New/returning readers:
Start here: Let it Rock Chapters 1 & 2
Last chapter: Let it Rock Chapter 7
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It’s late August but it doesn’t feel like it. This time of year makes me want it sweltering and dripping, wringing out the tee-shirt hot. Ice pops melting on the sidewalk hot. Walking outside and seeing the perfect sky hot.
I want the summer to last forever. I’m not ready for pumpkin spice yet!
Now, let’s get you back to the story…
LYNN
I waited for Angie the next day in the Union lounge, sitting on a lumpy, orange cube. I pictured a university administrator in the 1960s; hair plastered to his head in a forced comb-over and dark suit hanging on his thin frame, deciding that these were "cool". Today they were just old and worn out. The cushion collapsed beneath my butt, which drove my knees up to my chin. I imagined myself telling Jim about it later. I'd describe it as 'about as comfortable as sitting on roadkill' would be. If I ever sat on roadkill, which I wouldn't. Ew.
A few sorority houses had set up shop nearby advertising for something called "RUSH". They were pretty loud, so I tried to drown them out and pressed play on my Walkman. It immediately shut itself off. Shoot. I had forgotten to get a new tape this morning.
What about the radio? There was that local radio station I saw the billboard for this morning? 99.9? 99.1? I pushed the dial with my thumb, searching. One station came in clearly.
"And now, here's a new song by They Might Be Giants. I think it's their best yet. Check out "Birdhouse in Your Soul"..."
I listened. I didn't know this band but the beat was easy to follow. Nice tune. Interesting. I closed my eyes and got lost, figuring out the puzzle of new music.
After a few songs I felt a gentle poke on my arm, and opened my eyes to look up at a dark face framed with gold hoop earrings.
"Angie!"
I tried to get up to hug her hello, but realized I had sunk pretty deep in the cube, and was tangled in my headphone wire. She was saying something I couldn't hear, so I turned off the radio and yanked off my headphones.
"What?" I asked.
"Am I late?" She asked. She was standing, carrying her book bag and purse on the same shoulder. Her outfit was different today, just a big chunky turtleneck sweater over jeans. Tall boots that showed off her legs perfectly. She looked fabulous, again.
"No, you're fine," I said. "Nice sweater."
"Thanks! So tell me all about last night." Angie sat on the cube opposite me, and dropped her bag on the floor.
"Okay, where should I start?"
Angie was trying to find a comfortable position on the cube, and was twisting and scooching herself. "Well first things first. Did you, in fact, break into the music department last night?"
"Investigate," I corrected her with a grin.
"Right, investigate. So, you did go?! What did you find out?" She bounced a little in her seat, and her pants made tiny creaking noises against the plastic cover.
I gave her my most serious look. "I did go. And what I saw...um. So I'm 99.44% sure that the room was broken into."
"Wow. 'Ivory' sure."
"Yeah."
"The door was completely busted up, and the lock was broken. The music library was cleaned out, empty, kaput. Nothing was left."
"Nothing?"
"Zip. " I made an "0" shape with my fingers. "Just like you thought, the music was stolen."
Angie's eyes opened wide. "Wow! That stinks!"
"Yeah, completely wow, and also completely horrible." I punched my hand for emphasis. "I was up half the night - I couldn't sleep thinking about it. It makes me so mad!" I punched my hand again. "Stolen music means no class, means no more Mr. Lee, and no more fun." I dropped my forehead to my fingers, and rubbed my temples like my friend Zoe used to do. Was this what a headache felt like?
I spoke to the floor. "This sucks, big time! Campus life just went down the drain." I paused, and looked up. "Well, except for meeting you, that's still cool." I smiled at Angie, who grinned back.
"But still, this whole situation stinks like rotten eggs." I said. Definitely a headache. My first one.
Angie's face had dropped again. "Uh-huh, it's a big stinker."
"Yeah." I reached into my bag, and pulled out the course registrar book. "But being up late at least gave me the chance to do some research. I found this." I flipped through the pages, and opened it up wide so she could see.
Pointing to a paragraph I said, "According to this summary for the level 300 classes, the room was supposed to have the university's collection of rock n' roll; from Chuck Berry to Elvis, the Yardbirds to Bob Dylan. Apparently they had a big collection for such a little school, nearly 6,500 recordings. That's gotta be worth a lot of money, right?"
Angie's ponytail bobbed up and down. "Wow again. That's a lot of music. I figure it could be worth," she held up a few fingers, and seemed to do a calculation in her head. "Even at six dollars apiece that's $21,000. If they had any rare items it could be much more."
I blew out a long breath. "Wild. That's a ton of cash. Oh, and this book does say they had some rare stuff, but it doesn't say what."
"Rare, uh-huh." She leaned back, making the chair squeak again. "I guess they stole it to sell."
Sell. That gave me an idea. "Like something you'd have to sell to a collector, right?" I leaned forward and dropped my voice to a murmur. "There couldn't be that many collectors in a small town like this, I think. If it was stolen and they were trying to sell it, maybe we can find out who's buying it?" I pulled my bag over and tugged at the zipper. It finally gave, and I stashed my Walkman inside. "How about we check the record store in town? I could ask some questions, maybe find out something."
"Lynn, what are you saying?" Angie half-whispered, putting her hand on my bag. "You want to go snooping again? It's like that TA said, the music department administration probably knows about it already. If it's stolen then they probably reported it. The campus police, I'm sure, are probably all over this. The cops will find out who did it. We probably don't need to put ourselves in danger."
"Okay, probably you say - probably, probably, probably! I get it, you are right, " I said, letting my arms drop. I tried to sit back but I was stuck, the chair gave me no place to move so I just ended up making a small wiggle.
Angie giggled, which made me smile. She's like a big sister, looking out for me. But these chairs are really ridiculous.
I had a thought. "Hey - it wouldn't hurt for us to go to the record store, right? I mean, we can just go to shop. I just heard of this new band called "Giants". I have a little money that my bro left for me for dinner this week. If I eat cup-o-soup instead of pizza for the week, I'll have enough to buy the record. So? Wanna go?" I nudged her arm.
Angie grinned and lightly nudged me back. "Okay, I'll encourage your bad eating habits. We can go this weekend. But JUST to buy records."
I nodded.
Angie didn't have a car and hadn't been off campus yet, she mostly stuck to the dining plan and shopping at the Union deli. So I pulled out the bus schedule and we discussed possibilities. The next loop through town that worked with our class schedule was either early in the morning on Thursday, or at 3:45pm on the weekend, so we decided to put it off until Sunday afternoon.
really good job