I drifted off to sleep with Melissa whispering in my ear, “I’ve got a surprise for you, baby.” I smiled like the Cheshire Cat, but I couldn’t open my eyes and her voice faded. That wasn’t like me at all to brush off one of Melissa’s surprises. To my relief, I didn’t dream about a damn thing.
I woke up by myself at ten before noon to find the house empty. I scribbled Melissa a note promising to see her later. I decided to leave her one of the tickets since I probably wouldn’t have time to pick her up. That felt lame. Hell, that felt wrong, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Still, this was going to be a magical night. I could feel it, and I hadn’t forgotten her promise of a surprise of some type. Just remembering her sing-songy voice in my ear turned me on.
No time to daydream, Wallace. You’ve got a job to do.
Chapter Six—The Store
To my complete amazement, the store was packed. There was a line out the door when I arrived at one minute till twelve, and Sanja was excitedly bossing his two new hirelings around. He didn’t scold me for almost being late, but I didn’t challenge him either.
I put on my red vest and name tag, clocked in, and then began helping the next person in line. I had no idea that Sanja’s no-longer-new (and questionably acquired) Spirit of ’76 Bicentennial Transistor Radios would be such a hot commodity. Between the pocket radios and the CBs, we stayed busy all day long. At least Sanja was playing some decent music today and none of his hokey swami crap. That Swedish band crooned over the loudspeaker as I helped a tanned teenage girl find a pink radio cover. She was a cutie but way too young for me, and besides, she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Melissa. I couldn’t believe I was settling down with one girl. One for the rest of my life. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it.
I entertained myself with such thoughts because I still hadn’t heard from Debs, and I had a nagging worried feeling. I didn’t usually worry over my independent sister, but it was different after the intruder broke into the house. Why hadn’t I called the cops? I called the house twice today, but nobody answered. I didn’t have enough time to go home and come back, so I kept my fingers crossed. And what was up with Mrs. Sherman last night?
“What kind of batteries does this thing need?” A tubby guy wearing an impossibly tight Star Wars t-shirt demanded as he waved a bright blue ’76 radio at me.
“Those take C batteries. I think we still have some in the back.” That’s the way the day went. By eight o’clock things weren’t much slower, but I was exhausted. However, Sanja didn’t miss a beat. I don’t think he even took a break for lunch. During a rare lull, I approached him. “Things look like they’re slowing down, boss. I’d like to go if I could. You’ve still got help here.”
Sanja busted the quarter roll and dropped the coins in the cash register before slamming it shut. “We had a deal, Wallace. You said ten o’clock. These two don’t know their head from a mole.”
“You mean hole,” I smiled hoping to soften his capitalistic heart.
“Hole, mole. Whatever. I need you here until ten.”
“I know, I know what I said, but look at this.” I pulled the ring box out of my pocket and showed it to him. “I’m asking Melissa to marry me tonight, and I want to do it at the concert. I need to get off early, please.”
“You are a fool, Levi Wallace. Too young to marry and we had a deal,” he fussed as he waved his brown hand. He muttered something else but I didn’t understand a word he was saying. I think he was swearing at me in his native tongue, but I didn’t care. He could call me whatever he wanted if he let me leave and I didn’t lose my job. To my surprise, Sanja walked away and ignored me as he welcomed the next customer.
The new guy, Brett or Bill or something, shook his head as he chomped on his gum.
“Tough break.”
“I’ve had my share of those recently… but I’m trying to break that cycle.”
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
I glanced up and looked at him fully. He was taller than me and twice as wide—he should be working at the door of a night club. Not in Sanja’s lousy store. He had a square jaw and the kind of buzz cut normally reserved for the military—it was bristly and orange. His t-shirt was large enough to double for a flysheet on a tent and his thousand-yard stare reminded me of the distant gaze adopted by zoo animals. With little happening behind the surface.
“Do I know you?” I continued still stinging from Sanja’s lack of kindness.
