Campfires and Cold Days

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

   I woke to the siren wails that never seemed to quite stop in the city, groaning and trying to muffle it with my paper-thin pillow.

Did it work? As much as a broken toaster.

  So I stayed awake, swinging my legs from under the scrap of fabric that passed for a blanket in this roach motel. I'd gotten used to these places though in the week since I left that ugly ogre, excuse me, that would be an insult to Fionna. But the funds I was able to pack were running low even with my careful watch. It didn't help that I hadn't had much to begin with when I escaped her clutches. I was beginning to wish I had brought my guitar, but it would have been too hard to carry when I jumped onto trains. At least I had my ukulele. Which would need to be sold for food soon. But right now? That thing was my only income, and let me tell you, being on the road is not as glamorous as the movies make it seem. I hadn't done nearly enough research, had basically covered my eyes and eenie-meanie-minee-moe picked a direction to go. But enough about my stupidity, I had to earn money at some point.

  I probably should at least be somewhat presentable before playing the coins out of poor pockets, glancing at myself in the cracked mirror hanging crookedly from the wall. I looked tired, grimacing at my knotted strawberry-blonde hair, thank God I took more after Dad with his hazel eyes. Man I missed that loser.

  Sure, he had drunk himself into a car accident, but...he was a good dad, listened to me, made killer jokes, he's where I got my stellar since of humor by the way. He was always calling me sport, even though I've never played anything but baseball when I was small, and I would call him lame or loser in return, he'd just laugh.

  I took my brush and untangled it, doing at least a neat braid. Just because my clothes were grimy didn't mean I had to look it. Much. There was vanity, then there was wanting to look good. Of course, I was always smoking, but it never hurt to care a little. That was the only good thing I learned from that beast, what not to do to be vain. 

  Jeans, not too ripped from the train. Flannel with tank underneath, beginning to stink, oh well.

  I was ready as I would ever be to face the adoring masses. Ha. The next thing I did was feel the pain physically of paying for the bed I was sure had had more than a few dead bugs and live ones, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking left. I could hear the faint sounds of guitars warming up, it was something like five AM, just before all the business people jaywalked to their fancy offices. Usually, as I had learned my first day trying, it was better to find a spot not too far from the rest of the musicians playing for pennies, just enough to be heard and to catch the quarters before they ran out. But sometimes, if you joined up with a few friendlies, you could jam all day and end up with a much better amount even split a couple ways than you might have had alone. Biting my lip, I made the decision to see if I could find a few impromptu bandmates. The courtyard only had three college kids, and one lonely old guy, probably been there more than a few decades. I managed to meet them all and we ended up having fun, playing flowerchild stuff, mixing it with some pretty sweet pop and rock, one girl had a bass. We did a few remixes too, which seemed super popular, did it again and ended up with a good cut for the day. The oldie's name was Josh, and there were two girls and one guy for the college kids, the guy named Francis and the girl's twin sisters, Mercedes and Maria. 

  Josh was the first to speak as we began to pack up our instruments, or in my case, simply heft the strap over my front, "I'm thinking we do this again."

Maria laughed, brown eyes sparking with mischief, "What makes you think we want to stick around with you old man?"

  She meant nothing by it, she was just the teasing sort and her sister elbowed her, the bassist rolling her eyes as she grunted, "Shut up Ria. She means, that would be cool actually."

  Francis shrugged and nodded, the quiet keyboardist with the gorgeous tats on his arms. Seriously, they had all these fantastic colors...shoot, I'm getting distracted. Anyway, I said simply, looking around at the group, "Why not? Though I'm kind of heading East, y'know, so if we do this, I might not stick around too much longer."

The twins grinned broadly and squealed, grabbing my hands and startling me into a near-heart attack, "Us too!"

   Ria sighed, swaying dramatically and putting her hand to her forehead in a poor imitation of a fair damsel in distress if you ask me, "Cali's just so boring!"

  Mercedes shot her sister a glare as she growled, "Hey, you're the one who wanted to come here hermana."

  Francis answered quietly, "I'm down with that. I was heading to Vegas anyway, inspiration to too many good bands to deny visiting it. Besides, plenty of free time now that I've got my bachelor's."

We all stared at him in surprise, gawking. "What? I like to play. Plus, this keeps food in my stomach pretty nicely," he said defensively.

  Josh shook his head slowly in disbelief, "Rad. You kids are too smart nowadays, I swear. Well, I have an old bus that I converted to a home. Would that work?"

  "You don't have family?" I asked, flushing when I realized how personal that was.

  He smiled at me sadly, "Wife died of cancer, and I just loved her too much to try again. She was, still is, the love of my life. I probably won't make it to heaven, but if I can get a glimpse of her one last time..." He trailed off and we pretended not to see the tears in his eyes, but I couldn't keep myself from putting a hand on the man's shoulder. He took a breath and asked again, "So, what do all of you think?"

  We met gazes with each and every person in our newly formed group, then shared a grin. Mercedes was the one to pump the air with her fist and shout, "Let's do this!"

  We burst out laughing and suddenly, I didn't mind not having much. These people would be more than enough.