“Coming back
Coming home
The queen of love enters the room,”
Mr. G. begins singing Dispatch’s “Prince of Spades”.
I’m listening to his amazing voice. It’s a sexy voice. Charming. I want to hear more. He continues, as if he knows we’re waiting.
“Silence ensues…
To the king what have you done to my life
Did you you take me for a fool or for a wife,”
His eyes are closed as he sings. Nura and I are wondering what’s going on in his head.
The song is about a prince who yearns for the love of a king who only counts his diamonds. But, we don’t find this out until Mr. G. is done singing. The story is not important right now. What’s important is that a young physics teacher is singing from the bottom of his soul for two strangers. Nura and I are interviewing him for a story. He is allowing us to enter his most personal and private moment. A moment which lasts like eternity for him. A moment in which he meets the prince and his father, forgets what he does for a living, and…
“And the king is in his court
Counting all his diamonds
One by one they do fall,”
I get chills. I look at Nura. She looks at me, and we both smile.
I don’t want him to stop playing the guitar. I’m afraid that at any moment, he will open his eyes, put the guitar down, and we’ll have to leave. We’ll have to leave this pure moment, this small, live concert.
If he stops, reality will come back. Nura and I both know that. I want to know what the queen says…
“Says the queen our pride the prince of spades is coming home
It’d be nice if you could find some time alone
After all he’s in line for the throne,”
The Prince of Spades has bewitched me. I want to meet this prince and tell the king…
“So now just get up off your ass and
leave all your treasures behind
your son is coming home with you to spend time
show him how a good king should be
and don’t ever forget the day
when your turned your back on him and me
still I stayed.”
I want to tell the king to stop counting his diamonds. I want…
This is the last verse. Mr. G. opens his eyes and I clap. We want to tell him that he made our day. That he surprised us, amazed us, and that we enjoyed every minute of this short and beautiful song.
“Ecstacy,” Nura says and I agree.
Instead, Nura and I simply thank him for this pleasant treat.
We never think teachers could have hidden talents, hidden identities. We think teachers were born to teach. End of story. Mr. G. is one of many teachers who has more than one job, loves kids, and enjoys the hobbies that make him who he is. I’m sure there are many others that have their own hidden talents. They, like us, separate their jobs and hobbies to live life to however extent they want to live it. Mr. G. doesn’t want to be a rock star. He wants the simple life, where he can teach his students and surprise them once in a while with a guitar and as Nura and I say, a “sexy” voice.
Moments later we’re in the empty, quiet halls. Behind us is a classroom that belongs to a talented, young teacher.
The song is still in my head. It’s another Tuesday afternoon and I’m thinking of the Prince of Spades…