Correct. That was the Monday we’d all be leaving Nashville. Thankfully, only a handful of classes had to be canceled. We’d worked most things out with the other instructors as well as two freelancers Nicky and I knew.

James and I said goodbye for now, and he politely wished me a pleasant vacation before ducking out of the studio.

I flicked off the lights and exited too, because we’d use the other rehearsal room for our practice with the choir.

“Can you set the alarms and lock up?” I asked Nicky. “I’mma grab a quick smoke.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I spent half a minute on hellos and what’s-ups as I passed Maria, Luiz, and the others in the choir who were joining us in Tennessee. Then I made my escape and lit up a cigarette right outside.

It was nice not needing a jacket as soon as I stepped outside the door. Nashville would be even nicer, I reckoned. I’d checked the weather app on my phone, and it would be around seventy there next week.

I took a drag from my smoke and picked up a brown paper bag someone had thrown on the ground, and I tossed it in the nearest trash can. Then I glanced back at the building and felt a river of contentment flowing through me.

For the first time ever, my to-do list wasn’t miles-long. Thanks to a bizarrely generous donation by Nicky’s boyfriend last year, we’d upgraded the security system in and around the school, and we’d gotten started on our new auditorium.

The bars on the windows didn’t help the image of the neighborhood a whole lot, but it let me sleep easier at night knowing that equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was safe.

Taking another drag from my cigarette, I retrieved my phone and checked to see if I had any messages. Moshe had sent me a link for a gay bar he’d visited once in Nashville, so I thanked him and said I’d give it a try.

I opened my Instagram next, and I picked one of the photos I’d taken today and uploaded a new post. Social media had, in the last couple years, become the most common way for new students—or their parents—to find the Initiative, so I tried to post something a few times a week. I hated Facebook though, so Micaela ran our page there.

A quick caption for the class of violin beginners I’d visited today during a break.

Our junior class of violinists rehearsing for the Lion King recital in June.

I posted it with a little smile on my face, looking forward to hearing what the youngest kids had worked so hard on this semester.