Excerpt: Art of Zen

Chapter 1

Zena Erickson was with her friends at the first bonfire of the summer psyching herself up for the 10am flight she had to be on the next day to New York City. Two years earlier, when her parents divorced, she had made the decision that would change her life forever. She would spend the long summer months with her mom in New York City while living with her dad during the school year in the home where she’d grown up right here in Venice Beach, CA. She didn’t see the point in leaving home when all her friends and her entire life were here in this town. Sapphire O’Brien was her best friend and had been since they were toddlers. They had a bond that could never be broken and the thought of not living near her was unbearable.
Sapphire’s mom was infamous Rock-n-Roll Groupie/Muse turned A & R Rep for one of the most important record labels in the country turned Earthy Muse Coffee House and Hookah Lounge Proprietor, Ms. Amethyst O’Brien. Her dad, Jack O’Brien was Professor Laureate for the Poly Sci Department at UCLA. Zena looked to them whenever she needed stability or balance. Her own home life was always in a state of confusion and chaos. She didn’t know it any other way.
Her dad, drummer for the late 80s-early 90s rock band, Chain Reaction, was the dashingly hand-some Mike Erickson and her mom was beautiful debutante and concert pianist turned late 80s groupie, Leslie Anderson. They met one night after a concert in LA. Leslie went backstage with some friends of hers and decided she wanted drummer Mike Erickson. He was only too happy to oblige and nine months later, Charisma Zena Erickson entered the picture kicking and screaming. From the moment he laid eyes on his beautiful baby girl, Mike vowed to marry Leslie and be the father to Zena that he never had. Leslie, young and scared at 17, was grateful to Mike for not leaving her with a baby out of wedlock and fell so in love that she was ecstatic to marry him. What could be better than being married to a huge rock star? They had a beautiful ceremony on the beach in Malibu and lived in a constant state of marital bliss. At least, that’s what Zena thought.
Sitting on her blanket and staring out into the comfortable cloak of darkness, with the waves crashing in her ears, Zena thought about her failure in relationships. All the guys she had ever dated were complete pricks in one way or another. Some had cheated on her, others only cared about partying and all of them treated her like crap. They got what they wanted from her and threw her out like she was a spoiled piece of meat. She looked up at the full moon and was en-tranced by how the beams from the silvery moon fell over the ocean turning the waves into glit-tery specks of light. The ocean could usually calm her down when she was upset about some-thing, the scent of the waves and endless pounding reminding her of the constant drumming she heard in her head. She stared at Sapphire and her boyfriend, Jason and felt a gut-wrenching pain in her stomach. It wasn’t working tonight. She was utterly jealous of her best friend.
The flames from the bonfire were shining on Sapphire’s face and Zena could see the complete state of bliss she was in. She and Jason, slowly swaying to the music they had playing on the boom box they had brought to the beach, were so in tune with each other that they didn’t even notice what was going on around them. Her other friends were running through the water splash-ing each other while throwing a Nerf football around. Even though she was surrounded by the people she knew loved and accepted her and all the quirks and craziness that came with her, she was feeling completely unsatisfied with the state her life was in right now. A change was needed, as soon as possible. She couldn’t continue on the path she was travelling. She knew she deserved a relationship with someone who really loved and respected her as a human being and as a musician. Still, she was dreading going to New York and seeing her mom. Someone had brought a bottle of Captain Morgan and she had to fight the urge to take a swig. Her sanity depended on it.
Sapphire turned her head and saw Zena looking about as unhappy and alone as she possibly could. She knew her friend was nervous about seeing her mom again and decided she needed to spend some time with her before the evening was over and she went home.
“Come on Jason, our friend needs us.”
They walked over to Zena and sat down beside her. Sapphire put her arm around her best friend who then laid her head on her shoulder while Jason sat down on the other side of her and rubbed little circles into her back. He grabbed the piece of drift wood he found down by the water and began stoking the fire, making sparks fly while the sound of crackling wood comforted her. The others made their way back to the three of them and flopped down on the sand. Jason grabbed the acoustic guitar he always brought with him and began plinking at the strings.
“Ah, Zen it won’t be that bad to see your mom again. It’s only been a few months since she was last in town.”
“I know Jason, it’s just going back to New York that’s killing me.”
Hannah came and sat down across from her. She and Zena had only been friends for a few months and she didn’t know yet the history of the relationship with her mom.
“Why do you hate New York City so much Zena? It’s one of the most exciting places in the world. I would love to spend my entire summer in a city that has so much to offer.”
“I don’t know. I guess… I’m just going to miss my dad so much. That’s all. He’s not used to be-ing by himself for such a long period of time.”
“But...I don’t understand. Haven’t you been going to New York City every summer for the last two years? If it were me, I‘d be counting down the days until I left.”
Sapphire watched the interaction between the others and Zena and had to speak up. They just didn’t understand. She could see Zena was fighting to keep from losing her composure.
“Hey guys, ease up on her. It’s only been a couple of years since her parents divorced. She’s still having a hard time dealing with it. Am I right Zen?”
Zena looked at her best friend and smiled at her thankfully. Sapphire always knew just the right thing to say. She could always count on her to have her back, even when the people around her were just trying to help her out. Sapphire was her rock and always had been. She depended on her for just that reason. They looked at each other with a deep understanding of what the other was thinking.
Deon, who was Hannah’s boyfriend and Jason’s best friend saw the look between Sapphire and Zena and decided it was time to change the subject.
“Enough of this deep conversation, people! Hannah, I command you to rise and follow me to the water’s edge.”
Hannah gave him an irritated look and kept herself firmly planted on the sand, daring him to force her to get up.
“Oh… really now? Fine Hannah, I have no other option but to pick you up and throw you into the ocean.”
“You wouldn’t dare, Deon Connor!”
“Oh but wouldn’t I?”
The next thing she knew, Deon reached down and picked her up, threw her over his shoulder caveman style and headed down to the water.
“Put me down you animal! I said put me down!”
“Ha ha ha Fair Maiden! You asked for it!”
Hannah screamed as she landed in the water. Deon jumped in behind her and as she surfaced, greeted her with a salty wet kiss. Back on land the others laughed at the screw ball comedy they were witnessing. Zena once again felt a sense of well-being and happiness. She was young, healthy and alive. She had the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for. At this very moment, her life was wonderful and the flight to New York didn’t seem like such a bad thing after all. Maybe this trip would be different than the others. All she could do was hope for the best.

