Through my eyes: Tactics and Strategy (Eyes on You II)

A/N: This one feels like an accomplishment, perhaps, no, for sure, there are a lot of mistakes but I´m pretty excited that I got to write two Jmemories in it. I think in this post he´s spoken more than ever before. This post is much longer as well and has references of some songs and a poem, I´ll add a link of those below. 

This is the first of a few posts that I want to dedicate to some kids I met. This one I want to dedicate to Bry, he was one of my students and though he´s nothing like the characters in this story, I was reminded of him as I wrote the first Jmemory. Bry was an example of what dedication, effort and a bright personality can accomplish, also he had a beautiful, supportive family. A true example, he´d be a HS freshman this year, I know he's doing great. 

On less loaded things haha Saku, what did my girl do in the last post to make you dislike her? haha she was behaving well -for her- :p I wonder if you´ll get a glimpse of why J decided to go in this trip.

finally, to the post! ah, no, before that, Josh challenged me and I just had to accept. He knows writing flashback...I´m just not good at it but... haha ok, anyway, I hope it´s not too confusing, what I did, in case it was too bad, is to write in italics everything that is flashback. I hope it helps /////_//////

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We parked on a dirt parking lot under a tree. There were scattered SUV´s and jeeps under trees. There was some kind of kiosk with benches made of logs where a group of people were chatting apparently waiting for more people to arrive. We took our things out, each one of us had a backpack, I had my guitar and the picnic basket. Marissa had the map and a camera and Nichole just her backpack. We stopped in the center of the place while Mari surveyed the area, like every other forest it was all green and it all looked similar to me.

“Lead the way, carina” Nic had a hint of teasing in her tone

“According to this –Marissa was still staring at the map –we have to go… -she looked at the many paths all around us –here” she walked to the one at her left as she extended her hand to me. We walked in silence for a while, Marissa and I walked hand in hand leading the way and Nichole walked a few steps behind us. At times Marissa stopped to either check the map or take a picture and she randomly pointed to flowers, birds or butterflies

“I hope I don’t get us lost” Mari said biting her lip after a while

“I thought we were following the map” I raised my eyebrows

“We are but this might have been the wrong path” she told me with some concern.

“As long as we can go back” I said. Getting lost was not something I wanted

“Mh…”

“It´ll be part of the adventure” Nichole said behind us in her calmed tone of voice, we both turned to look at her, she was looking up the trees and had her tiny smile in place. I think her confidence made us relax. I shook my head at how easy that had been I knew both Marissa and I knew how good she was at finding her way. I knew very well that she wouldn’t let us get lost. That I trusted that made me feel a little annoyed.

An hour later we were at the sightseeing deck. It was twice the size of the one at the log house. It was a beautiful place. The sky was blue without clouds. Birds chirped everywhere hidden in the tree tops that were green and yellow. I could see rocky mountains in the distance right in front of us. A click let me know Marissa had taken a picture of me watching the place. I smiled for her and she took another picture.

“It´s your turn” I extended my hand and she gave me the camera and stood still with a smile in place

“Nini, come here!” Mari called Nichole who was behind me watching down leaned on the wooden railing.  She turned around and rolled her eyes

“You come here” she replied and Mari rolled her eyes this time but she went to where Nichole was. Nic extended her hand motioning for the camera

“No, no, no, don’t give it to her –Marissa said- I want a picture with you, you silly” Marissa smiled

“Marissa, no. You know I don’t like getting pictures taken”

“Whatever. Josh, take her picture, please”

“Marissa” Nichole hissed

“Come on!” Marissa tried to hug her with an arm but Nichole moved away

“Mari, no, just no, I´ll take yours and Josh´s”

“Just one, come one, it won´t kill you”

“You´re allowed to draw me if you want” NIc offered with a smirk and Marissa scoffed

“If you stayed still for a second!”

