MIXED TAPE Part 2

"I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday" – Jim Steinman
"Memories may be beautiful and yet, what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget" –Barbra Streisand
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'This has to be a joke', Karl thought. 'Me? Rick rolled in my own storage unit? Now I know this isn't a tape I made.'

But, all alone, and in the sentimental mood he found himself in, he started singing along to the Rick Astley song that had become the surprise destination for many "must click" emailed links.

"Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you"

The song put him in a good mood. He figured whatever demons of relationships past he dug up from this tape, it was all over now. Who knows what it was about, but he was pretty sure this wasn't one of his mixed tapes.

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket letting him know he had received a text. He pulled it out and read the text from Michelle, Laura's sister. Laura was looking for him, to talk. Oh yeah? He thought. 'If Laura is looking for me, why isn't she texting me?' But, of course, he knew the answer to that. Laura was not the texting type. Everyone knew that if they wanted to get a message to her, they would have to call, email, or text Karl. All of her friends became his friends on the Social Network sites because she never saw the need to be on them. It was a joke shared by many, she wasn't afraid of any of these forms of communication, and she was by no means too dumb to learn them, she just wasn't interested.

So she wanted to talk. Karl looked at the text for an answer. He cleared the screen and was about to give Laura a call. However, instead of dialing her number, he fell into the rocking chair and pushed his closed fists into his eyes.

"Swaying room as the music starts
Strangers making the most of the dark
Two by two, their bodies become one.
I see you through the smoky air
Can't you feel the weight of my stare?
You're so close, but still a world away…"

Now this was crazy. There was no way anyone would know about the meaning behind this song. If it weren't for the juke box in the ice cream place he worked in as a kid he probably wouldn't have even known this song.

It was the summer after senior year, and for the first time he felt truly alone. This town that meant so much to him growing up, wasn't big enough anymore. People were leaving. Friends were leaving. They were getting ready for college far away and he was staying behind. He believed that there would always be time to 'get his act together' but there was no more time. He missed it.

Now he would have to work twice as hard to survive. He'd have to find a way to save face and be respectable despite being left behind. He wanted to write, people always told him that Karl Ardsley sounded like a writer's name. He had shown some skill, both in school and writing poems to woo girls. But without college, without guidance, he had no idea where to go to get his writing career started. He had to find something to keep him busy and make some money while figuring this out. He was feeling terribly alone.

Serrano's Ice Cream Shoppe was a great place with a terrible location. It had the warm feeling of an old fashioned ice cream parlor. Mama Serrano decorated the place in a comfortable, stay-awhile fashion that made people love to do just that. Karl got into talking to Mama one afternoon and before he knew it she had hired him on.

As assistant manager it was Karl's job to open the store each day except Wednesday and Sunday. He would turn the ice cream machine on in the back, so it would be ready when Mama came in, and he would take the days flavors out of the walk in freezer for the front counter. He also plugged in the jukebox that kept all the kids happy while their parents waited in line to get their frozen concoctions.

Around 10:30 every morning a group of women would come in, still dressed in their country club tennis outfits and order coffee or iced tea and frozen yogurt. To Karl it was always funny how the same women came in everyday at the same time, but for the most part they hardly acknowledged each other. As if they had an unwritten rule, "I didn't see you and you didn't see me (at the ice cream place before noon)."

One woman in particular stood out among the rest. Hilda Woodbury was in her early forties and had been in a well publicized car wreck, which left her walking with a cane. Her unfortunate malady, however, only seemed to add an accessory to her wardrobe as she still appeared tremendously fit and was always in good spirits with Karl. Yet, there was a sort of aloofness to her, and she always sat apart from the other early morning visitors. Karl wondered why she still wore the tennis outfits when she obviously couldn't play anymore.

One rainy morning Karl was running late and still had not turned the jukebox on when he saw Hilda's Volvo pulling into the parking lot. Not that she would need it on, but he didn't want to deal with some whiny kid if they happened to come in while he was waiting on Hilda.
On his way over to the jukebox, he either tripped or slipped and ended up bumping the machine. This caused Mama Serrano's stuffed bunny, "Eddie Rabbit", to fall behind the jukebox. When he plugged in the jukebox it immediately began to play. Someone had obviously not gotten their moneys worth the night before. Karl picked up Eddie Rabbit and popped up so fast he startled Hilda who then took a misstep with her cane and fell into his arms. He held her tight and they began to sway, in the middle of a rain storm, listening to Madonna sing, "Crazy For You".

Karl couldn't believe his ears. His eyes, meanwhile, stole a glance at the motorcycle helmet he should have been wearing that fateful day he injured his brain. The doctors warned him that he might forget some things, or there might be changes in his behaviors or attitudes, but he's never noticed a thing. Now he was wondering; if he did make this tape, could he have just forgotten who he made it for? Was it possible that he meant to give it to someone and…and…but who?

If he found the tape in this boom box, which was in the apartment box, he would have had to have made it something like 20 years ago! How could he remember Gail's favorite perfume, or Hannah's blue earing that she gave him in his Good-bye book from Decatur House, but he can't remember who the intended recipient of this tape was?

His musing was once again distracted by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. He took it out and read the text. This time, to his unbelief, the text was from Laura herself.

It read: Call Me I need to talk to U

He wondered who she got to help her send it.