They kept driving in the city. They drove to a coffee shop. Karl’s coffee shop. When they stopped, Violet gave Daniel a questionable look. “Why did we stop?”
“I want you to meet someone, okay?”
“Who?”
“You’ll see,” Daniel smiled.
They got out of the car. Daniel led the way to the coffee shop. When he entered, he saw Lily and Karl getting coffee and making little things here and there. They were both shocked to see Daniel on a Sunday. Just tease the hair, let his bread grow to the floor.
Oh yes, he could have easily been a mad man.
“Hello brother, what are you doing? On the weekend . . . . out of your house, are you okay?” Karl asked with a questionable tone.
“Yes, I’m okay. Nice to see you too. I want you to meet someone, okay?” Daniel said pushing Violet in front of him.
“Well, hello,” Karl said smiling at her.
“Hi!” she smiled. “I’m Violet Piosenkarz
Karl gave a wide and warm smile. “Well, hello to you Violet Piosenkarz. I’m Karl Anderson. I’m Daniel’s brother, the more handsome one. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she smiled as she looked over to the stage. “Hey! Is that a Yamaha keyboard?”
They all looked over to the stage, and say the equipment that was being set up. “Oh, yeah, someone left it here, and having returned. Been months since the band came back for it.”
“Was this before, or after they got signed,” Daniel joked. Karl wasn’t impressed.
“Can . . . can I go check it out?” Violet asked.
“Go for it.”
Violet didn’t need another answer. She almost ran to it, almost slipping on her way up. Karl and Daniel both watched her. “Okay, Daniel, tell me what is going on, right now. Who is she?”
“Her name is Violet. She’s homeless, and I found her. I took her in-“
“Wait, what?”
“I took her in-“
“Yeah, I heard that part, but what are you talking about? Do you even know her? You let her in your house?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel questioned this himself and was lucky when Violet started to play the piano. Karl snapped his neck as she played, ‘Clocks’, by Coldplay. She hit all the notes, every line, and was on tune. Karl stared.
Violet closed her eyes as she played. Daniel was blown away also. After she finished the song, the whole seven people in that shop clapped until their hands were red and bleeding.
Violet looked up and smiled. She stood up and bowed. “Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week!”
Karl smiled and looked at Daniel. “She sure isn’t shy.”
“No, she is not,” Daniel said with wide eyes, but smiled. “Look, I need a favor. She needs a job. Some work to get her going, you know?”
Karl sighed. “I can’t hire her, I don’t-“
“I’ll pay for her,” Daniel said. Karl’s confused face made him go on explaining, “Look, she’s been homeless since she was 13. She’s barley 21. No school, no experience, she just needs a hand. I knew you can’t afford to hire somebody. Let me give you the money, to get to her, so she feels like she is earning the money herself. She has her first job in a controlled environment.”
“Daniel, why are you doing this? You barely know each other.”
He thought about it for a while. There wasn’t one straight answer that he could care of. There was a lot of reasons not to care about the stranger, someone that he barely knew. But he did care. “She needs a second chance at life. When we were 20, who gave that to us?”
Karl sighed, “Can you let me talk about it with Lily, please?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Daniel’s eyes gleamed.
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