John Lennon

c h a p t e r : 2

“When you do something beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad.  For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.”

- John Lennon

There was something about ‘Get Your Music Hear’ that drew me back to it everyday on my lunch break from classes.  Maybe it was the old, almost foreign memories of my grandfather, father and I.  Or maybe it was the smell of rustic vinyls, that haven't been played for ages, dust gathering on the covers.  Or maybe it was just my overall fondness and love for music that made me come back everyday listen to an album or two, then leave making my way back to campus.  

Today was no exception.  After I walked myself back to the bus stop, with Leather Jacket- or John’s- ten dollar bill in hand, I paid for my bus ticket and got home quickly.  My house was empty, as I suspected.  My mother was probably at her ass of a boyfriends apartment, if you could even call it that.  It was more of a garage that his friend had rented out to him to live in.  It was nothing nice at all, yet my mother claimed it was beautiful.  She couldn't tell the difference from real beauty and pure ugliness if it hit her in the face, she was that drunk all the time. 

        I decided to catch up on my sleep when I got home and skip school, and I did.  But not before I told myself not to go to the shop the next day, to show just how mad I was at Bart.  My plan backfired, because after fifth period, I was out the school doors, and already making the five minute walk to the store.  It was almost an addiction I had to the place, I always came back.  Everyday Bart or his son James, would buy lunch for me and themselves, and I’d eat with either one of them, or on some occasions, both.  Today, it was James.  Bart knew he probably shouldn't mess with me right now.  James however, did choose to eat with me.  We sat together at a booth in the back of the store, usually used for people to sit and listen to vinyls on the record player nearby.

        I guess you could say that James was, in some way my best friend.  No, we didn't hang out on weekends, or after school.  We didn't attend parties together nor do anything outside of the store.  Though at least three times a week we ate lunch together and talked.  Talked about our day, talk about music, or problems we had and advice to help each other through them.  That’s about as close as we were.  

        “Hey,”  He smiles as I sit down across from him at the booth, already reaching for a slice of pizza.  With a mouth full of cheese and tomato sauce galore, I give him a slight smile,

“Hey,” I reply.

“So, did that guy ever find you and give you the money?”  He asks, grabbing a slice for himself.

“Yeah, I told him I didn’t want it but he threw it out the window at me anyways,” I say, flicking some hair over my shoulder. “Oh and by the way, will you please tell your dad to stop trying to hook me up with every male I have a conversation with in this store?  It’s getting pretty damn annoying.”  

“Yeah I’ll relay the message,”  He smiles at me, and I smile back.

“So Jay, how’s your week been?”  

“Good, my most disliked professor just took a two week vacation for her daughters wedding in Thailand, and she wants to stay for a mini vacation away from this ‘hell hole’ as she calls it.  So you could say my week has started off being awesome,” He slurps down the rest of his coke until all you could hear was the sucking of tiny ice chips.

“Who would want to go on vacation to Thailand?”

“I hear it’s quite beautiful down there, maybe she wants to enjoy the scenery.”