Author's Note: If you'd like to see a picture of a vintage Indian motorcycle, similar to the one mentioned in this chapter, check out this link: photos/dhwright/4674232145
Chapter II: The Record House
Later that same evening, after the movers had come and gone, and the house was full of unpacked boxes and plastic covered furniture, Amelia, Magdalena, and Adelaide all sat together at the kitchen table, and enjoyed a warm, cheesy pie from Antonio's Pizzeria. Amelia and Magdalena were mundanely discussing which colors to paint the kitchen walls, who was still teaching classes at Sandusky Heights High, and what on earth lead to Charlotte and Henry Kline getting a divorce after forty-two years of marriage. It was pleasantly refreshing to talk about the humdrum activities of daily small town life. Amelia's life back in Chicago had been all about Oliver for the last few years. She had taken exceptional care of him while he was sick, and had the forethought and composure to plan ahead for the inevitability of his passing, which brought up seemingly endless melancholic duties such as: picking out a casket, reserving a church, ordering the headstone, hiring a caterer for the wake, authoring and publishing an obituary, meeting with accountants, paying off his medical bills, repaying the debt he owed the banks, all while managing to be a an unselfish and loving wife and mother the entire time. Now, she was finally released from that heavy burden, scared and bruised, but as resilient as ever; just like Adelaide. It was a beautiful trait they shared as mother and daughter, and Adelaide guessed Magdalena shared it as well.
"Grandma, I meant to thank you for sending the coffee this morning," Adelaide spoke as she finished the last piece of her pizza.
Magdalena threw up her hand carelessly as she sipped her sweet tea, "Oh, it was nothing."
"Coffee?" Amelia questioned, giving Magdalena a suspicious glance.
Magdalena stood from the table and began cleaning her plate in the sink, "Yes, yes, I sent Calvin over with some coffee for Adelaide this morning…"
"Mama, Calvin works for you at the motel, you shouldn't send him on personal errands and deliveries."
"Well, just why not?" Magdalena defended, "He does a good job, and I pay him handsomely. Speaking of handsome…" she teased, "What do you think about Calvin, Adelaide? He sure seems struck by you."
Adelaide blushed lightly, "He seems nice, Grandma. I think he really likes working for you."
Magdalena smiled, "That's sweet of you to say, darling, and I wholeheartedly agree, but I wasn't asking what you thought about him working for me." She finished cleaning her plate, dried it, and placed it on the counter. She leaned back and folded her arms, "You know, Calvin's daddy used to have a crush on your mama, back when they were in high school."
"Mama," Amelia scolded harshly, "that's old news, and you shouldn't be peddling it."
"Look, all I'm saying is those Darby boys clearly have a thing for us Harper women."
"Mom, seriously, that was twenty-two years ago."
"Sweetie, there are plenty of things in Sandusky Heights that haven't changed in over twenty-two years."
"Yeah, well, that isn't one of them." Amelia stood from her chair; she cleared her and Adelaide's plate from the table and rinsed them off in the sink. She paused to look her mother emphatically in the eye, "Don't try to play cupid, okay? Go shoot those arrows somewhere else." She grabbed a dishtowel off the counter and whipped it towards Magdalena playfully.
Magdalena held up her arms in surrender, "All right, all right, call off the Calvary."
"Actually," Adelaide interjected as she scooted her chair across the floor, capturing the other women's attention, "Calvin invited me down to The Record House tonight to listen to a live band, and meet some of the other kids from Sandy Heights. I'd like to go…."
"You would?" Amelia and Magdalena both asked in unison, one seemingly surprised, the other pleased as punch.
Adelaide smiled and sincerely replied, "Yeah, it sounds like a pretty cool place, and I should probably get started on that whole making new friends thing."
Amelia was hesitant to agree, but finally did so, "Okay, but be home by 10:00pm, and don't go anywhere else besides Record House."
"Deal." Adelaide grabbed her pack off the back of the kitchen chair, "Bye, Grandma." She waved as she closed the backdoor behind her.
