Gali's heart tightened as she listened to Shirley's words.

"You're fired."

She couldn't afford to lose this job. It was all she had. It was the only thing that kept her off the street. Without it, she didn't know what she would do. And it wasn't even her fault. Lynette had been out to get her from day one. She admitted that waitressing was not exactly her calling, but she needed this job....

"But -"

"I don't want to hear it, Gali. You already have too many reports on file. I'm sorry. Jerry will cash you out." She said before heading back to her office.

Shirley was the owner of the restaurant Gali had been working at for the last three months. She wasn't around much and so she had no idea what went on with her workers. Jerry was Gali's supervisor and had taken a liking to Gali early on, until she rejected his advances. From that point forward, he sided with Lynette any time there was conflict between them. Gali never understood the hostility from Lynette so she tried to ignore her and keep to herself, but Lynette wanted her out and today she had succeeded.

At 17, Gali didn't know how she would survive without a job. She didn't have any family support and the handful of friends she did have weren't any more well off than she was. She fought hard not to cry as she gathered her personal belongings. She grabbed her guitar case and put on her jacket before heading to get her money from Jerry. She searched for him and saw him welcoming a couple at the entrance of the restaurant. She walked towards him, not really caring about the policy to take breaks and leave your shift through the back door. She began walking towards them, and as she did, she recognized the couple. She had heard they often came to eat here, but she had never seen them personally until today. She couldn't help but smile. It wasn't every day she saw John Lennon and Yoko Ono. She intentionally slowed her pace so she would be able to cross paths with them as they walked in to take a seat. Yoko and John smiled at her as they walked to their table.

John and Yoko continued walking which prompted Gali to keep walking to meet with Jerry. Her expression was somber once again as she reached him.

"So...looks like Shirley finally decided to let you go." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some cash.

"Yes. Now can I have my money so I can go?" Gali asked.

"Well...there's just one last thing we need to discuss..."

"What is it?"

"What are we going to do about the vase that you broke? It needs to get replaced."

Gali could not believe it. He was going to charge her for the stupid vase?

Gali sighed. "Fine...just take it out of the money you owe me."

"Oh Gali..." Jerry chuckled condescendingly. "You don't even have enough money here to pay for what it costs. It's a very expensive vase."

"Jerry...you know I don't have any money." Gali responded upset.

"So what are we going to do then?" He asked as he stuck the cash back in his pocket.

"I don't have any money. I already told you."

"Well Gali, the way I see it, I'm going to have to respond for the broken vase...so that's money that is going to have to come out of my own pocket...I was thinking you could pay me...another way...a non-monetary way." He said shrewdly.

"You're sick you know that. If you think I'd actually do what you're insinuating...." Gali said.

"Well you either pay me some way... or I call the police. You decide. You said it yourself. You have no money, right? So what's it going to be? You pay for the vase or you go to jail."

Gali glared at him. She tightened her grip on her guitar case. "You're an asshole, Jerry." She said as she slowly set her guitar case on the floor.

Jerry raised an eyebrow.

"Your guitar. Never thought I'd see the day you'd part with it."

"This is all I have." Gali said coldly as she stood back up.

"You have another choice, Gali. You're just opting not to take it."

"Go to hell." Gali said as she walked out of the restaurant, leaving her guitar case on the floor next to Jerry's feet.

***

"Huh?" John responded when he finally acknowledged Yoko.

"I asked you what you were thinking of ordering. What has you so distracted?" she questioned as she directed her attention to where John was looking.

"She just left it." John said as he began getting up.

"What?"

"She left her guitar." John repeated as he started walking towards Jerry who had now picked up the case.

"Mr. Lennon. What can I help you with?" Jerry asked as John reached him.

"Why did the girl leave her guitar behind?" He asked.

Yoko reached him just as Jerry responded.

"Oh, she owed us some money for something she broke here at the restaurant. She didn't have it, so she left the guitar instead." Jerry said smiling.

"You took her guitar as...collateral?"

"More like payment. I don't think Gali will be coming back."

John was disgusted at Jerry, who seemed to have taken joy in taking the guitar from the girl.

John peered out of the entrance.

"Hey!" he yelled down the street.

"Bloody 'ell." He muttered as he quickly came back into the restaurant.

"Yoko, pay him for whatever it was she owed." John said as he took the guitar case from Jerry's hand.

Yoko nodded as John took off running with the guitar case in hand.

***

Gali was struggling to not break down as she ran down the street. She felt hot tears falling down her cheek and her stomach was in knots. She couldn't believe she had lost everything she had left....all because Lynette had pushed her into the stupid vase. She knew Jerry was the type of person who would call the police...and there was no way she was going to pay him the way he had insinuated. Not only had she lost her job, but she had pawned off the only thing that was worth anything to her to keep her out of jail. At this point, she felt like jail would have been better. At least she'd have a place to sleep and something to eat. She turned the corner and found herself facing an alleyway. She started walking until she felt herself collapse in a heap of sobs. She couldn't deal with this anymore. It was too much for her. These past few months had finally brought her to her knees. She was done. She didn't have any more energy to keep moving forward. She needed life to give her a break from all the chaos in her life. She needed help.

