The Past Recedes

Chapter 8

"Do you have the others in the set?", asked John.

"Let me see, we ordered several sets of these from a UK exporter since they're so popular", replied the clerk.

The clerk went behind the counter and dug through a milk crate of shrink-wrapped vinyl. "Oh, here they are", he said, handing him three other similar albums in different lettering.

"I'll take these", said John.

The clerk nodded as he rung them up and placed them in a canvas bag with the store's logo. Josh was behind him with an armload of vinyl as set down on the counter. "Royalty check", he explained.

Josh beamed like a kid on Christmas morning as he picked up the bag of vinyl and led them out the door. "I paid Mom and Dad rent last week and my share of the groceries, I got something left", said Josh.

Both men got in the truck as Josh turned on the engine and drove a bit until they reached the library. "I ordered some books and they always have good stuff on sale", he explained.

John followed him inside the library as Josh went up to the front desk and showed his card while the librarian handed him a small stack of books which he placed inside a plastic shopping bag. He then went over to the used book section and scanned the shelves of paperbacks, children's books and encyclopedia volumes until he found large coffee table books of Impressionist art for a dollar each. Josh paid for the books and both men carried them back to the truck. "Where do you put all this stuff?", John wondered aloud.

"My room, I have a lot of shelves. What doesn't fit I put in my closet or the basement shelves. It's cheaper than being hooked on anime or buying antiques, plus it doesn't rot your brain like video games. Besides, one of the books is for Mom", said Josh.

"Yeah, your parents are coming around?", asked John.

"Yeah, especially since Bicycle Thief is starting to get popular and we're going on tour with you guys. Having your son be a high school dropout at 15 isn't exactly cool", said Josh dryly.

"Of course not, but you weren't meant to be in high school. I wasn't meant to be in school either, both of us are born musicians", John mused aloud.

Josh drove back into the Hollywood Hill just before rush hour was about to start. "Josh, do you want to stay for dinner? It'll take forever to drive back to the valley during rush hour", said Josh.

"Okay, but I need to call Mom and Dad", said Josh.

Josh pulled into the driveway of the house and the men carried the bags inside. When John opened the door, the cats immediately scrambled off the couch and meowed loudly as they greeted him. "Whoa, one moment guys", he teased.

"The cats just watched PBS and were quiet. Did you have a good time?", asked Nika, putting down her book.

"Yeah, this is for you. Josh helped me pick it out", said John as he handed her the bag of vinyl.

Nika accepted the bag and looked inside, her eyes going wide in delight. "Ohh, thank you!", she exclaimed.

"The clerk at Poo Bah's helped me out, it's a set of Northern Soul albums and each is a music from a certain club", he explained.

"I'll go listen to them later after I finish reading", she said.

"Why don't you listen to them now?", asked John.

"I haven't gotten good marks yet, Mom said I couldn't listen to music unless I got good marks and did everything correctly", she replied.

"Okay, but this is summer and there's no school", said John in confusion.

"I was homeschooled, I had lessons everyday", she explained.

"Okay, what sort of lessons?", he asked.

Nika set down her book and cleared her throat before reciting something in Latin. John was dumbstruck and in awe as she spoke Latin from memory, his jaw nearly on the ground as Josh looked just as amazed. "What was that?", he asked in shock.

"Book I of the Aeneid, which tells about how Aeneas and his family tried to escape the sack of Troy. Do you want to hear more?", she asked.

"Uh, I'm good. Now you can put on the record", said John.

Josh snapped out of his trance to quickly call his parents, still shocked that a little kid could speak Latin. John unwrapped a record and set up the record player before placing the album on the turntable and dropping the needle. There was a slight hiss and then bass-heavy, Motown-type music came over the speakers.

John stood and watched as Nika started dancing in a sort of shuffling, free-form athletic style. After a moment, he joined her and started dancing as Josh looked on with bemusement. John danced awkwardly as he flailed his arms and legs, his long curly hair bouncing around his shoulders.

The record ended as both father and daughter laughed with flushed faces. "Let me catch my breath", he panted.

"Josh, why don't you dance?", she asked.

"I got a trick knee, skateboarding accident. I wear a brace and I don't want to blow out my knee", he explained.

"Dad, we can listen to the rest later. I'm only supposed to listen to one record a day", said Nika.

"What, did your mom tell you that? Nika, you can listen to as albums as you want", he said in shock.

"Really? Am I being greedy?", she asked warily.

"Nika, you can listen to as much music as you want. You can listen to my albums too, I'll show you how to load the record player and use the the CD player", said John.

"Wow, that's crazy. My parents let me listen to as much music as I wanted, as long as it wasn't offensive. You're not greedy at all", said Josh.

John's hands were steady as he lifted the album off the turntable and placed it back in the sleeve before adding another one, but his mind was troubled. the way Nika spoke about her mother made him think his daughter had been abused in some way, not physically but mentally. He vowed to find her a therapist once the tour was over as he dropped the needle on the record.