“We went to school together, Wallace. I’m a few years older than you.” Yeah, he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. “I sat on the bus, we played cards.” He was clearly getting agitated by my memory issue. I didn’t dare tell him it was probably the bad weed I’d been smoking. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Your mother called the cops on me!” I interjected, with the sudden flicker of remembrance.
He snapped back under his breath, “You tricked me out of my lunch money!” Looking at his current size and weight I could have claimed I was trying to help him.
“We were just kids, man. Having fun, trying to make the day less boring. I didn’t rip you off. You weren’t that great at cards.”
He surveyed me with his blank stare. Did he want to fight? What was this about? “I have no hard feelings,” he said woodenly. “But you should know I’m better at a lot of things these days.”
“Like I said, we were kids, Bobby.”
“It’s Bill,” he sneered at my mistake.
“Hey, that’s right! Billy Kaminsky! Small world, huh?” It seemed irrelevant to ask him what he’d been doing since school, as we were now both standing together on the floor of a retail store looking to scrape a few cents together, but I asked out of convention.
“I didn’t get much of an education, so I’ve been bouncing around grocery stores and fast-food joints. Do you know Fat Al’s on Fifth?” I shook my head.
“Listen. Sorry about all that business back then,” I offered diplomatically with genuine remorse.
“It’s all good, bud. Like you said, kids having a bit of fun. Let’s forget about it.”
“Crazy times,” I added but neither of us moved. Despite his words I sensed the tension between us. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. Willy had an axe to grind. Thank God he didn’t have one in his hands.
“My mother pulled me out of school!”
I wasn’t going to slink away. I already apologized. What more did he want? “I got banned from the bus!” Instead of tossing fists at one another, we both stared and then laughed in unison.
Willy patted my shoulder in a friendly manner. “Listen, I have to hit the head, so if you don’t mind watching the register for me?”
“Sure,” I popped the ring back in my pocket as I picked up the phone by the register and called the house again. I still got no answer. Not even Naomi picked up. Fifteen minutes later, Bill still hadn’t returned.
“Excuse me, sir,” I stepped back from the register to briefly check the stock room. From my line of sight, I could clearly see that Bill wasn’t in the bathroom. The door stood wide open. I swore under my breath. This dude better not be on a smoke break. I ignored the line of disgruntled customers and checked everywhere for the kid. The only person back there was the new girl, Amy.
“Where’s Bill?”
“He left ten minutes ago.” She shoved a box onto the shelf and dusted off her hands. “Why? You need something, Levi?” She smiled and revealed her big yellow teeth.
“Sonofabitch! No, I don’t need anything. Did he say anything?”
She frowned and pulled her red cap down over her curly red hair. “Bragging about going to that concert. Hey, aren’t you going to a concert too? I guess I’m the only one not going to see the Black Knights. Not that I could afford the tickets. Hey, how did you score those?”
“Oh, hell!” I ran to my locker and slung it open. My jacket was there, but I knew my ticket was gone. I knew it before I even stuck my hand in the pocket.
Empty! That rat
bastard stole my concert ticket! I slammed the locker repeatedly as Amy disappeared back into the stock room. Sanja yelled at us both. “Wallace! Amy! Come help at the counter. What are you doing?”
“Did you know that Bill is gone? He stole my concert ticket, Sanja!”
“No, he’s not gone. He’s in the bathroom.” Again, with the hand waving. As if that would make all his problems go away.
I stalked toward him, but he didn’t give me time to unload. He pushed open the swinging door that led to the front counter. I wanted to scream, cry and kick something, but that wasn’t going to happen. I’d been wanting to beat someone’s ass for days. Now I knew who the lucky winner would be.
Billy Kaminsky!
I paced the floor and counted to ten, just like I’d seen Sanja do a hundred times before. I was leaving here at ten, and I was going to that concert. I would raise holy hell if I had to, but they were letting me in.
And then I’d find that chubby-necked numbskull and beat him to a pulp.
