For Food Money

Elise was surprised that the person who knew the most pop songs was Kyle. Cody had an ear for classical and ethnic music, most of which wasn’t suited for the western musical scale, and Marsh was a fan of old rock and alternative rock, in that order.

So Elise let Kyle sit beside her on the corner of Harney and 11th while they played for food money. Elise had put a lot of effort into learning weird Indie music and grunge rock – so maybe Cody calling her a Courtney Love cliché had some truth to it – but her taste in music wasn’t going to get them fed.

“Try some Leona Lewis,” Kyle said. “You can sing, right?” And he hummed the melody.

For all that Cody assumed most days Elise was uneducated white trash, she’d had a decent enough musical education, and she could pick out a chord progression for a melody. “I don’t know the words,” she said..

Kyle sighed. “Fine. Just for you, I’ll break out my countertenor skills. You ready?”

Elise tested the chord progression, and then Kyle explained the verse-chorus-bridge layout to her, and they began another performance. A group of girls stopped to listen and coo at Kyle (who looked all of six and was really twelve) and nod along to the song, and they dropped some actual bills into Elise’s case, and maybe at the end of an eight-hour day they’d have enough to buy supper for all of them.

Kyle scanned the streets and spotted a group of retiree tourists.

“How’s your American folk music?” he asked.

Elise could play Spanish guitar with the best of them. “What do you mean?”

“Woody Guthrie,” Kyle said. “I know all the verses.”

So Elise played, and Kyle sang, and they were paid.

(300 words)