It's Got a Beat, Mr. Jones

Then I Saw the Light

Mary sat at a bus stop. She was waiting for the bus to pick her up. She just wanted to go home now... She wanted the comforts of her home town. She was older now and she fancied herself wiser. Her hair was long and straight. She was wearing a baggy shirt and tight, bell bottom, blue jeans. Around her neck were beads, lots of colorful beads.
The bus drove up. Mary ran her fingers through her hair then walked onto the bus. She scanned the bus for some empty seats but saw only one by a young man with thick, long, brown hair. The young man looked vaguely familiar to Mary, but she couldn't think of from where.
Mary walked down the bus to the seat beside the young man. People cast her dirty looks. Women whispered behind their hands. Mary sat down beside the young man.
The young man gave Mary a smile. Mary looked at him for a moment. "Do I know you?" She asked.
"Yeah," The young man replied smiling. "I'm Bobby."
Mary's eyes widened. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed.
Bobby reached out and touched her hand. "It's great to see you again, Mary," He said.
"How long has it been?" Mary asked.
"Six years," Bobby said.
Mary ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. "Really, that long," She said.
"Where are you going?" Bobby asked.
"Home," Mary replied looking out the window. "I think it's about time for it."
"I thought about going home after John's death," Bobby said.
Mary's brow furrowed slightly. "Did you?" She asked turning her head back towards him.
"I tried to," Bobby said. "I got there and stood in front of my old house then I realized that my old man and woman had left it years ago."
"What did you do then?" Mary asked.
"For awhile nothing. I didn't know where to go, so I worked at a jazz hall for a few years," Bobby said. "Then I saw the light."
Bobby saw Mary's curiosity. He smiled. "I met a man that spoke of the teachings of Buddha. He told me of people that lived in complete happiness and shared their love freely and promoted peace. It was like my whole life had been dark until that moment and that man's words were the light I had been seeking my whole life," Bobby said. "Ever since then I've been searching for those people."
Mary watched him with wide eyes. "Have you found them?" She asked.
"A few," Bobby said. "I have found that I work better as an advocate, telling others of my enlightenment and enlightening them."
Mary was spellbound by Bobby's speech. "Are there really people that share love freely and promote peace?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm one for example," Bobby said. "I've been picking people up to start a colony somewhere."
Bobby's hand kept brushing Mary's. It caused her to blush and look away. They talked for a long time. Bobby's words seduced her to his cause. She found herself agreeing with his every word. When the bus stopped at the bus stop she was planning to get off at, she stayed on the bus. Bobby's words seemed ideal to Mary. The ideas he purposed were attractive to her, but the ideas weren't the only thing she found attractive about him. Now that it was only him she saw, she felt an attraction towards him stronger than the attraction she had felt towards Jeff. Maybe the attraction was caused by the familiarity of him, or maybe it was something special, like she had been waiting for a long time and Jeff had just been in the way of her seeing just Bobby.
The bus rolled to a halt at a bus stop in somewhere in Texas. Bobby stood up.
"Can I come with you?" Mary asked.
Bobby looked back at her. He smiled at her. "Of course," He said.
Mary and Bobby walked off the bus together. People whispered things behind covered hands. Mary heard the word 'hippies' again and again. The word didn't seem to affect Bobby, but Mary was slightly disturbed by it. People had called her that word ever since she grew out her hair. She didn't understand what the word meant, but the people said the word with hate and distaste. She wanted to ask Bobby what the word meant, but she felt awkward about saying it as if it were a curse word.
Mary and Bobby stepped off the bus. The bus drove off. Mary watched it leave with a kind of anxiety. There was no turning back now. She was going to travel with Bobby from then on.
A girl saw Bobby and waved at him. Her hair was auburn and long and straight. Her eyes were brown. She ran towards Bobby, and he ran towards her. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Mary's face fell slightly.
Bobby, with his arm still around the girl's waist, turned to Mary. "This is Heidi," Bobby said. "Heidi, this is my friend Mary."
Heidi smiled at Mary. Mary tried to hold her hand out for a hand shake, but Heidi didn't seem interested in a handshake. She pulled Bobby along with her as she gave Mary a large hug and a kiss on the cheek. Bobby laughed and kissed Mary on the other cheek.
Mary's face turned bright red. Heidi laughed. She had a pretty face and a pretty smile. Heidi was wearing a loose shirt with tribal patterns. Heidi was also wearing bell bottoms, but they were of a lighter blue compared to Mary's. Her shoes were grass sandals that looked like they had been worn for a long time.
"Where'd you meet Bobby?" Heidi asked.
"A little town in Texas," Mary replied.
Bobby smiled. "Back when I was still in a band. She dated one of my friends," He said.
Heidi's lips formed an 'O' then her lips molded into a smile. "Where are you staying?" She asked.
Mary looked up at Bobby. Bobby winked at her. "She's staying with us," He said.
Heidi wrapped her arm around Mary's shoulders. "Groovy," She said walking Mary and Bobby towards a brightly painted Volkswagen bus. Mary was impressed with the microbus's paint job. It was so colorful and happy.
Mary, Bobby, and Heidi walked into the bus. Heidi got in first. Mary could faintly smell skunk. She didn't say anything to be polite.
The inside of the bus was like a house. There was a small stove, a sink, a table, a small bed, a small couch, and a few other things that most houses had. There was a young man laying on the couch. There was something off about the man. He had a cigarette in his hand, and he was slowly breathing in the smoke. The smoke smelled strange, not like tobacco smoke.
Bobby walked over to the man and took the cigarette from him. Bobby took a puff of the smoke and passed it to Heidi. Heidi took a puff of the smoke and passed it to Mary. Mary stared at the cigarette for a moment before taking a puff of the joint herself. Bobby smiled at her.
The cigarette made her feel weird. She couldn't explain it. It didn't feel bad though. The more the cigarette was passed around the more Mary was affected. Her cheeks were blushed.
Bobby knew what was in the cigarette as he took puffs of the smoke in turn. He and Heidi had done this many times before. Heidi sat down in front of the couch and rested her head on the man's chest.
"Who's he?" Mary asked in an almost drowsy tone.
"That's Harvey," Heidi said. It was her turn with the cigarette. She breathed the smoke into Harvey's face. Harvey craned his neck and kissed behind her ear.
Heidi held out the cigarette, and Bobby took it from her hand as Harvey began to work his lips across Heidi's cheeks. The cigarette had affected Mary strangely. She didn't know what was happening and at one point she blacked out.
When Mary woke up the next morning. She was surprised by what she was wearing. It seemed like someone had changed her out of the clothes she had been wearing the night before. She was wearing a long, frilly nightgown. She was laying on the bed with Harvey and Heidi on either side of her; Harvey on the left and Heidi on the right.. Bobby was awake at the table drinking a cup of coffee.
Bobby looked over at Mary. He smiled at her. "Good morning, babe," He said.
Mary crawled off the bed, being careful not to wake Heidi or Harvey. "What happened last night?" She asked rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Bobby smiled at her. "Nothing," He said sipping on his coffee.
Mary sat down at the table in front of him. He offered her some of his coffee. She accepted.
Mary looked down at her watch. It had left a mark on her wrist because how she had slept. Bobby looked at the watch. "Where you get that? It's groovy," He said.
"Jeff gave it to me," Mary said glancing up at Bobby. She thought about Jeff for a little while. She wondered what he was doing now.
She looked back down at the watch. It was ten thirty.

(I swear patamon32 if you ask me what's in the cigarette I'm gonna give you a dirty look at school. Look up hippies on Wikipedia. It'll explain everything you need to know. Probably...)