Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Hi, welcome to Play it Again. May I help you find something?”
“Yes, I’m looking to buy a VHS player, actually.”
She pointed ahead. “If we have any, they would be there in Aisle 9, on the right-hand side.”
“Thank you kindly.”
She nodded and her gaze returned, laser-focused, to the book. He jogged to Aisle 9, quickly navigating through racks of old purses, plastic toys in large clear bags, and shelves of scattered books and magazines in disarray. Finally, he found the area he needed, doing a quick scan of the electronics—cameras, Walkmans, video recorders, record players, toasters, drills and electric pencil sharpeners. Then, there on the bottom shelf, sat two VHS players—one of them covered in dust. One looked to be in pretty good condition, with the remote strapped on with a wide rubber band and a piece of scotch tape. The other player was in pretty bad condition, with many dings and scratches. No remote in sight. They were both equipped with the appropriate connection cords, and around the same price: seven and eight dollars.
He gathered both in his arms to purchase and got into the short line. A lady in front of him had an armful of jeans and knit sweaters, and another woman was being rung up—she had a collection of large glass vases, rattan baskets, and colorful ceramic bowls. Once they were finished purchasing their items, it was his turn. He placed both of the VHS machines down onto the counter and pulled out his wallet.
“Both?”
“Yeah, in case one doesn’t work.”
“You can test ’em before you buy them,” the romance book reading cashier professed as she pointed to an outlet, and then a colorful striped basket full of light bulbs, DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes.
“Oh, I didn’t see that. Yeah, I’ll plug them in and try them out. I see both of them have the necessary cables to attach to my TV, so I’m not worried about that.”
“There’s nobody behind you. I can try for ya.”
“I appreciate that.”
AC/DC’s, ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (if You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)’ was playing. He tapped his hand against the counter to the beat of the music while the woman turned on a television behind her, attached the ropes, then plugged in the players, one after the other, slipping a tape in. Some Christian cartoon started playing. Something about 1990’s graphic style animated vegetables and fruits singing Gospel songs. Both worked, but the banged up one had a feature where he could fast forward and rewind quicker.
“Let me get that one. Thanks for your extra help.”
“No problem.” She rang him up. “That’ll be $8.12, with tax.” He paid for the item with a fifty-dollar bill and walked out of the store. Before he could get to his car, the woman chased after him. “Sir, you forgot your change!” She waved around a fistful of money.
“No, I didn’t.” He shook his head. “It’s for you. Get somethin’ good to eat, some gas for your car, buy a few more books, or just have a little fun.” She stood there as if her damn heart was melting, then mouthed a ‘thank you’ and went back inside the store.
He drove home, his mind in a daze. After he’d dropped Genesis back to her house from her spa day with his mother earlier in the day, he’d tried to keep his cool. He didn’t want to tip either of them off. He’d initially told Genesis on their ride over to his mama’s residence that he needed her help getting the woman out of the house, but he didn’t offer many more details. He was relieved that she didn’t try to delve deeper, more than likely picking up his cues that it wasn’t something he wished to discuss. Once he arrived at his penthouse, it had begun raining pretty heavily.
He tore off his jacket, removed his shoes, and made quick work of hooking up the machine to an older television he kept in his guest room. He moved like lightning, a pure adrenaline rush. His blood was on fire, his mind curious and firing on all cylinders. He sat on the end of the bed, placed his father’s tape in the player, and sat there, his heart pumping.
There was quite a bit of static. He now regretted not having the machine with the remote. Then as soon as he began cursing, part of an old cartoon that looked to be from the late 1970s, early 1980s appeared. The voices in it were a bit garbled, but it could be He-Man. Then, it cut out, as if someone had taped over it. A few seconds later, the wilderness came on screen. Nothing but soaring trees and a gloomy sky. The tall trees went up to heaven, while their roots were rooted in hell. His heart panged with agony, the sight bringing back his old trauma. The eerie tape was aged and splotchy and cut in and out for several seconds. He couldn’t turn away. Then, on the far-left side of the screen, appeared a boy that looked just like him. Roman gripped his chest… The boy had to be about twelve or thirteen at the time.