The Harmonica

The gift of music and love

22-year-old Randy worked at the mall. He lived in an apartment just 3 blocks away from the mall. The walk home from work was quite short but often Randy took a circuitous route. He would walk past Andrea’s house which was a full seven blocks out of the way. 22-year-old Randy was in love with 17-year-old Andrea. He walked past her house just to imagine her inside it.

They kept their love affair a secret. After all, Andrea was under-age. They spent all the time together that they could. Yes, they made love but they mostly talked. Never had Randy met anyone he could talk to so endlessly. There seemed to be no subject they could not talk about. They went for endless walks holding hands and talking. They went to neighborhood parks and swung on the swings while giggling. They sat on park benches clutched together looking up at the moon while sharing hopes and dreams. They held each other in bed after making love talking and talking until they suddenly realized how late it was and how imperative it was that she got home.

Luckily, Andrea’s mother was sympathetic to their love affair. She was, after all, the one who got Andrea on the pill. She treated Randy like a son-in-law. She never made a fuss when Andrea came home in the wee hours of the night.