"Call me old fashioned, but back in my day, if a boy asked you out on a date, he at least came to pick you up for it," Magdalena griped, "I am going to have to have a talk with…"she stopped her muttering as she met the forewarning glare of Amelia. "Sorry, I forgot, no arrows."
Amelia rolled her eyes and chuckled casually, "Come on, mama, I have a ton of boxes in the living room I could use your help with." She tugged gently on Magdalena's arm.
II
The sun was setting as Adelaide approached The Record House, she could hear the faint sounds of live music playing; she noticed a group of people standing casually by the front entrance, and then she realized one of them was Calvin. He was mingling with other letterman jackets and a couple of blondes that Adelaide perceived as cheerleaders. To buy herself some time, she darted into the alley just behind the corner of the record shop. She thought back to her conversation with Calvin earlier that day; were these who he meant by the "cool kids," jocks and cheerleaders? Adelaide understood very little about sports. Her extra curricular activities had always involved performance art. "Then again, cheerleading is a type of performing," Adelaide thought to herself. Adelaide shook off her inhibitions, and remained confident. She would seek out the common threads among these new individuals and play it to her advantage.
As Adelaide was about to curve the corner to exit the alley, she heard the loud revving of a motorcycle howl out from behind her. She turned promptly to see a young, rebellious looking man on a vintage, red and gold, Indian motorcycle come cruising down the alleyway. The biker sported a brown leather jacket, boots, and dark aviator sunglasses. He pulled up to the corner of the alley, across from Adelaide, and parked. She noted a wooden baseball bat strapped to the side of his bike, which she found odd, because he certainly didn't appear to be the baseball type. The biker removed his aviators and hung them from the collar of his white shirt, and for a brief moment he held eye contact with Adelaide, but said nothing to her as he walked by and entered the backdoor of The Record House.
Adelaide admired the restoration of the vintage Indian, and wondered if the man had done the work himself. She guessed the frame was World War II era with some mix-matched modifications that gave it a unique look. She pulled out her phone and snapped a quick photo of the bike.
As Adelaide approached the entrance of The Record House, Calvin stepped forward from the group to greet her, "Hey, you made it!" he greeted cheerfully.
"That must be Chicago," said one of the other letterman jackets.
"Her name is Adelaide, Leon. Chicago is the city she's from… wow, haven't you been listening to anything Cal's said? And you guys think I'm the dumb one."
"Roxie, I know who she is," Leon groaned irritably.
Calvin brought Adelaide over to the rest of the gang, and began introducing everyone. He first pointed to an attractive, black male, "That's my buddy Leon; best point guard in all of Ohio. Everyone knows he's going pro." Next, he tossed his arm around a tall, shaggy haired fellow, "This is Jake Athens; you'll be seeing his name in the paper a lot this football season; they don't call him 'Zeus' just because of his last name. This guy throws footballs like lightening bolts into the end zone." He walked up behind the two blondes and placed a hand on each of their backs, "And these two lovely ladies are Roxie and Courtney - Courtney is the cheerleading captain and yearbook editor, and Roxie is… well, Roxie is…"
"Future Homecoming Queen!" Roxie extended her hand, "Nice to meet you."
Adelaide accepted and shook her hand, "It's a pleasure." Adelaide addressed the group, "I really appreciate the invite. I'm a big fan of live performances, and I'm totally banking on a new band t-shirt."
"Seems you're not just a fan of live performance; Cal says you did theater in Chicago?" Leon inquired.
"Just a few musicals and plays at my old high school," Adelaide replied modestly.
Roxie leaned forward, "What's your favorite musical? Mine's Bring it On."
Courtney placed a hand to her forehead, "Jesus Christ, Roxie. Bring it On is not a musical."
A look of frustration crossed Roxie's face, "Uh, yes, it is. I have the soundtrack downloaded on my iTunes."
"Hey, how about we get this party started, huh?" Jake pulled out a flask from his pocket. He took a swig and then passed to Leon who did the same. Leon attempted to hand the flask to Calvin, but Calvin politely refused.