“Can´t help it –she shrugged and took the camera from me- but I´m good at taking pictures” she smiled a mischievous smile as Mari extended her arms to me putting. Nichole took a picture of that and then anther as soon as I stepped next to Marissa and then one when she hugged me. She seemed to like taking picture without letting us know she was about to take them

“One picture, please –Mari pouted- I can´t believe no one has ever taken a picture of you”

“Only if they were going to kill me” Nic shrugged. Marissa frowned and shook her head

“The things you said to not get a picture. Make a better lie” Marissa rolled her eyes. I was almost certain that it was not a lie at all

“I have one and had no murderous intentions” I chuckled at the end, Nichole gasped making Marissa laugh and high five me

“Ha! Good one, tesoro! Now, I deserve one” Marissa pointed a finger at Nichole who sighed and narrowed her eyes at me as she gave me the camera, I shrugged

“Only one” she told me as she leaned against the railing, she had a smirk on face that contrasted with Mari´s happy one

“Now, you too –Marissa came next to me –don’t say no, Nini –Marissa scolded before she could talk –this one´s for lying” she poked her tongue out

“Is this ok by you?” Nichole asked me. It took me aback.

“Yeah” I furrowed my eyebrows. Why wouldn’t it be I thought she wouldn’t want one with me. I went to stand next to her and as soon as I stood there she pushed herself up and sat on the railing very quick. It startled me.

“Jesus! –I exclaimed as I took hold of her hand- you´re gonna fall!”

“I´m fine” she tried to suppress a chuckle

“Get off there” I insisted, it was a high

“If I fall, I´ll fall on my feet” she winked but I didn’t let go of her “You miss took more than one picture so stop it” Nichole said to Marissa who giggled

“They are blurred –she said innocently- plus you can always erase them later, now, look over here and say cheese” Mari instructed as I let go of Nichole bu still looked at her

“Look at the camera boy, I´ll hold on to you” Nic placed her hand on my shoulder. Mari counted up to three

After the pictures we sat down on the deck to just watch the sky, each one of us with a bottle of water and snacks. Nichole was just eating one of those tiny lollipops and had her drawing pad on her bent knees, a blue drawing pencil in her hand, her head slightly tilted to the left, her short hair covering part of her face, her hand moved as her face went from the scenery before us to the paper. I wondered what she was thinking about. I had always wondered what she thought while she draw, it was the only time that I had seen her face completely relaxed. She usually looked calmed but somehow not but when drawing and painting she seemed to be just a girl.

“You went silent on me –Marissa said in a sing-song voice next to me, my eyes expanded a little –what are you thinking?” she smiled her easy smile. I couldn’t help but smile back, all the time, I shook my head

“Your smile´s really contagious” I said still smiling. She blinked once and her smile grew making her eyes become smaller

“You have a nice smile, too. Perfect white teeth” she touched my cheek “Do you like it here?”

“It´s beautiful” I leaned back until my back touched the deck and then I placed my hands under my head and bent my leg. I looked up at the pieces of sky between the leaves of the trees just above us. It was very quiet but not really, the place hummed with its own quiet music directed by the soft breeze

“You go a lot inside your head” Marissa commented looking down at me, she was still sitting down. I wondered if this would be a problem with her eventually, so far she was ok with it but then most of my dates are, they like that I listen but when I didn’t speak enough they didn’t like it either “I think I´m into quiet people –Marissa continued without asking for a reply- this one –she pointed to Nic at her side with her thumb- is always quiet unless I force her to talk, she makes me become a jerk” she laughed quietly. I smiled and nodded a little, you tended to feel like you were forcing her to talk all the time

“Look at her now, I bet she´s pretending she´s not listening –she glanced at the other girl- but you won’t pretend you don’t listen, right?” Mari smiled and touched my arm; I shook my head as reply

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, she smiled

“That you go a lot in your head and that you didn’t tell me what you were thinking” her lips moved in a very gracious way, it seemed to me that every time she said “you” she was about to kiss someone

