People Are Strange (The Lost Boys Anniversary Edition)

Chapter Six

"Waddaya think 'bout this one?"

Paul inspected himself from various angles in a tall three-sided mirror. It was tucked way at the back of a vintage clothing shop that had caught his eye. The place was packed to the rafters with of colourful castoffs from bygone eras. Finding a new jacket that could appease Paul's carefully guarded vanity was proving to be rather difficult however.

Hence jacket number fifty six...or was it fifty seven?

Marko eyed the fringed suede jacket that Paul wore and winced. No amount of dirt or axle grease would ever make that thing sociably acceptable. It should have remained buried in the mud at Woodstock where it belonged back in the Sixties.

"Are you John Lennon?"

"No."

"Then?"

"Fine."

Off went jacket and onto the ever growing pile of gaudy failure.

"Listen man. We've been here for over nearly two hours. Will you make up your mind and pick one? Just not the one that makes you look like Liberace. No one needs to see that."

Marko shifted in his seat. The worn armchair that he was draped over was starting to feel its age and Marko's backside was suffering for it.

"Dude you complain worse than my mother. Here, what about this one?" Paul scoffed as he grabbed a heavy satin-lined black trench coat off a rack and whirled it on with plenty of flare to spare.

"Paul you don't even know your mother. And no, that makes you look like an undertaker. What are you, goth now?" Marko chuckled as he began to toy with a loose thread on his cuff.

"Figure of speech man."

Paul could not decide whether or not he dug the whole solemn dead-guy look. This one he seriously considered as a contender but after a few minutes of hemming and hawing he shook his head and the trench coat joined the other discarded hopefuls on the floor.

"C'mon Paul, just pick one already! We're burning precious partying time. There's a bash that is going down over at the docks and we are stuck in here. What gives?" Marko hoisted himself out of the chair and rifled through the other jackets that had yet to be tried on.

"Hell man, do you think I'm enjoyin' this? I'd rather be out there getting hammered, but when it comes to getting a new set of threads man, you gotta be careful with what you wear."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Here man, try this one on."

Marko randomly selected a tailored black tuxedo jacket with tails and tossed it over to his best friend.

"Who's gettin' married?" Paul arched an eyebrow.

"No one you moron. Just try it on. Trust me, ok?" Marko said, motioning Paul to put the jacket on so that they could get the hell out of there. Neither of the two paid any attention to the tinkling chime that accompanied the opening of the shop's front door. Paul gave Marko a "yeah right" look before he put the jacket on. He took a moment to adjust the sleeves before he looked in the mirror.

He liked what he saw staring back at him through the glass.

"Not bad, not bad."

He slowly turned in a circle, eyeing every aspect of the outfit. It was different, that was for sure, and it hugged his shoulders perfectly. "Do you think it makes me look sophisticated?"

"I think it makes you look like you're going to prom. If you guys ever went to prom." Said a voice from behind a rack of reduced bohemian chic items that only the beach bums would ever consider purchasing.