Love Gone Black

Part 1

        Wednesday, May 13th, 1992: (Eddie's POV): We didn't have much time to spend in Hollywood so while I was here I wanted to sight-see as much as I could. I spent some time in San Diego growing up but the Hollywood scene was still fairly new to me. A good friend of mine named Anthony Kiedis who's the front-man for a band called the Red Hot Chili Peppers recommended I check out a music store called Moody Records. Apparently they give good deals on vinyls and CD's so I thought I'd go see it for myself. I've been touring with the band for about a year now, seeing them pretty much every day, so I didn't invite any of the guys to come along with me because I could use some time to myself. 

        Walking down the streets of Los Angeles was a different experience than Chicago. The atmosphere is different, the scenary is different, and not to mention the people. L.A. seems to attract all the crazies; I actually kind of like that. I walked into Moody Records already knowing I would enjoy the place. It was organized and seemed to have an endless collection of my favorite thing in the world: music. I went down one of the aisles looking at the genres, wrinkling my nose when I got to the long trail of pop records.

        I heard a soft giggle somewhere in front of me. I picked my head up to see a lovely young woman two aisles down smiling at me. When she saw me look at her, she bashfully turned her face down but the smile never left. Smiling, I skipped the aisles between us and went up to her. "If I'm not mistaken, I think you're laughing at me." I said playfully. She giggled and covered up her mouth as she nodded her head. "So what, do I look funny or something? You laughing at the ugly guy that just walked in?" I joked. "The face you made when you went to the pop section was funny." she said. "Ohh that." I chuckled. "I'm not much of a fan of pop." she surveyed me with her eyes, taking in my hair and my outfit. "You don't look like it." she said shaking her head.

        She started to walk away but I wasn't going to let her go that easily. She was absolutely beautiful and I don't come across many women like her. "Well I'd at least like an explanation for that. What do you mean I don't look like it?" I asked. "You look like someone who's part of that Seattle grunge movement. They usually hate pop, if I'm not mistaken." "Well you're right about both things." "Are you in a grunge band?" she asked. Smiling, I nodded my head. "You can say that." she narrowed her eyes. "Is that why you look familiar?" "It's nice to know even people in L.A. listen to Pearl Jam." I said. Her eyes widened a little and she pulled a stack of CD's from under her arm. She sifted through them for a moment before she finally found Ten, our debut album. "Is this your band?" I nodded. "That's us." "I've heard nothing but good things about it so I thought I'd buy it and see for myself."

        "You know listening to a CD is nothing like experiencing the real thing." She frowned and a little, not quite understanding, and her eyes darted down to my crotch. Seeing where she thought I was going with that, I quickly tried to clarify. "No, no, I mean listening to it live! Like one of our concerts." her face lit up. "Oh! That would be nice. I don't really have the money for concert tickets right now though." I slid my hands in my pockets and shrugged my shoulders feeling really cool at that moment. "You don't really need a ticket if you're with me." "I don't know. I've only been to one concert and that was years ago. Plus I'm not much of a social person. I couldn't be in a huge crowd like that." "You'll be fine. You don't even notice it when you're feeling the music." I said. She looked down at the CD as if she were considering it. "Pretty please. I'd really like it if you came." "Why? You hardly know me." "But I know I want to know you. And I want you to know our music." 

        While she was considering it some more, I asked for her name. "Justine Belloti." she answered. "Belloti? Like Italian or something?" she shrugged. "I'm adopted. I don't know much about my birth parents." "Oh. Well see already I'm starting to know you a little better. You got a dog?" Justine giggled. "No a cat." "What's the cat's name?" "Morrisey. Like the lead singer of The Smiths." I chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind that you like The Smiths." I said. Our laughter subsided and we stood there staring and smiling at each other. "Alright, how about this. I take you out for ice cream and that way you can think about it and I can get to know you some more. Sound good?" she nodded. "That sounds good."