“Every time you say you, it seems like you´re kissing the air” I told her in almost a whisper, she laughed throwing her head back with delight

“I kiss the air that you breathe” she said it slowly emphasizing the word “you”. I chuckled

“I like that –I smiled showing all my teeth –it´s maybe even song material” I winked

“Don’t you think it was too much?” she smiled and touched her arm

“Nope, I don’t mind impromptu poetry”

“Even the desperate one?” she tilted her head. I chuckled

“It didn’t sound desperate”

“You are very soothing” again Marissa emphasized the word you and I touched her lips lightly with my fingers for a second

“Thank you”

“And you don’t even say much, how do you do it?”

“No idea, maybe it´s you, maybe it´s the place, it´s …soothing here, quiet but not really –I closed my eyes listening to the music of the air caressing the trees- there´s a lot going on” I opened my eyes

“Is it like that in here?” her finger touched my temple. I pondered

“Sometimes”

“What´s happening?” she asked

“The birds are talking” I replied, unsure of whether I meant in my head or around us

“What are they saying?” she followed my lead

“That they like this place -I thought of the waterfall for a second, it made me uneasy but I think I wanted to try, to see how close I could get, I always wanted to start facing that irrational fear but always ended up giving up –they also would like to capture this peace and take it everywhere with them” I finished with eyes closed

“They don’t carry it around with them?”

“I think they forget sometimes… it´s easy to forget with everything else…there´s not many trees in other places where they can find shelter”

“Oh, are they worried about shelter?” Mari frowned a little. I chuckled

“I don’t know what I´m saying anymore” I said truthfully. It had been about me but shelter was not something I thought I lacked of

“No more bird whispered?” she smiled her easy smile

“Oh –she pouted- do you think they´ll understand if I tell them that I have a window sill where they can find shelter any time they want?” her eyes were bright and her smile soft, like her words. I smiled

“I think they got it” I sat up to kiss her but she met me half way so I didn’t fully sit, it was a little like doing crunches

“Great –she smiled and I went back to lying on the floor- I think… mmm I think we´ve ignored Nini…”

“Oh, yeah, that… yeah” my eyes expanded a bit, we´d been talking softly and very close

“Nini…” Marissa started

“Carry on, carina, I´m not feeling left out at all” Nichole said as if distracted. I wonder if she was distracted, she´d basically let us know she´d been listening to our words even if they had been almost whispers. I sat up and looked over Mari at her. She was still with her drawing pad but she was no longer looking at the scenery but just drawing, she was very focused on it.

“Can we, like, have a conversation where the three of us talk?” Marissa said looking to Nichole and back to me. I shrugged my agreement.

“Can´t talk while I draw” Nichole said. Liar, I thought

“Then stop drawing, this is not an assignment”

“Neither´s talking”

“What are you drawing?” I intervened. I felt at that moment that my mind was a computer screen when you click something and some virus makes tons of windows pop up with videos or random stuff. In my mind, several images of me asking that same question popped up. Nichole paused; maybe the same happened to her, maybe not.

“The birds that left before Marissa could take a picture”

“Can I see?” Mari asked. Nic lifted her drawing pad, there were two birds, one next to the other on a thin branch, one was finished made in charcoal, and the other was just starting to be shaded

“They were not like that –I commented- but they´re good” I said, she raised both eyebrows

“Ouch –Marissa winced and laughed- you just stabbed her ego!”

