Read The Planet of Junior Brown for Free Online

time, just for a little while.”

3
    CAN I COME IN?” Junior called through the door. He was breathless and aching to rest. He banged on the door for all he was worth. “Can I please come in and sit myself down?”
    For longer than a minute there was silence on the other side of the door. Junior sensed that Miss Peebs was there waiting, deciding whether she would let him enter for one more time. Finally there was movement and the sound of locks being released. First Miss Peebs unlocked the two chain locks. Next she opened the spring bolt lock. And last she unlocked the police lock and removed the heavy iron bar from its mechanism.
    When Lynora Peebs opened the door for Junior Brown, she was dressed in red slacks under a finger-length dressing gown similar to a kimono. She looked younger than her fifty-six years, as though time had forgotten about her at the age of thirty-nine. Her skin was light brown with a yellowish tint glowing through a girlish smoothness. Her eyes were black and feverish in their narrow oval shapes. There was no bridge to her nose and her graying hair had been straightened with a hot comb and pulled back in a flip ponytail. Lynora Peebs’ feet were shoeless and heavily powdered. She had told Junior once that she powdered her feet so she could follow her footprints and know when anyone crossed her path. Junior had laughed when she told him that but Lynora Peebs had not even smiled.
    â€œCan I come in?” Junior said again.
    â€œBe quiet,” Miss Peebs told him. “Junior Brown, I don’t know how you are going to take your lesson today.”
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Junior said. “Why is that?” He eased his bulk around her and into the foyer.
    â€œAs you may well remember, I had to destroy the piano,” Miss Peebs said.
    â€œI can take the lesson on a chair, using my fingers.” How many weeks had Junior been telling her that? He had spoken in a flat tone, as though reciting a boring line of poetry. “I can prop my music up and beat the lesson out on a chair.”
    â€œIt’s so hard for me to concentrate on harmony,” Miss Peebs said softly.
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Junior told her. “Don’t you worry about that.” His voice was as gentle as he felt toward her. He longed to be able to talk openly with Miss Peebs the way he used to. There had been a time when she would sit him down and tell him stories of her family. He in turn had told her about his most private dreams.
    Their conversation every Friday had become no more than a ceremony. Miss Peebs had for weeks greeted him with the news that she had destroyed her piano. The first time she had told Junior that, she had refused to let him into her apartment. Finally Junior had thought of telling her he could beat out his lesson on a chair. With that, Miss Peebs had allowed him to come inside. But she would never go into her living room while he was there, nor let him practice on her grand piano. Junior had not attempted to enter the living room out of respect for Miss Peebs’ wishes. But every day he found himself worrying about her piano. Each Friday, the urge to play the piano grew stronger.
    Now that Junior was in the apartment, his fear for the piano settled back into the steady pounding of his heart. Almost patiently, he waited for the ceremony to continue, for Miss Peebs to make tea, which they would sip while he beat out his lesson.
    â€œBe quiet!” Lynora said suddenly. Junior had not moved from where he leaned against the wall. He turned his head slowly and found Miss Peebs staring down the hall leading to her living room and kitchen.
    â€œI didn’t say nothing,” Junior said quietly.
    â€œIf you’ll just be still, you can wait in the hall,” Miss Peebs told him. “I will call you.” She rushed to the kitchen to make them tea.
    Now why did she have to tell me to keep still? I wasn’t talking or moving either, Junior