Years ago, Eugene the promoter deceived him in the ordinary way. No villains twirling moustaches in loading docks. Just promises broken with professional ease. A proper fee, a good piano, a hotel room, publicity. He drove for hours. When he arrived there was no piano worth naming, no hotel, and an envelope containing money so sparse it looked pretend. Eugene was cheerful. A man smiling while explaining circumstances shifted. Attendance was lower than expected. The venue had issues. The rest would be made up next time. Next time is one of the more useful fictions. On the drive home he told himself to forget it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years passed. He worked. He aged. He learned that some people move through the arts like weather systems, extracting what they can while calling it community. Eugene continued on, no doubt smiling elsewhere. Then came the email. Friendly tone. Exclamation marks. A bigger room now. Better budget. Let\u2019s do it right this time. He looked at the screen the way one looks at a snake found in a drawer. With interest, and caution. He replied. Sounds promising. Let\u2019s discuss. Questions. Many of them. Load-in times. Parking arrangements. Piano make and model. Bench height. Tuning date. Lighting plots. Merch percentages. Green room access. Water temperature. Whether the towels were cotton or theatrical approximations thereof. Eugene answered gamely at first, then with the thinning patience of a man discovering that detail can be used as a weapon. Then came the rider. Nothing impossible. Merely specific. Fresh ginger. Unscented soap. A lamp with warm light. A chair without wheels. Payment in full before soundcheck. Written confirmation that the piano existed and was not a rumour. Eugene complied where he could. There were calls arranged and moved. Posters revised because the photo chosen was \u201cfrom a period no longer representative.\u201d Guest list names promised later. Later never arriving. Two days before the event, he wrote. I\u2019ve reflected and don\u2019t think the timing is right. Wishing you every success. No accusation. No reminder of the earlier theft. No inventory of injuries. Just withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eugene sent several messages, increasingly urgent, then one about professionalism, which is a word often used by those who misplaced it. Years before, Eugene taught him politeness can conceal contempt. Now he returned the lesson. Some forms of justice are public and magnificent. Others arrive quietly, by email, carrying no more than a sentence and the memory of an unpaid night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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