"Hmm… Cal's on good behavior tonight," Roxie teased as she took the flask from Leon.
"I'm always on good behavior," Calvin replied. He opened the door to The Record House as Adelaide, and the rest of his friends, stepped inside.
Leon led the way through the record shop, and into the back warehouse annex where the shop employees had set up a small stage with lights, a few chairs and tables, and a "Non-Alcoholic Refreshments" stand. The hip, underground, industrial feel of the venue was attractive to Adelaide. It coordinated well with the indie rock music style of "Atomic Boom!" Before long, Adelaide was clapping and dancing along with the music. She was released of inhibition, and moved freely among the crowd of people.
Calvin stepped up next to her and handed her a soda. "I'm really glad you made it," he spoke loudly into her ear so she could hear him above the music. "How do you like the band?"
"They're good!" Adelaide shouted.
Calvin laughed in agreement, "Yeah, I think so too!"
About seven or eight songs into the set, Adelaide realized the biker from alley was standing next to the back exit door of the warehouse. He was leaned up against the wall, studying the band intently. He never clapped, her never danced, he never moved; he just stood there, watching, waiting.
Calvin recognized Adelaide was staring at the man and was curious as to why she found him so captivating, "Do you know him?"
"No," Adelaide answered. "I saw him outside earlier."
"Is he bothering you?"
"What? No, he was riding this awesome vintage Indian motorcycle. Check it out." She pulled out her phone and showed Calvin the picture she took earlier, "Pretty cool, huh?"
"All right everybody, this is the last song of the evening!" the lead singer of Atomic Boom! addressed the crowd. "Thank you all for coming out and showing your support! If you haven't already, stop over by the band table, buy a shirt, pick up a copy of our CD, and help us mushroom cloud the sound of Atomic Boom!"
As the band broke into their final song for the evening, the biker disappeared from the back exit door area, and Adelaide excused herself to the restroom only to find herself at the end of a very long line.
"Come on! This line hasn't moved in twenty minutes!" shouted a girl as she thumped on the bathroom door; "I'm about to piss myself out here."
"Romantic, isn't it?" quipped Courtney as she walked up behind Adelaide. "A drunk chick screaming outside the bathroom door, while another drunk chick bangs her boyfriend on the other side."
Adelaide laughed, "Actually, I'm pretty sure that's a scene from a Nicholas Sparks novel."
"A word of advice…" Courtney cautioned, "Don't ever let yourself be the girl on the other side of the bathroom door."
"Yeah, we give out similar advice in Chicago," Adelaide joked.
Courtney pulled Adelaide closer, "Look, I'm going to be honest with you, and do you a big favor, because you're the new girl in town, and you don't know any better. Cal's a player. He acts like the boy next door, but don't let his charm and good looks fool you, he's been with like half the girls in our class."
"That's really none of my business." Adelaide brushed the comment aside, "I don't care who Calvin sleeps with."
"Yeah? Then why'd you come on a date with him?"
Adelaide was taken aback by Courtney's frankness, "This isn't a date… he invited me out to meet other people from school. He works at my Grandmother's motel."
Courtney sneered with skepticism, "Whatever, I warned you." She flipped her hair as she turned and briskly walked away.
Adelaide sighed heavily and then pulled out her phone to check the time. It was almost 9:30pm. Considering it was a fifteen-minute walk back to Cuyahoga Ave, she figured she'd skip the restroom for now, and wrap up the evening. She walked around the warehouse and record shop for several minutes looking for Calvin, but was unable to locate him, or any of his friends. The band had finished their set and was now packing up their gear, and the crowd was dispersing out into the street. As Adelaide exited The Record House, she followed the sounds of people yelling in the alley behind the shop. As she turned the corner, she saw the biker kneeled over the drummer of Atomic Boom! as he lay on the ground, clutching his ribs.
"You really thought I wouldn't find you, you bastard?" the biker mocked. "I'm a slayer… I'll always find you."
