Two Souls in Central Park

A girl meets a homeless sax player on the way to aparty.

Lis crept into the park, high tailing it for cover. She didn't want to get caught on the way to meet her friends, and unfortunately she wasn't old enough to make curfew laws, so it would be a double hit. She pulled her black hoodie tighter over her torso, freezing.
Jared was tootin his sax down in Central Park, hoping to make some extra cash for dinner.
Lis pushed her headphones into her ears. Life was boring without music. Papa Roach began blasting through her mind. She suddenly felt herself flying through the air, hitting the asphalt  with a crash. "F**k!" she yelled, watching her iPod fall out of her pocket and slam into the pavement.
 Jared watched the girl take a tumble. He strode over, helping her up. "It's because you weren't paying attention to your soul."
Lis raised an eyebrow, standing up with his help. She bent down and grabbed the iPod, stuffing back into her pocket. She faced him again. "What?"
He jerked his head towards her iPod. "That ain't soul. Music doesn't come from a machine. It comes from in here." He pounded his chest where his heart was beating underneath.
"Well, sorry. I don't have an iHeart. They're all sold out of em," she drawled, rolling her eyes.
Jared tsked. "You have a heart. But you use it for evil. To hurt. That ain't you. You could have a soul too."
Lis scoffed. "Ya don't know nothin about me," she spat, clutching her sweatshirt tighter. She started to walk away.
Jared shrugged. "But you know yourself." e picked up his sax again.
Lis paused. She turned around and strode back over to him. "What the hell gives you the right to say that I use my heart for evil?" she asked angrily, staring at him expectantly.
He paused. "I would appreciate it if you would stop makin fun of my accent, because that's taintin your heart."
"Ahm not." she laughed. "Born 'n bred in Louisiana."
"You'd be pretty if you weren't so full 'o hate." He commented.
"Again with the hate! You don't even know me, how can ya make these assumptions?!"
"My heart doesn't like how you act." he began playing.
"How ah act? How ah-" she ripped the sax out of his hands. "Any chance ya can listen?" she growled.
He stood there. "You ripped the soul outta me." he slumped on the pavement.
"Oh gawd." she gasped, kneeling down next to him. She shook his shoulder. "Uh...dude...sax dude...wake up..."
"I'm Jared Huffel. Age 29, and I don't have a soul. My poor black skin is nothing but a shell."
"No soul...how...how do ya know that?"
"Without music, I have no soul."
Lis looked at the sax in her hands and then shoved it back into Jared's hands.
He cracked a smile. "You may have heart yet. Whas your name, girl?"
"Lis." she smiled. "Lis Breyer.." she stuck out a hand. Her sweatshirt sleeve pulled up a bit in the process, showcasing her scars. She tugged the cloth back quickly, hoping he hadn't seen.
"How old, Miss Lis?"
"18" she told him, lying smoothly.
"You look very young and energetic. I'd take you out for dinner, but unfortunately I'm broke."
She smiled. "Aren't we all?" she sighed.
"Hey, do you play?" he asked.
"Play...what?"
"An instrument, of course!"
"Oh" she laughed. "Well...I used to..."
"Ah. Then you lost the soul. What'd you play?"
"Um...violin..." she muttered.
He whistled. "Ah, sweet violin. A gentle bow dancing across the strings of a wooden instrument of beauty. Why'd you quit?"
She didn't really know what to say to this. "Ah guess...ah guess I just didn't wanna seem like the stereotypical rich kid," she admitted, looking at the ground with an ashamed expression on her face.
"Girl, rich or poor, music runs through all of us. If people don't like your muse, play louder. It's your right."
She looked wistfully into space. "It's been years since I played..." She suddenly seemed to push it to the back of her mind. "Ah don;t think ah wanna play anymore though" she said quickly.
"Don't tune out your heart, Miss Lis. You'll regret it."
She shrugged, playing with her shoelaces. A vibration came from her pocket, and she took out a cell phone. "Uh...I'll be right back" she said, getting up and walking to the middle of the asphalt. "Hello?"
"Lis! Where are you?! The party started already!" and angry voice came over the phone.
"Um...ah had a hard time scorin the drugs, sorry." she lied horribly. She bit her lip, hoping the lie wasn't too obvious.
"Bullshit. Get your a*s over here, girlie!"
"Ah...I'll be there soon. Just give me a few more minutes."
"Kay, bye."
"Bye babe." Lis bit her lip and walked back over to Jared. "Sorry," she apologized as she sat down again.
"Need to go?" he asked, polishing his sax.
"Um..." she stared at her phone. "No."
"It's okay, you can leave. Just be back tomorrow, if you please."
She got up and smiled warmly at him. "Thanks Jared," she said. "I'll come back tomorrow."
"Goodbye Lis." he watched her walk away. He picked up his sax again, and blew into his love.

Author's Note

I was Jared, Essy http://www.writerscafe.org/NessyEssy was Lis. A short story. Ignore any spelling or grammatical errors.

Reviews

[roarke]

The way you handle economy of plot is incredible. I bet you're a good chess player as well.

btw, a musician like Jared doesn't "toot" into his ax. blow, wail, honk, riff, scale, sketch, jammin', but toot??? girl, shoot.

you didn't mention how old Jared was. I picture him considerably older than Lis. Might want to play off of that.

All in all another fresh and original concept and scene. I wanna know what breakfast cereal you're eatin' .... lol

[Bella-Marie]

I really enjoyed this story. I had no idea two people had written it, a great feat. I especially liked how they came from different parts of America, although I never really meet other people from my country who have different accents.