Layla and the Dream Competition

It was Friday evening, and she hoped to ace tomorrow’s competition.  Layla Mancini sat at the piano and let her fingers glide over the first movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata.  This piece was second nature to her by now.  She had nothing to worry about.  However, pre-competition nerves prompted her to practice the sonata until she was sure she could play it even if she zoned out, which was always possible.  Layla was on the older side of the competition’s age limit at fourteen years of age.  This year would be her last chance to win it.  

“Stop that damned noise!”  The voice of Dan Mancini, Layla’s father, slashed the air like a sword.  Startled, Layla hit the piano keys and stopped playing.  She began to rise from the piano bench but was stopped by Dan’s finger pointed at her face.  

“I work all day, and when I come home, I want it quiet!”  Dan shouted at her.  “You hear? Quiet!  None of your freakin’ music!”  

Dan had been drinking, as usual.  At dinner, he kept up a running alcohol-fueled commentary, most directed at Layla, a little of it at her younger brother and sister.  They had sat silently, as was their custom, and let him go on.  Because of the lump in her stomach caused by holding back all the words she wanted to throw back at Dan, Layla had only been able to eat half her dinner, which had caused her mother, Eileen, to end her silence and join in the abuse, scolding her for wasting food.  In these situations, Eileen would often put herself on her husband’s side to avoid having him direct his anger to her.  

Layla’s upset had gradually calmed as she played the soothing notes of the Beethoven piece, but Dan’s outburst hit her like a verbal fist, and she began to weep silently.  She rose from the piano bench and headed for her room upstairs.  On the way, she passed her mother, who hissed, “You should have known better than to play the piano when he’s like that!  What’s the matter with you?”  

Dan picked up the remote control and turned the television to the YES channel to catch some major league baseball.  He settled into the couch with a bottle of Corona Extra beer to watch a game.  

When she reached her room, Layla fell onto her bed, by now weeping out loud, and picked up her iPad, which was sitting on a table next to the bed.  She searched YouTube and found a video of Arthur Rubenstein playing a Schumann piano concerto.  

The soothing sounds of the great pianist calmed her.  She lay back on the bed and drifted into a reverie where she was a world-renowned concert pianist playing that same Schumann concerto with a full symphony orchestra behind her.  She and the orchestra finished the concerto to a building-shaking ovation from the audience.  Someone brought Layla a big bouquet of carnations, her favorite flower, and she tossed one to the audience and gave another to the conductor.  

Deep into the daydream, Layla gradually fell asleep.  She woke up an hour later, changed into her favorite nightshirt, surfed the Internet, and played games on her iPad until it was time to go to bed.  

The following morning, Saturday, Layla woke up around 10:00 AM, having slept fitfully off and on all night.  She rose, donned a robe, went downstairs, and poured herself a bowl of Cheerios and milk.  While she was sitting at the kitchen table eating, Dan walked into the kitchen wearing his pajamas, disheveled and bleary-eyed.  He grunted as he passed Layla, went to the refrigerator, retrieved a bottle of Corona Extra, and opened it.  As he passed Layla on the way to the living room, he stopped and said, “Good luck today, Leelee.” He took a swig of the beer and left the kitchen.  

If only he wouldn’t drink, she thought.  When Dan was sober, he was a different man, kind, sensitive, and loving.  His drinking buddies thought he was a great guy to hang out with when they were all imbibing.  But Dan was a mean drunk when it came to his family.  He never abused any of them physically, but the verbal abuse he could spew without stopping when he was drunk was devastating.  Layla, for one, was always glad when he didn’t come home.  

Later that morning, Layla was back in her room, choosing the accessories for the long red dress she had planned to wear for the competition.  She heard the car starting in the parking space next to the house and ran to the window, where she saw Dan leaving.  She knew he would be gone all day as usual and sighed, knowing she could get in some warmups and practice before the time came to prepare for the competition.  

The competition was supposed to begin at 3:00 PM.  Layla and Eileen arrived early.  Layla wore the long red dress with a gold cross around her neck and dangling gold earrings.  Her hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck with a red and gold butterfly-shaped comb in it.  Eileen had applied light makeup to her face, making her look older than her fourteen years.  Layla, who considered herself ugly, unattractive, and unlovable, was surprised at how pretty she looked.  She tried to sit calmly backstage with the other contestants but couldn’t sit still, preferring to pace back and forth, study her music, and check her texts and emails on her iPhone.  

The contestants played one after another.  Layla was one of the last on the list, giving her time to listen to the other young hopefuls and become more nervous.  She had had no idea how good the other contestants would be, especially Asher Marks, a violinist who played a Mozart violin sonata quite beautifully.  Layla knew he was a formidable competitor.  

When the time came for her to play, Layla walked out onto the stage, took an awkward bow, sat at the grand piano, took some deep breaths to calm down and center her mind, and began the “Moonlight” sonata.  Concentration on the music caused her nerves to leave her after a moment, and she focused on playing the three-movement piece with all the phrasing, technique, and emotion she could muster.  When she was finished, she was startled to hear loud applause from the assembled judges, parents, and friends of the contestants.  She rose, took a stiff bow, and walked off the stage.  

Layla won the contest by a slight majority decision from the judges.  They gave her a gold-plated statue and a check for one thousand dollars.  A photographer from the local newspaper took her picture with Asher Marks, who was the second-place winner and the third-place winner, a young soprano.  Eileen beamed at Layla, who wished Dan could have been there, sober and proud of her.  She thought it was just as well that he didn’t come.  He couldn’t stay sober for more than a couple of hours at a time.  

Since Eileen did not have time to cook, the family, minus Dan, celebrated Layla’s triumph with a treat of Wendy’s hamburgers with fries and salad.  

Later that evening, Layla lay in bed with the gold statue in her arms.  She and her mother had stopped at the bank on the way home and deposited the check into Layla’s savings account to be used toward college tuition when the time came.  There would be no spending the money at the mall or online.  Layla smiled at having so much money in her bank account and planned to treasure the gold statue for the rest of her life.  

Layla fell asleep and dreamed peaceful dreams full of hope.