***

"I couldn't find her." John came back into the restaurant panting, with the guitar case still in hand.

"Do you know where the girl lives?" Yoko asked Jerry.

"Gali? No."

Yoko could see John was clearly upset.

"Did you pay 'im?" John asked.

"Yes..." Yoko replied.

"Then let's go."

"Mr. and Mrs. Lennon...will you not be staying for lunch?"

John glared at him. "I've lost my appetite. C'mon, Yoko."

***

Gali unlocked the door of the one bedroom apartment she shared with four other people. She walked in and sighed at the sight of the place she called home. It was absolutely disgusting, not even fit for human habitation. There were bottles of beer and liquor scattered around the floor, cigarette butts everywhere you looked. The apartment had a pungent smell, the walls were peeling and the only beds were the ones made out of old sheets and dirty clothes on the floor. She hardly knew any of the people she lived with. She had met Theresa at a coffee shop a few months ago and it was her that had introduced her to Nathan, David and Chuck. Theresa and David were together, although they were known to be pretty open in their relationship. The only reason she had accepted to live with them was because she couldn't afford anything else, but now, with no job she didn't know how she'd be able to pay her share of the rent. As was the norm, everyone was out. It seemed as everyone else who lived in the apartment's life began as soon as it got dark. Gali would more than likely not see anybody until tomorrow morning when they came back from their night of drinking and partying. As she layed down on the floor, she wadded an old sheet below her head and looked up.

"At least I have a roof over my head."

***

"This guitar is in horrible condition." John said having opened the guitar case.

He gently pulled it out and looked at it. It was an old 1954 Gibson LG-3 acoustic guitar. The finish of the guitar was scratched and the body had a crack in it near the neck. The pegs and frets were showing signs of rust and two of the strings had already broken.

"It looks like it hasn't been played in a long time." Yoko said as she looked at it with John.

John turned it around and saw a small picture taped to the back of the guitar. The tape was barely holding it in place. John lightly pulled the picture off of the guitar. It was a man holding a baby in one arm and with his other hand holding the hand of a little girl.

"Take a look at this." John said handing the picture to Yoko. She brought it closer to her face so she could take a better look.

"The little girl in the picture looks like the girl at the restaurant..."

"Gail? Was it?"

"Gali, I think." Yoko corrected.

Yoko flipped it over."Father's Day. August 1961." she read aloud.

John looked back and noticed there was an envelope and a notebook sitting at the bottom of the guitar case. He picked up the notebook first and began skimming through the first few pages.

"There are class notes dating back to the early 50's in here." John remarked and continued to flip through the notebook. He stopped near the back of it and looked at a sketch of a pregnant woman. Under the picture it said Rachel 1954.

John peered inside the envelope next and saw a few pictures and cards. He emptied out the envelope onto the bed.

"I feel like I am intruding into this girl's private life." John said as he looked through the pictures. He set those aside and began looking at the various birthday cards.

"Is there an address anywhere on those ? A phone number maybe?" Yoko asked.

***

"Gali! What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't treat a paying customer like that!" Theresa yelled at her.

"So I'm supposed to let that dirty old man feel me up? I'm sorry but that was never discussed when you talked me into working here!" Gali responded upset.

"I didn't think you'd need me to explain how things work here!"

"It's a fuckin' bar! I'm supposed to be serving drinks!"

"How else do you think you make money here! If you're expecting the miserable pay Tony gives us to pay the bills, you're more naïve that I thought! Tips are what makes us money, Gali!"

"Does that mean I have to sacrifice by values?"

"Values? Look around you, Gali! You're working in a fuckin bar where the scum of this city can actually afford to buy themselves drinks! You live in a one bedroom apartment with four other people! You don't have one cent to your name and you're talking about values! Girls like us can't afford to have values if we want to eat!"

"That doesn't mean I have to turn into a whore!"

"Is that what you think of me? That I'm a whore?"

"I just don't share your point of view." Gali said calmly, trying to retract the insult she had just spat.

"Oh! Well forgive me for having rained on Princess Gali's parade! We can't expect such a high class broad to be socializing with people of my caliber!"

"Theresa..."

"Just get the hell out of here... and I expect to not see you at the apartment...we wouldn't want any of our lack of values to jeopardize the type of life you're trying to live!"

Gali stared at Theresa, not being able to say the words she was thinking. She wanted to tell her that yes, she was better than this! And it was okay to think that of herself! She still had values and standards despite the circumstances, but instead she took off her apron and threw it on the floor, not saying another word to her.

***

"Wow...it looks like a completely different guitar." Yoko said.

"They did an amazing job refurbishing it. I have to admit it, I never thought Carl could get it to look this good." John confessed. "Now to see how it plays." he smiled as he strummed and adjusted the pegs a bit.

"Sounds pretty good." he said putting the guitar down. "Where's the photo that was on this?" John inquired.

"I'll get it." Yoko said as she walked over to a small box that was on the dresser. "Here." she said handing it to him. "I'll get you some tape too."

