Page 23 of A Boy Called Lovesong

“And who put him there?”

“Noah, you can’t blame someone a thousand miles away for what happened that day. You can’t let this anger get the better of you, or you’ll lose more than you’ve already lost. You need to give yourself time to heal. Maybe someday you’ll even find love again… maybe there’s someone out there who needs to love you as much as you loved Joel.”

“I don’t want love. I want retribution.”

“You can’t do this.”

“Oh, no?” I stood from the bench. “Just watch me.”

I started to walk away when Margot stood too, although she made no attempt to chase after me. Perhaps she knew it was no use. Instead, she called after me. “Noah, stop. Where are you going?”

“Home to pack.” I barely glanced over my shoulder.

“At least let me give you a ride. We can talk about it on the way.”

“Actually, it’s such a lovely day, I think I’ll walk.”

“Walk? From here? Are you crazy?”

She couldn’t see, but I smiled by way of a response.

Perhaps I was.

CHAPTER 5

“What’s a cassette tape?”

It wasn’t until the girl behind the counter at the car rental office said it that I realized just how young she was.

“It’s a… you know… you listen to music on them.”

“Is it an old person thing? Like a Boomer thing?”

“No. Yes. I guess.”

“You’re not talking about a CD, are you? My dad still thinks his collection is actually worth something.”

“No, I’m not talking about a CD. Cassettes came before…” A frustrated sigh broke up my sentence. “Can you please just find me a car with a cassette deck in it?”

“Um, ‘no’ is the short answer. They don’t make cars with cassette decks anymore… or even CD players. Everything just gets Bluetoothed to your cell phone now. Are you a Boomer? You look kinda young for a Boomer, but it’s hard to tell anymore. Anyone over twenty-five looks like a Boomer to me. Do you know what Bluetooth is? Do you even have a cell phone?”

“Yes, I have a cell phone.” My voice was more indignant than I intended. I guess there was an underlying tone of rage in everything these days. “Could you please just get me the manager?”

“Iamthe manager.”

“Seriously? How old are you?”

“A lot younger than you, apparently.”

“Look, I just need a car with a cassette deck. You see, I have this tape that I haven’t listened to yet, but I kinda need to hear it on my drive down to Louisiana, because… well… I’m finally ready to hear it for myself. Do you get what I mean?”

The girl gave me a suspicious look. “Wait a second, is this a prank? Am I being pranked right now?” She started looking over my shoulders for a hidden camera.

“No! This is not a prank.”

“Damn.”

“Can you just check, and double check, and maybe even triple check to see if you have a car with a cassette deck?”

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