Treasures

It was a slow Friday.
The leaves were beginning to fall off the trees that lined the sidewalks and there had only been a total of five customers in the shop, two of which had actually bought anything. The record, playing the quite soothing sounds of an unidentifiable darkwave band in the corner, was the only sound in the entire gloomy shop. It was approximately twelve minutes before closing time but Archie was really considering packing up early seeing as though it was only in the afternoons that Otto’s really gets business. That’s when hipsters ran through the shop, Starbucks in hand. 'Do you know what I mean?' They’d say when they’d finish explaining how the indie record related to their soul.
He let a minute go by, tapping his guitarist-like fingers against the glass counter, before standing up and grabbing his backpack to leave. Just as Archie was about to grip the door handle, a boy came through the door, completely out of breath and stumbling over his huge, clumsy feet.
“I’m not late, am I?” he began, in a deep voice that moved like molasses, “It’s just that I tried making it here earlier but the traffic in downtown London was terrible and then trying to find a parking spot was even worse- I had to park six blocks away. Not to mention the amount of times I got lost on my way here”. The stranger took a deep breath, placing a large palm on Archie’s shoulder, he only slightly flinched, “Excuse me if I’m rambling but I just really want to buy something for my mum”.
It had been a long Friday.
And Arnie almost considered saying, ‘Sorry no we’re closed. Come again’, but then he took in the way this stranger was panting, probably from trying to run his way here, and how he had clear emerald eyes and there was still ten minutes before Otto’s ‘officially’ closed. He guessed he could take pity on the boy and let him get something for his mother. “Yeah, uh, knock yourself out mate” he said and closed the door, making sure to flip over the bright red ‘OPEN’ sign before someone else tried to enter.
Taking his seat back behind the counter, Archie watched as the boy moved around the room, clearly not knowing where to start first. Otto’s prided itself with the fact that they carry thousands of vinyls, with genres ranging from Lana Del Rey to Slipknot. So Archie didn't hold it against him- even though he really felt like kicking the boy out so he could go home- when it was five minutes past closing time and he was still browsing through records.
“May I offer you some assistance?” Archie called from where he was perched, “You've been standing in the death metal section for a while now and unless your mum enjoys lots of screaming and growling, I don’t think she’d appreciate that.”
The boy’s green eyes widened a significant amount when he noticed the plaque hanging above him that read ‘Black/Death Metal’. “Well I did not see that” he said stupidly and ran a hand through his unruly curls as he stalked back towards where Archie was planted. “I would very much appreciate some of your assistance, I’m lost in your record shop like a little bug in a garden” Archie watched as he dug his elbows into the counter and deep dimples appeared in the boys face as he smiled up at him.
Archie jumped off his stool, ignored his impressive simile and tried not to be bothered by the height difference between them. There wasn’t that much of a difference, but it still made Archie feel unnerved that he had to turn his head up to look at him. “What kind of music does your dear mother listen to?”
The taller boy scratched his neck before answering, “Her taste is very versatile, but she’s more into 80’s rock”.
“That’s a woman after my heart”
He led the way towards the back of the shop where the ‘Soft/Classic Rock’ was located. “Let me just say that The Police vinyl is one of my ultimate favorites” Archie said feeling slightly nostalgic of his childhood while he placed the record in the boy’s large hand. He remembered when his own mum was healthy and when they’d listen to the record together while dancing around the kitchen in their socks. Archie looked down quickly and said, “I’ll wait for you to take your pick” then speed walked back to the counter. He felt the back of his eyes stinging but he refused to let himself cry in front of a stranger. He refused to let himself cry, period.
It was a surprise, a gigantic surprise actually, when he looked up from his ratty converse two seconds later and the boy was standing right in front of him. Deep dimples imprinted into his cheeks as he realized that he actually, sort of, scared Archie. There were five shiny and slightly used vinyl records on the counter between them.
“I’ll take them all please”.
“You do realize the total will rack up to over 100 quid, right?”
“This is a present for my mum, I love her” the boy said, his gaze flicked down for a nanosecond, “Plus the fact that my sister is planning out the entire birthday party and I overheard my mum bragging to her friends about how positively grateful she was to have a daughter like Barb so I just want to try to get something that might 1-up her, ya know?”
Archie carefully placed the records into a transparent bag and watched with amused eyes as the boy took it from him, handling the bag like a newborn baby, absolutely terrified to accidentally let it get in harm’s way. And he should be, with the way he stumbles instead of walks. “Yeah, I understand that, I was a huge mummy’s boy as well. I’d do anything for that woman”.
“Well I shall be eternally grateful for your guidance” the boy said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. And either he didn't notice the way Archie used the past tense in the way he mentioned his mum or he did but decided not to touch upon the subject. The thought of which made Archie smile because people would usually just 'Oh I’m so sorry' at him even though the fact that the cancer had eaten her alive wasn't their fault at all. “Well I’ll just be getting on my way” the boy said and walked backwards towards the door, gaze still transfixed on Archie’s face, “It’s quite late now”.
The shorter of the two snuck a quick glanced to the clock hanging above the boy’s face and nodded, “Yeah I’m about to head out, too” he said and grabbed the backpack he kept hidden under the counter, “I was actually about to close down the shop when you walked through the door. Consider yourself lucky, I’m not a people person”. They walked out together while Archie locked up Otto’s and the boy had a huge smile on his face, clearly pleased with what Archie had just told him but he pretended not to notice. Opting to give a strong handshake, he made sure to squeeze the other boy’s hands as much as possible to try and show off his strength, and heading in a different direction.
Archie instantly reached into his pocket to finger around for a cigarette while on his way to the train station and silently scolded himself. He was supposed to have quit last week, but as he was cashing out at Tesco yesterday he couldn’t help but feel a sort of gravitational pull to a certain pack of Viceroys. All faults would be placed upon the boy with the twinkling green eyes and dimples deep enough it made the Mariana’s Trench seem shallow. He was just too happy and Archie didn’t do happy, in fact, happy people made him feel like he was just punched in the gut.
“Fuck” could be heard around the entire block as Archie realized he had left his lighter beside his keys on the kitchen table this morning when he was in a hurry to go to work. So now he had no cigarette and no way to get into his flat.
It was an interesting Friday.
And even though half of Archie wondered if the boy’s mother would enjoy The Police album and dance around the kitchen with him, the other half of him wished he’d have never let the boy into Otto’s in the first place.