The McKenna Legacy: A Drifter Story | 001.2 Friends are all you got

After a chilly night, sleeping under the stars, Zuri wakes up excited to go to work. She feels so lucky to have such good friends like Paolo. If it wasn't for him she would't know were to start. The town was a strange place for her, as Zuri always lived in the beautiful and green Willow Creek.

After a quick cleanup she hurries to catch the bus. Her new job was at The Limelight, a very popular club in the boardwalk of Oasis Springs.

She was so nervous for her first day.As the bus was driving through the desert hills she was smothering her bag in her lap, thinking if she would really fit in there.

***

The day had passed and as the bus pulled over on the curb Zuri quickly hopped onto the sidewalk. She was so happy! Her day at work was hard, and her armpits were stinking like hell, but she was pleased that she did a good job.

Her stomach was growling. She grabbed a plate of some grilled fruit that she left from the day before.

The fruit was still good but she was so stinky she couldn't even finish it.

She got a towel from her suitcase and she went up to the sink. Zuri tried to clean herself the best she could but she could only wish for a real shower. "Well this will have to do it for now."

As she finished her sponge bath the phone rang. The number was unknown. "That's strange! Who could be calling?" She picked up the phone and on the other side she heard a warm female voice. "Hey! Is this Zuri?"

"Yeah this is Zuri. Who is this?" She replied.

"Oh sorry. My name is Mila Much and I saw you in the club this afternoon. You seemed very nice and so I asked your boss your number. I was wandering if you would like to hangout some time with our club. We are the Upper Crusts! You look like you could fit in very well." Mila explained.

Zuri took a moment to think about it and then she answered "It's very kind of you to make such a request, but I'm still new in town and first I have to get my life sorted out."

"I see! Well when your settled and want to hang out with us just give me a call or come talk to me at the club."

"I will sure do! Thanks again for the invite. I hope to see you at the club soon!" and after some goodbyes Zuri hung up the phone.

***

The rest of the afternoon flew by as she occupied herself planting a few of the fruits and vegetables she collected on the day before.

As she was walking up the street towards the grilling area, she recognized Alton. He was the man from the market who helped her yesterday.

He waved at her and quickly came to greet her.

"Hey Zuri! Nice to see you again. Hope your move is going well? And hows the new job?" He blurted out all at once.

With a giggle Zuri said "It's all going well. I just wished for some more money to at least be able to afford a proper shack at least. But I'm confident the long hours at the club will pay out by the end of the week."

"I'm glad you're enjoying your new job." He said. "You should come visit me at the market sometime. I've noticed you started a small garden, and yesterday you told me you caught a few frogs. If you're ever interested in making some extra money you can always sell those to me or I can trade them for some appliances and hardware to build your house." Alton offered. "If you happen to go to the market and I'm not there just ask for my wife Cynthia and she'll help you out as well." He finished.

"Oh thank you so much Alton! You truly are the best and you're such a good person. I don't even know how to say thank you." She said with a grin on her face. But then she got serious. "But why are you being so nice to me? Don't take me the wrong way, it's just that I'm not really used to such generosity coming from strangers."

"I can relate to the story you told me yesterday, as I was too in foster care for a few years. My only salvation was Cynthia, my wife. We met at an orphanage at the age of 15 and we were both alone, praying for a real family to rescue us. But as the years gone by no family came to pick us up and we could only count on each other. Gradually we fell in love and when we reached 18 we decided to leave the orphanage and get married. The first few days were hard, like yours were being now. But we had some kindhearted people who helped us to get up on our feet and here we are now 10 years later. So that's why I'm helping you. Not only because I know what you're going through but also because I believe in giving back and helping who needs it the most, like once I did."

Zuri had tears rolling down her face as she listened to Alton and Cynthia's story. She could only mumble "T-Thank you for telling me Alton. I promise you you will have in me a very good friend" And then she hugged him for a minute, tears still falling, and she said thank you a million times over in her head.

"Well I have to go now Zuri, but don't forget to visit us at the market." Alton said as he gave her another hug and said goodbye.
"Bye Alton! See you soon." Zuri replied.

Seeing Alton disappear by the curb, Zuri retook her way to the grills. She was happy she could count on someone around here. Her only friend before all this was Paolo, but he had moved to Windenburg so she couldn't really have someone to lean on.

She was getting very hungry again. Fortunately before she caught the bus home after work, she managed to enter a small supermarket and get some things for dinner. She went for some burgers, 'cause she could easily make those in the grill and they should last a bit longer than the fruit.

