Answer:
Hi!
Step-by-step explanation:
It was a hot sunny day, and I was playing my saxophone in Chicago, Illinois for what few dollars I could scrounge up. Sweat trickled down my back, but I played on to the tune of 'Who can it be now.' Passersby walked past me without barely a glance, and I could tell that it was not going to be a great day. I needed to find an actual job, and soon. One that paid the bills.
I never stopped playing throughout the day, even though my throat was sore and my stomach rumbling. I needed water, but I was too tired to get up and go find any. I leaned on my corner by Lincoln Park and stared at the bright billboards featuring famous bands such as Big Thief and BTS. One day I wanted to play for bands like theirs, but first I had to get off this street corner.
I lifted myself up and collected my earnings for the day, about sixty dollars. The minimum wage earned twice that in a day. I went to go buy a water bottle from the cornershop but stopped short. Now that the air around me wasn't being filled with loud saxophone playing, I heard the faint sound of drums playing in the distance.
I decided to forget the water, and go find the drums. I knew, statistically, that street players made more when playing in groups. Maybe I could convince this stranger to join me.
The sound got closer and closer, and I began to rethink the idea with every step I took. The drummer apparently played at the intersection of West Webster and North Stockton, which was close to the zoo. I caught sight of them and decided to just go with it. The drummer was male, taller than me, with long brown hair and stubble. I gathered all my courage and walked up.
"Hi, I'm (I can't name characters you name them). I am also a street player about a block down from you. I heard you playing and came to ask whether you would like to become a group of street players? I play the saxophone by the way."
The man looked me up and down. "My name is (name this one too). Where exactly do you play? Also, I usually play with my friend, but she is sick today. Would it be a problem if she joined as well?"
I got very happy at the implication that not one, but two people were joining my little corner. Or I could join their corner. Whatever. I answered, "I play at the bus stop and the Starbucks, the corner of West Dickens and North Clark Street. Also, I would love it if you two join! What does she play?" At this point, my throat was getting very sore, and I regretted not getting the water first.
*tall guy* said something back to me, but I couldn't really tell. The lack of food, water, and sleep was getting to me. I swayed and fell.
I woke up with a faceful of concrete. I stumbled up, feeling better. *tall gu* was hovering over me worriedly, clearly not knowing what to do. I didn't blame him. A guy he had just met had just passed out on him.
I straightened and shook myself out. "Sorry for that, it's the lack of water, you know? Would you mind repeating?" He looked dubious but agreed.
His friend, who was apparently named *girl*, played the cymbals. We agreed to move to my corner since it was busier. We hammered out the details of the songs we would play long into the night.
I played alone for the next couple of days. I figured his friend was still sick, or he had changed his mind entirely. On Saturday, *tall guy* and a girl who I figured was *girl* approached, instruments in tow. We set up, and we played until ten at night. The money in the hat was amazing!
"At this point," I joked, "We might as well be a band ourselves!" It was true. With *tall guy* and *girl* at the corner with me, life was good for a while. We split the money fairly, but it might as well have been group money with the way we spent it. We used it to buy food, pay rent, and upgrade our setup.
*tall guy* once asked if we would consider performing on a stage. I was onboard, but *girl* wondered if we had enough people to do it. We tried anyway. We took one of the instrumental songs we wrote ourselves, called Sledgehammer, and went onstage in a club.
I think they liked us? *tall guy* wanted to do it again, but I think *girl* is right. We don't have enough people. However, the money from the gig was great. We didn't have to worry about rent that month.
I asked if we should find another person online. The clarinet would be a good addition to our band. We used the library computers and found a person named *internet person* who was looking for a job. They agreed to join us, and we named ourselves The Hammers after the first song we created. *tall guy* asked if we should go on stage again, and this time everyone agreed.