Page 35 of Charm City Rocks
Billy is wearing a cardigan, too, and Margot wonders how many of them he has. “I could come back. Maybe we could meet up or some—”
“No,” says Billy. “Are you kidding? Stay.”
Margot rubs her hands together. As lovely as it was to see the look on his face when he opened the door, this—the fact that he so adamantly doesn’t want her to leave—is even better. Maybe we’re all overthinking it, and everybody just needs someone who wants them to be there.
“Soph, how about we show Margot what we’ve been working on?” says Billy.
Sophia reaches for the keys. “ ‘Levitating’?”
“Nah. You’re killing that one, but let’s do the one I showed you last week, remember? The rockier one?” He shuffles through some papers and finds handwritten sheet music. “Okay, let ’er rip.”
Sophia shakes out her hands and starts playing. Margot doesn’trecognize it at first. The notes are too slow and careful. But then the girl relaxes, and her fingers start to flow across the keyboard.
“That’s it,” says Billy. “Keep going, Soph. Sounds great.”
He’s right. She’s never heard “Power Pink” played on a piano by a child, but it sounds fantastic, and Margot is very happy that she came.
Chapter21
If there’s anyone in Baltimore who’s as happy as Billy, that person is Grady Edwards. He’s trying to play it cool, but his face is like Christmas morning as he hands Margot his Sharpie. “Right here, next to Ripken. It’ll be perfect.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” says Margot.
“Don’t worry if you mess up. We can paint over it with Wite-Out, and you can do it again.”
Margot puts the cap back on the marker. “Well, now you’re just making me nervous.”
“Okay, yeah, sorry. I’ll shut up. Go ahead. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
And now Billy is nervous, too, as if Margot has never written her name before.
Fortunately, though, she has, and she does it perfectly: a big scribblyMfollowed by “Hammer.” It’s a rock-and-roll signature if ever there was one.
“Awesome,” says Grady. “Kid Rock stopped by a few summers ago. He said he was too fucked up to sign, which I totally get. He bought two Lynyrd Skynyrd records and a T-shirt, though.”
Margot looks around. “I really like your store,” she says.
Grady beams. “Yeah? Well, thank you. Are you back to…” He moves his Sharpie from one hand to the other. “Wait, why are you back? Is it…is it because of the Internet stuff? You and Billy?”
Margot looks at Billy, clearly embarrassed, and so is Billy, and now Grady is smiling at them like a dad before prom. “Are you two, like, on a date?”
“G, stop it, we’re just…” Billy doesn’t know what comes after the wordjust.
Margot twists the toe of her right boot into the smooth cement floor. “I was in a hurry last time I was here,” she says. “I feel like maybe I should’ve stayed for one more drink.”
“Yeah, totally,” says Grady. “So, what’re you guys gonna do?”
Grady was right before, back at Hot Twist a week and a half ago. Margot really is shorter than you’d think. Billy read somewhere once that her real name is Margie Willis, which is far less intimidating than Margot Hammer. Margie Willis is just a pretty woman, smart- and shy-looking, who showed up at his door earlier with a little bag slung over her shoulder, like a time traveler. And now she’s standing in a record shop, waiting to hear how Billy answers Grady’s question.
His mind goes blank, as minds do, as if he hasn’t lived here his entire life. He and Caleb sometimes play a game called Wrong Answers Only, so a few seconds pass during which he can think only of terrible options. A couple of foot-longs at Subway. A quick swim in the disease-infested Inner Harbor. A dogfight followed by the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru.
He looks out the front window. It’s breezy out there and late-day sunny—just the right amount of warm. Behind Margot, scrawled next to her newly added signature, he sees Cal Ripken, Jr.’s distinct autograph, and the night starts to take shape in his mind. Food, drinks, a sunset, a nice view of the stars. “Do you like baseball?” he asks.
“Baseball?” says Margot.
“Oh, right,” says Grady. “Good idea. The goddamn Red Sox are in town.”
“I like baseball,” she says.
