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he still wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, heck, he wasn't even sure if what he was doing was really a good idea or if he was even going to make enough money.
was still able to remember the last time he was on that pier with the same guitar in his arms, the same case open in front of him and with the same nerves of not knowing what to expect.
the only thing that differentiated that occasion from this was that this time he didn't have Luke or Alex as support, it was only him against the sea of eyes that were waiting for him to make the first move.
“doesn't he ever think to start?”
“do you think he's going to vomit?”
“mommy, can we go? I already got bored.”
Reggie did his best to block the voices that reached his ears but he was not able to silence them, until a voice that he knew well penetrated his head.
“we do this for the music, what does it matter if we don't eat tonight?”
“𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.” his fingers touched the first notes of the song almost by inertia, at the same time that he was able to find his voice again. “𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
he was able to hear the full sighs of the people who had been patient enough to wait for him but Reggie had completely given himself to the song to care enough.
“𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦.” his eyes remained closed as the words spilled from his lips like an uncontrolled waterfall. “𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬.”
Reggie he couldn't stop thinking that maybe it had been a bad idea to go get money that way, or at least it had been a bad idea to have done it on that specific pier.
the memories didn't stop invading his head; the prejudiced looks, the police forbidding them to play, the days without food, the cold nights where he felt Luke's arm around his body until he stopped shaking.
“𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶-𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶-𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦” despite having his eyes closed, tears flooded them to the point that they escaped from his eyelids to start down his cheeks. “𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘓𝘢 Ciénaga, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
it was necessary to swallow the huge lump that began to form in his throat, otherwise, his voice would start to break at any moment and the small audience in front of him could decide not to tip him.
and he needed the money.
“𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩.”
could feel as if his heart was going to shoot out of his chest because of the strong beats he gave, how Luke's guitar weighed more than he remembered in his arms and how the tears didn't stop down his cheeks.
“𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
the last phrase had come out almost in a sigh, ending the song and starting the shower of applause.
when he opened his eyes he realized that he was not imagining the sound, people were really praising him and leaving money inside the case.
quickly wiped away the tears that were beginning to dry on his skin and then drew the typical smile that he always had on his face.
“thank you so much.”