The rest of the evening was a blur of fun and frolicking behavior. Everyone sat around talking about what they hoped for the summer, what their plans were. Sapphire and her parents were planning another trip to Europe. Jason and his dad were taking a fishing trip to Alaska while his mom and sister went to Australia to visit her sister’s family. Deon was heading back up to Seattle where he would be visiting with friends he had grown up with. He needed to flex his guitar mus-cles once again and would be working as a camp counselor at a musical summer camp for disad-vantaged kids while he was there. The only person without any real plans right now was Hannah who was planning to just hang out in Venice and keep a low profile while her former best friend, Jessica, the nemesis of both Sapphire and Zena, spent her summer in a treatment center for her drug and alcohol addiction.
“Zena, I’m thinking about signing up for a summer drama course at SCU. Am I just fooling my-self?” Hannah bit her lip as she contemplated the possibility of trying it out.
“Oh, Hannah, I think it’s a great idea! You’ve been talking about taking drama for awhile now! If you love it so much, you should definitely do it!”
“Yeah Hannah, you may end up being really good at it. This could change your whole life and what better place is there than Hollywood to become an actress?”
“I know Sapphire, I’m just not sure. What if I totally suck at acting? I don’t know what else I can do.” Hannah grabbed a stick and began doodling in the sand, trying to get up the nerve to sign up for the class. Zena and Sapphire stared at each other knowingly and knew just what to say. It’s not like they had never felt a lack of self confidence before.
“So here’s what you do. Take the class and if it doesn’t work out, well…it’s one more thing you can cross of the list of things you’d like to try.”
“Yeah, haven’t you been keeping a list of things your interested in? We discussed this last month when all hell broke loose with Jessica.”
“Yes I have, just as you suggested Sapphire. I just don’t have that much written down yet. I’ve been busy you know…” Hannah looked away sheepishly, a blush forming on her face.
“Right…get your butt to work on that list Missy. When I come home from New York City I want to see at least 10 things you’d like to try. Seriously Hannah, we’re going into our senior year of high school. You really need to have an idea of what you want to do with your life.”
“Exactly Zena, come on Hannah…you have both of us here to help cheer you on. We can’t help if there’s nothing to help with…”
“Alright Sapphire, I know. I totally get it. I’ll start working on my list first thing tomorrow morn-ing and afterwards, head over to the university to sign up for my class.”
“That’s the spirit Friend! Now it’s time to head back. Zena has got to get some sleep before get-ting on that plane.”
The three friends walked over to Jason’s classic ’63 Woody where both he and Deon were pa-tiently waiting for the ladies to get to the car. Once they got inside, Jason started the engine, his Replacements cd playing on the stereo. He and Deon began singing as the girls joined in one by one, all off key but not caring because they all loved the classic 80s band that never got the re-spect and airplay they deserved. If only they’d come out in the 90s, they would have been huge. Zena glanced around her noticing Sapphire was sitting right next to Jason in the front seat, his arm around her shoulders as Hannah hugged Deon around his chest, leading him to start playing with her hair after giving her a kiss on the forehead. As the music took over, a sense of peace and calmness fell over everyone in the car as the weariness of the long day came to an end. Zena looked outside into the neon lights of LA. She felt like a fifth wheel even though her friends wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll meet him one day…I know I will. She didn’t know when, where or who it would be, but she was certain he was out there somewhere…waiting for her to show up.