Chapter Four
Turning to the window, I began to play with the loop that was attached to the top of my cane. I observed nothing but a blur of green bushy trees, a row of passing cars one after the other, unable to make out any of their license plates, except for the one on the truck in front of us. However, I was able to determine what color each of the cars was and what kind some of them were--especially Toyota trucks. The majority of them are boring-looking, modern day cars, but once in a while I’d see a nice shiny classic car. I turned to see what the sign in front of us said, but all I was able to catch was half of a word that read: “Flem.” It’s an extremely scary thing hardly ever knowing where you are unless you ask someone or you figure it out by the trees, buildings, bumps, swerves and curves in the roads as you’re just passing by them. But then you are still left wondering if you are in a town or a township.
A string of pop songs came on that sounded identical to every other song. Simoane, Andrea and Nichole were loudly singing along between giggles and comments. I thought I was going to puke by the time we got to the mall.
This isn’t real music. This is just a filtered, manufactured, squeaky-clean, teeny-bopper marketing scam. I mean, we’re adults now. We should be listening to more mature music or at least some music that is more artistic, more imaginative or more thought provoking.
I desperately searched for buildings, trees and other things that might give me a clue as to whether or not we were getting closer to the mall so that the torment would end. A-m-s-t-e-r ----Oh! Amstertown! We’re here!
“This is ridiculous,” said Simoane as we approached a line of traffic. Cars were bumper to bumper going in and out of the parking lot nonstop. “I’m going to try another entrance,” Simoane decided, heading on straight ahead. We found a less populated parking area as far as traffic going in and out went, but the parking lot seemed to be full. We rode around in circles for at least a half an hour until we spotted someone pulling out of a spot.
“Finally,” sighed Nichole, taking her seatbelt off.
We entered the monstrous mall, taking the escalator up from the food court. I felt a little overwhelmed just trying to look at the map; I grabbed at the information desk coming in. I had an enlarged map once, but I lost it.
Where do I start? They must have a hundred stores here. Hmm, well, they have a store called Music World on the first floor. I assume that’s a record store. I could probably spend all day there.-
“Oh! The Fashion Realm,” Andrea exclaimed as though it were cute and cuddly.
“50% off,” Simoane exclaimed.
“Woo hoo!” Nichole cheered! And they were off, making a beeline toward the door and leaving me in the dust. I followed them inside looking at the outfits that were on display. The majority of the outfits were over a hundred dollars and they were the ones that were 50% off. I searched for Andrea, Nichole and Simoane, who were each busy gathering an assortment of clothes and heading for the dressing rooms.
They’re going to be here a while.
Leaving them to their shopping, I decided to come back later. There really wasn’t anything in particular that I needed or wanted-- except for maybe a man, complete with respect, honesty, loyalty, reliability and unconditional love all in one package.
I wandered down the middle of the main isle with my cane in motion, passing stores and people, hearing bits and pieces of various conversations. I could also hear a number of top-forty songs intertwining with each other from a lot of different stores in the building, but only one made me curious. I couldn’t hear the beat or the melody of the music, just the sound of a man’s voice singing the lyrics.
“Do I look strong and tough enough?” he asked tangled in the web of songs as I slid my cane at a faster pace trying to find the store it was coming from. “Am I the one to care enough?” he questioned in the same three notes, as I continued to follow, passing a blur of stores with horizontal lines in them. “Are you the one to come home to? Are you the one to say I do?” his musical questions continued, beginning to get louder, fascinating me with every step I took. “It seeps into your life,” he sang, a little louder and clearer now, switching to a higher register as I listened, walking briskly from one side of the aisle to the other. “It drips down through your body,” I heard, hardly noticing any of the other songs now. I passed the hair salon and one of the many shoe stores almost skipping like an excited child. “Takes a hold of your work, ’til there’s only one party,” I listened, beginning to hum his melody softly to myself, passing the bookstore and the leather store. “Fly on higher. Fly on desire. For God’s sake please, please, please let me in. You’ll never know just who I am-----”
“Attention shoppers,” someone interrupted in a nauseatingly perky voice, announcing something over the P.A. system about a sale.
I snapped out of my curiosity, stopping dead in my tracks in disappointment. Frowning, I switched hands with my cane slowly sliding it around in the opposite direction making my way back to the Fashion Realm.
Damn it! Now that song is going to be stuck in my head all day.
