The Gift by Pamela Warren

her Harmony mandolin so that she could practice on the trip,
but now she was hoping to play it in the jam.
    Maggie and Zak walked into Hickey’s and instantly
recognized that there were some excellent musicians playing there. The men were
standing in the back of the room trading breaks on their guitars, mandolins,
fiddles and banjos. Each man tried to outdo the next, the atmosphere was
definitely testosterone driven. Maggie and Zak hung out on the periphery just
watching, Maggie knew that she was out of her depth and didn’t think it was
appropriate that she play with them. But eventually one elderly mandolinist
noticed that Maggie was carrying a mandolin case and he invited her to play
with them. With much trepidation, she put the case down on a small table and
opened it and took out the mandolin. She knew that her Harmony wouldn’t be
taken seriously, most bluegrass mandolinists played Gibson F-5’s. But the
elderly man was sweet to her and said “Come over here little girl and I’ll show
you the ropes.” Zak went to the bar and got beers for himself and for Maggie
and then sat at a table where he could watch her play.
    The old man asked Maggie if there was a tune that she
would like to play. Maggie thought for a moment and suggested “Big Sciota”. It
was one of her favorite instrumentals and Spencer had helped her learn it on
the mandolin. The group started to play the tune and Maggie just played chords
at first. Each musician would take a break in turn, and when it came time for
Maggie to play her solo, she was terrified. She tried not to let it show
though, and she was able to get through her break without making too many
mistakes. The old man gave her a small approving nod and then asked her if she
knew “Bill Cheatham”. Fortunately she did, and gradually she was accepted by
the group of men. When her turn came up again, the old man asked her if she
could sing something. Maggie suggested “I Still Miss Someone”, the song she had
heard Earl Scruggs play the night before and the song that she had been singing
with Spencer. When she finished, several men told her she had done a good job
and that she had a beautiful voice. Maggie looked over at Zak and he gave her a
big smile. She felt happy that she hadn’t disappointed him or herself.
    She played with the group for an hour or so, until she
sensed that Zak was getting restless. She told the men that her boyfriend was
waiting for her and she had to go. They thanked her for sitting in with them
and told her that they hoped she would come back to play with them again
sometime.
    Maggie felt exhilarated after her evening of playing.
She had never played bluegrass on that level before and she really enjoyed it.
She found herself wishing that she lived in Nashville and that she could play
like that every night.
    She went over to Zak and gave him a big hug. She sat
down with him for a while so she could drink her beer. Zak bent over and
whispered in her ear. “Did you notice what’s hanging up on the wall?” he said
and looked over at the back hallway to the bathrooms. The club was dark and she
could barely make out what looked like whips and a mace.
     “What is that?” she asked.
    “I asked the waitress about it. She said that this was
an S&M club a few weeks ago and the new owners haven’t gotten around to
changing the décor yet. Finally, my kind of place,” he joked and laughed
heartily.
    Maggie laughed too because it had to have been one of
the most incongruous things that she had ever seen.
     
    Maggie and Zak drove back to Louisiana the next morning.
They had a lot of fun in Nashville and on the way home, they talked about all
the music they had seen.
    “I was really impressed with your playing, Maggie,” Zak
said. “I’ve never seen you play bluegrass music before. Maybe you should sit in
on some of the Cajun jams in town. You could probably improvise on your fiddle
as well as you do on your mandolin. If you can play bluegrass music then