Chapter Seven—The Concert
“A deal is a deal. Go to your concert. Here, here is some extra money for today.” Sanja shoved a crumpled twenty-dollar bill in my hand and turned his attention to his cluttered display cases. Some bonus. This lousy extra Jefferson cost me tickets to the most epic concert of the year. Never mind. It was a few minutes before ten and the crowd had thinned out substantially. Whatever advertising Sanja had used for advertising had worked like a charm because his Wild and Crazy Sale had been one for the record books.
Figures.
“Sorry about your concert, Levi.” Amy sulked beside me as she hung up her vest in her open locker. I guess she was calling it a day too. “If I’d known he stole your ticket I would have said something. You never know about people, do you?”
“I’m still going to that concert and I’m going to raise holy hell until they let me in. I should have called the cops on that twerp.”
“Well, good luck.”
“Yeah, you too,” I said indifferently as I grabbed my jacket and keys and headed out the front of the store to my car. I’d only gotten a few feet when I froze in my tracks. The Creep, the psycho rocker who’d been following me and peeping into my house, was now leaning against my car. Okay, no way was this guy a figment of my imagination; he was not a hallucination! As quick as lightning I was on top of him, twisting his scrawny body around. But the guy who now faced me wasn’t the Creep at all. This guy didn’t even have black hair—it was brown and short, like military short. How had I mistaken him for the Creep?
“What’s your problem, buddy?” The guy pulled his arm away from me and squared up like he was ready to fight.
“Sorry. I thought you were someone else, and this is my car.” I raised my hands to show the stranger I didn’t mean him any harm.
One of his friends called me a colorful name as he flicked his cigarette on the sidewalk. “Some people,” the military stranger said as he stepped out of my way to let me get in the Vega. I slid in and cranked it. Thank God it turned over because the guy and his two buddies weren’t through giving me a piece of their mind. If I hung around, we’d get in a dustup for sure and I was sure I’d come out the worse for it. I drove off and left them fuming on the sidewalk.
What the hell is going on with me?
I’d had every intention of checking in with Debbie before going to the concert, but I was short on time. And now that Bill had pulled his stunt, I didn’t have any extra time to go home before heading to the New Field Arena.
I’m sure Debs is fine. She’s one tough kid.
I turned onto Huey Street, the one that took me to New Field. I wasn’t thinking about the traffic before I made the turn, but here I was stuck in it. Like an out-of-towner. An hour into the concert and you couldn’t move more than five feet at a time?
Damn! I’ll have to hoof it. And then what? I didn’t give myself time to think. I could see the stadium from here. I quickly found an empty lot and pulled the Vega into it. The car behind me followed suit. I guess I wasn’t the only concertgoer who was running late. I shoved the keys in my pocket, patted the ring box and made a run for it.
By the time I made it to the arena, I was sucking wind. My lungs were burning, my heart was pounding, and my desperation level had shot through the roof. The thought of that pimple-faced bastard Bill pretending to be me and sitting next to Melissa sent me over the edge. There was a large group of people outside the stadium, drinking, smoking, and blasting music. Evidently, these were the folks who couldn’t make it inside, but they didn’t let that stop them. I admired their devotion to rock and mumbled some pleasantries as I elbowed my way through the crowd to the box office.
A bored-looking twentysomething sipped her Coke and said, “Ticket, please.”
“I had a ticket, but a guy at work stole it. I’m supposed to be inside with my girlfriend. If you could send someone up to my seat, that would be great.”
“What?”
Was she deaf or what? “A guy I work with stole my ticket. He’s inside where I should be. My name is Levi Wallace. I won two tickets. I need someone to go inside and drag his ass out here. My girlfriend is waiting for me.” She smiled at me like I was pulling her leg.
“Are you kidding? Is this Candid Camera or something?”
“Why would I joke about this?”
Her thin smile vanished into thin air. “I’m sorry, sir, but if you don’t have a ticket, you ain’t getting in.” I stared at her badge, which I thought said Tina.
“I do have a ticket, Tina. It’s been stolen, and the guy who stole it is inside. The radio station sent me the tickets. Ask Hillbilly John!” I felt a bony finger tapping my shoulder.