"You're no slayer!" the drummer hissed.
"Well, I'm the closest thing this town's got," the biker replied as he stood to his feet, and unstrapped the bat from his motorcycle. "I ought to stab you in the chest with your own drumstick for what you did to that lady over on Euclid Street."
"You talk a big game, boy," the drummer spit a mouth full of blood into the street, "but one day, you'll be waiting at the gates of Hell, just like me. We're not so different, you and I."
"I'm nothing like you," the biker snarled in disgust.
The biker raised his wooden bat into the air, and was about to swing, full force, onto the head of his prey, but Adelaide screamed out to him, causing him to falter; instinctually, he glanced over his shoulder at her. It was enough of an advantage for the drummer to kick the biker's leg out from under him, knocking the biker down to the ground, as he scurried to his feet and fled down the alleyway.
"Damn it!" the biker growled as he grabbed his ankle in pain. He began to run after the band member, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a dark hooded figure with a bow step out from inside the shadows of the alleyway, and pull a single silver tipped arrow from her quiver. She fired the arrow impeccably, striking the drummer precisely in the back of the head. Within seconds, his body skidded across the hard concrete below him and disintegrated into a meager pile of dust. "Show off…" the biker muttered as he turned and limped back towards his bike, propping his bat on his shoulder.
The hooded figure jogged swiftly down the alleyway, removing her bow and quiver, she handed them to the biker who tucked the arrows into the saddlebag of his bike, and secured the bow across his torso. He looked over at Adelaide, who was standing with her back pressed up against the wall of The Record House, her eyes widened and heart pounding.
"What about her?"
"I'll make sure she gets home safely," answered the archer. "Go on, I'll meet you later."
Adelaide watched in suspense as the biker started his engine, and cruised off down the alley, just as mysteriously as he had arrived earlier that evening. The archer cautiously approached Adelaide. Her hood still covered her eyes, but her voice and physical features were clearly feminine, "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."
Adelaide swallowed heavily, "Wh-what just happened?"
"I'm sorry you had to see that; I couldn't let him get away, not again."
"I don't understand… Who are you?" Adelaide demanded.
"Go home…" the archer instructed. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you on your way."
Adelaide's face soured, "What are you talking about? Why would anything happen to me?"
Suddenly, Adelaide felt a hand grab her shoulder from behind. She squealed as she jumped and turned quickly.
"Hey, whoa, it's me…" Calvin explained, holding his hands in a non-confrontational manner. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. What are you doing back here?"
Adelaide glanced back down the alley, but the hooded archer had disappeared. She scrambled to compose herself, "Um… nothing… I just saw a fight between these two guys."
Calvin's eyes drifted down the dark, empty alley behind the record shop. "They were probably drunk," Calvin concluded.
"Yeah," Adelaide laughed anxiously, "I'm sure they were hammered."
"Are you okay?" Calvin asked as he checked her over. He sensed something more than witnessing a fight had upset her.
"Totally," Adelaide replied, unconvincingly. "I should get going." She began walking away from The Record House.
Calvin hurried up beside her, "Hey, I'll walk you home."
"No," Adelaide objected, stopping to address Calvin directly, "I mean, thank you, but I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You seem a little frazzled, and Ms. Maggie will be upset if…"
Adelaide interjected, "You don't have to worry about Ms. Maggie, Calvin, but I will, if I don't get home in the next few minutes."
"Hey, Cal, come on, man, we're going to Courtney's house for a pool party!" Jake shouted from across the street.
Leon waved a hand in the air, "You can come too, Chicago!"
Calvin looked back at Adelaide considerately, "I guess I'll see you around?"
"Of course," Adelaide flashed a smile, then watched as Calvin sprinted across the street, and joined up with his friends. She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket; when she checked it, she realized she had two missed calls from Amelia. "Shit…" Adelaide cursed under her breath as she frantically typed out a text message to her mother explaining how the show had just let out, and she was on her way home now.