Fang stood there quietly for a moment, thinking, and then he searched through Ella's never-ending collection of CD's. When he found the one he was looking for, he replaced Ella's with his and stepped back from the machine. His body was faced slightly towards us, slightly away from us. He looked kinda nervous…
"Awww Fang," I said, suddenly realizing that he was shy. He glared at me. "What?" I smiled at him, raising my eyebrows. "Nervous much?" He turned away from grumbling something that I didn't understand.
I sat back, smiling to myself. I, for one, couldn't wait to hear Fang's singing voice. What was he gonna sing about, anyways?
Suddenly, the song started up, the guitar and drums going smoothly together, creating a foot-tapping beat. Then Fang began to sing.
"Ya-eee! Icky thump who'd a thunk?
Sittin' drunk on a wagon to Mexico
Ah well, what a chump, well my head
Got a bump when I hit it on the radio
Redhead senorita lookin' dead
Came and said, "Need a bed?" en espanol
Said give me a drink of water
I'm gonna sing around the color
Well, I don't need a microphone" He stopped, and the guitar and drums played that same beat as in the beginning again for about a minute. Then the guitar played a note, and then the same beat began again, except with a flute playing along with the guitar and drum. This went on for a few seconds, then Fang began to sing again.
"Icky thump with the lump in my throat
Grabbed my coat and I was freaking, I was ready to go
Yeah, I swear, beside that hair she had one white eye
One blank stare, lookin' up, lyin' there
On a stand near her hand was a candy cane
Black rum, sugar cane, dry ice, somethin' strange
La la la la la la" He stopped and the guitar and drums began again, without the flute. Then, after a few moments of this, the guitar began to play a weird, fast beat for a few moments. Then the flute and drum began to play on their own, without the guitar. After about a minute of this, Fang raised the microphone to his mouth.
"White Americans, what, nothin' better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too
Who's usin' who? What should we do?
Well you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too" The flute, drums, and guitar all started up again, and I was left sitting in my seat with my mouth hanging open. Pimps and prostitutes?! Oh, Fang was so gonna get it later on today for saying something like that around the kids.
"Icky thump handcuffed to a bunk
Robbed blind, looked around and there was nobody else
Left alone I hit myself with a stone
Went home and learned how to clean up after myself." The music went on for about another two minutes – yes, two minutes – with the same beat and an occasional (other) guitar string pulled every now and then. Then, finally, the song ended.
We were all staring at Fang with our mouths hanging open. "Fang," Iggy began, wonder in his voice. "That was the weirdest thing I have ever heard." Fang shrugged, though it was pointless on Iggy. "You should check out the music video; even weirder." And with that he sat down in his original spot, leaving the microphone hanging precariously on the edge of the machine.
It took a moment for the shock of the song to leave my system. I cleared my throat, then said, "Um, ok… Uh, who's next?" I looked over at my Flock. They were all still in shock. "Hello?" I said. "Iggy? Why don't you go?" It took a moment for Iggy to respond, then he said, "Oh, uh, Max I can't read the lyrics. Remember?" He said, waving his hand in front of his face for emphasis. "Oh, right, sorry. I forgot." Iggy just rolled his eyes. "Uhuh," he said.
"Can I go?" Nudge asked timidly. "Sure sweetie," I said, handing her the microphone. She smiled at me. "I already know what I want to sing. It's this cool song Ella showed me a while back. I really loved it, and I still do! I think you would like it, too, Max! I mean, it's such a great-"
"Nudge," I said, cutting her off. I nodded over at the machine. "Oh," she giggled and walked over to the stack of CD's. She found the one she wanted quickly, and held it up with both hands, like it was something divine.
The CD cover read: "KERLI: Love Is Dead"
Oh, no.