Chapter 19
Notes of Destiny: A Musical Odyssey by Neil Grant
Chapter 19 Sing It One More Time!
Her son, Luca, was packing his bag at the side. They had been practicing writing the whole afternoon.
âThanks for your help, Ms. Healy. I bought you some fruits.â
Ancira put the apples on the table.
Not only did Ms. Healy help to take care of her children, but she also allowed Aneira to pay rent at the end of the year. Ms. Healy also often bought snacks for the twins.
When Aneira received her pay, she always bought some fruits for Ms. Healy as thanks.
Ms. Healy waved her hands with a smile. âDonât bring anything next time. Save your money and buy delicious food for your children instead!â
Yivi said sweetly, âThank you, Ms. Healy.â
Ms. Healy suddenly thought of something and said to Aneira.
âAneira, your husband came a few days ago and paid a yearâs rent. He also reminded me to buy a house in the city.â
âWhat does he want?â Aneira was confused.
In 1997, buying houses wasnât as expected yet. Aneira feared Neil was cheating Ms. Healyâs money.
Ms. Healy shook her head. âDonât worry. I asked my son, and he said buying a house in the city is cheaper than in the county town. I told my son to look at real estate for me. I feel like Neil has really changed. He knows how to plan for the future.â
âOh, thatâs good.â Aneira answered subconsciously.
Ms. Healy continued. âAneira, I know that you felt grieved in the past, but itâs rare for someone like him to change, so you should accept him. You still have these two children. If heâs really changed, give him a chance!â
Aneira nodded. âAlright, Ms. Healy.â
She pulled the twins with one hand each as they walked out of Ms. Healyâs house.
Yivi raised her head and asked naïvely in a baby voice, âMama, is Papa home?â
Ancira said gently, âPapa is performing. He should be coming back later.â
In reality, she wasnât sure if Neil would be coming back.
Every day, she felt that Neilâs repentance was only temporary, and he would quickly return to how he was before.
It was customary for him to come back drunk late at night. In fact, coming home every day seemed unusual for him.
Yivi pursed her lips. âI want Papa. Papa will bring yummy food when he comes back.â
Luca was slightly annoyed. âAll you do is eat. Be careful! A bad guy might kidnap you while youâre eating!â
Although Luca and Yivi were the same age, he was more mature.
Sometimes, Aneira felt that Luca, who was two and a half years old, was more sensible than toddlers who were four or five years old.
Yivi didnât dare to say anything after her brother had berated her. She pursed her lips and She thought to herself. If Papa were here, he would protect me!Papa loves me the most when heâs at home these days!
Aneira appeased the two children. âThereâs still food at home. Mama is going to cook. Letâs eat earlier.â
On Forest Supermarketâs temporary stage, Neil had finished singing âLoverâs Ending.â
The locals, who rarely heard pop songs, clapped for a long time.
âThatâs amazing. It sounds so good. Sing it one more time!â
âSing it two more times!â
The locals didnât let Neil leave the stage.
These situations were common in the nineties.
The audience often didnât let the celebrity leave during outdoor stage performances. The star had to sing one song after another.
Sometimes, the singer had to sing a wellâknown song four or five times during a performance.
Neil could only sing âLoverâs Endingâ again.
He looked at the time, and his performance was almost up. He bowed to the audience and walked off stage.
The host was left on stage to control the crowd.
Many people were still unhappy.
âWhy has he left? Sing another two songs!â
âHe left before weâve had enough. How insincere!â
âCome back and sing. If not, we wonât shop.â
The host suddenly had a bright idea. âSince everyone likes Neil Grantâs songs, weâll have an activity in the store later on where weâll invite Neil to sing again! The supermarket has special discounts now. Grab it while stocks last!â
The crowd flocked into the store.
Neil found Mr. Rockson and reported to him what had happened today.
Mr. Rockson had seen what happened today from his office on the second floor.
He took out an envelope and gave it to Neil.
âAlthough you promised to sing for free, you redeemed my reputation. Please accept this token of appreciation.â
Neil didnât decline. He said, âThank you, Mr. Rockson,â before he took the envelope.
Mr. Rockson gave him name card.
âI heard youâre looking for a job. Iâll recommend you for performances if any of my friends are opening up a business. Also, I know the principal of Cloubury High School. They will have their seniorsâ graduation party in a few days. Go and sing a few songs. Iâve asked, and if you sing well, you may be able to become the substitute music teacher.â
Neil was delighted when he heard it. He took the name card at once and thanked Mr. Rockson.
He had heard that the graduating batch of seniors had exceptional results.
With the scores, at least four or five Ivy League schools wanted to win favor with Mr. Tarson, the principal.
In the nineties, county towns didnât have many educational resources. Subjects like music and physical education werenât prioritized.
There were two music teachers. One had to go for surgery because of vocal nodules.
The school needed Cloubury was slightly backward. It wasnât like a big city, where substitute classes required teaching certificates.
Here, the school just needed to approve the teacher.
Mr. Rockson was using his connections to act as a goâbetween for Neil.
âThank you, Mr. Rockson.â
Neil thanked him again..
After he walked out of Forest Supermarket, he found a quiet spot and counted the money in the envelope.
It wasnât too much or too little. It was one thousand.
Mr. Rockson was considered generous.
Neil kept the name card and envelope before quickly walking to a particular alley.
He remembered an incident in the passage the day Forest Supermarket opened for business in his past life.
The lewd and crude Mr. Thornsby of Aristo Supermarket, who had previously touched Aneiraâs hand, had found people to cause a disturbance at Forest Supermarket. Then, he had sexually assaulted a female staff, Maisy Forten, in a dim and secluded alleyâ¦
After that, the female staff, unfortunately, got pregnant and became a dishonored woman who bore a child before marriage.
She had jumped off a building in shame, and two lives had been takenâ¦
Neil wanted to stop a tragedy from happening!
He was only worried that he had changed some things after his rebirth, so he didnât know if Mr. Thornsby, who had failed to cause a ruckus, would still come here todayâ¦
Neil hid in a corner.
Soon, the paunchy Mr. Thornsby stopped next to a pile of rubbish in the alley.
âPfft⦠how unlucky. Rockson got away with it!â
Mr. Thornsby was filled with resentment.
He had clearly found someone to advise Mr. Rockson to set up hidden compartments. He never thought such a reversal would happen.
When Mr. Thornsby saw nobody around, he unbuckled his leather belt and peed into the rubbish pile.
The pungent smell of urine filled the air in the alley.
Neil wrinkled his brows and held his breath.
At this time, a young and slender woman walked over.
Neil recognized her. She was a staff at Aristo Supermarket, Maisy Forten.
As expected, Mr. Thornsby was aroused and dragged Maisy into the alley before pulling his pants âHelpâ¦â Maisy was about to scream.
âShut up!â Mr. Thornsby covered her mouth.
A glimmer of hope flickered across her eyes when she saw it was her boss.
âMr. Thornsbyâ¦â She cried out softly.
Mr. Thornsby had an evil gaze as he threatened her fiercely. âYou had better listen to me. Otherwise, Iâll fire you, and youâll lose your job!â
Maisy didnât dare to say anything.
She couldnât lose her job!
Her father had been scammed out of eighty thousand. As a farmer, he had saved that money for half his life!
He still owed an external debt of twenty thousand!
How could she help her father repay the debt if she lost her job?