“Well, yeah,” Sean grins. “But also, guys who work in alty music stores who think they’re going to get to do it with the girls who want to do it with the guys in the bands by knowing about them…Guys who work in places like that.” Sean points diagonally across the street to a store with posters and band memorabilia covering the windows and bottom forty printed on the black and green awning.
“Shall we?” Sean puts out his arm for me to grab onto. I take it and we cross the street.
Bottom Forty is another little pocket of anytime in the middle of this sunny summer day. The windows are covered entirely in band posters so the bright summer sun is blocked out. It smells sweet in here, like incense mixed with something else. A woman rapping in French plays loudly over the sound system.
The guy standing behind the counter is about our age wearing a white T-shirt with ASK ME ABOUT MY DUCK written on it in black sharpie. His face is covered in giant painful-looking zits and there’s a silver zit-shaped piercing protruding from the middle of his chin.
Sean takes the photo up to the front. The guy looks at Sean and nods the way people do when they think they’ve spotted one of their own.
“Hey, man,” Sean says. “Can you help me out here? I’m trying to figure out who the band in this picture is.” He slides the photo across the counter. The guy looks at it and nods.
“Of course, this is Monster Hands.” He looks up at Sean. “You seriously didn’t know?”
“I’m not from around here,” Sean says.
“Yeah, I guess not.” The guy shrugs, then hands the picture back to Sean. “They’re really fucking good. They’re Irish but they got their start here in Denver, then got signed a couple years ago by Paragon Records and have been touring pretty much solid for the last two years or so. You should check them out. Their old release is over in the M section. Well, obviously.” The guy points. “But they have a new album coming out in two and a half months.”
The guy glances at me, as if to see if I’m impressed by how much he knows. I’m flattered that he’d care.
Sean nods. “Cool,” he says. “Thanks.”
Sean starts walking toward the back. There’s a guy and a girl standing in front of the Ms, both about the same height, with straight, shiny, copper-colored hair. They both have pale clear skin, piggy looking upturned noses, and giant eyes. Like they’re from another planet where this is just how people look. The girl has her hand in the guy’s back pocket. Sean starts to reach for the M.
“Looking for Monster Hands?” The guy half of the couple is watching us, well, watching me, actually. But he’s talking to Sean.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Sorry, honeys!” the girl says. She’s holding up a gray CD case with a black-and-white photo of a big monster hand holding a coffee cup on the front. “We got the last wuh-uhn!”
“Can we see the CD just for a second?” I say. The guy is still staring, at my boobs now.
“Sorry, I know that trick!” The girl is shaking her head. “We let you see it for a second and then you run off with it. Nice try, though. People get very snatchy-snatchy when it comes to Monster Hands CDs. That’s why we have to get this replacement. Because a friend, well, an ex-friend, of ours stole our last one.” The girl frowns. “Awww, you look so disappointed. Awww. Seriously. I can relate. Me and boyfi loooove Monster Hands, don’t we, babes?”
Her boyfriend nods at my boobs. “We love them.”
“Me and my smoochy-face here cannot wait until their new album comes out. We’re going to camp out in line like a week before. We already bought the tent.”
Then the four of us just stand there for a second, until the girl lets out a high-pitched animal scream.
“NO WAY!” She drops the CD, and snatches the Monster Hands photo from Sean. “Oh my God. I’m shitting in my pants. I’m shitting in my pants right now! They got the Bijoux picture of Ian’s tattoo! Can you believe it?!?” She waves the picture in her boyfriend’s face.
“How the fuck did you get this?” he says. “That lady who works in there is a beast! She could snap your leg in half with that jaw of hers.”
I shrug.
“Rock and roll,” the guy says. He holds his hand out, his pinky and pointer finger in the air. The girl gives me a nasty look, then links her arm through his and pulls him close to her. Then she goes back to staring at the picture.
“But seriously though, the people on the forum will pee their pants over this. Every single one of them in unison the second they see this.” She shakes the photo around a little. She has green ink caked around each fingernail. “Okay. How much do you want for it?” She looks up and brushes her bangs to the side with her hand. She’s wearing so much eyeliner.
“I’m not selling it,” I say.
“Okay. I see what you’re getting at. I can respect that.” The girl nods. She takes a deep breath and then forces her mouth into a fake-looking smile. “I’m Jamie,” she says. “And this is my boyfriend, Jamie. I know, Jamie and Jamie, so adorable, right? And what are your names?”
“I’m Ellie,” I say.