Chapter 283 Tell the Truth
Richard huffed, "Man, if her little games ain't even aimed at the folks who really care about her, how's she gonna get anywhere like that? Who's gonna give a damn? Look at Raymond and Nancy. They don't even mess with her. Brenda's just milking our feelings."
Arnold nodded with a bitter smile. "Yeah, you think we used to feel the same about Elizabeth? We totally took advantage of her family love for us 'cause we thought she'd always be there for us."
Richard sighed deeply, "Now that you mention it, we were pretty crappy too. Over the years, Brenda's rubbed off on us way too much."
Arnold added, "We've all been led astray by Brenda. There's definitely some truth to the idea that hanging around bad people or places can mess you up too."
He muttered, "If Elizabeth hadn't gone missing when she was little and had grown up with us instead, we definitely wouldn't have turned out like this."
They decided to keep their distance from Brenda in the future, so they wouldn't get dragged down again.
Meanwhile, Brenda and Enrique had struck a deal with the show crew. The crew hooked them up with a harp and helped smooth things over with the Aevum City management. The management let them find a spot to perform.
Seraphim Heights wanted to pull in more visitors for better growth, so being on a variety show was like free advertising. As long as they didn't go overboard, the city management was pretty chill.
After setting up the harp, Brenda sat down and her fingers danced over the strings. She started playing with all the confidence in the world.
Enrique jumped in to draw a crowd. With his efforts and the busy street, a decent crowd gathered at first.
But as they listened, people started to drift away.
Enrique couldn't help but stop some folks and ask, "Why are you leaving?"
A tourist replied, "We're just not into it. What's the big deal?"
Enrique said, "This harp music is so beautiful. Wanna stick around a bit longer?"
The tourist responded politely, "We like the performances by the girls during the music festivals here in Aevum City better."
Another person chimed in, "On the next street, Zachary from Elizabeth's group is playing the harp too, and it's way better than this."
She pulled her friend and urged, "Let's go, let's keep listening on the next street. Even Eugene's recorder playing is more fun than this."
At least Eugene had a good-looking face. What was there to see with Brenda? If they wanted to see a beauty, wouldn't they go see Elizabeth?
Watching people leave one after another, Enrique fell silent. He wondered, 'Is Elizabeth our nemesis or what?'
When Brenda finished her piece, she saw that more than half the crowd had bailed. Seeing Enrique asking for tips but getting almost nothing, her face tightened. How could this be? She thought she had nailed it.
At this point, Enrique was about to lose it. He'd never been short on cash growing up, and now he was stooping to ask for tips. But hardly anyone was giving him anything. He felt super embarrassed, but he sucked it up to prove Raymond wrong.
Thick-skinned as ever, Enrique asked a seemingly approachable girl, "Hey, Brenda played pretty well, right? How about tossing a little tip our way?"
The girl stepped back a few paces and shook her head. "Honestly, it was pretty average. Aevum City has a music festival every five days. The performers there are way better than Brenda. And it's free, with complimentary tea and desserts."
She added, "On the next street, Zachary from your other group is playing the harp beautifully, and he's not charging either. So, where do you get the nerve to ask for money?"
The girl was a fan of Elizabeth and had come to listen to Brenda play just to find an opportunity to mock them. Who would've thought Enrique would catch her right away? Of course, she had to spill the truth.
The girl's words got a lot of nods and agreement.
"Yeah, there are tons of good harpists in Aevum City."
"Listening for free is cool, but paying for it? Nah, not worth it."
"I thought it was free at first, but turns out they want money. This is Aevum City; the last thing it lacks is good harpists. With this level, you have the nerve to ask for money."
Enrique fell silent, feeling super embarrassed. Not just him, but Brenda was also mortified. She hadn't seen this coming.
To dodge more awkwardness, Brenda quickly got up and asked Enrique to prep while she started dancing. If people didn't dig the harp, surely they'd be into dancing, right? She'd been practicing dance since she was a kid and was pretty pro.
But as she danced, more people bailed. They even complained, "This dance is just meh, not as good as the girls at the dance parties."
Someone nodded. "Totally. Let's hit the dance party tomorrow. And they don't charge."
Another one said, "If a dance could wow me, I'd pay, but this one didn't. Let's bounce, we're not paying, and we're not watching."
The crowd watching Brenda dance almost completely dispersed.
As she danced, Brenda saw what was happening and couldn't keep going.
Enrique stepped forward to comfort Brenda, "Brenda, let's stop dancing. It's not that you're not good; they just don't get it."
His words only made Brenda feel more embarrassed. She thought to herself, 'If Enrique doesn't know how to comfort, he shouldn't even try. This is just making things worse.'
She forced a rather strained smile. "Enrique, I heard them say there are tons of free harp and dance performances here. Since we're charging, naturally fewer people are interested. Let's think of another way to make money." She believed it wasn't about her not being good; people just wanted free shows. And she shouldn't have listened to Enrique's push to keep playing and dancing.
Brenda was also annoyed that she hadn't done more homework on Aevum City before coming. Who knew there were free music and dance festivals in the city? Now, not only had they failed to prove Raymond wrong, but they had also embarrassed themselves.
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