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LYNN
A few days later we finally arrived at the only record store in Dust County, the "Spin Twins". When we walked in, I was surprised to find it crowded with people.
"Hey, what gives?" Angie asked me. "This place is as busy as a Kmart on Black Friday."
"I'm not sure," I replied. It looked like a typical record store. Four waist-high racks ran away from me, stretching nearly to the back. The store was just a big open room, really, with a separate area walled off at the back for singles. Another portioned-off section near the register was clearly for Compact Discs, and a half-dozen kids were thumbing through them. The walls were decorated with album covers, and lit from the ceiling with track lighting. I only recognized about half of the records. Some were in a foreign language - Russian, maybe? A woman's voice was singing soulfully over the loudspeakers.
"Maybe they're having a sale or something?" I asked, adjusting my purse on my shoulder. It felt weird not having my book bag.
"No, I don't think so," said Angie, looking around. "It's probably just the only place in town, other than the movie theater, that's open on a Sunday. "
I nodded and said, "Yeah, you're right."
Even though it was crowded, there were only two guys that were working, and they were both behind the cash register. One of them was reading a comic book while the other was ringing up sales. They looked exactly alike, so I shrugged and said, "I guess those are the famous 'spin twins'. I'm gonna just ask if they have the Giants record in yet."
"Okay, I'll wander around." Angie replied, and moved off.
The guys at the front pointed me to the right section, and I quickly grabbed the tape and got on line. There were alot of people and only one twin was working the register, so it was slow. While waiting, I looked for Angie but I didn't see her. She must be in the back, by the Singles area. I checked out the art on the cassette in my hand, and the price tag. It was a little expensive, because it was new, but I could manage it. I'll just dip into next week's pizza fund too. I'm sure Jim will understand.
Angie walked up to me as soon as I was done, and tugged on my arm. "Well, I've got it," I said, holding up a small plastic bag. "They had it on tape and CD, but I don't have a player for that." Angie tugged on my arm again, and was nearly jumping, she looked so excited. "Hey, what's up with you? Your face looks funny. Are you okay?"
Angie rushed out with the words, "Oh my gosh, Lynn, I'm glad you got your record but I need to tell you something right now!" She glanced left and right. "We have to get out of here, fast." Then she grabbed my arm, and nearly dragged me to the street and forced me into a run. Only when we were a few blocks away did she let us stop to lean against a building.
I panted, leaning one hand on the building behind me. She also worked to catch her breath.
"What was that all about?"
"I'll tell you, and you won't believe it. Or maybe you will, I dunno." She took out a compact and patted her nose dry.
I reflexively wiped the sweat from my nose with my sleeve, grateful I only wore eyeliner. "Just tell me, please."
"Yes, of course! So, it was an accident, really. As you went to buy the tape, I went to check out the store and the crowds. I don't know if you noticed but they were college kids, mostly. Except for there was a young boy who was with his mom, maybe he was the same age as my brother Thomas, so 10 or 11? And there was an old man with a long beard standing by the sign for New Wave music. The boy and his mother were arguing pretty loud so I wandered close, I was just curious, y'know?"
"Sure, sure. Go on." I encouraged.
"So this kid was saying, 'Mom,' he said. 'It's not about THAT. Just because the cover has some ART on it...' He was trying to reach for the record in his mom's hand, which she was holding just out of his reach.
'It's not ART honey, it's naked people and you are too young and I don't want you buying it and that's final.'"
I giggled at her imitation of this other mom. She sounded like a talk show host.
"His mom was determined and the hand holding the record was tight, like in a fist. It looked to me like this Mom had made up her mind today." Angie concluded.
"What record were they arguing about?" I asked, wondering why this was so important that she had to drag me out of the store.
"Jane's Addiction."
"I don't know them, are they good?"
"I don't know, but it got me mad. It reminded me about the music thief, because I really wanted to see if we could borrow it from the listening library when we got back to school. But then I remembered that we can't. Which stinks." Angie frowned. "Okay but that's not the point." She waved her hand in the air, like she was trying to clear it of clouds.
"It's what happened next that I wanted to tell you about. So I thought I'd try to buy a single if I can't check them out in the library."
I nodded. "Sure, that makes sense."
"Uh-huh, so but as I got close I realized that I was hearing a familiar voice coming out from the singles area. It was Aburra, my music class TA, remember? The one who was saying class would be canceled?"
"No!"
"Yes! I thought, what's he doing here? I didn't want to run into him again, so I waited outside. He was fighting with someone, again. I wondered, who was he arguing with? I thought about you sneaking into the library last night and thought I would try something. I wanted to do what you do. I decided to snoop."
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