The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship

After two months, “Nathaniel has been in his room every night without fail” (214). During the day, he still plays in the Second Street tunnel, and a man gives him a new cello. Ayers is still hanging on to his shopping cart, and Lopez tries to “outsmart him” (217) to get him to give it up. Lopez invites Ayers for Easter brunch with food he likes, but he says the cart must be left at the Ballington.

On Easter, Lopez picks Ayers up, and they drive to his house. Ayers “makes himself at home, acting like an eccentric gabby uncle” (220). He plays cello and piano for Caroline. He also talks a lot during brunch and has a good time. When they are finished eating, Ayers and Lopez go out on the balcony and survey Los Angeles. They call Ayers’s sister, Jennifer. 

Adam Crane of the L.A.Philharmonic extends a standing invitation for Ayers to come and see the orchestra play concerts. Ayers assents, and he and Lopez attend. A month later, they return, along with Lopez’s wife and Ayers’s friend Pam. Crane asks that all applause be held until the room is quiet because of a recording, but Ayers shouts “bravo” (226) before the music subsides.

A resident of Lamp tells Lopez about some Ayers’s problematic statements. When people violate the smoking rules, Ayers uses racial and homophobic slurs. Ayers has also caused issues by writing on the interior and exterior walls of the building.

In response to the mayor’s promise to clean up Skid Row, many public officials visit the Midnight Mission. Bush’s “homeless czar” (229) releases a 10-year plan to end homelessness. One Skid Row resident asks Lopez how much he is making off covering Ayers’s story and writing a book about it. Lopez replies that it is none of his business and becomes visibly upset. 

Lopez arranges to create a music studio for Ayers in an attempt to minimize the conflicts he gets into during the day. It will be in the newly remodeled second Lamp facility, and Ayers will be the “artist in residence” (236). A woman has donated a piano, which will be included in the new studio. Lopez tries to convince Ayers that it will be good to have space to take lessons and practice with other musicians. Although he is hesitant at first, Ayers finally agrees. It will take months to create the studio.

Ayers resists the suggestion to see a psychiatrist, so Lopez arranges for him to meet Dr. Prchal as if by accident. They meet at 7am one morning, and “Nathaniel is tight, his face full of shadows” (237). Ayers complains about the staff at Lamp and angrily demands to leave, and “his eyes are red with rage” (238). Dr. Prchal cannot get a word in and leaves at 7:20. Lopez also leaves, defeated in his attempt. 

Lopez journeys to Julliard to “know this one part of [Ayers’s] life a little better” (241). Joseph Russo, Ayers’s old classmate, shows Lopez through the building. They walk the corridors and visit the room when Ayers originally auditioned. They look at his transcripts and application. Lopez includes lists of Ayers’s grades, most of which were “excellent” (245) in the first semester. One teacher, Mensch, is harsher in his assessment of Ayers’s technique.

Lopez recounts Ayers’s experience at Julliard. Although Ayers handled the first year, he began to feel overwhelmed during the summer and fall of the following year. His grades began to drop, and he also started “hearing voices and looking over his shoulder to see who was there” (246). He began drawing on the walls of his apartment. In the spring semester, Ayers received F’s in some classes, and his only A was in orchestra.

One night, Ayers visited fellow classmate Daniel Spurlock’s apartment. He began taking his clothes off and was taken to Bellevue Hospital. He was then diagnosed with schizophrenia and given Thorazine. Lopez also stops by Ayers’s former apartment before returning to Los Angeles.