Ultraviolet

Chapter Ten: Pieces of a Woman

The next morning, as I tiptoed out of my room to make some cereal for breakfast, I spotted Hadeon sitting at the table with his back towards me. I grabbed a muesli bar instead and hurried back to my room, closing my door behind me, in my efforts to ignore Hadeon.

I ate quietly, then took my time picking out an outfit from my limited wardrobe. I settled on a faded black hoodie, dark jeans, and a large grey coat that had formerly belonged to a friend of mine. After waiting what I had felt was long enough for Hadeon to be gone, I pulled open my door only to come face to face with him, his fist raised ready to knock on my door. I walked past him, and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" He demanded. I continued to ignore, hopping down two steps at a time to reach the door leading to the back of the club. It looked a lot less daunting and dingy in the daylight than it had the night I arrived. "Violet, what are you doing?"

"Tell Jessica I went out and I'll be back by six." I uttered simply before turning down towards the taller buildings and the noise.

"You can't just leave on your own." He insisted, jogging to catch up with me. I kept my eyes facing forward. "Go back to the apartment."

His stony eyes glared at me, willing me to turn around and follow his orders. Not today. I spotted a guy that was probably in his early twenties, walking on the other side of the road. He had a black and white striped shirt under a graphic t-shirt, and his pants were big, black, and baggy. He looked like a cool guy.

I quickly looked left, right, left, then crossed the road to meet him. I stopped directly in front of him, Hadeon hot on my tail, and smiled sweetly. The guy pulled out a wireless earphone and raised his eyebrows in greeting.

"Hi, do you happen to know where the closest record store is?" He looked like he knew where the closest record store was. His green eyes wandered over my shoulder at the tall, tattooed man standing close behind me.

The guy leant in close and whispered, "Do you know that guy?", gesturing lightly to Hadeon.

"Unfortunately." I hummed. "He's not here, ignore him." The guy furrowed his brows, but nodded anyway. "Record store?" I asked again.

"Uh, yeah. Just turn left at the Starbucks up ahead and its on the right side. It has a big sign that says 'Johnny's Vintage Music Emporium'. You can't miss it."

"Thank you." I smiled. He grinned back and started to say something. Based on the charming look in his eyes, it was a request for my number, but I was already on the move.

Hadeon, again, followed right by my side.

"Records?" He chided. "You left the apartment for records? You can't afford to stay in a hotel but you can afford to by some vintage records?"

Luckily, we made it to the record store just as he finished asking, so I didn't have to directly answer him. A girl with black matted hair and thick black lipstick greeted me by asking what I'm looking for, and I simply answered. "Nothing, just perusing."

"Why are we here?" Hadeon asked.

I am here to see what a record store, the setting of a scene in one of my favourite books, looks like, I thought. You are here to be a pain.

I started shuffling through vinyl records in cardboard envelopes, reading each one as I flicked past it. I once saw an episode of How Its Made where they explained the process of making a vinyl record, and ever since I've always been fascinated with the concept. 

My anger towards Hadeon hadn't subsided even remotely, but I felt a little lonely processing my own thoughts.

"My grandmother had a huge collection of records." I noted allowed. Hadeon, who had walked to the next aisle, looked up at me. His mouth remained in its comfortable straight line, but from his eyes I could tell he was listening. "She even had a couple of her own songs pressed into vinyl. She was kind of famous in the 60's. Not a household name, or anything, but substantial fame. My mothers mother, that is."

"Thats cool." He swallowed. This was the kind of conversation that made him uncomfortable. "Are you looking for one of those records? Of your grandmother?"

"No." I sighed. "She said they never mass produced the records, and she had the only demos.

"Did they get passed down to you?" He asked.

The short answer was "No", the long answer was "Yes, but I don't have them anymore.". Hadeon was being bearable today, so I decided to go with the long answer.

"What happened to them?" He countered.

"I gave them to my foster parents to sell." I explained cautiously. I didn't mention that they forced me to hand them over, with their skills of emotional abuse and manipulation. "When they found out they were worth nothing, they sold them to this retro diner in town, who smashed them into pieces and made tabletops by covering them in resin. They didn't look half bad."

"Thats irresponsible." He chastised. "You destroyed her legacy, and something that was important to her."

He wasn't wrong, but he also wasn't right. My grandmother loved those records, and loved to share them with me. I know it would have made her happy for me to show my own children those records. On the other hand, she would understand that I didn't feel as though I had a choice, and that her most important legacy was me.

But I didn't argue, because deep down I agreed with him. I will always wish I'd never given them up.

"I know." I sighed. I felt Hadeon's eyes on me, sizing me up once again. I waited a beat before changing the subject. "Do you want to get coffee?"