shit, sorry. I wasn’t thinking so literally, sorry about your friend Maggie,” Kylie apologised.
“Oh love, don’t worry. The best thing about that pianola was that while Lil was playing it, she wasn’t babbling on with jibber. That bird just wouldn’t shut up and it was a double gift when she played the piano because I love music and I got a break from her whinging and whining, bless her soul!”
“Does anyone play it anymore?” Kylie asked.
Jenna replied, “No, Lil’s kids also owned a pianola, so they took all but three of the pianola rolls when Lil moved into the home then two broke, and everyone got sick of the one that was left after it was played to um…”
“Death love, it can’t escape you,” said Maggie finishing Jenna’s sentence. “Whether you’re a person or a pianola roll, if your time is up, you either R.I.P or Rest in Pieces. He he he.” Maggie laughed at her own joke.
“Gee you’re a witty bit of gear aren’t you Maggie?” Kylie said giving her arm a gentle rub.
“Oh I used to be quick, now I’m more docile, I seem to have spasms of charm!” She winked at Kylie and smiled.
“Come on Maggie, we’ll sit you down for tea. Here’s your table,” Jenna said.
Kylie put her hand on Maggies’ shoulder and said, “Bye Maggie, it was lovely to meet you.”
“Drop in anytime love, I’m appearing all week!” Maggie said with a smile, swinging her left arm from her chest up to her chin with an arthritic thumbs up.
Kylie turned and walked away with Jenna and said, “She’s a hoot!”
“Yeah,” Jenna said, “and she’s right, it has been really dull around here since Lil passed away. When there was music there was atmosphere and life in the place. And the pianola rolls they had were all old timer sort of music. Everyone knew it and loved sitting there and singing along in their seats.”
Kylie nodded in agreement. “Yeah I know what you mean. My mum has a pianola at home and has played the piano all her life. She goes to the old people’s home in Mt Isa and plays for them sometimes, and they crowd around her and have a great old time.”
“Does your Mum live here?” Jenna asked.
“Nooooo,” Kylie said. “She’s still in the Isa but she is coming to visit this weekend for a few weeks. I should bring her down here and ask her to tinkle the ivories for them.”
Jenna stopped, faced Kylie, grabbed both her elbows and said, “Oh they would LOVE that, really, they would really love that.”
“Hmmmm,” Kylie said thinking out aloud. “Okay, well Mum arrives on Sunday, do you think we could come down on Tuesday and let her play the piano for the oldies for an hour or so? Would that suit their schedule?”
“Yeah! That would be fantastic. I’ll let them know on Monday that we have a special surprise for them after dinner on Tuesday. How about starting at 6.30 pm, everyone will have just finished eating and you’ll capture them before they head off to watch TV or go back to their rooms.”
“Great. I think they will LOVE it. I hope they will love it. I can’t see why they wouldn’t. I’ll stop doubting myself. I’m full of ideas, I just feel doubtful sometimes about how they will pan out but I can’t see this sucking. I’ll just write that time down in my diary so I don’t forget. Start playing at 6.30 pm Tuesday. No worries,” Kylie said.
“It’ll be great!” said Jenna.
“Okay, well I’d better split. This milk is getting warm,” Kylie said.
“Hey, I finish work in 10 minutes, did you want to have a coffee? At my place? I live just around the corner?” Jenna asked.
Surprised, Kylie said, “Which corner? The corner at the lights? Is that where you hang out? On the corner? I thought your skirt was a lil bit too short!”
“Up Gregory Street towards Castle Hill, really it’s about 300 metres from here, saves me heaps on fuel,” Jenna said quite proudly.
“I’ll bet it does, you’d be on Foot Falcon all the time.”
“What?”
“You know, Foot Falcon! Your feet are the transport!” Kylie said pointing to her feet.
“Ohhhh, I get it. Foot Falcon. But what if I’m a Holden girl? What is it then?” Jenna inquired.
Without even thinking, Kylie blurted out, “Hoof Holden!”
They both smiled and Kylie told Jenna she would wait for her outside.
Ten minutes later, Jenna and Kylie walked around the corner to Jenna’s place. She put the kettle on and they talked for an hour before Jenna realised what the time was and said, “Shit, are you hungry?”
“I’m hungry, but not for shit. If I was going to eat shit I’d go home and burn something for mine self,” Kylie said, confessing her lack of kitchen prowess.
“Really? Wow, I love cooking. Stay and I’ll cook you dinner?” Jenna asked, hoping Kylie would say yes.
Without any hesitation, Kylie replied, “Sold!” A night off cooking was a gift.
“Great! Do you like steak? ”Jenna asked while looking in the freezer.
“Nup,” Kylie replied.
“Fish?” she asked while fumbling through the cold shelves.
“Nup.”
“Chicken?” she asked but by now she had turned to Kylie as she waited for her response.
“Nup!”
“Are you a vegetarian Kylie?” Jenna asked smiling.
“No I’m a Vege-Aquarian! I eat prawns and oysters.”
“Ha, I’ve never heard of a vege-aquarian before. How about a vegie stir fry?”
“Great!” Kylie said.
“Done,” Jenna said opening the fridge and pulling out vegetables from the cold drawer.
They talked while Jenna cooked then they sat and ate and talked, then they washed up while they talked some more. Then Kylie looked at the time and announced, “Baby it’s late! And it’s a school night! I’ve gotta act like a tree and leave.” She thanked Jenna for a really nice meal, a lovely chat and a great evening.
Kylie waved goodbye and walked five hundred metres home with her milk. She thought about the irony of it taking an out of outrigging scenario for her to get to know Jenna, even though she had sat behind her for two months at training and listened to both her and Jess calling Huts. She had purposely joined a sport to meet people but noticed the habit was for girls to go to training to train then head home straight afterwards with very little interaction in between. How can you get to know people that bugger off straight after a one hour session of being quiet in a canoe, Kylie wondered. She was just glad to have made some ground
