Live it Again Read Online Free PDF

Circus Popcorn in a box, the
pink popcorn was shit but all the kids loved the little prize at the bottom.
Glass jars filled with hard ju-jubes and caramels wrapped in clear plastic.
There was no sugar-free stuff here, no ‘sucra-this’ or ‘aspar-that’. Diabetes
be damned, candy was still good back then. The chocolate bars were twice the
size of those in the twenty-first century; the most expensive one was labeled
fifteen cents. This was back in the day when prices were stamped right on the
product. No ugly barcodes, no computerized tills to scan them with. He grabbed
a Hershey half the length of his forearm and a wax-paper bag of barbeque potato
chips.
    Thirty cents , no tax on junk food for
a few years yet. He spotted the pop cooler and grabbed a twenty cent glass
bottle of 7-Up. He placed the items on the counter and waited for Mr. Nelson to
serve him. There was a tobacco display behind the old man. Thomas Nelson couldn’t
have been much more than fifty. Did his children’s friends in the future call
him an old man behind his back?
    Probably.
    “I’ll take a pack of cigarettes too,” Hugh
said without thinking it through. “Player’s King Size, please--and some
matches.”
    “What’s a kid your age need smokes for?” Hugh
wondered how a man could be completely bald on top and have such thick, black
eyebrows. His mouth was a thin, frowning slit, and he had a big dimpled chin that
could’ve put Kirk Douglas to shame.
    “They’re for my dad.” He showed Mr. Nelson
the money and waited anxiously.
    “You don’t have enough if you want that
other stuff too--smokes are seventy-five cents. Besides, your dad was in this
morning and got a couple packs already.”
    “Give me a break, will you? So I’m a nickel
short.”
    He might have gotten away with that kind of
talk if Gary Reynolds was behind the cash register, but the stony outrage on Nelson’s
face didn’t leave any room for bartering. He was suddenly dying for a
cigarette. If he were even a foot taller, Hugh would’ve reached across the
counter and strangled the bastard. “Uumm, I’ll just take the bar and pop then.”
    Once he was outside, Hugh opened the chips
and took a few bites. He thought about his performance in the last fifteen
minutes. He’d only spoken to four people and he’d lied to all of them. He’d imagined
screwing Caroline Sterling when she was a few years older and he’d tried to
picture what Mrs. Friedmont’s big boobs looked like.
    The Voice in the Brown wouldn’t be too
happy with me.
    He sat on a fire hydrant and watched the
antique cars drive up and down the street. They weren’t antiques though, he
thought as a new green Ford Torino rumbled past.
    What was the exact year? Mrs. Stimm was his
grade three teacher so that meant it was either the early fall of 1973, or the
summer of 1974. Probably the latter since everything was fresh and green, the
air swelteringly hot. He looked at the chocolate bar and wondered why he’d
bothered to buy it. He rarely ate chocolate anymore, his mouth found the
sweetness too sensitive. He ran his tongue along his teeth and marveled at how
small they were. It was strange to feel molars still solidly in place, where
three or four adult ones had already been pulled. He’d have to take better care
of them.
    He tucked the bar in his back pocket and
started on his way again. He’d promised Billy a chocolate bar, and he would get
one. Whether it was a melted glob or not wouldn’t matter much to the boy. Hugh
had done his good deed for the day, or at least, he would make good on his first
promise.
    His heart started to race when he saw the
pharmacy ahead, and he suddenly remembered what it was he really wanted
to spend the money on. He’d actually fantasized about this opportunity over the
years. He ran toward the door, a familiar bell chimed as he pushed it open. “I
remember that dinger! It’s been gone for years!” he exclaimed.
    Mrs. McDonald looked up at him from the
pile of new