"Wouldn't you be so kind, sir...?"
The man quickly walked away, pretending that Gavin's voice had never reached him. The young man sat down heavily, feeling as though his legs had gave way, allowing the guitar to barely stay on his lap. It felt as though the invisible burden he carried upon his shoulders increased with every rejection he faced.
Weeks have passed since the first time he had done this. Gavin had listened to different opinions before deciding on such a course of action prior to this. The group of friends he had at school sympathised with him and though doing little else, encouraged him all the same. Another group told him to join their brotherhood, where they would take care of him and even his living expenses, even though no mention of how they would get the money was made.
Gavin was starting to think that he should have taken the offer of the latter.
Sighing, he began to wonder why they had fallen to such a state. While not well-off, they were at least able to make ends' meet by selling homemade cakes and desserts on the streets. Even though it was considered illegal and Gavin always feared that he would be seen by someone from his school, he had to admit there were fun times too. He loved seeing the customers enjoying the snacks on the spot and praising his mother for her culinary skills. He loved seeing old faces coming back again and again. He even secretly loved the thrill of running helter-skelter from the cops who happened to patrol the area and took a fancy to grabbing two street hawkers off the pavements and slap hefty fines, just so he could fill up a little emptiness in those dark blue pockets.
But yet...The world had been cruel.
The man who had left them so many years ago came back, out of money, out of luck, out of love with the woman he had ran away with several years ago, when Gavin was but a hapless babe. The brightest memories he had of those days were when that man was not around, with his breath reeking of an unpleasant odor and his temper as foul and sudden as a flash thunderstorm. Ironically, the ruckus at home made him a little more immune to the sudden booming of thunder, his reactions to the particularly loud ones eerily like that of one who was deaf.
Yet as he returned, Gavin had already understood that that man certainly did not come back on bent knees, crying and prostrating himself before them, asking for their forgiveness for the hurt he had caused. Instead, he had burst into the home, shattering that precious peace mother and child had for three years like a stone launched into glass, trying his hardest to ask for more money.
The beating one fine day was the last straw for Mom, and she finally called up the police, unleashing her pent-up frustration, anger and hatred towards the poor officer on the other line. That man was 'put behind bars', as Mom had sniffled, probably wondering why she had not waited a little later to choose a suitor that was a little behind in the Looks department and at the top of the list in the Caring section.
Gavin wondered too, and hoped that his own looks (as confirmed by some of his envious friends) had no real corelation to temperament. More than that, the sudden invasion of that man had strickened Mom mentally and emotionally, and she could only lie in a charity hospital bed while her son could do nothing but try to support himself and attempt to make ends' meet with the only skill he had ever learned from his late uncle: Playing the guitar.
A well-dressed lady passed by and Gavin rose, only to sit down upon seeing the customary hand stretched out towards him. Once again, he flirted with the thought of going along with his chain-smoking, vulgarity-spewing friends, but quickly rejected it before its tentacles wounded around his mind. Mom had already spoke against following them, and he had made the same decision not to become the same kind of person that man was.
"Excuse me..."
An English accent...Gavin looked up disinterestingly, thinking to see a tourist, looking very much like a hopelessly lost sheep, separated from his tour group flock.
The youthful voice belonged to a girl that looked about the same age as he was. With silky, jet-black hair reaching to the middle of her back, a pretty oval-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes long eyelashes and full lips, it was hard not to take a second glance at her. Gavin, however, was more interested in what the girl wanted...And whether he could get another person to give him enough for him to take his first lunch in three days.
"Would it be fine if I get back to you later?"
"....What?"
"I'd like to hear you playing first though...A friend of mine who lived nearby told me it's a pity that the guitarist isn't able to showcase his talent on a bigger stage."
The smile looked genuine. Felt genuine. Gavin refused to be swayed by the buoyant feeling he felt upon hearing such direct praise from the beautiful stranger.
But yet...He felt as though she could be trusted as he took in the words. It was a strange feeling, especially when he still felt extremely untrusting of attractive people.
"If that's what you want....I can keep playing till you come back." He offered and suddenly felt stupid for doing so. Had he not done the same for others before her, only to face rejection, only to see no one returning and in some severe cases, only to see them turning back and laughing at him while throwing a handful of five-cent coins at him?
