"I'm sorry, sir," Sam said quickly. "My sister just wanted to see the piano up close. We'll leave right away."
"See the piano?" Victor said with a laugh that was not kind. "She cannot see anything at all, can she?"
Maya felt her face get hot with embarrassment. She knew that Victor was looking at her white cane and her eyes that did not focus on anything. She had dealt with rude comments about her blindness before, but never from someone so important.
"Maya just loves music very much," Sam explained. "She plays piano, too. She just wanted to feel what a grand piano is like."
Victor looked at Maya more carefully now. He noticed her fingers, which were long and thin like a pianist's fingers. But instead of being impressed, Victor seemed to think this was funny.
"She plays piano?" Victor asked with another mean laugh. "That's very cute. I suppose she plays simple little songs at home for fun."
Maya found her voice. She was scared, but she was also getting angry. "I play classical music," she said quietly. "I know many difficult pieces."
This made Victor laugh even more. Some other people had started to gather around them now. Maya could hear them whispering to each other. Someone was taking pictures or videos with their phone; Maya could hear the small sounds the phone made.
"Classical music?" Victor said loudly so everyone could hear. "My dear girl, classical piano is not a game. It takes years of proper training with the best teachers. It requires perfect technique and deep understanding of music theory. It requires being able to read complex musical scores."
Maya's hands were shaking now, but she tried to stay calm. "I have been teaching myself for five years," she said. "I learn pieces by listening to them and practicing until I get them right."
Victor shook his head like he was talking to a small child who did not understand something obvious. "That is not how real music works," he said. "You cannot just listen to a piece and think you can play it properly. Professional pianists spend their whole lives studying music. We start training when we are very young with the best teachers in the world."