Page 41 of Unruly
“I bet you could. It’s big enough.”
“No, I mean lost in the books. There are just so many of them. Where does one even start?”
“I don’t think this is a browsing library. I think you need to know what you’re looking for here.”
I chuckle. “Yes, I suppose, but I wouldn’t mind getting accidentally locked in here for a week or two. As long as I had the books, I think I’d be okay.”
He looks over at me and smiles. “Book lover, huh?”
“I like books. Do you?”
“I used to read a lot more when I was younger, but kind of drifted away from it. More of a movie buff now.”
“I have limited experience with the cinema. I used to see quite a bit of theater. That was the primary source of entertainment in my day: theater and operas. Now I suppose that’s a thing of the past.”
“Oh, no, there’s still tons of theater. There’s a whole district in New York. Broadway.”
“Broadway?”
“Yep. New productions come out all the time.”
“I suppose I thought nobody would like to see those anymore.”
“It’s certainly a specific type of person who wants to go to the theater all the time, but a lot of people enjoy it. Pretty sure there are still operas too. The artists perform the classics, but you can still go see an opera in many places; definitely some of the bigger cities, and certainly in Europe.”
That knowledge warms my heart somewhat. “Interesting. I thought everything was sleek and newfangled.”
Borja chuckles. “A lot of people appreciate nostalgic or retro things. Vinyls even made a comeback.”
“Vinyls?”
“Yeah, vinyl, you know? For music, like on a turntable. You know what a turntable is, for listening to records?”
“Ah, yes, that’s how I listen to all my classic music. I haven’t heard it called vinyl before.”
“For a while there, we went to cassette tapes and then CDs—these little discs that you put the music on and they play in a machine, rather than a turntable.” He’s gesturing with his hands, making round shapes in the air. “But I don’t know, maybe in the past twenty years or so, vinyl has made a comeback where young people are appreciating listening to actual physical records on a turntable. It’s kind of fun. You can buy a lot of new music on vinyl records too.”
“Interesting. Does it sound better on a CD versus a record?”
“That’s an opinion that will have divisive answers.” He laughs. “For me, I like CDs because they’re convenient. I also like to stream music.”
“Stream?”
“The songs just play on the internet. You don’t have the physical thing in your hand at all. I can show you later.”
“Yes, please. That sounds fascinating.”
We make it up to the space where the library assistant sent us, and it’s a room with stacks and stacks of books and drawers, filing cabinets lining the walls.
Another staff member approaches us and offers help.
“Yes, we’re looking to research the Wolcott family of Boston,” I say. “John Henry Wolcott, to be specific.”
The librarian smiles and nods. “Ah, another true crime buff. Right this way.”
“True crime buff?” I whisper to Borja.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” He winks at me.