“Oh, I…” I started

“Don’t listen to her” Nichole rolled her eyes, going back to her drawing, I looked at Marissa

“At school she usually gets a ‘ah, you´re talented’ or ‘you´re a natural’ or stuff like that…. Nini was really mad when one of the professors said one of her works was just ‘a good one’” Marissa related, Nichole scoffed

“He didn’t say it was good –she said not looking at us but at the scenery- he said it didn’t have feeling which is an entirely different thing”

“Nini asked for her grade to be revised, made other professors to look at it, she really didn’t want that failing grade” Marissa chuckled

“I thought you didn’t care about grades or taking courses twice” I said. She´d always said she didn’t care but I knew it was not true, she always did the work and did it well

“I don’t care about that but his argument was one I couldn’t respect. He couldn’t grade the feeling of it. You just can’t grade feeling –she made air quotation marks- it was too subjective”

“I thought all art was subjective” I replied

“It is” Mari chuckled

“Yeah –Nichole agreed- but technique is graded, quality and originality as well. That was the criteria to be evaluated at the time, so he didn’t even have that argument there” she lifted her chin a little

“Professor Fleming told her –Mari said- that her technique and finesse were great but that it had no feeling to it, it didn’t produce anything”

“What did you do?” I asked curious and amused

“She made a book; it was a small black leather bound book with three roses, two of them dead and, I think, a melted candle –Mari replied- sorry, Nini, but it wasn’t that good, I never got it. Why did you do that for such assignment?” Mari asked

“What was the assignment?” I inquired

“Something like showing your worst memory in a simple way” Mari explained shaking her head “I guess it was simple, what you did but…I don’t know” she told Nic with a small shrug

“Oh…” I said knowing what that book must have been “Did you get the failing grade?”

“Yes and after that Fleming did his best to get me the lowest possible grades –Nic said and grinned- and I did my best to make him give me the best grades”

“She loves contradicting people” Mari laughed

“It made me improve. It´s been one of my best courses” Nic smirked

“What did you do?” I asked Marissa

“Leaving home –she said and wrinkled her nose a little- but bad memories no more, we should talk about our best one. What´s your happiest memory, tesoro?” she asked, her smile lingered. Both girls looked my way.

"Mhh...-I hummed- my best memory is from the afternoon that my dad gave me my first guitar- I told the girls remembering being surprised that he was home early  -I was about six, maybe seven, I was having troubles in school and didn't want to go anymore" I explained distantly remembering my childhood heart aches. After my accident I hadn't been the same but I hadn't noticed until that week but it´s not like I have that many recollections of the first few years after my accident, only glimpses come to me from time to time, it's the feeling of what I lived and the nightmares that are the most vivid.

"My grandpa who always got me to do the unpleasant things -I shook my head clearing it from the double pain that thinking of Alexander caused me with the two opposite faces he had- like taking medicines, going to the doctor, eating my lunch, things like that –I explained- at that time, he just couldn't make speak of what was wrong so one day my dad came home and...” I smiled down to the floor remembering that afternoon.

“Hi son” My dad had said smiling to me

“You´re early, daddy” I had been surprised it wasn´t a usual occurrence that he came home before seven. I hadn’t known that mom had asked him to talk to me.

“I had a good day so I decided I could come talk to you – he sat next to me and slung an arm on my shoulder- we closed a great deal, money straight to your college fund –he chuckled- I had some problems while doing it, obstacles but I knew I could work it out. Do you know why I knew?” I had been excited that he was speaking to me about his day and that he had asked for my opinion

 “Because you’re good at what you do” I had repeated what my mom had always said and that had earned me a chuckle and squeeze

“That´s true but remember when mom wanted to redecorate the kitchen? –Six or seven year old me nodded- remember what happened when I moved the furniture?” he´d asked and I had laughed

“You broke the water pipe and mom was angry. She had to pick me up”

“Yeah –he had grimaced- and I couldn’t make it stop and ended up leaving us without water until the guy came. He was good at his job, don’t you think?”

“Yes, mom was happy”

“Yes, she was. Remember later that day the other guys came to help her make things pretty?”

