It had been a mistake to put the piano in the basement. The chances of going down to play in the cold damp room had been slim even then. Neena had plonked a few notes a couple of times over six months, and Joe had belted out a hymn or two on his signature black keys in the first weeks, but that was it. Far more motivation was needed before Neena could be inspired to use the piano more. It had to move to the main floor upstairs.
Thing was, there was no space for it upstairs. Not unless some equivalent-sized piece of furniture was moved out. Like the huge bookshelf in the family room. In Neena’s opinion, moving the bookshelf to the family room had been the first mistake. Five years ago, Neena had wanted a piano in the newly-built family room. But Joe would have none of it. His logic seemed practical – Neena had shown no signs of playing the abandoned keyboard they had had for over ten years: what guarantee was there that she would play a piano now? Besides, their daughter and young family were living in the basement at the time, and needed more room. So the bookshelf came up from the basement living room, and the piano remained a dream.
Now they had a piano, and Neena wanted it upstairs. And miracle of miracles, Joe had agreed. Reluctantly.
The doorbell rang promptly at 10.
“Hi, we’re from Labour Unlimited.” Two young men looked expectantly at Neena.
“Come in, we’re expecting you.”
“I’m Hank.” The young man stepped into the foyer. Shaved head, tattoos on both arms, no-nonsense manner.
The second young man looked hesitant.
“And you are …?”
“My name is Warren.” Tall, curly hair, rosy cheeks.
“Come in, come in.”
Warren shuffled forward and stood near the stairs that went up to the main floor.
Neena went straight to the business at hand. “What we want done today is that a piano needs to go upstairs,” (she gestured to the open door behind her through which the piano could be seen) “and a bookshelf needs to come downstairs.”
“Hello, so you’re here,” Joe came up behind Neena, and stated the obvious.
Hank looked up at Joe with relief, as if to say, here’s someone I can vibe with. “Do you have any kind of permanent glue? The sole of my boot has come unstuck.” In answer to Joe and Neena’s puzzled looks, he took off his right boot and held it up. The toe yawned at them.
Neena looked uncomprehendingly at Hank. What kind of a request is that, from someone who’s here to work for us?
“I put some glue on it this morning and it stuck together then, I don’t know why it’s unstuck.” The young man focused on the boot clutched in his hands.
“I’ll see if we have some.” Joe bounded up the stairs, and returned in seconds with an unopened packet of crazy glue.
“This is different from what I use.” Hank examined the packet doubtfully.
“It should work, it works very well to glue together picture frames, why don’t you try it?” Joe was being his positive self.
“Let’s see.” Hank looked critically at the glue packet again. Warren, Joe and Neena watched in silence as he tore open the packet and proceeded to spread the glue generously on edge of the sole. He pressed hard to mend the boot, put it on, gave the toe a final squeeze, and straightened up.
“I hope that works. Okay, now what was it you wanted us to do?”
Neena sighed as Joe explained again. “The piano in the basement needs to go upstairs, and a bookshelf needs to be brought downstairs.” Neena walked towards the piano. The three men followed her into the basement living room.
“I didn’t know we had to move a piano. Man, it looks heavy.”
“I told your company that we wanted a piano moved,” Joe stated.
“Nobody told me,” Hank muttered.
Warren looked concerned. “Where’s your bathroom?” Joe pointed towards the basement, and the young man was gone for a full five minutes.
Neena took the opportunity to state her case. “We should first bring the piano up, just to be sure it can be brought up. If it can’t, there’s no point in bringing the bookshelf down, where will we put it.” She was reasoning with herself.
“It’s a little heavy, but we’ll manage,” Joe was saying this to convince himself too.
“You don’t do anything.” Neena looked at Joe with concern, then attempted an explanation. “My husband has a heart condition.” Joe shot her a warning look. “I’m fine.”
There he goes, being heroic as usual. Why does he want to kill himself? Neena shrugged her shoulders and moved on. “The best way to bring the piano up is to take it out the front door, around the back of the house and up the patio stairs into the family room. Bringing it up the stairs is not possible.”
“We will bring it up the stairs, I’ve worked it out, you go and do your work.” Joe wanted Neena out of the way.
Maybe he knows what he’s doing. Neena retreated into her study.
Twenty minutes went by. Neena tried to focus on marking papers, but her ears were keenly tuned to sounds from the foyer. Dull screeches as the instrument was dragged towards the stairs. Stray piano keys sounding their notes. Occasional grunts of men lifting loads. Muffled words: “Hold it up higher.” “Move it towards you … to your left, gently.” “Oh God, it’s heavy.” “We’re almost there, guys.” More sounds of something bumping against the wall. “Steady!” Sounds like they’re almost up. Good! And then, a loud thump. Oh my goodness, I hope it hasn’t fallen on them. I’d better go look.
