The Past Recedes

Chapter 8

"I'm going to do some shopping with Josh, so behave yourself with Mildred and the cats", said John.

"All right, Dad. I'll be in the library", she replied.

Bianca and Gabriel glanced up from the water dish and padded over to the TV. "They like to watch PB, especially the nature shows", he explained.

Nika turned on the TV and changed the channel over to the local PBS affiliate. The cats sat on cushions in front of the TV and watched a rerun of Nature about lemurs. She quickly grew bored with the show and saw that John was still there as she went up to her room to get a book. Her furniture had come in earlier that week and had already been set up, the daybed covered in a purple quilt leaning against the wall. Two of the other walls were lined with shelves bursting with books some piled on top of each other because of the lack of space. On top of the low shelves was a vinyl record player with an antique horn in a brilliant deep blue. However, the room did not have any records since her mother had kept them and they still had not yet arrived.

Nika scanned the shelves and found her new Murakami book as she headed downstairs. "I'll be back later, I have to pack for the tour. Don't worry, I'll call and send postcards, if you want", he said.

"Okay, have fun", she replied.

John tried not to be upset by her coolness as he left, seeing Josh's beat-up pickup truck on his street. "Maybe at the end of the tour, I can finally get a new car. It's being held together by bailing wire and chewing gum", said Josh as John got in the passenger's side.

"You will, this is a major tour. What kind of car do you want?", asked John.

"A Volkswagen Jetta, since Beetles aren't made anymore. Or a Volvo, something European but not expensive. American cars suck and Japanese cars are boring", replied Josh as he shoved a Radiohead cassette into the player.

"And get one with a CD player", teased John.

"Hah, I think new cars have them. I still have a lot of cassettes, maybe I can have both. But even better would be a vinyl player, but they haven't invented that yet", he laughed.

John hoped that Josh did get a new car since the old truck was a piece of junk the younger man had bought for $500 from an ad in the newspaper. The interior was strewn with fast food wrappers and boxes, empty cigarette boxes and spent butts in Styrofoam cups, the trash giving off sour, smoky aroma. While the exterior had gotten the minimum car wash, the fender was dented and the paint job had dulled to a dark blue-gray whose edges were rusty. A glance at the odometer showed that the truck had nearly 300,000 miles on it after 15 years of services as it steadily made its way downhill.

John was relieved when Josh pulled in the lot of Poo Bah's used record store. "They got the best selection of vinyl in the Valley, especially British stuff", he said enthusiastically.

The store was half-full with the usual sorts who came to vinyl record stores: hipsters, college students, hippies young and old, punk rockers, suburban teenagers and a few bewildered preppy types. Josh made a beeline towards the UK imports section and scanned the placards until he came to the R&B and soul section. "Knock yourself out, I'll be looking for some Japanese imports", said Josh.

John flipped through the vinyl compilations of Northern Soul and wondered where to start. Each of the albums seemed to have cover photos of attractive women in mod clothes dancing and he could only recognize some of the songs and artists. "Do you need help?", asked one of the clerks, a young man with long brown hair who spoke with a Scouse accent.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Northern Soul albums for my daughter", he replied.

"Ah, my Dad used to go dancing at the Blackpool Mecca back in the day and I grew up hearing it. This just came in, it's part of a set that came in", he said, handing him a vinyl.