Hey guys! I want to thank the few viewers I’ve had. If you’ve got any suggestions, go ahead. E-mail me at mgephardt@peacemail.com
I’ve been procrastinating so long that when I began writing this, I haven’t been able to put down my pencil. However, I feel like this portion has too many flaws. I’m open to any suggestions… PLEASE!
There’s a constant and catchy bass pattern followed by soft, harmonic strings at the beginning of “Matching Weight.” Then the song “begins”. The vocalist soothing voice just makes me feel like floating. Her voice is like sweet silence, and a melodic guitar comes in. “Don’t take it all so hard… for now.” Those were the last words I heard from her, the vocalist, when my mother’s co-worker, Sheila, tapped me on the shoulder. “Since you’re going to be waiting for your mom, Would you like anything?”, she balanced her weight on her right leg and her waist titled to the left. Her shiny red polished nails ran smoothly in the wooden table. She winked at me, “Don’t worry, sweetie, it’s on me.” I blinked and fidgeted. “Oh, no”, I laughed. “It’s okay, Sheila. I already ate.” She flipped her hair, said okay and began to walk back to the kitchen. The funny thing about that day was that I decided to go along, and not wait for my mom. It seemed as if my mother took longer at work than usual. I didn’t notice it then but now that I’m thinking back on it, it was probably because of my father. In fact, I saw him that day. Surprisingly, he wasn’t slurring or tripping on his own feet. As I walked out of the restaurant that day, I headed down a couple of blocks to my left. It wasn’t long before I stumbled with Tommy and my father. They were having a normal conversation, something I hadn’t had with my dad for a few weeks now. As I approached them, my father excitedly waved at me from far. As I got closer he began to say goodbye to Tommy. He walked towards me as I walked to him. He looked as usual: khaki pants, white collared shirt, and brown leather shoes. He was a practical man, nothing out of the ordinary. “Hey son!”, he stretched out his arms to hug me. I stood still. A simple hey would have sufficed. After weeks of being a bad husband, not so much a bad father, I didn’t even try. “Not today, Dad.” His smile rapidly turned into a frown. I accommodated my brown backpack on my shoulder and fixed the pencil lying on my ear, and continued down the street.
“I want you to apply to Dalton.”, my mother told me across the dinner table that night. She had specifically called me to the dinning room to talk. That was something she rarely did. “But… that’s too expensive.” She frustratingly, ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t want to hear you say that. You are a bright young man and you are just as capable as any of those rich kids there.”, her tone rose. “I have worked day and night just for you to get a better education.” My eyes widened as I saw my mother in frustration. “I want to go there, I do. But of all kids that apply there…” Her eyes widened in frustration. “Don’t..”, she paused and breathed in. “I raised you better than to hear you say this!” I leaned back. “What good is it for me to go to school if you can’t afford it?!”, I began to raise my voice. “I know you’ve worked hard. Believe me, I’ve been there but I am not a genius, and I doubt I get a scholarship. I am not going to sacrifice the wellness of this family over a luxury!” She lifted herself from her chair. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do with my family! You will apply to Dalton and go, even if it costs me all the money I’ve got. You deserve more than what you have and if you’re going to reject this opportunity I am offering you, then you deserve much less, Jack!” Tears of anger began forming in her eyes. I walked towards her and stood there, waiting for her to return to her normal self. “Your father… he hasn’t been making things any easier for me.”, she wiped her tears with her hand. “I feel like I’m a single mother, Jack.” She was. She really was. Sometimes he didn’t show up at all. He’ll come home the next day, lie on the couch and miss work. To us, he was invisible. Trouble was his money and my mother’s was no longer paying the dues. Overdue payment letters came in on some days. My mother tried to avoid me seeing them. It wasn’t long before I started working. Late nights, I would slip in my earnings in her purse. Everyday, when school ended, I would walk down to the Record Store I religiously visited. Now, I began an employee. A couple of times a week, I would be late when my mother had me running some of the errands she couldn’t do while she was at work. Things is, I couldn’t say no. What excuse would I have? Everyday, I would stand in the cashier box. Sometimes, I would walk down the aisles, flipping through records, and using some of my earnings to buy one. Sometimes, I had to work on Fridays. Usually, Fridays meant catching a foreign film with Liam or maybe heading down Times Square and going to Toys ‘R Us with Tommy or maybe to Madeleine with Taylor. It all depended on mood and schedule. The guy who did Friday night’s had quit. Apparently he was a douche bag and treated customer’s badly. I wasn’t surprised. No one wants to be stuck at work on a Friday night, but on one specific Friday night, I didn’t mind so much. I began walking down the B aisle and stopped at BA. I was looking for Band of Horses. They had been brought to my attention after I learned they were in The Shins’ record label, Sub-Pop. Our record store, like Best Buy, had one of those gadgets that lets you listen to the record before you buy it. I immersed myself in “The Funeral.” A light-hearted voice began calling out for me while I listened. “Any good?” I began removing the headphones from my ears when I recognized the voice. “I like it, but considering what you were looking for last time… I’m not sure.” I knew it was her. She was there, wearing a blue and white shirt dress and white flats. She took the headphones from my hands and pressed them against her ears. “Is There A Ghost” began to play. A smile grew across her face. “This is beautiful”, she said, still smiling. “But not exactly what you were looking for, right?” She laughed. “Bad Religion.” I laughed. She sighed. Judging by her outfit, I figured she would be going out. “I suppose you’ve got somewhere to be tonight?” She chuckled, sarcastically. “You know, I should. I changed my mind. I was heading down to watch a movie with a friend but she cancelled and I considered going alone but… doesn’t work out for me.” She sighed. “Hey, a good record can always make up for a bad Friday night.” She thought about it. “I want to say yes, but I haven’t found one yet.” I lifted up a Band of Horses record from the bin and held it towards her. “Nice try but I didn’t bring any money.” I began to reach into my pocket for 20$ when she grabbed my arm. “It’s okay.” Embarassed, I removed my hand from my pocket and set the record back on its bin. “Sorry if that was weird.”, I said to her. She smiled. “So…”, I attempted to change conversation topic. “What movie were you going to watch?” She leaned against the bins. “Well, I was thinking along the lines of some corny love story like ‘Love in The Time of Cholera’ but I’m not sure.” In an attempt to come up with an excuse to make her stick around… “There’s a TV and DVD player here.” She looked at me curiously. “Well… I just bought the Star Wars collectors edition.” Her eyes brightened. “Why didn’t you say that before?!”, she laughed. “But I can’t. I told my parents I would be back soon.” My smile went back to neutral. “BUT!… I owe you a movie.”, I smiled. “You do! And I won’t forget until we have a movie night.” She looked at me, sweetly. “You’re cute, you know that?” I scratched my head. “I try”, I said shyly. “Anyway, I’ll be seein’ you.” She began to walk out the door. And I knew I would. There was something about her that I wanted to see again.
