The Gift Read Online Free PDF

and Zak liked to visit his mother fairly often
to see how she was doing. Maggie and Zak’s mother liked each other instantly,
maybe because they were both independent women who shared a love for the same
man. While they were there, Zak’s older brother Caleb stopped by with his two
children. Maggie enjoyed the easy familiarity between the family members, and
immediately felt included in their circle.
    Zak started taking Maggie out to some of the local clubs
to hear the bands that had influenced him. He took her over to Martine’s on a
Thursday night so she could hear the Cajun band Beausoleil. He especially
wanted her to hear Michael Doucet’s fiddle playing. Zak also took Maggie to see
some of the local zydeco bands like Dewey Balfa and Clifton Chenier and his Red
Hot Louisiana Band. Zak had started sneaking into clubs from the time he was in
high school to listen to these zydeco bands. Their music had influenced Zak
enormously and inspired him to create his own Louisiana style sound. He had
started a band in high school with his friends Justin and Tom and they began
playing music that was a fusion of rock, blues, Cajun and zydeco. They called
their band the Bayou Blasters.
    Maggie found she was getting more and more immersed in
Zak’s life in Louisiana, but occasionally she missed Boston and her friends.
She had finally placed that phone call to her boyfriend Doug and told him that
she had met someone and that she wasn’t coming back. Doug was angry and told
her that she had two weeks to come home and move her things out. She called the
other members of her old band too and apologized to them for leaving. They were
shocked that she had left. Maggie had always lived within a 25 mile radius of
her hometown. They never thought that she would leave the Boston area. She told
them that she hadn’t left permanently, but that she needed to stay in Louisiana for a while because she was learning so much musically.
    Maggie and Zak had a long discussion about the logistics
of moving Maggie’s possessions out of her old apartment in Lexington. Zak
wanted to go with her, not only to help her move but just in case things got
ugly with Doug. She thought that maybe she would move most of her things to her
parents’ house in the suburbs, and just bring her clothes and instruments back
to Louisiana. They considered driving to Boston, but Zak  couldn’t take off a
lot of time for the trip. He didn’t want to cancel any gigs because everyone in
the band needed the money. They decided that they would fly up to Boston, rent a U-Haul van to move Maggie’s things, and then drive it back to Louisiana. They made plane reservations for a Sunday, so that Zak could be back to play
with his band the following Saturday night.
    Maggie felt somewhat nervous about all of this. It was a
major change for her to move to a new area to be with a new boyfriend. Zak
didn’t seem to have any reservations. He had been lonely after Jacqueline moved
out and he was looking forward to having a live-in girlfriend again. He didn’t
think that he had ever known any woman who understood him as well as Maggie
did. He had a feeling that this was the beginning of a long-term relationship.
    While they were waiting to fly to Boston, Zak decided to
clean out a closet so that Maggie would have space for her clothes. He found
that Jacqueline had forgotten some of her things when she had moved out. He
packed them up in a box and then called her to come get them.
    Jacqueline came over the next morning without warning
while Zak was out with Justin picking up some beer at the store. She sauntered
in the back door of the kitchen as Maggie was cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
She gave Maggie a hostile look and said, “I’m Jackie, Zak’s ex- girlfriend. I guess
you must be the new flavor of the month. I’ve heard about you. I’ve come to get
my things.”
    Jacqueline was a stunning black woman, tall and
well-endowed.  She had shoulder length straight hair and a full