Page 72 of Cash

He walked over to it and picked it up and gave it a strum. He plugged it into an amp and started playing around. He hadn't played in a long time. It felt good. He lost himself playing around. Before long he noticed someone standing in the door.

"Pearl Jam. Nice. Which one was that?"

"Black. You need to brush up on your grunge if you didn't know that."

"Is that what grandpa played?"

Damn, that threw him. He very rarely thought of his dad. Yes, he knew that was River's grandfather, but he had never heard of him referred to that before.

"Some, mostly jam bands, like Dave Matthews shit."

"Gross."

Cash chuckled. "Yeah, not the punk you seem to play."

"It's not punk per say. I just like driving beats."

"Who was singing this morning? I don't think I've woken up to Bikini Kill since high school."

"You know Bikini Kill?"

"Of course, but aren’t they before your time? They’re a bit before my time."

"Yeah, I guess. I just like them."

"But for real, who was singing?"

"Her name is Mallory. She's a friend of Mateo's."

"You guys sounded really good together."

River nodded and picked up the bag of Doritos and started to munch.

"You seem to be settling in pretty well."

He nodded. Talking to him was like pulling teeth, but that was pretty par for the course with a broody teenage musician. While Cash had never been a broody musician, he had been a broody hockey player, and equally talkative.

"I think I might apply for a job at the music shop with Mateo. They’re hiring, but I don't know if they would want to hire me for just a month or so."

"I think that's a good idea."

"You do?" he said looking up at him.

Cash smiled at him and nodded.

"Do you think I could stay longer than the summer?"

The thought of that warmed Cash. They had gotten off to a rocky start, but somewhere over the last few weeks they seemed to have come to an understanding.

"I think it's a possibility. We need to talk to your mom, and when the season starts up I'm gone a lot."

"I'll be eighteen then. I promise I’ll be responsible."

"I believe you. Let's talk to your mom and see what we can work out," Cash said. "I'm going to go shower," he said as he stood to leave.

"Can I play the Fender?" River asked as Cash got in the hallway.

"Don't touch the Fender," he answered back as he made his way up to his room.

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