Boy Story: The Road Taken - 6. Becoming a Trekkie

Becoming A Trekkie

About two weeks later give or take, Parker showed up unexpectedly at the mall on a Friday night a little before 9:00. He came to visit me first because the store where I worked was closer to the main mall doors. He snuck in behind a floor rack and tried to scare me. Unbeknownst to him, I was following his every movement in one of the wall mirrors. When he got close, I said, “Hi, Parker!”

“Aw, how did you know?” he said as he popped up from behind the rack.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall…” I said as I pointed to my not-so-secret weapon.

I noticed he was wearing the green denim army jacket from the first time I saw him in the mall. There was a name patch on the front that fittingly said “Parker.” I didn’t even bring it up because when you’re in an Army/Navy store and a jacket coincidentally has your name on it, you buy it.

He went on to tell me his plan that night was to try to persuade Barbara to see the new Star Trek movie with him after work. The movie had been out for a while and was nearing the end of its run. And he hadn't seen it yet. The only problem was that Barbara hated sci-fi movies.

He explained, “She has never seen any of the Star Wars movies…or even ET. God, that’s just so un-American! If I can’t convince her, I guess I’ll just have to go alone.”

“Well, if she hasn’t seen any Star Wars movies yet, Star Trek will be a tough sell,” I reasoned.

“Yeah, I know, but I’m not too proud to beg,” he said with a grin.

Then a bolt of pure genius struck me from out of the blue.

“You know what…I think I may have an easy solution for you,” I began. “I’ve been wanting to see that same movie, but the friend who usually goes to those movies with me has already seen it…twice. I could wait for video, but I’d much rather see it on the big screen. I’d be happy to go with you if you're looking for some company.”

“Gee, I appreciate the offer, but you don’t have to do that for me,” he said.

“You’d actually be doing me a favor because I want to see it, too,” I assured him. “And I have no problem driving you home after.”

“Really? Are you sure you don’t mind?” he asked.

“Not a bit. Now I’ll have something to do tonight, and you won’t have to put the hard-sell on Barbara. It’s a win-win,” I stated. “But you might want to avoid telling Barbara. She might get pissed at me for stealing you away from her tonight.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” he replied. “Maybe I shouldn’t go by the record store at all, so I don’t blow it.”

“Well that’s up to you. So what time does the movie start?” I asked.

“At 10:20.”

“Perfect. This store closes at 10:00 and the cinema is right across the street. We should be fine,” I said. “Can you meet me out back at 10? Just look for the green door next to the big trash compactor. That’s the employees’ entrance.”

“Sure, that sounds great! See you then,” he said.

Well, he did go to the record store. After all, how was he going to kill an hour? But he made up a story that he had something going on that night, so Barbara didn’t offer an after-work activity. I kinda think Barbara might have said “yes” to the movie that night just for the privilege of being with him. But ha ha, I got to him first.

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