“Yeah but Aaron and I helped, we picked the colors with mom” It had been important for me at the time that he remembered that we had helped

“Yes, of course you did –I almost laughed remembering how he laughed quietly and rustled my hair before speaking again- but I didn’t and that is because I´m not good at that. You see, son, I am very good at what I do but I´m very bad at other things, just like mom is very good at being a doctor but is very bad at closing deals, you too, are going to be good at some things and bad at others” he´d said as he touched my shoulder with his hand

“But I´m bad at everything –I replied- I´m the dumb twin –I cried bitter and angry tears.- Aaron is much better, he´s smarter and…” I had been in a different class, with much less requirements, less classes. I hadn’t noticed until it had been pointed out to me by the kids in Aaron´s class. Some kids can be mean to others; I had ended up believing they had been right about me.

“No, Joshua, that is not true –my dad had stopped me. I had seen how knowing what was wrong had hurt him too- You´re twins but you´re different and that is alright. We love you for who you are and we love your brother for who he is. Now, Josh, sometimes things are harder for some people, life puts more obstacles in their life, accidents happen –he had stopped to clear his throat- but that just means you are and you´ll be stronger –he hugged me tightly- you’re a fighter” He´d told me and I had just stared down at my lap not feeling strong at all

"He told me I just had to try my hardest because no one's good when they are just starting something new” I told the girls a short version of his speech but I remembered every single word dad had told me that afternoon

“It takes time to get good at things. When I was your age –he´d continued- I wasn’t good at closing deals, I lost money before I got good at it and mom puked at the sight of blood, she could´ve said she going to be a bad doctor, don’t you think? But she and I tried our best at everything until we figured out what we were good at and didn’t let what we weren’t good at make us sad. You just have to try your very best, just like you do everyday”

“Then he asked me to wait and went to get something, an old black acoustic guitar. He played a very complicated song and told me that when he was my age he couldn’t do it. I had just stared –I chuckled looking at the two girl looking attentively back at me- He touched a string -I took my guitar and touched the string he had touched- and asked me if that sounded like music, I said it didn't, then he played something like this -I played a small progression, just a few chords- and asked me if that sounded like music"

"Awww" Mari cooed, Nic's eyes were intense as if she was memorizing my every move. I smiled at Mari before continuing with my story

"I told him it did, and he explained that he wasn't good at it before but life was like playing the guitar, you keep practicing and trying until you get it right, until you get what you want” –I remembered he´d said to notice how one string along with the others made music, that life was the same, at first it might not be music but with time and practice it sounded like music, a melody you were good at. Dad told me I had been good at reminding him that he liked playing the guitar, which he hadn't played since I had been born.

“To never forget there´s always a new song to learn, but, that you have to remember that if you can't play the guitar there's always other instruments to make music" I related to the girls my dad speech and chuckled, I had been distracted by his skill and the shiny black guitar that I hadn't understood the full meaning of his word but they had always stayed in my mind.

"You make beautiful music, tesoro, with everything you touch" Mari touched my arm and smiled her easy smile

"Thank you -I smiled back- I got my first guitar that day and I decided I was going to be good at that –I shook my head- My dad and I practiced every weekend and every night he could come home early, in a while I was able to play the complicated song that wasn’t really complicated at all” I said

"Do you still have it?" Nichole asked in her quiet voice, it surprised me that she showed interest more than with only her eyes on me

"Yeah, it's in the basement in my parent's house" I replied

"Did you go back to school" Marissa asked me “Did it get better?”

"I went back for a while. But I didn't finish that year, I mean, I did finish it just differently, I was home schooled for a few years after that" I explained when Mari widened her eyes and Nichole stiffened "different instruments -I shrugged- but that's where I got my love for music and my liking of this one” I started to play the chords accompanied by some whistling like in the song

                “….take it slow

It'll work itself out fine

All we need is just a little patience

Said, sugar, make it slow

And we´ll come together fine

All we need is just a little patience…” To my surprise they both joined me on that portion of the song and whenever they knew the lyrics.