“Get out of the way. It’s freezing out here.”
With an irritated glance, I shushed the woman behind me. “Can you please check the list? I won two tickets from the radio station. WJAX. I’m supposed to go backstage with my girlfriend after the show. I don’t have time for this, Tina.”
“You don’t have a ticket, and I ain’t got no list. Please move out of the way.”
“I’m not moving until you call someone who knows what the hell they’re doing.” Tina didn’t lift a red-painted fingernail to help me. “Look, either you call the manager, or I’ll stand here all night and hold up this line.” Another window next to the one Tina manned opened immediately, and the disgruntled crowd littered me with profanity as they eased out from behind me.
“You were saying?” She snapped her gum in my face without a bit of remorse.
“I’m not trying to be a pain in the ass, but I’m legit. Please, call your boss. Ask someone. My name is Levi Wallace, and I’m supposed to be on the VIP list.”
With a sigh of exasperation, Tina removed her earring, closed the box office window, and picked up the phone beside her. I watched her every move through the dirty glass. After a full minute of back-and-forth with whoever was on the phone, she told me to wait off to the side.
“He is on the way.”
“Great. Thanks.” I shook my head and dug for a smoke while I waited. I could hear the dull thump of music and smell the faint hint of marijuana smoke in the fall air. What a horrible day! I paced the sidewalk in front of the box office for five minutes. Just when I was beginning to think that good old Tina had lied to me, a blue-clad security officer approached.
Make that two security officers.
“Sir, how may I help you?”
“As I was telling Tina, a guy from work stole my ticket. I won a pair of tickets from the radio station WJAX. I gave one to my girlfriend, and I had the other one, which was stolen from my locker at work. My name is Levi Wallace. The guy who took my ticket is in my seat.”
“You have to have a ticket to get in,” the younger guard informed me. “This show is sold out. You need to go home.” Was this guy thick or what?
“I have a ticket, but it was stolen from my locker at work. If you check your list there, you’ll probably find my name on it. Levi Wallace.”
&
nbsp; The younger guy held his flashlight up while the older one perused the list. After a minute, he tucked his clipboard under his arm and stared me down hard. “What are you trying to pull?”
“Come on, don’t give me a hard time. I know I’m on there. I talked to Hillbilly John, and I got the tickets in the mail. Please, I’m wasting time out here. I’m supposed to be with Melissa.”
“You’ve already checked in, Mr. Wallace. Can’t let you in twice, can I?”
I rubbed my hands over my face. Okay, this was a Twilight Zone episode. “What’s the matter with you? Obviously, I’m not inside; I haven’t checked in because I’m out here with you two.” I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and flipped it open. “See? I’m Levi Wallace. Whoever checked in as me isn’t me. Capiche?”
“Hey, I don’t appreciate the swear words. Not in any language. Clearly, you are trying to run some kind of scam, Mr. Wallace. You let your friend go inside and now you want us to let you in too, but it’s not going to happen. This isn’t my first day on the job. Go home or you can take a ride downtown to explain this situation to the police.”
“So, you aren’t going to help me? My ticket got stolen and you don’t give a damn. That’s it?”
“That’s it,” the younger man said. “Now go home, capiche?”
I stared after them as they walked away. After shooting a dirty look in Tina’s direction, I went back the way I had come. This wasn’t the way I expected this day to end. Not at all. I had a ring in my pocket but no Melissa, and I wasn’t getting into the concert.
I would never see the Black Knights or hear Elegant Black played live. Worst of all, my dreams of popping the question at that exact moment were shot to hell. And I had Sanja and Bill and Tina and those lazy security officers to blame for that.
There was nobody on the street.
Nobody at all.
It was pitch black now except for a single flickering streetlight. I hadn’t noticed how few lights there were on this side of town when I parked my car earlier. You know it’s time for a new car when I can leave the car parked and unlocked with the keys in the ignition and not worry about it being stolen. I opened the door, got behind the wheel and did something I never did.
The Vampire's Song (Vampires of Rock Book 1) Page 6
