Chapter 60
Levi’s stomach had been uneasy since he left, a flurry of excitement and nerves. He sat in his Jeep staring at the weathered storefront, staring at the rows of guitars hanging in the window. The years had not been kind to Benny’s shop, and he hoped that Benny himself was in better shape than his storefront.
A wave of nostalgia crashed into him as he climbed from the driver’s seat onto the weathered pavement. He envisioned his father smiling at his younger self, standing in the same spot the day they had bought his first guitar. He felt a tear slip down his cheek. Benny had been the only person his father had trusted to work on his guitars.
A bell rang as he opened the door, and a voice came from the back of the shop. “Levi, is that you?”
He smiled. “Yeah Benny. How’d you know it was me?”
Benny shuffled from the back. “Don’t get much business anymore, son. Besides, I’m getting so old I should probably retire. The arthritis is getting pretty bad, but I really don’t have anything better to do, so I just come in every day.”
“I’m sorry Benny. I know when me and dad used to come in here, it was always seemed busy.”
The old man smiled. “It probably was, especially to a tike like yourself. To tell you the truth, I was surprised when I got your call. Haven’t seen you since you were in high school.”
“Yeah, I moved to Texas the night after graduation.”
“I heard. Your mama came in once. Told me you were gone and wondering if I’d seen you.”
Levi felt a knot growing in his stomach. “She did? Was that all she said?”
“Nah. But enough reminiscing for now. I’ve got something for you.” He turned and made his way to the back, emerging moments later with an alligator clad guitar case. “You didn’t say anything about a case, so I just went with what I thought felt right for the piece.”
Levi smiled and shook his head. “It looks good. It’s a little showier than my normal style, but I like it.”
Benny smiled. “I know we talked about me doing some customization on something off the shelf. Since you were looking for an all mahogany piece, preferably in a parlor style, I got to thinking about some unused materials I had in the back.”
Levi’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying you made the whole thing? It’s an original?”
The old man’s smile widened as he placed the case on the counter. “Yup. Like I said, business is slow, and I know my kids don’t appreciate any of this. The ones on the wall will probably go to auction, and the raw materials will probably just get thrown out. So I kinda decided this would be my swan song.”
Levi’s heart raced as his hand moved over the rough leather. He popped the clasps open and held his breath as the case opened. His eyes gravitated to the dragon inlay on the frets. “It’s beautiful. The dragons look amazing. If they were red, they would look just like the one on the Welsh flag.” He slipped his finger between the strings and touched the inlay. “It’s not pearl. What’s it made of?”
“That’s kinda the look I was going for. I didn’t ask if your bar had a particular dragon logo, but since it was an Irish theme, I figured that would be close.” he cleared his throat. “I had some old ivory lying around, so I used it for the fret inlays, the nut, and the bridge pins. The fretboard and bridge are ebony, and the top, back, and sides, and neck are solid carved mahogany. The rosette inlay is abalone.”
“Is it ready to play?”
“I set it up based on my old customer notes, so it should be. I checked the tuning this morning, and it seems to hold tune perfectly.”
Levi’s phone went off without warning. “Shit, I’m running behind where I’d hoped to be at this point. I’ve got to get going if I’m going to get to Galveston and back before I open the bar.”
Benny shook his head. “You always did like keeping the roads hot. One last question. Were you just in the market for a new guitar?”
Levi flipped through a stack of bills in his wallet. “Not exactly. I’m proposing this weekend and have an original tune I’ve been plunking around with, and I didn’t quite like my dreadnought’s tone on it.”
“I gotcha. Well, you used to be a good kid, so whoever you’re about to propose to is a very lucky man.”
Levi stopped counting. His eyes doubled in size. Benny laughed. “I told you she said more, but that ain’t none of my business. You do whatever makes you happy, it don’t hurt me none.”
“I appreciate that more than you know Benny.” He handed a wad of bills to the old man.
Benny frowned. “Levi, this is more than we agreed on. I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can. Consider it a tip if you don’t think the guitar’s worth it. I think it’s worth even more.”
Benny’s mouth twitched. “If you insist. Thank you, Levi.”
Levi smiled as he closed the guitar case. “Thank you, Benny. This is better than anything I could’ve imagined.”
He watched the Benny’s shop fade into the distance and headed toward the interstate. Traffic was light, and he made good time. He dropped his new guitar off with Gus and headed back to Derecho. He smiled the entire drive, suppressing the voice in his head, telling him he wasn’t good enough for Jon.
His smile faded when he arrived at the bar. There was a police cruiser sitting in front. He took little solace in the fact the lights weren’t on. He rushed inside. An officer is sitting at a bar with a cup of coffee, talking to James.
James nodded to the officer, who stood and walked over to Levi. The knot in Levi’s stomach tightened when James followed.