Thieves in the Temple: A Prequel to Purple Rain

CH. 11 Can't Stop This Feeling I Got- Prince

Learning a new instrument would be exciting. It would have to be new because no one sat at the piano or the drums during Mrs. Knaeble's "getting to know you" assignment. Kid hoped she would chose the guitar for him.

Kid had a dream that he sat on a warm sandy beach. A mermaid swam to the shore. She stood up on her tail and transformed into a guitar. She spun around and her hair became the strings. He walked in the water to get her. Her body felt soft like a woman's body but the neck was stiff. He took her back to the sand and began to play her. He only strummed her hair twice before he woke up.

Mrs. Knaeble gave the students index cards with their name and instrument printed on them as she stood at the door with a blank face. It seemed like a miracle. Kid's card said, "Electric Guitar." Morris' card said, "Drum set." How did she know? No one was dissatisfied with the instrument Mrs. Knaeble chose for them. She started from the beginning, pointing her stick at a dot she'd drawn between strips of black electrical tape she had placed on the chalk board, "This is a whole note."

Kid learned the guitar at lightning speed. After two weeks he had the basics down, only needing to practice and fine tune his skills. He forfeited lunch to practice in Mrs.Knaeble's lab. She never spoke to him. She just motioned with her hand for him to go get the guitar. She continued eating her bologna sandwich on white bread at her desk. Kid felt that he needed much more time to practice. He wanted to go after school as well but Mid City Players rehearsal took that time slot. It was Wednesday and Morris had to go to bible study on Wednesdays so Kid was free.

Mrs. Knaeble encouraged all of her students to come to her lab after school but not many took advantage of her invitation. Kid walked into the lab amazed to find the old woman listening to a hard rock record. The sound of a wicked guitar shred crackled through the record player speakers. Mrs. Knaeble sat at her desk grading papers. She looked up at Kid above her glasses.

"I was hoping you would show up today because I wanted you to hear this song," Mrs. Knaeble said. Kid did not know how to respond to her. Did she say that to everybody or was she really expecting him?

"What is that?" Kid asked. He had heard wild guitar playing like this from Jimmi Hendrix but he did not recognize this song.

"It's 'Free for All' by Ted Nugent. Do you like it?" she asked, turning the forty five over.

"Yeah, it's boss!"

She put the needle down on the record and turned the volume down looking at him intently. "If you come after school everyday, I can teach you to play like that." Mrs. Knaeble's words hammered with surety.

A tinny taste pooled in Kid's mouth. He dreamed of playing like that. Was she serious? He knew she was serious because Mrs. Knaeble was always serious. He also believed she could do it. This woman taught forty five students at one time to play twenty different instruments. Imagine what she could do with one more hour a day. The problem was the Mid City Players. Morris expected him to come to his house everyday after school to practice. Not to mention Francis and his regard for the piano as the only instrument worth playing.

"How about this?" she asked. She pressed her lips together smoothing out the wrinkles between her nose and upper lip. "If you play the chord progressions I teach you perfectly today, I'll give you that record."

"Okay, I'll stay," Kid said on his way to the closet to get the guitar.

He put a stool and the amplifier in front of her desk and  plugged in.

Mrs. Knaeble never touched the guitar. She never demonstrated. She simply told Kid what to do. "Hold your middle finger on the third string... Let your wrist hang lower... Lift your thumb off a little faster." Kid caught on fast but it was not perfect. Mrs. Knaeble pushed him further with firm instructions. She never said, "That's not right," or "That's wrong." She smiled gently when he got it right and gave him specific instructions on how to improve when he made mistakes. The instrument felt like an extension of his body. He loved it and wanted to know all its intricacies.

"It's 4:30," Mrs. Knaeble announced. "You'll have to come back tomorrow."

"But I almost got it."

"Tomorrow,"

"But,I don't have to get right home. Me and Morris are usually practicing right now."

Mrs. Knaeble looked at Kid over her glasses. "Practicing what?" she asked flatly.

"Cover tunes for our group."

"Oh that sounds nice but I have to go home."

"Just a little longer?" Kid said with begging eyes.

"No."

Mrs. Knaeble put on her coat, picked up her purse and left without another word.

He had to come back.

Sunny Day got a clavinet from a church that was giving away it's old musical instruments. Kid wished the church would have been giving away an electric guitar too but Sunny was only able to get two tambourines and a trumpet.

Kid and Morris played  "Happy Music" by The Blackbyrds a couple of times.

"We really need to find a guitar player soon. This song don't sound right without the intro," Kid said. He heard the guitar parts clearly in his head. 

"The organ player at our church told me about this kid at Washington High school that might play for us," Morris said tinkering with his foot pedals.

"What about a bass guitar?"

"Working on it," Morris said with irritation. "I don't see you out there looking."

"I'm busy learning to play the guitar myself."

"If you're going to learn guitar, what are we looking for a guitar player for? We should be looking for a organ player."

"Look for both then and I'll play whatever."

Morris reddened. "You can't learn to play "Happy Music" on guitar fast enough.

"Yes, I can. Mrs. Knaeble is going to teach me."

"Are you kidding, Man? She can't possibly teach you guitar like that."

"She can too," Kid argued. "She wants me to come everyday after school so she can teach me, so I'll have to come here a little later."

"Well, I'll just have to find another organ player for the Mid City Players then," Morris issued his idle threat.

"No you won't," Kid laughed putting on his jean jacket. "Nobody else'll put up with your shit."

"You better be here tomorrow right after school," Morris fired back.

Kid sucked his teeth and went to the kitchen to talk to Sunny Day. "You know Mrs. Brake, I think it would be better if Morris did his homework before rehearsal. Then I'll come by later."

"I think that's a good idea, Kid, but what about your homework? You could do it together couldn't you?" Sunny sensed an ulterior motive; probably a girl.

"No, ma'am. We're on different tracks. I don't want to drag Morris down," he said grabbing a cookie from the jar without asking first. "See you tomorrow."