The Gift (4 page)

“What’s going on, Maggie?” Zak asked and put his arm
around her.

“I’m supposed to go back to Boston in a couple days,” she
said. “I have a boyfriend in my band.”

“Well, what do you want to do? You’re welcome to stay
here for a while. I was hoping that you might sing on my new album.”

“I don’t know, Zak. I’m running short on money. I
probably need to go home and get a job.”

“You could stay here and play some gigs with my band and
save some money that way. It would be a shame if you left when we were just
getting to know each other. If you go back to Boston, we might never see each
other again.”

Maggie didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know Zak
that well, but she did feel a strong connection to him. She had been having a
lot of fun and wasn’t ready to go home yet. Maggie thought about it for a
moment.

“O.k., Zak. I guess I’ll cancel my reservation and stay
for a while longer. I would love to work on your album with you. I also have
some ideas for songs I’d like to work on for an album of my own.”

Zak kissed her and said “I’m happy that you’ve come to
that decision.”

.

Chapter 5

The next morning, they told Justin that Maggie
would be staying on for a while. Justin laughed and said “I could see that
coming.” He seemed pleased though, he liked being around Maggie too, she was
fun and Zak was in a much better mood when she was around. Then Maggie told Zak
and Justin that she had some songs that she was interested in working on. The
three of them actually had a lot in common musically, they all liked
progressive country rock like the Allman Brothers, the Flying Burrito Brothers
and the Byrds. Maggie said she wanted to do a song by the Byrds called “Truck
Stop Girl”. She loved singing that song and she thought that Zak would sound
great playing electric guitar on it. She had been thinking about that song ever
since she drove down from Boston and had seen the truck driver jackknifed over
the edge of the highway.

The song went:

“His tail lights flickered

as he pulled up to the truck stop.

The same old crowd was hanging out again tonight.

He said fill up my tank, while I go check my load,

It feels like it’s shifting all around.

He was the kind of man, to do all he could,

Above all he had integrity.

But he was so young, and on a ten city run,

In love with a truck stop girl.”

The song also reminded her of Zak. She sensed that he
was a man with integrity too.

The song continued:

“As he went inside, he was merrily greeted

By the girl with whom he was in love.

She held out her glass and said

Have another, this is the last time we can meet.

With her hair piled up high

And the look in her eye

That would turn any good man’s blood to wine.

All his eyes could see, well all his eyes could see

Was the stares from all those around him.

He ran out to the lot.

And climbed into his rig.

He drove off without tightening down.

It was a terrible thing to see what remained

Of the rig that poor Danny was in.

And he was so young and on a ten city run

In love with a truck stop girl.

But he was so young and on a ten city run,

In love with a truck stop girl.”

This song was a heartbreaker with a catchy melody.
Maggie could imagine Zak’s guitar wailing on the break. She thought this was
the kind of song that she would like to listen to on a record.

Zak knew the song, but not that well, so Maggie picked
up his Martin and played the chords and sang it for him. He picked up his black
Stratocaster, and Justin strapped on his Fender bass. They played through the
song a dozen times. Zak turned on the cassette recorder after they had worked
out all the breaks and recorded half a dozen versions of the song.

When they were done, Justin told Maggie that she had a
good ear for a song. “That’s a really great tune,” he said. “I enjoyed playing
that with you.”

Maggie basked a little in the praise. She didn’t get too
many compliments from the guys in her old band. They usually just liked to
point out what she was doing wrong. It seemed strange to her that she was
accepted so readily by these two men who didn’t know her that well. But maybe
that made sense, because they hadn’t known her in the beginning when she was
just trying to find her way musically.

Over the next several weeks, Maggie, Zak and Justin fell
into a routine.They would rehearse and record songs during the afternoons and
play gigs as they got them in the evenings and on the weekends. Zak and Justin
usually played in their band with a drummer named Tom. They had all known each
other since high school. Maggie immediately liked Tom. He was laid back and he
played drums tastefully, maintaining a steady rhythm and never drowning them
out.

Zak started introducing Maggie around to his family and
friends. They went over to his mother’s one Sunday afternoon for dinner. Zak’s
father had died two years ago, and Zak liked to visit his mother fairly often
to see how she was doing. Maggie and Zak’s mother liked each other instantly,
maybe because they were both independent women who shared a love for the same
man. While they were there, Zak’s older brother Caleb stopped by with his two
children. Maggie enjoyed the easy familiarity between the family members, and
immediately felt included in their circle.

Zak started taking Maggie out to some of the local clubs
to hear the bands that had influenced him. He took her over to Martine’s on a
Thursday night so she could hear the Cajun band Beausoleil. He especially
wanted her to hear Michael Doucet’s fiddle playing. Zak also took Maggie to see
some of the local zydeco bands like Dewey Balfa and Clifton Chenier and his Red
Hot Louisiana Band. Zak had started sneaking into clubs from the time he was in
high school to listen to these zydeco bands. Their music had influenced Zak
enormously and inspired him to create his own Louisiana style sound. He had
started a band in high school with his friends Justin and Tom and they began
playing music that was a fusion of rock, blues, Cajun and zydeco. They called
their band the Bayou Blasters.

Maggie found she was getting more and more immersed in
Zak’s life in Louisiana, but occasionally she missed Boston and her friends.
She had finally placed that phone call to her boyfriend Doug and told him that
she had met someone and that she wasn’t coming back. Doug was angry and told
her that she had two weeks to come home and move her things out. She called the
other members of her old band too and apologized to them for leaving. They were
shocked that she had left. Maggie had always lived within a 25 mile radius of
her hometown. They never thought that she would leave the Boston area. She told
them that she hadn’t left permanently, but that she needed to stay in Louisiana for a while because she was learning so much musically.

