The Crew

Untitled Part 11

Chapter Eleven

We screeched into the parking lot of the venue, burning rubber, blasting the Ramones singing "I Wanna be Sedated": Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go, I wanna be sedated, nothing to do nowhere to go, oh...I wanna be sedated...

Bone hurled his long, skinny body over the backseat into the trunk and yanked his secret stash of Jack Daniels. He took a hit and passed. There being five of us in the cramped Jeep, it was surprising that a silence fell upon us, each of us taking swigs whenever it made its way to us in turn. I took very minute sips, pretending to do more. I was loaded. Too drunk. After minutes the bottle was finished. Bone grabbed the empty and rolling the window down hurled the thing; the wail of breaking glass filled our ears, mixing in with the Ramones' epic guitar and simple drum line.

Out of nowhere two kids appeared by the back window pounding roughly on the glass where Bone was sitting. They yelled and pointed at Bone with furious looks on their faces. Bone glanced at them then faced the front. Cannon cut the music. All was quiet. But not serene.

"Hey man, what the hell; you pegged me with that freaking bottle! What are you trying to do, kill me?!" one of them shouted. "Come here you skinny sonofabitch; I'm gonna break your—"

BLAM!

Bone viciously heaved the door open striking the ranting punk rocker in the stomach, hard, knocking him to the ground. He flung his panther-like body out of the car. As the kid was recovering from the door-blow, Bone threw a punch to his skull, sending him right back down to the asphalt. The kid's friend tried to grab Bone but missed his fleeting opportunity. There were five of us to their two, one of whom was injured and on the ground. No match.

"Hey," Cannon started, assuming his leadership role, "we don't want any trouble. We didn't come here to fight; we came here for the show. Take your boy and get out of our sight before some real shit goes down, ya dig?"

The image of Carl Sampson, pissed, posed, ready to square off with me, Physics book upside-down on the grassy lawn of St. Andy's, rushed through my psyche. A new electric pulse zapped through me. This was intense, like some movie I was watching, as if I was not actually here but was observing a scene from Westside Story or Rebel Without a Cause. Me, Mr. Mellow Ojai rich kid. I wanted to act; do something wild. At the same time, I hoped Cannon would deescalate the situation. I didn't know how to fight. I'd never been in a fight in my life. My whole body, especially my arms, went rigid and taut, ready for anything.

What if I had to rumble with one of these kids?

What if Mr. Watson hadn't saved me from Sampson? I might've actually had to fight the guy.

I stood down a ways to the left side of Cannon. D.D. stood next to his partner-in-crime. Bear and Bone stood directly to Cannon's other side.

The still-standing guy stood erect, crossing arms over his chest. His buddy began lifting himself off the ground, doubled over. "And what if we don't leave?"

Cannon looked serious. The same stare he'd produced for my mother returned. He lowered his gaze like Alex in A Clockwork Orange. "Bear. Bone."

The two tough guys—our de facto Crew bouncers—strode forward. Both had their fists balled. I wouldn't want to be on the other side of The Dangerous Duo.

"Capisce?" Cannon said.

The guy who'd been struck by Bone was standing again. Still holding his wounded stomach, face scrunched in anger, he ogled Cannon and said, "You and me, man. Right now. Just the two of us."