Neena peered down from the top of the stairs. They were on the lower landing, three steps up. The piano was standing up on its side, tilting precariously towards the stairwell railing. Hank was at one end, Warren at the other, and Joe was in the middle attempting to keep the instrument steady as he tried to lift it up. As she watched, the piano swung towards Joe, pinning him against the wall. Joe managed to push it away and keep it upright.
“We almost had it up.” Joe was breathing hard, but looked relieved to see Neena. “And then it came slipping all the way down.” He stopped to take a few breaths. “Let’s turn it upside down, it may be easier. Hank, you lower your side of the piano. Warren, push your side up. Up.” The piano teetered as its legs went up. Piano keys sounded randomly, as if in pain. “That’s it. Good. Hank, lift and move up the stairs.”
Hank bent over, put his hand under the piano, and heaved. “Oh God, it’s heavy.” At the other end, Warren stood watching. He had let go of his end, which now rested on the lower step. Joe was trying to compensate, holding up the side of the piano with his shoulders. He gave Warren a firm look.
“You need to lift. From the bottom. Right there. Yes. Lift up. UP.” Joe’s tone didn’t give Warren any options. The piano was now upside down. Pedals hung in the air, delicately attached to the body. “Good. Now turn. To your right, Warren. Hank, you move back up the stairs. Slowly. Wait for us to move with you.” The piano teetered as it was turned. Now it was at a slant, down side up.
“Oh God, oh God. My back.” Hank groaned with the weight and suddenly let go. The piano sat down on a step with a thump. Then it began a downward slide. Joe was now pinned against the upper wall. He was panting with the effort.
What are they doing? These men are supposed to have the strength to do the work, that’s why we hired them. But Joe seems to be taking all the weight. He’ll have a heart attack!
“Let’s just put the piano back where it was. This is not working.” Neena was ready to give up.
Joe gave her a “I told you so” look. “Let’s try one last time. Hank, Warren, we need to lift it together, at the same time. Ready?”
“Where did I put that glue? My toes are sticking out of my boot.” Hank examined his boot once again.
“Here it is.” Glad to be distracted from the main task, Warren found the tiny bottle on the foyer table and reached it out to Hank. Everyone paused as Hank proceeded to mend his boot.
“Please just take the piano back down.” I’ll just have to use it where it will be, in the basement. Is this a lesson for me? At the cost of my husband’s health? Neena was ready to admit failure.
Joe shook his head at Neena – another “I told you so” look.
Hank stood up from bending over his boot and looked at Joe. “I’m ready. What are we doing?”
“Take the piano back into the basement.”
“Are you sure you want it to go back? It won’t come up again.” Was there a hint of a threat in Joe’s voice?
“Yes. It’s okay.” Neena smiled weakly. There go my hopes of having it handy and playing it occasionally. Oh well. She went back into the study, shut the door and immersed herself in her students’ papers.
A while later, Joe was at her door. “That’s done. Now, do you want the bookshelf moved down, or not?” He sounded threatening, as if to say, this is your last chance, and it’s your decision, not mine.
Why couldn’t he be more helpful and come up with positive suggestions? Like, we should get the bookshelf downstairs? Neena looked at her husband, but he ignored the appeal in her eyes. Should I say yes, bring the bookshelf down? Where would they put it? With the piano back against the wall, there was no other space large enough. Oh dear, I have to give in. “Let it be. There’s no place for it.” Her insides twinged as she heard herself admit defeat.
“Okay, then you have to decide what you want these men to do next. They still have over two hours of time left.”
“I have a task for them.” Neena had it worked out in her head. She went down to where the men were waiting.
“Will we be paid for the full four hours? We were contracted for four hours.” Hank’s concern could be heard in his voice. Warren stood by.
Poor guys, they need the money. Aloud Neena said, “Yes, of course, we will honour our commitment. But first, I do have work for you. Come upstairs.”
Joe retreated to his favourite chair in the living room and was instantly immersed in his smartphone.
Hank and Warren followed Neena to the family room. A few boxes filled with books sat on the floor. “I had removed all the books from the shelf, in anticipation of moving it downstairs,” she explained. “Now that it’s not going downstairs, please help me put the books back on the shelves.” The two men looked uncomprehending. Do they not want to do it, or do they genuinely not understand? Neena bent down and picked up a couple of books. “See, this is what I want you to do.”