"Great as always!" Mari clapped her hands once I stopped singing

"It was a nice story -Nichole said with a small smile, not the one I knew was her real one but it didn't seem a rehearsed one either but I couldn’t tell because it quickly became a smirk- stubborn, I mean, persistent you was born there"

"Nini!" Mari pushed Nic away

"It's a compliment, carina" there was humor in her voice, I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"You remind me of Aaron -I told her- he can't stay mature for too long and you can't stay nice" I narrowed my eyes for effect but I knew she was afraid of letting even a glimpse of nice feelings coming from her, I felt like I had known her enough to be sure or maybe it was just the memory of our friendship in the past that didn’t let me stay mad at her

"I'm a monster" she winked in both Mari and my direction

"Uuh! -Mari laughed- I don’t think so, I think you found your match, Nini."

"No one bits me at that"

"It's been two times already" Mari said in a sing song voice, I chuckled, when had Nic been teased before?

"Josh's too nice to put in my place" she laughed quietly as she look at the scenery in front of us

"My instruments are others. My strategy instead is deeper and simpler" I winked after quoting a verse of a poem that had come to mind out of the blue, one that she´d shown me. I didn't have many memories of the time after my accident but I did have many of my teenager years. I had first heard that poem on a day after one of our Art club meetings in which as usual she and I had stayed behind. Maybe because I had let my mind take me back to my memories, it automatically too me back to this one too and I felt in the spacious room filled with easels and musical instruments

 "Are you going to stay here?" I had asked, she hadn't made an attempt to go but had kept working on her canvas

"Yeah" it was when she replied my questions, the easy ones at least

"Ok –my memory showed me I had motioned to go and had turned back- did you do the homework about the poem already?" we’d been studying poetry, metric and famous poets; it was our assignment to emulate them.

"Nope" her eyes had stayed on the canvas in front of her. I made a face

"I hate this assignment" I had groaned

"Don't do it then"

"Right, 'cause that's an option"

"It is"

"But you'll do it, won't you?" I had been sure she’d do it, as she always did.

"That doesn't matter, I don't hate the assignment but I won't do it if I don’t feel like it" she had shrugged a little

"I don't believe that, you never fail to do your homework"

"I feel like doing it" she'd taken a diff paintbrush

"That's the same thing" I had rolled my eyes, given up on standing and sat on the stool I had been using. I had been procrastinating.

"Nope, it’s a different tactic and strategy. My tactic is to be honest… My strategy instead is deeper and simpler…”

"Eh? You lost me there…" I had furrowed my eyebrows. She fought a smile

"That's a poem that just popped into my head; it's on the news board in the classroom"

"And you've memorized it?" I had chuckled, only Nichole Cristales would´ve done such thing "what else does it say?" I had thought she wouldn't tell me but after dipping her brush on pain and not making a stroke on the canvas, she had turned on her stool to face me and spoke the lines of the poem in her soft calm voice as she balanced the paintbrush between her gloved fingers, a drop of paint threatened to fall to the floor but she moved her wrist so that it wouldn't fall but that made the turquoise paint get too close to her burgundy gloves that matched our uniform.

“My tactic is to stay in your memory,

I don't know how

Nor with what pretext

But stay within you…” as she had recited she´d played with the drop of paint and I had seen rhythm in the movement and had heard music in the golden light entering the room through the windows. I had felt a beat in the poem like it had a heart.

“My tactic is to be honest

And know you are too

And that we don't sell each other illusions

So that between us there is no curtain or abyss

My strategy instead is

Deeper and simpler.

