THE RECORD SHOP ⋆ 𝗱𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗵𝗹

thirty one

He hails one down with ease, a native New Yorker if Evie has ever seen one. In the back seat, they make small talk before Evie works up the courage to ask who they are going to meet. Surely it's someone she knows if it is being considered for a cover piece.

"So where are we heading?" Evie asks first.

"We are on our way to the Carlyle Hotel," Jim says.

"The Carlyle?" She questions, knowing it to be a fancy five-star that overlooks Central Park.

"Yeah, that's where Jerry's staying," he says. Jerry, Evie thinks, it couldn't be.

"Jerry?" She questions unsurely.

"Garcia," Jim completes the exact name Evie was thinking. No fucking way, she thinks.

"Jerry Garcia is who you're going to interview?" Evie says with shock written all over her face.

"We are going to interview. I didn't mention that earlier?" Jim laughs a little.

"No Jim, you certainly did not."

"You a fan?" Jim smiles, clearly aware of how this information has affected Evie.

"Of the Grateful Dead? Yeah," she scoffs as if that is a ridiculous question. Who isn't?

"He's a very interesting guy. I think he'll like you," Jim says as if it will ease her nerves.

"Oh, sure," Evie laughs at Jim's bold statement.

They arrive out the front of the hotel which holds the musical legend, Jerry Garcia and Jim tells the doorman with ease that he's here for the interview with Rolling Stone. Jim and Evie are led inside and taken up to the floor of Jerry's hotel room.

Jim knocks confidently on the door with the same three-digit number he has scribbled down onto his notepad. Shockingly, Jerry Garcia himself is the one who answers the door.

"Hello Jim," Jerry Garcia extends his hand to shake Jim's.

"Hi Jerry, this here is Evie Kelly. She's completing an internship of sorts so she'll be joining us today. I hope that's not a problem," Jim says kindly.

"A pretty young girl like you is definitely no problem," Jerry Garcia says to make Evie feel even more out of her body. He extends his hand to shake Evie's hello as well.

"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Garcia," Evie says, surprised with how composed she is in this completely surreal moment.

"Pleasure is all mine," he assures her with a warm squinty-eyed smile behind yellow-tinted glasses and his grey beard.

As they step into the hotel room Evie is also greeted by and introduced to Jerry Garcia's manager and assistant of sorts. The room overlooks Central Park, the view is the first thing Evie notices through the large windows and it is breathtaking.

Wasting no time at all, Jim sits down and asks Evie to sit beside him on the couch across from where Jerry has made himself comfortable.

"Use this notepad, take down some notes of your own. Any points he hits that you think are interesting, write them down. Try to get some direct quotes too. I'll just be talking and recording the conversation on this," he points to his tape recorder, "But your notes might come in handy later."

"I can do that," Evie assures him.

"Great. Let's get started then," Jim turns to Jerry and begins to ask his questions.

Evie is fascinated to hear Jerry Garcia express his disbelief over the prevailing success of the Grateful Dead. The interview continues and Jim manages to hit several different points from the recent passing of band member Brent Mydland to getting Jerry to openly discuss his use of heroin. The conversation is no less than confronting and at some points emotional and Evie drinks in every single second in childlike wonder. She feels like a fly on the wall being allowed the opportunity to listen to a conversation that she would ordinarily never be able to. At this moment, she feels like the luckiest person alive, something she has rarely felt before.