring at him. His stomach turned.
“We’re so proud of you, you know.”
“Yeah?” Casey leaned his head on Barb’s shoulder, much like he used to when he was a kid.
Barb laughed. “Mhm. You’ve come a looong way from the little kid pouting in the pool outside.”
“Aunt Barb, I’m really sad you got rid of my pool,” Casey joked. “Now where am I gonna sit and mope?”
“Oh, come on, you’ll get over it…” Barb chuckled, then breathed a long sigh through her nose. “Look, no matter what happens out in the big music world, we’re still here rooting for you, so… don’t shut us out, okay? Come visit more. Answer the phone once in awhile so we don’t have to worry, huh?”
Casey’s smile dimmed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. Just if you’re not doing well, I hope you’d tell us.”
Aunt Barb was never afraid to mention the elephant in the room. It was something he both admired and dreaded about her. “You’ll know, I promise,” he muttered. “I’ll be fine, okay?”