Maggie and Zak had a long discussion about the logistics
of moving Maggie’s possessions out of her old apartment in Lexington. Zak
wanted to go with her, not only to help her move but just in case things got
ugly with Doug. She thought that maybe she would move most of her things to her
parents’ house in the suburbs, and just bring her clothes and instruments back
to Louisiana. They considered driving to Boston, but Zak  couldn’t take off a
lot of time for the trip. He didn’t want to cancel any gigs because everyone in
the band needed the money. They decided that they would fly up to Boston, rent a U-Haul van to move Maggie’s things, and then drive it back to Louisiana. They made plane reservations for a Sunday, so that Zak could be back to play
with his band the following Saturday night.

Maggie felt somewhat nervous about all of this. It was a
major change for her to move to a new area to be with a new boyfriend. Zak
didn’t seem to have any reservations. He had been lonely after Jacqueline moved
out and he was looking forward to having a live-in girlfriend again. He didn’t
think that he had ever known any woman who understood him as well as Maggie
did. He had a feeling that this was the beginning of a long-term relationship.

While they were waiting to fly to Boston, Zak decided to
clean out a closet so that Maggie would have space for her clothes. He found
that Jacqueline had forgotten some of her things when she had moved out. He
packed them up in a box and then called her to come get them.

Jacqueline came over the next morning without warning
while Zak was out with Justin picking up some beer at the store. She sauntered
in the back door of the kitchen as Maggie was cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
She gave Maggie a hostile look and said, “I’m Jackie, Zak’s ex- girlfriend. I guess
you must be the new flavor of the month. I’ve heard about you. I’ve come to get
my things.”

Jacqueline was a stunning black woman, tall and
well-endowed.  She had shoulder length straight hair and a full mouth that was
probably very erotic when she wasn’t angry. Right now she was very angry.
Maggie told her to wait a minute while she got the box of Jacqueline’s clothes.
She came back with it, but Jacqueline didn’t look too grateful.

 “Let me give you some advice,” Jacqueline said. “You
might think that Zak is the greatest right now, but you’re going to get sick of
the drugs, drinking and women like I did. You should do yourself a favor and go
find yourself some boring accountant to marry.”

She then left, slamming the screen door behind her.

Maggie was shaken by their brief encounter. She could
tell that Jacqueline would have liked to hurt her, and if she couldn’t do it
physically then she would do it emotionally. Maggie was no innocent when it
came to the lifestyles of musicians. She had seen the ups and downs with her
own band. She knew that it was a life that probably didn’t appeal to most
women, but it was the kind of life that she led too. She didn’t think that she
would have any problems with Zak that she couldn’t handle, but then again, she
really didn’t know him that well yet.

Maggie heard the tires of the Lincoln squeal to a stop
in the driveway. Zak and Justin came in the back door, their arms loaded with
provisions. Zak looked carefully at Maggie’s face.

“Was that Jackie’s car I saw racing out of here? She
looked pissed.”

Maggie nodded, she didn’t want to say anything because
she was upset and her voice might give it away. Zak knew something was up
though.

“Are you o.k., sha? What did she say to you?”

Tears spilled over Maggie’s lower eyelids and ran down
her face.

“Well, basically she told me you are no good.”

Zak put his arms around Maggie and held her tightly and
said “Yeah, well I’ve reformed so don’t worry.”

Justin laughed and said “No one is good enough for
Jackie. She’s quite the princess.” He put the beer away in the fridge and
retreated with one of them to the living room to watch the football game.

Zak took Maggie to his bedroom sensing that she needed
some reassurance. They sat on the bed and Zak held Maggie’s hand. She seemed
very quiet.

“What’s the matter, darlin’?”

She looked a little embarrassed and then said “Are all
your girlfriends so beautiful?”

He looked a little taken aback.

“Well, some of them I guess. But I was always more
interested in being with a woman who was kind. Jackie was definitely NOT kind.
I let that relationship go on way too long. She did me a favor by ending it.”

Maggie sniffled a little and looked downhearted. Zak
took her face in his hands and kissed her lovingly.

“Maggie, don’t worry. Now that you’re here, I can’t
think about anyone else. I love you.”

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt sort of shocked.
She hadn’t expected him to say that so soon, but as soon as he said it, she
knew that she felt the same way.

“Zak,” she said tenderly, “I love you too. I’m so glad
we found each other.”

Zak felt like he had waited his whole life for this
moment. He felt so much love for Maggie and he pulled her to him so that he
could show her

By the time they got up, it was dark and the football
game was over. Justin had left the house in the Lincoln, probably to give them
some privacy. Zak decided to make a romantic dinner for Maggie. He wanted to
make a special shrimp creole that was his grandmother’s recipe. He started by
sautéing some shrimp in butter and garlic in a large frying pan and then he
added some flour and let it brown. Maggie asked what she could do to help. Zak
asked her to chop some onion, bell pepper and celery. While she did that, Zak
started making the rice. When she was done cutting up the vegetables, Zak added
them to the skillet along with some tomato sauce, water, sugar, thyme, and bay
leaf. He put it on simmer, occasionally stirring the mixture.

While Zak was cooking, Maggie grabbed his Martin and sat
at the table working out some chords to a song. Ever since her conversation
with Zak the previous night, a song had been running through her head. It was
the song “Kind Woman” by the Buffalo Springfield. It was a slow song and had a
beautiful break on the pedal steel guitar. Maggie thought that it would sound
good on the electric guitar too. She knew that Zak could sing it well.

She started singing it softly, 

“Kind woman, won’t you love me tonight,

The look in your eyes,

Kind woman don’t leave me lonely tonight,

Please say it’s alright.”

Zak glanced over from cooking at the stove and said, “I
love that song”.