John carefully pulled the two strips of old tape from the photo. When Yoko came back, she tore him two new pieces of tape as John taped the photo back where he had originally found it.

"Do you think we'll ever find her again? It's been two months and nothing."

"Somehow I don't think Greenwich Village is where she typically hangs about. That jerk from the restaurant seems to have thought she didn't live anywhere near there."

"So maybe we need to start looking elsewhere." Yoko suggested.

***

Gali couldn't believe her life had come to this. The last week had been absolute Hell. A hell she could have never imagined for herself. She thought back to the apartment she had shared a week ago and at the moment, it seemed a paradise. Her home now consisted of an empty abandoned building to clear the harsh New York winter. It had been two days since Gali had eaten anything that she hadn't found in the garbage. She hurt just thinking about it.

"Theresa was right." She said to herself as she sat on a bench in Central Park.

"Girls like me can't afford to have values if we want to eat."

She was so hungry, but couldn't bear the thought of going through the garbage again to find something edible. She forced herself to stand and approached a group of people that were walking along the path. She swallowed her pride and with a broken heart, she asked for some change. The look she received was one which had never been directed at her until now. It was a look of pity.

She pocketed the loose coins she received but refused to go up to anyone else. The idea of begging for money was too much for her. She knew of a small café near Central Park where she hoped she could buy something with the money she had received.

"What can I get for this?" she asked softly as she pushed the coins across the counter.

The Asian woman at the counter looked down and counted the coins.

"No money. No food." she said rather loudly.

"I'll work for it. Please." Gali pleaded.

"No money. No food." she repeated.

Gali felt humiliation wash over her. She nodded and began walking out. Before reaching the door, a young guy reached out and grabbed her arm. She felt his eyes looking her over.

"You hungry?"

Gali nodded, not able to raise her gaze out of pure embarrassment

"I'll buy you something to eat."

Gali immediately looked up with surprise. "You will?" she asked softly.

"Sure...but you're going to have to pay me up front." he smiled.

Gali's stomach churched.

"I...I don't have anything to pay you with." she replied.

He chuckled. "A woman always has something she can pay with. C'mon..." he said guiding her out of the café.

***

John set the newspaper he was reading down after hearing the commotion at the front of the café.

"No money. No food." the lady at the counter repeated.

John couldn't help but look in her direction. She saw a girl with brown hair standing at the counter. Her coat was rather light considering the current New York weather. He watched as she began walking out, only to be stopped by a young guy that gave John a bad feeling. He saw him look her up and down and spoke just soft enough for John to be unable to hear the conversation. Seconds later, he saw him guide her out of the café. John hesitated for a moment, but something told him he needed to follow them. As he walked out, he caught a glimpse of the two turning the corner. John ran behind him, avoiding bumping into the people on the street. When he turned the corner, his bad feeling was confirmed. There, pinned against the wall, was the young girl. Even though she wasn't struggling as the guy fondled her, John could clearly hear her crying.

"Hey!" John called out as he walked towards them.

"Fuck off!" the guy said not stopping what he was doing.

"You fuck off!" John said angrily as he pulled the guy away from the girl and chased him off. He saw the girl slide down the wall bringing her knees against her chest. She could still hear her crying despite having buried her face into her knees. He knelt down in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded yes, but didn't look up.

"Can I buy you something to eat?" he asked knowing why she had gone into the café to begin with.

"What do I have to do for it?" she asked with a muffled voice.

"Nothing. You don't have to do anything." John said.

The girl finally looked up. She looked pale and so weak.

***

"Can I buy you something to eat?" Gali heard the man ask.

"What do I have to do for it?" she asked not bothering to look up. She knew she didn't have but one way to pay for it.

"Nothing. You don't have to do anything."

Gali looked up trying to focus on the outline of the man that was kneeling in front of her.

"You don't need to do what that bastard wanted you to do...especially not for food." she heard him say.

Gali chuckled softly. "You say that because you've never been in my shoes. You've never been so hungry that you've had to dig through the garbage to find something to eat. I used to look down on girls who would sell their bodies for money..." she scoffed. "I would say to them that I had values...but that all goes to Hell when you're so hungry you can't even think straight. What good is having values when you're worth nothing... My dad used to tell me to never make a permanent decision during a temporary situation...I believed that...until today."

"How long has it been since you've eaten?" the man asked.

"I can't remember...maybe a couple of days? I don't know."

"Will you come with me? My house is about 15 minutes away...my wife will fix you a good meal."

She nodded and tried to stand up. The man helped her up and it was then, when the light hit his face, that she was able to take a good look at him.

"Will you be alright until we get home or should we stop by the cafe instead?"

"I can't show my face in there again. I can wait. Thank you."

Gali walked next to the man. He was very attentive with her, asking her if she was okay with every few steps she took. Before heading down the steps of the subway, Gali turned to look at him.

"I know I am not really thinking clearly and my brain might be playing tricks on me, but...you remind me of John Lennon. Are you him?" she asked.

"Yes..." he replied.