Yelena removes the sax case from her back and walks around the garage and living space, looking for any signs that someone has been in or might still be in Arc's home. She immediately notices the smell of worked metal and realizes that Arc has been at work. At least she hopes it is Arc. Yelena walks into the living space and hears the shower running. She looks around but does not see the rigger man's clothes on the bed. She smiles and sighs. Going to the kitchen she puts a huge pot of soycaf on and gets out some packages of cookies that she had squirreled away from Arc. While the soycaf is cooking up she has time to think about things. So much is happening right now. By all rights she should have left the sprawl after the Ancients' job and been somewhere else. Instead she had been embroiled in things she does not begin to understand and for the first time in many years she finds that she wants to understand. And that in itself is surprising. She never questions the contract. She never stays. She never makes emotional connections. These are the rules of her life that she adopted after the sax man's betrayal. Now there is Arc. And Marco. And Sam. And Feathers. And Z. And........... And the list just goes on. Too many people are now too close to her. Yelena has to face the truth that she might not be able to leave; that the Barrens is where she shadow will claim her when it is done with her.
She goes to the sax case and opens it, removing the precious instrument. Stroking it like a lover, Yelena tests every key and pull. Putting the sax on the counter, she takes a chair and small table and goes outside the building. The weather is cold, but not unbearable just now, and she places the chair and table on the sidewalk near the large burn barrel outside the garage. Returning to the kitchen, she finds Arc sipping a cup of the soycaf and giving her one of those patented "Arc wants to know what the frag is going on" looks. "Yelena glad see Arc, too. Will play sax outside. Think others come listen. Soycaf is good for cold." She also notices the open package of cookies and blushes. "Was going tell Arc about cookies. Arc like too much. Eat all one night." Laughing, she grabs the large pot, the remaining cookies, and some chipped mugs and goes outside to place them on the table before bringing the sax out. She fires up the burn barrel before sitting on the chair and begins to play. She plays what comes to her fingers, not having any specific playlist in mind. The tones from the sax lift up into the early evening, stirring souls all along the street. Some passers-by stop to listen to a refrain and stay for a song or set of songs. The hot soycaf and burn barrel keep the people near and few complain about sharing the few mugs on the table. People come from shops and humble dwellings to listen to the music. It does not take long before an enterprising young man pulls out a mouth harp and tries to follow Yelena's lead. His skill is clearly not equal to hers, but the small crowd does not seem to care. Carl Grimes from the Snack Bin across the street slips a second pot of soycaf onto the table. Willa Cathers, a struggling mother of three adds a loaf of bread. When Henry Walker from the Blade's End tavern from down the street steps outside to see where some of his regulars are, he sees the crowd and brings a second table and some of the sweets from the bar. A man turns over a trash bin and begins playing it as a drum. Yelena is reminded of the Ork she had met briefly......Duckdown had been his name and he could really play the drums. This man was not as good, but he was here and the other man had left the Barrens for parts unknown.
Without any planning, Yelena and Arc have a small block party going on. Someone rolled another burn barrel over and Yelena had someone bring Arc's large light stands out from the garage. Some people were dancing in the street to the tunes and the three-person impromptu band was a hit. Who knew that a sax, mouth harp, and trash can could help bring people together in this little part of the Barrens. People that had never acknowledged each other were introducing themselves and talking, singing, and generally having fun. A bit of tension was introduced when a pair of KE patrol officers pulled up in a heavily armored cruiser. Some of the small crowd melted into the darkness as one of the KE men got out of the car and made his way through the crowd. After surveying the activity he motioned to his partner, who emerged from the patrol cruiser and took two large bags from the rear storage compartment. He brought the bags to his partner, who took them and began removing food and soycaf containers, placing them on the tables. A rather pretty girl that Yelena knew was a prostitute by the name of Tori went up to one of the policemen and took his arm, leading him to the area where others had been dancing. Yelena and the others started playing again and the surprised KE man joined the girl for a dance before going back to his partner and getting back in the car. He waved to the crowd as they drove away.
Yelena had the thought that Z was definitely right. The shadows had room for kindness and heroes as well as villains and gangs.
