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songs I’d like to work on for an album of my own.”
    Zak kissed her and said “I’m happy that you’ve come to
that decision.”

.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
    The next morning, they told Justin that Maggie
would be staying on for a while. Justin laughed and said “I could see that
coming.” He seemed pleased though, he liked being around Maggie too, she was
fun and Zak was in a much better mood when she was around. Then Maggie told Zak
and Justin that she had some songs that she was interested in working on. The
three of them actually had a lot in common musically, they all liked
progressive country rock like the Allman Brothers, the Flying Burrito Brothers
and the Byrds. Maggie said she wanted to do a song by the Byrds called “Truck
Stop Girl”. She loved singing that song and she thought that Zak would sound
great playing electric guitar on it. She had been thinking about that song ever
since she drove down from Boston and had seen the truck driver jackknifed over
the edge of the highway.
     
    The song went:
     
    “His tail lights flickered
    as he pulled up to the truck stop.
    The same old crowd was hanging out again tonight.
    He said fill up my tank, while I go check my load,
    It feels like it’s shifting all around.
    He was the kind of man, to do all he could,
    Above all he had integrity.
    But he was so young, and on a ten city run,
    In love with a truck stop girl.”
     
    The song also reminded her of Zak. She sensed that he
was a man with integrity too.
     
    The song continued:
     
    “As he went inside, he was merrily greeted
    By the girl with whom he was in love.
    She held out her glass and said
    Have another, this is the last time we can meet.
     
    With her hair piled up high
    And the look in her eye
    That would turn any good man’s blood to wine.
    All his eyes could see, well all his eyes could see
    Was the stares from all those around him.
     
    He ran out to the lot.
    And climbed into his rig.
    He drove off without tightening down.
    It was a terrible thing to see what remained
    Of the rig that poor Danny was in.
     
    And he was so young and on a ten city run
    In love with a truck stop girl.
    But he was so young and on a ten city run,
    In love with a truck stop girl.”
     
    This song was a heartbreaker with a catchy melody.
Maggie could imagine Zak’s guitar wailing on the break. She thought this was
the kind of song that she would like to listen to on a record.
    Zak knew the song, but not that well, so Maggie picked
up his Martin and played the chords and sang it for him. He picked up his black
Stratocaster, and Justin strapped on his Fender bass. They played through the
song a dozen times. Zak turned on the cassette recorder after they had worked
out all the breaks and recorded half a dozen versions of the song.
    When they were done, Justin told Maggie that she had a
good ear for a song. “That’s a really great tune,” he said. “I enjoyed playing
that with you.”
    Maggie basked a little in the praise. She didn’t get too
many compliments from the guys in her old band. They usually just liked to
point out what she was doing wrong. It seemed strange to her that she was
accepted so readily by these two men who didn’t know her that well. But maybe
that made sense, because they hadn’t known her in the beginning when she was
just trying to find her way musically.
     
    Over the next several weeks, Maggie, Zak and Justin fell
into a routine.They would rehearse and record songs during the afternoons and
play gigs as they got them in the evenings and on the weekends. Zak and Justin
usually played in their band with a drummer named Tom. They had all known each
other since high school. Maggie immediately liked Tom. He was laid back and he
played drums tastefully, maintaining a steady rhythm and never drowning them
out.
    Zak started introducing Maggie around to his family and
friends. They went over to his mother’s one Sunday afternoon for dinner. Zak’s
father had died two years ago,