Away

31. Everything will be OK

Brett was nervous as they entered through the small gate at his parents' house. He slowly opens the kitchen door, and finds his mother sitting at the kitchen table. He can see she's been crying.

"Ma, what happened?" He asks, as he takes a chair next to her, taking her hand in his. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about", she says, faking a smile. "It's not nothing. I can see it, please tell me what happened".

Eddy kept himself busy with making some tea for everyone so they can talk.

"He's not OK Brett. I don't know what to do. This morning he fired the gardener as he supposedly came and stole potatoes last night. We don't even grow vegetables. And yesterday he was talking about visiting relatives that died years ago".

"Ma, I have something to tell you", Brett said as Eddy put the teapot, cups, milk and sugar on the table in front of them. He pours some and hands it over as Brett explains about the lawyers, the hearing and the upcoming assessment. "Ma, I could see he's not himself. Maybe I saw it clearer because I was away for a long time. I want him to get help, to get better. And as you see, he cannot make those decisions by himself now". She nodded without response as she stirs some sugar into her tea. "Thank you Eddy", she says.

"Do you want me to come over tomorrow? It will probably not be easy for dad, or for you". She gives Brett a sincere smile this time as she says "you know what, I think I can handle it. You were strong enough to arrange the assessment. I'm sure it wasn't easy. Now it's my turn to be strong. Message me the lawyer's details and I will take it from here." She looks at Eddy and says "Eddy, thank you for supporting Brett in this, for looking after my son when I didn't".

They chat for a while about the shop whilst drinking their tea. Brett confesses he hasn't opened the shop since going to the bank. His mother wasn't extremely surprised when he shared the bank balance. They have been running the shop for the last 30 years, and with their frugal lifestyle, it made sense.

"Brett, I will let you know how it goes tomorrow", his mother said as she hugs him when they are ready to leave. "And thank you for being brave when I wasn't". She gives Eddy a big hug also to his surprise. "Eddy, please look after Brett for me", she says. "Always".

They collect their luggage from Sue's and say goodbye one more time. Then they take a taxi over to the apartment, as neither felt like struggling on the bus with all the stuff. As they settle on the back seat, Brett takes Eddy's hand. "Thank you for sticking by me through this." Eddy smiles as he says "I told you everything will work out. I know the assessment is only the start, but I believe everything will be OK now".

As they enter the apartment, they each go and put their stuff in their rooms.  The mattresses did magically inflate as promised.  Eddy makes his bed. Brett decides to leave his for later. He's too excited to finally go and get a violin.  "Eddy, come on, let's go already", he yells from the living area, keys in hand.  "Wait, I'm coming, let me check the map again".  He starts the navigation as they leave the apartment.

The violin shop was extremely grand.  Brett immediately worried about his bank balance.  Rows of violins decorated a single wall.  On display like in a very expensive boutique.  An elderly gentleman with a thick grey mustache came over to meet them.   He reminded Eddy of a strict school principal. They explained a bit of their requirements, and then he brings them some violins to try. Brett tries first, a simple scale run. The first few notes sound a bit scratchy and off key. But as he plays through the second time, it's perfect.

"Dude, my ears", Eddy laughs. "Perfect pitch is a curse". "Well excuse me", Brett laughs. "Show us how it's done then, Mr. Perfect Pitch". Eddy takes a few seconds to tune the violin. Then he starts playing Meditation. Brett is in awe. Even the shop owner has a smile for the first time since they entered the shop. When Eddy stops after the first few passages, he is surprised when Brett actually applauds his mini performance. "Wow, that was really good", Brett says.

Now for the dreaded question. How much? Brett's violin is around 15,000 Rand ($1,500). And Eddy's around 20,000. Brett is extremely relieved. His budget survives another day, even after adding in the cost of the bow. The shop owner was even nice enough to give them each a carry case and rosin for free.  Both are smiling from ear to ear as they walk back to the apartment.

"Dude", Brett says as they put the violins down on the TV stand.  "Check what all we need so we can order some groceries.  I'm out of clean clothes.  Wouldn't mind doing some laundry".  "Same here", Eddy replied.  They sit next to each other on the couch, picking items in the App that Sue recommended.  Eddy remembered they will need toiletries as well, like shampoo and toilet paper.  Brett, on the other hand, was more interested the snack section.  He adds cookies, crisps, nuts and chocolates.  "Woah, that's enough!", Eddy laughs.

After submitting the order, Brett opens the sliding doors and steps out onto the small balcony.  The sun was bright, creating sparkles on the waves.  There's a nice breeze blowing though.  He decides to leave the door open to cool down the apartment, as they had no AC or fan. "Eddy, can we call to see about auditions at the studio?" he asks as he steps back inside.  Eddy nods, and looks up the details on his phone.

Eddy kept the phone on speaker as they spoke to a very nice lady from the Human Resources Department.  Eddy's main concern was that he was not a South African citizen.  He wasn't sure how the laws worked around employment of foreigners.  She explained that if he is selected, they will apply for a work permit, but the cost of the permit will be deducted from his income over 3 months.  But, she said, come for the interview first, then they can deal with all that later.  They are asked to prepare a part from Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony, as it would soon be recorded for a film soundtrack.  The interview will be in 10 days.