The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

This is a flashback to a moment in 1943 between Frankie and El Maestro. Frankie admits that he turned his guitar pegs until the strings broke, and he did it on purpose. El Maestro tells him to “Cry. You should cry. Cry like the lying boy you are” (419). 

Frankie doesn’t speak for three years and plays his guitar in a Spanish monastery. Wynton Marsalis is in Spain for a show, and he stops at the monastery to admire its beauty. He hears Frankie playing and introduces himself. Since Frankie’s not talking, he writes that he knew Wynton’s father. The two communicate for a while, with Wynton talking and Frankie writing. When Frankie says that he doesn’t want to perform anymore, Wynton suggests that he should teach instead. This shifts something inside Frankie, and he speaks for the first time in three years, saying, “Can you help me get home?” (425). 

Frankie finds his way back to the island of Waiheke by working on various ships for five months. Back on the island, he sees Aurora waiting for him. She has been waiting here for him, every day until it gets dark, for the past three years.