Part 29: Hey Brother

The Promised Land: 

(Part 29) Hey Brother

Eden tilted her head toward the stranger’s guitar. “You play very well.”

“Thanks.” The blonde said while extending a hand. “They call me Asher.”

“Eden.” She shook his hand once and let go.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parts before,” Asher commented as he rested the guitar flat across his lap.

“Yeah, I’m not really from around here.” Eden admitted, looking the stranger over again. Something seemed incredibly familiar about him, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. He looked to be about either late twenties or early thirties. The leather bomber jacket on the stair next to him looked fairly old and well worn.

 “I’m not either.” Asher shrugged. “I just drop in every now and then.” He seemed to contemplate something for a few seconds. “Eden… That’s an interesting tag. Or is that your name?”

“Um… my name, I guess?” she replied, trying not to sound too ignorant. “I’m not entirely sure what you mean by ‘tag’.”

“Oh, you weren’t kidding,” Asher said with a slight chuckle. “Almost everyone in the resistance has a tag, especially the gifted. It’s an extra hurdle for the Atari. Not letting them know exactly who you are makes it a little easier to slip through their fingers.” After a pause, Asher raised his eyebrows. “You’re not a maverick, are you?”

“What’s a maverick?” Eden briefly wondered if her genuine cluelessness would somehow cost her later on.

“Someone who sides with the Dictator. You don’t usually find a whole bunch of them outside star cities, but the ones who are think they can get some sort of benefit from it.”

“Oh, ok.” Eden nodded in comprehension. “I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t sound like a nice guy.”

“Ri-ight…” Asher chuckled again. “Where did you say you were from?”

“Tennessee.”

“East or West?”

“Uh… West, I guess…” Eden kept a mental note to ask Caden if Tennessee had split into two different states in the last 90 years.

“Really?” Asher’s eyes narrowed to a skeptical look. “Where’s your accent?”

“We moved around a few times. My family’s originally from Texas.”

“Mine too!” His lopsided grin, although warm and pleasant, struck a chord in Eden’s memory. “Small world,” he continued. “Whereabouts?”

“Abilene. Um… Now that I think about it, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you look really familiar.” Eden’s curiosity got the better of her. “Would you happen to have a relative named Sam Teknia, by any chance?”

Asher’s eyes widened and his grin fell. He looked at her for several long minutes. Eden couldn’t tell if his expression was one of horror, surprise, confusion, or all of the above.

“Do I know you?” he finally asked.

“Oh boy, you’ve really done it this time,” Eden thought as she shook her head. “No, why?”

“How did you know my name?”

“Quick, Eden, say something! Do something!” she thought in panic. “Oh, so YOU’RE Sam! I had no idea, I really didn’t. How’s life, Sam? That’s a really great name, by the way. Did you get that from your father or something?”

“Grandfather, actually…” he said, still lost in confusion. Eden hoped he would overlook the complete breach of confidentiality she displayed by blurting out his actual name instead of using his “tag”.

“Ah, cool. It’s a good name. Sorry if that was borderline creepy. It’s just that you looked familiar is all.” Her self-conscious apology delivered, Eden looked around for a way out of the conversation without making it any more awkward.

Shiloh was actually making his way toward them, carrying his violin case over one shoulder. “He seriously takes that thing with him everywhere,” Eden realized.

“There’s a familiar face!” Asher said as Shiloh walked up. The two bumped fists and Shy planted himself on a nearby step.

“You two know each other?” Eden asked with surprise.

“Sure do,” Sam answered then turned to Shiloh. “You been practicing?” Boomer shrugged while opening the case and taking out his violin. He took a minute to make sure everything was in order then pointed at Asher’s guitar with the violin bow.

Sitting the guitar up, Asher briefly swept his hand across the strings. “I haven’t really practiced in a while. I’ll start off with an easy bass and you can go from there.” With a short nod, Shy placed the violin on his shoulder and held his bow in position. Eden sat on the ground in front of the two with her legs crossed.

Asher strummed a couple repetitive notes before Shiloh picked up with the melody. Eden didn’t recognize it, though apparently Asher did because after a few lines of melody he started singing.
“Hey brother, do you still believe in one another? Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?”

He wasn’t an amazing singer, Eden thought, but he had a decent voice. On the next line, a second voice chimed in.

“Oh if the sky comes fallin’ down, for you there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do.”

Eden turned around to see Caden come up with a small bag in each hand. He sat on the other side of Asher and they continued to sing back and forth. “What if I’m far from home?”

“Oh brother, I will hear you call,” Asher answered.

“What if I lose it all?”

“Oh sister, I will help you out.”

“Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you,” they sang together, “There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.”

Their voices became silent while Shiloh’s violin melody turned into it’s own solo.

Goosebumps rippled up and down Eden’s arms as she watched the three continue singing and playing together. If there were ever a moment in her time here that she wanted to capture and play over and over again, this would be it. The harmony, the camaraderie, and the enjoyment were all things she wanted to savor.

After Shy’s solo, Asher started singing again. “Hey brother, there’s an endless road to rediscover. Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?”

Caden joined in again where he did before. “Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.”

“What if I’m far from home?”

“Oh brother, I will hear you call.”

“What if I lose it all?”

“Oh sister, I will help you out.”

“Oh if the sky comes falling down, for you there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.”

Shiloh had his own solo again, but it wasn’t as long. When he finished, the entire song ended. Eden enthusiastically clapped when they were done. “That was amazing!”