Yet as the girl smiled and hurried away, his fingers began to move. They felt stiff at first, like the joints of a rusty robot that had been in disrepair for so long, but slowly he began to get into the flow. Soon, he was singing along even, long forgotten lyrics coming almost naturally from his lips.
As he performed, however, Gavin began to feel a little uncomfortable. People had slowed down-stopped even-to stare at him. It took all his willpower to ignore them and continue playing as though it was the only thing that brought him joy in a world that sought to take everything away from him.
A medley and two ballads later, He had no idea how much time had passed. Fifteen? Twenty? Half an hour perhaps? Yet there was no sign of the girl. Gaving smiled bitterly and wondered when would he stop being so naive. Two more years and he would be an adult, and yet here he was, getting manipulated and tricked as though he was but a two day-old calf that could not differentiate left from right.
"There he is!" The voice rang out and like a timely helping hand, grabbed his as he sank into the darkness of despair and self-loathing. He looked up expectantly.
The was walking quickly towards him with a few people, some of them snappily dressed in the latest fashions and sporting colored hair that only the most audacious people would think of having. The strumming slowed a little as Gavin watched tentatively, ready to bolt at the very first hint of danger.
Yet as the girl came to a stop before him, it was then he realised how shapely her legs were. And the bright expressions her companions carried on their faces.
What really stood out, however, was how...real their smiles looked. And felt.
"Isn't he the guy you've been talking about?" She spoke first to the tallest male in the group, a bespectacled man in his 20s. With a decent haircut and large-rimmed glasses, he would look the perfect scholar.
The printed T-shirt with bright colors, his spiked ash-green hair and Adidas sneakers gave him a totally different image, though.
"Yeah. I saw him playing the other day." With a grin on his face, he turned and approached. If he had seen Gavin shying away slightly, there was no indication of it on his smiling expression. "Hi. I'm Richard. Hope you don't mind if I ask for your name...?"
"...Gavin." He shook the outstretched hand tentatively, pulling his back a little too quickly. Instead of looking offended, Richard laughed sheepishly.
"Finally got to talk to you like this."
"...Huh?"
"You have no idea how nervous I still am approaching strangers sometimes, even if they were the friends of my friends." The man turned to the girl. "Anyway, this little cutie here-"
"Stop it, Rich!"
"-Is Lillian, in case you don't know yet."
"Uh...Hi." Gavin suddenly felt nervous, wondering if he was going to be seeing this many people around for a while.
"I'll leave the other introductions for later. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you're interested in a competition?"
"What...kind of competition?" Gavin was immediately on his guard, nasty memories of the tricksters he had encountered once still fresh in his mind as though it only happened yesterday. Instead of describing it, Richard produced a booklet from his crumpler and gave it to him.
"It's all listed there, with the official company. Do look over it."
Gavin did so and his eyes widened at the prize money. It could be enough to last him for weeks, even months. Heck, he might even be able to pay off a portion of Mom's hospital fees! But as his eyes landed on the registration fees...
Gavin felt hope slipping away from his grasp again and made a mental note to curse the world for giving him hope and snatching it away as though it was done on a whim. "Take it back. I can't afford-"
"We'll help."
"That's very nice, but-You'll what?" He looked up in disbelief, wondering if all that despair had made him gone mad-or senile. Instead, he saw the cheerful countenances of the five people in front of him.
"We'll help." This time, Lillian answered.
"But why? Why would you help a stranger? Why would you do so much for someone like me?"
"Because that's what we like to do." Lillian replied with a bright smile. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever saw since...his first memory of being held in the warm embrace of his smiling parents as he wailed and screamed in his baby language.
"I....don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything...till you think you're ready to go for the auditions, of course."
Gavin nodded numbly, though it was more of a warm feeling than the cold barrel of reality pressed against his emotions he had felt so many times. As Lillian left her number, Gavin looked up and managed to squeeze out two words that he never thought he would ever use in his lifetime.
"....Th-Thank you."
A smile, a wave and they were gone.
It was only when they had disappeared into the crowd did Gavin realise that there was moisture on his cheeks. He touched it with a finger and tasted it.
Salty.
No comments:
Post a Comment