Hank came forward, picked up some books and put them flat down on the upper shelf.
“No, stand them up.” Hank repositioned the books. “They need to be right side up.” Can they not read? Or do they not care? Neena reached out and turned the books around.
Warren picked up the bulging photo albums and smiled at them. “My grandma had some of these, back home in the Ukraine.” He stood them up on the shelf. “Now all we need is our phones, to store our pictures.”
With Neena directing traffic, the books were back on the bookshelf soon enough.
Hank and Warren stood back and looked expectantly at Neena.
“Hmm, that’s basically it, then.” Neena looked at the young men. “Why don’t you take a break, have your lunch?”
Hank was immediately concerned. “We will get paid for four hours, am I right?”
“Yes, of course. Besides, I can use you to move some other furniture, I just have to plan it. Go have some lunch. You can sit in here if you like. Shall I make you a sandwich?”
“No thanks, we have our lunches with us, we’ll sit outside.”
“Okay.” They probably need to have a smoke.
Neena’s head was buzzing with the disappointment of not being able to move the piano upstairs. How could it be, that it wasn’t going to happen? There must be a way. But now I need to get Joe to eat some lunch. He has medications to take. She went into the kitchen, and spooned out rice, lentils and vegetables onto two plates.
They ate in silence, Joe’s eyes glued to his smartphone. Neena’s head continued to whirl with a mixture of regret and refusal to accept defeat. We should’ve got the piano movers to put it upstairs in the first place. Why hadn’t I insisted then? We could’ve got the labour afterwards, they could’ve moved the bookshelf downstairs, it would’ve been easy for them to move the piano into position from the dining area into the family room. Hmm. She glanced at Joe, but he showed no signs of acknowledging her existence. No use discussing it now, Joe will just dismiss it as history. She felt a little dizzy with the stress.
As she was rinsing the plates, Neena had an epiphany. Why don’t we get the bookshelf downstairs today, after all? We can think about the piano later. Maybe we will get piano movers next week, they will know how to get it upstairs. It’ll mean more money, but it’ll be done! She finished her task quickly and almost ran to share her brilliant idea with Joe.
Joe looked at his wife disbelievingly as she explained her plan. “Okay, if that’s what you want. You’d better get them working on it, they have less than two hours left now.” He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Not very helpful at all. But Neena was now convinced that her new plan was the best.
“Hey guys, sorry, but we need to get the bookshelf downstairs after all. And first we need to move the piano out of the way.” Determination overcame any embarrassment about changing her mind. She marched into the basement, Hank and Warren trailing behind her.
“Where shall we move the piano to?” They looked around the room – every wall had some sort of furniture against it. Then Neena spotted the small dining table. “Let’s move this out, and put the piano here. Doesn’t matter if it sticks out a bit.” Heaving and grunting, the two men gradually pulled the piano across the room and into position.
“Now we have to get the bookshelf.” They went upstairs. The books had to come off the bookshelf, back into the boxes.
“Oops, my boot’s come unstuck again.” Hank stopped to press the toe section together as firmly as he could. Warren took the opportunity to find the upstairs washroom.
What kind of labour work is this? Neena thought to herself as she continued to put books into the boxes. There’s a labour shortage in the city, that’s why we get uninterested workers. The good ones probably all have regular work. Well, she could help with the books, but the shelf they would have to move all on their own.
“Joe! Please come tell them how this shelf has to be moved.”
Neena stood back and let Joe direct the dismantling. Then they had to lift it all up and carry it around the house and through the front door.
“Wow, this is so light.” Neena sighed with relief as the bookshelf was successfully installed in the basement living room. She next got the men to bring down the boxes of books. They had better help her arrange the books on the shelves. She started to pick up books, but the two men just stood staring at her.
“You need to help me.” In response, Hank came forward and picked up a few books. He didn’t look happy. “It’s two o’clock. Our time is up.” Neena glanced at her watch. Five to two. Oh well.
“Okay, I can do this. Thank you for everything.” She signed their papers and saw them out the door.
Neena went upstairs. She felt drained, physically and emotionally. Perhaps now at least Joe would be a little sympathetic? Darn, he was still immersed in the wretched phone. She stood in front of him for a full thirty seconds before he looked up at her.
“The professional piano movers are coming in half an hour.”
Neena couldn’t believe her ears. Wow! Joe had been doing some useful research! He was the best husband, after all!
Now she would seriously have to find the time to play the instrument …
2018