David's Boombox, Tale #3

Letty destroyed a boombox after her life changed; will she ever let David play the music again?

Transcript

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David's Boombox. Written and read by Maria Rodriguez Bros.

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On the day Letty kicked the boombox to the corner and shattered it into pieces, the boys on the corner felt disrespected. Letty hated their freestyle music because her husband, David, had collapsed while dancing in their kitchen. After the paramedics took David away, no one on the block discussed what had happened to him. David didn't die, but somehow everybody knew he would be different. Letty was different too, like how roads endure harsh winters and how city folk are left with the potholes in the Spring. "We can't afford to live anywhere else," Letty said one day to Fulana, who responded only with "Place a two dollar bill on your kitchen wall." Letty did what Fulana said, and after two days she finally brought David home. Neighbors stared, like they hoped a bus would arrive to direct them all where to go. And so Letty and David continued to live upstairs from the bodega, and the boys from the corner continued to play their music on the boombox. Normally it would have been okay, but the circumstances had changed. No longer did it seem cool to play music till 2 a.m. But even when they did, they changed the cassettes to hip hop, country, rock, and even some salsa. But Letty didn't care for any of it. She just yelled from her upstairs window and said, "Turn it off!" And that's when the boys knew it was late. And Letty had had enough. So it was no surprise that she destroyed their boombox . Despite their perplexity, those boys didn't react. They didn't talk back or curse her out. Many knew it was because of David. The boys had become suddenly keenly aware of the movement of their own hands and feet. David couldn't yell at them. So they let Letty say her peace. She said things like, "David had plans to be somebody" and "You boys on this corner are nothing but a bunch of losers". The last phrase seemed harsh, especially since the boys at the corner helped Letty carry David up and down the two flights of stairs on the day he came home. But then again, maybe Letty had done them a favor by destroying their prized music box. It was only after the boombox was destroyed that everyone on the block heard the quiet. And that's when the people first noticed how the moon cast its light on Letty and David's second floor window. The boys on the corner got a perfect view. They were the ones who witnessed Letty feeding David and tucking him into bed. And after the lights went off in the upstairs apartment, everyone heard the soft whimpering and sniffles that compelled those boys to leave the corner and eventually go home. And after many nights like this, one day the boys on the corner heard music again. But it came from Letty and David's apartment. And they welcomed a new feeling, one filled with agitation. So they quickly ran up to the door and knocked. When Letty opened, she said, "Make the music stop." She led them to the kitchen and showed them a broken transistor radio. It played the loudest jazz music they had ever heard, almost as if the band was right there in Letty's kitchen. And then they saw David, half smiling and propped up in his wheelchair, with drool slowly coming down the corner of his lips. Those boys didn't know what to do. So they ran downstairs to the bodega to get help. But then they realized they didn't know what kind of help they needed. So when Fulana saw them, she asked what was the matter. One of the boys responded and said, "Do you hear the music playing?" Fulana quickly pointed to their boombox, laying at the top of the overflowing trash can. They grabbed it and brought it upstairs to show David. But nothing happened. And the transistor radio previously playing had stopped playing music. The boys frowned. And Letty said, "I'm sorry about your boombox." And one of the boys politely smiled and said it was a mistake to throw it out. So they headed back down to the corner and placed the broken boombox against the brick wall of the bodega. And many days passed. And that's when people started dropping quarters, Nickels, dimes, and dollar bills near the boombox, as if the money would make it work again. But it didn't. So the boys decided one day to do what was right, and they gathered all the money and placed it outside of Letty and David's door. And when Letty got home that day, she let out a breathless scream and then yelled out from the window, "David's moving his hands and feet." The boys ran up those stairs so fast and then saw David move his hands in slow motion, as if he were stringing a guitar. As they watched in awe, they did not let go of the disappointment they felt towards Letty. She never mentioned anything about the money they left. But still, they went back to the corner and threw the boombox at the top of the garbage. The next day, as they approached the corner, they heard a hip-hop sound. It became louder, and they soon realized it was not coming from Letty and David's apartment. But something leaning against the Bodega brick wall. When the boys inched closer, they realized it was their boombox without cracks, without damage. It started to play the same freestyle music David was listening to on the day he collapsed. The music soon became louder and louder. And it frightened them so much that one of the boys kicked the boombox to the curb. But it continued playing music. And that's when Letty lifted her window from the second floor apartment and said, "Keep it going! David moves to the music." And so the boys danced on that corner till two AM, and no one from the city complained about the music.