Chapter 6 - Jeffrey August

Steven and Eliza stayed in the room for 10 more minutes making small talk and making sure that Kai was feeling better. Eventually they left but surprisingly Jeffrey (or Jeff) decided to stay with Kai for a little while longer.

Seeing the young man stay silent and introspect on everything happening around him, Jeff decided to distract him with conversation. "Kid, don't overthink about everything happening, just relax for now. Overthinking won't really make the next few days go faster." Kai looked at the man and nodded his head slightly. Jeff continued "Also I've spoken to Steven and once you're out of here, I'd like you to come and live with me. That is if you want to of course. You don't need to worry about bills, fresh food and everything else. My family can take care for you at least until you're all better!"

Kai looked shocked for a second but then skeptical. "Why? You don't know anything about me. I could be a crook at best or a murderer at worst. Why trust me?" he enquired skeptically.

Jeff snorted. "Haa.. do you think Steve did not do any research about my savior before you went to surgery? I know a fair bit about you Kai. Your medical records were easily accessible coupled with your family history. You lived with your grandmother for all your life as mother passed during childbirth. My condolences for that. After your grandmother passed away almost 6 years ago, you've been living alone surviving on the savings left by her and working odd jobs to sustain yourself."

"Your employers have said positive things about you as well. Hard worker, doesn't slack off and is very honest with a helpful attitude. You also are studying in LA City College and are currently finishing your bachelor's in performing arts where you're quite the model student according to Steven." Jeff finished. Kai was stunned. 'How did he find out so much about me in less than 24 hours?' he wondered.

Hearing the silence, Jeff burst into laughter. "Peace kid. The doctors wanted to know about your guardians so we could contact them about the surgery. But after getting to know the primary details, I asked Steven to research more about you. Quite the life you've led young man" The old man finished with a hint of respect in his tone.

"Haaaaaaaaa..." Kai sighed. "Yeah whatever you said is true" he confirmed. "But why do you want to offer me a place to stay? You could just walk away and I won't blame you for that." "Just like how you could have ran away when you reach the cash counter but you still to help me?" The blind man's tone took an edge. "You're a good kid. Anyone else would have helped themselves and ran away. But you ran just by hearing me in pain. That makes you a good person in my books and I help people who are good to me" he stated firmly.

Kai did not know what to say. He just looked at the man before him and sighed. But there was a small part of him that was very happy. His biggest fears were taken away by the man and his family and he was grateful in his mind. He felt a little emotional but refused to let it out. But Jeff could hear the small sniffle the boy let out and smirked. He then squeezed the boys hand and intoned "You saved my life kid. The least I could do is take care of you in your time of need." "Mh-uh" The boy nodded to show he understood.

Then to lighten the atmosphere Jeff continued "Enough about the sappy stuff. So I know a lot about you but you don't know anything about me! So let me introduce myself properly. As you know, I am Jeffrey August. I'm a retired now but in the 70s and 80s, I used to be a pretty well known musician. HA. Those were some pretty wild days!"

Musician? Kai's eyes widened. 'Was he a singer? Or just part of a band? But I have never heard the name Jeffrey August. So maybe he wasn't too successful?' he wondered.

"Sir?" Kai inquired. " Were you a singer or part of a band? Could you tell me more about the music industry during you time? And what do you do now?" he asked rapidly. A tinge of warmth returning to his voice.

"Don't call me sir, just call me Jeffrey or Jeff. Or even Old man if you want to!" Jeff barked while laughing. "And to answer your question. I was a singer. A pretty big one too. But I used a stage name to mask my real one. I don't need to tell you that Jeffrey isn't the most promising name for an artist.." he seemed to be lost in his thoughts after finishing that.

"Stage name?" Kai repeated. "Can you tell me what your stage name was?" 'A white man in his early to mid 60s who played in the 70s and 80s and by his tone was reasonably popular. Also he's either partially or fully blind now. Hmmmmmmm' Kai wondered. He thought of a lot of artists who could fit the mold but very few came to mind and none fit the description perfectly.

Jeff smirked hearing the anticipation in his voice. "Don't you want to get in the entertainment industry? C'mon give me a guess or two." He goaded the teen.

Kai huffed unenthusiastically but decided to humor the man. "Were you ever part of a band? Or always a solo artist?" he further asked. "What is this, 20 questions?" Jeff laughed but decided to answer anyway. "I was fully solo. Had a good number of collabs but my music is my own and no one else's" he finished.

'Hmmmmm' Kai thought hard and suddenly one name popped up in his mind and his eyes widened. There was one artist who was huge in the 80s but abruptly decided quit making music after a drunken tragic accident killed his wife and left him in despair.

"Zephyr" Kai murmured. Jeff smiled sadly after hearing the name. The name brought up a lot of both good and bad memories for the man. All the wonderful music he made but the loss of his wife made him hate that name too. At least it did once up a time.

"Nice to meet you Kai" Jeffrey said with a slight smile.

But Kai just stared at the man in shock!