Something Authentic | Part 2

Something Authentic is Season 1 of Kid8 Podcast. You can listen to Something Authentic on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Something Authentic Episode 2 is also available for purchase as an NFT on OpenSea. You can also support Kid8 Podcast by making a donation here.

Read Part 1 of Something Authentic.

The old bird behind me is coughing now and the codger ahead is doing the pee pirouette. The producers are cracking wise and little barker is pouring sweat. He’s in a lather, claws out and slashing. The wheel on the old lady’s Singer is turning, turning. The old man shifts from foot to foot trying to take the pressure off his bladder and the termite-eaten wood of the gramophone is creaking. I lift the case lid and it smells like my daddy’s study. I pluck a string and an A rings out on the line. The producers glare and I slap the case shut.

A Mexican’s under the lights now. He digs into the pockets of his ripped jeans and pulls out a fistful of something gold. I can tell it’s gold because the TV lights reflect gold back onto their faces.

Monedas de oro Azteca, he says. I don’t need no translator. I nearly jump the line to see for myself. Now there’s something worth seeing, a story worth telling. Hell, I’m telling you now!

Little Barker pulls in a translator from off camera. College boy. Fat. He puts down the grip and hustles over.

¿De donde?

Teotihuacan, he says. It needs no translation.

Barker perks up. Let me see ‘em.

Dales, por favor.

Barker daubs on a few drops of what can only be vinegar and the color stays. We’re all silent now. I can hear the chattering of the Singer wheel in the breeze, the squawking of the gramophone lid. Can they hear ‘em out in TV land?

¿Autenticas?

Solo si tu crees, the Mexican says. He palms the coins and stuffs the snarling skulls back into his jeans and smiles, winks for the camera. He kicks dirt on little barker’s boots and walks across the dusty lot to the parked cars and trucks.

Two more to go.

Thank you for reading Something Authentic, Part 1. If you enjoyed the story, you can support Kid8 Podcast by purchasing the NFT of Something Authentic Episode 2 on OpenSea, or by making a donation at venmo.com/kid8creative.

Also, if you enjoy this this story, please share it with a fellow lover of stories.

Be sure to check out Episode 3 of Something Authentic, debuting June 15. You can learn more about Something Authentic here. You can also follow me on Instagram: @jhannan86 and @the_k1d_8

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