She grabbed a few and put them on the grill. When they were almost ready she threw some buns in there too, just to toast them a bit.

"The feast is ready." She thought as she placed down the platter and sat down.

The burgers were delicious. She devoured a few and stashed the others on a plastic box she had bought in the supermarket.

***

As the days passed she felt like her life was going back on track. Her small garden was growing and soon she would be able to sell the produce to Alton. Meanwhile she just enjoyed watering the plants and seeing them grow strong.

She enjoyed her new stereo. It was a gift from Alton when she brought him some frogs early that week. After a few attempts at breeding some of the frogs she finally got some baby ones. She still could't tell which breed they were but Alton should know better then her, so she decided to visit him at the market.

He was super happy to see her (and the baby frogs). Right away he told her that she got lucky breeding such a rare frog at first try. 

They talked for a while and she got to meet Cynthia. She was a very nice lady, always looking with sweetness at Alton with her big eyes.

Alton put the frogs away and said "Zuri here's your money for the frogs."

"Thanks Alton! I'm saving up some good money and I hope with my next pay I'll be able to put some wall up on my lot." Zuri said with a smile.

And before she could wave goodbye to Alton and Cynthia he replied."Wait a minute! I have something else for you, let me just go around back".

After a few minutes he showed up again carrying a stereo. "I know how you love to dance, so I pulled this old thing from my garage. I know you will enjoy it more than I do 'cause now I don't really have enough time to go down to the garage and work on my wooden pieces."

Zuri smiled once again and thanked him. "Sure it will make my daily gardening a lot more fun now!"

She waved goodbye and walked down the road heading home.

***

Pulling a small crate she had as her nightstand, she put the radio on top. After messing a little bit with the buttons she started hearing a soft beat and a recognizable voice on the radio.

She started moving, trying to shake off all the tension from work. The dance was natural to her like the water was to her plants.

***

The next few days were calm. She went to work everyday in the morning and came back home mid-afternoon and took care of her garden. Her only worries were that her boss still hadn't let her perform.
She was basically just running errands for him and the rest of the artists, or helping them run their lines. But she wasn't giving up that easily.
Later that day, she called her manager Mr. Zest. "Sorry to bother you Mr.Zest, but I was wandering if you would mind to talk about the show for tomorrow!"
"No problem at all Zuri, and please I already told you I prefer if you would call me Johnny!"He replied. "But tell me what is your problem with tomorrows show?"
She inhaled as she gathered the strength to say "Hum... I don't have any problems with it. In fact I have been practicing a routine for that show since a few weeks now, and I was wandering if you would let me present it in tomorrow's show?!" Then before he could answer she added "I can run it by you in the morning if you would like?!"
A silence on the line made her nerves even frailer. As she was about to crumble he said "OK I think you had enough time and learned a lot watching these past few weeks. I'll give you a shot tomorrow. Come by my office in the morning Zuri,"
She was speechless. He said yes. Her hopes were up again. Trying to control her burst of happiness she replied "Sure thing Mr. Zest... I mean Johnny! Will be there at 9 am sharp! See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow Zuri." And he hung up.

***

That day before she left to catch the bus she called Alton and Cynthia and invited them to join her for her first show. He said they would try to be there but he couldn't promise anything because it was going to be a busy day at the store.

Alton and Cynthia never showed up, but he sent her a text wishing her to "break a leg" and that he had a surprise for her latter that day.

Even tough the club was almost empty, she had a great time doing a number with another comedian. She wasn't bad for a first-timer and the few people that were watching enjoyed the show.

***

When she came back home Alton was waiting for her, with is truck parked on her lot.

"Hey funny lady. My old friend Johnny told me you killed it on stage!" He yelled as she was running towards him.

She stopped and said "I didn't know you knew my manager!"

"We've been friends since middle school. He was a great support during my teen years along with Cynthia." He answered with a big smile on his face. "But enough talking about Mr. Zest! How did you feel on that stage? Was it all you expected?"

"It was pretty nice to feel watched you know? Even tough I was a bit nervous, I think the public enjoyed the show and I'm really proud of myself!" Zuri said.

"Good! I'm happy for you! And I have a surprise for you tonight so get your things ready because we are going to celebrate tonight!" Alton shoot with a happy face.

Zuri was confused "But were are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough." He said mysteriously.

***

After driving a few miles Zuri fell asleep.

"Poor thing! She is working so hard, I think she'll enjoy the surprise." Alton mumbled.