My strategy is that some day

I don't know how,

nor with what pretext

That finally you need me”  I had picked my guitar and played an improvised melody for the words she had spoken, had made a sign so that she said it again as I perfected the sounds, and when it ended and I wrapped up the melody, the drop of paint had fallen to the floor

"You write poetry all the time, play it..." the Nichole in my memory had nodded towards my guitar

"It's not the same, I don't go for numbers, measures, metric, whatever and… I don’t t always work with rhymes, my rhymes are not...they don't follow numbers, they're not… stiff" I furrowed my eyebrows

"You just made poetry; followed the metric. Different strategy" she had winked and turned back to her canvas. I hadn’t had an instant epiphany with an amazing and perfect poem but the next class I had sung my poem. My teacher had loved my creativity and strategy. By the end of that day I had printed and pasted the poem on the inside of my binder. It had reminded of the time dad had taught me the song Patience.

A memory can be relived in the blink of an eye, such was the case with this memory, no time had passed yet I had gone back to the past but in reality I had just quoted the verse of the poem and Nic had just looked away after looking into my eyes for a second too long. Mari was laughing oblivious that such line had taken me back in time.

"Ah, ragazza, he’s got you" Mari giggled and hugged me with one arm

"Funny" Nic said in her usual monotone

"I agree –Marissa teased as I laughed quietly- , this will be my new best memory" she poked her tongue out at Nic

"And the old one is...?" Nic prompted

 “Mmmm… well…after Josh´s beautiful, inspirational story, mine sounds kinda selfish…” Marissa wrinkled her nose

“It´s subjective, if it makes you happy, it´s happy” I winked; Marissa narrowed her eyes a little and a smile tugged at Nichole´s mouth

“Nini, you go first –Mari said- and don’t say no!” she pointed a finger to Nic who rolled her eyes but gave up with a dramatic sigh, dramatic for her.

“It´s not inspirational either –Nichole started- but one of the better times I´ve had was when Mike, my arts teacher, took one of my paintings to the teacher’s meeting. They chose among other art works made by students to be placed in one of the library halls. I was –she closed her eyes- happy when mine was chosen” her half smile showed in her face

“Which one?” I asked. I knew that by the time she left Burgeoys there were a few of her paintings in not only one of the school libraries

“Your teachers hung your work on the library? That’s so cute!” Marissa smiled

“More than cute, carina, it was a big honor to have one of your works next to a Monet or Kandinsky. It´s something that hasn’t happened again”

“Was this school a museum too?” Marissa raised both eyebrows and looked at both of us

“They had famous art works in the libraries and the art building” Nichole explained

“And the office buildings” I added. Mari shook her head

“An eye of my face wouldn’t have been enough to pay a month of education at your rich kids school, I bet –Mari said- but Nini, it´s so cool that you were good even back then” she smiled at the other girl

“It was Ash´s portrait on the road, the one that got chosen” Nichole chose to answer my question. I nodded my acknowledgement; Nichole and Aaron had ‘met’ under that portrait, under that one he´d broken his nose after tripping on her leg

“Ash? Who´s Ash?” Marissa looked between me and Nic

“Ashley, a friend –Nic said- now, talk” she smirked. I chuckled, I knew it was not a lie but I was sure she´d said the guy´s name to avoid saying who he was

“I guess this will be fine… it´s similar to yours –Mari nodded to Nic- my happiest one is from when I was 17, I had just left home and had no idea what to do with my life, I had nowhere to go, no one to go to –she shrugged- On a park, where me met –she looked at Nic- I made my first cartoon and I got my first client, after about a week of being there –she chuckled- I had been homeless for a week. Guess who was my first client? It was Anton –she didn’t wait for us to give an answer- he bought my first cartoon, took me to his house, scolded me for leaving home but didn’t send me back. He bought me pencils, paint, paper and an easel and above all he hung my cartoon of him in his living room. My brother supported me, he believed in me or at least he tried –she giggled- that´s the happy part, by the way” she finished smiling to the floor

“It´s a good story” I stroked her back

“The beginning of a dream” Nichole winked

“Yeah, look where you´re now” I hugged her and she beamed

“Look where we all are” Marissa chuckled and kissed my cheek


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links:
Tactics and Strategy by Mario Benedetti  
Guns N' Roses Patience