Chapter 2
4:25 pm
Nov 12 1985
Hill Valley California
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch! Crackle. Pop!"
"Uh, I think that was up too high, guys."
"Yeah, Marty, we noticed. Maybe we should move the mike away from the speakers."
Marty shook his head to himself. Man, these guys could be clueless at times. "What do you think you're doing, putting it here in the first place?"
"Uh, we thought...um, it seemed..."
"Nope, you didn't think at all. How about letting me take care of that. You guys can go and, er, and help Bryan with the drum-kit. Yeah, do that."
Marty quickly rearranged all the sound equipment into useful positions. He intermittently called out explanations to the others, in the hope that they might remember how to do it next time. "These guys are quite a long way from becoming a professional band," he thought.
Finally, all the equipment was correctly placed and wired for sound. "Okay, guys. Let's have a quick practice, to make sure we're in tune and quiet enough. We don't wanna get kicked out because we're too loud again," Marty cautioned.
"What song should we do?" asked Trevor, the bassist. "How about Johnny B. Goode?"
Marty shook his head emphatically. "We'd better do one of the songs we're playing tonight. We have 'The Power of Love' down pat, so it would be best to run through our 'Clock-tower Blues' another time."
Trevor agreed. "One run through, to make sure we're smooth on all the changes."
All the other musicians agreed, and they quickly practiced the new song. Jennifer was called away to help with something else halfway through the song. When they were finished practicing, all the band members put down their instruments and went to see if there was any thing they could do to help.
Marty quickly found himself handing out flyers at the door, flyers detailing the night's schedule of events. After ten minutes of early arrivals had trickled through, Marty spied Doc buying tickets with his family. He called out, "Hey Doc, over here!"
Emmett waded through the crowd, family in tow. He looked through the schedule that Marty gave him. "This seems to tell me everything I need to know," he commented in a pleased voice. "However, it would be even better if it contained a map of the hall: with the crowd, I cannot see where the food tables are."
"That's easy Doc, just head for the middle of the crowd. You can't miss them."
"Thank you. Do you know where Jennifer is?"
"Yeah, she should be in the kitchen, why?"
"Just keeping track of everyone. It is good to know in the event of an emergency. Which reminds me, what songs are you playing?"
Marty realised Doc's concerns. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything which will remind anyone of 'Calvin Klein' from thirty years ago. But really Doc, no one will remember that after thirty years. And even if they do remember a little, they'll think it's just a coincidence."
"I am glad to see you are being careful. There is no point in tempting fate, as it were. Now if you will excuse us, we need something to eat."
"Sure Doc. Have a good time. You too, Clara."
"Thank you Marty. I must say that this event is quite different to the social events I am accustomed to," Clara responded.
"Don't worry ma'am. You'll adjust in no time."
"Thank you for your confidence. I must say... oh! Where are the boys?"
Emmett detected the concern in his wife's voice. "I'm sure they will be somewhere close," he comforted. "See, there they are, talking to that man with the balloons. I think we should join them."
Marty watched the actions of the Brown family members for a minute, giving minimal attention to the schedule flyers. From what he could see, Jules and Verne had received a balloon each, and their father was giving them a mini-lecture on the properties of helium, which they were unfamiliar with.
He smiled to himself He had always considered Doc to be 'family', and it was good to see him with a real family, especially now that they lived in the present time, and were rather friendly to him.
It was a shock, really. He had not expected Doc to end up with a family when he started time traveling. He had not truly expected it when Doc and Clara were left in 1885. But he had not expected Doc to build a train into a time machine either. He was sure that Doc had not expected the changes either, but the scientist had a lot more time to adjust.
Thinking of adjusting, Marty was having a hard time adjusting to the changes in his own family. The changes were all positive, giving his home a nicer atmosphere, but the results of the changes weren't that big. His parents and siblings still had much the same characters, and were mostly predictable. His parents' attitudes had certainly changed for the better, and Dave and Linda had followed suit.
Marty wasn't sure where he fit into the changes. He only properly remembered things the old way, with the occasional memory of the changed reality unexpectedly popping into his mind. He had never been very integrated with the rest of the family, being the youngest of three had that effect. His dad was still distant, his loser mentality replaced with a sort of overachievement tendency that kept him busy. His mom was just as useless in her comments about Jennifer: she seemed to have moved from one extreme to another. It was surprising how things seemed to even out.
At least the band was still the same. The teenager rubbed his hands together in anticipation, excited about showing his talents to the world, and ready to enjoy the music regardless of the outcome. In doing so, he noticed that his hands were empty, so he moved towards the food table.
"... one of the rising new bands in the region, the Pinheads. Thank you for your attention." The M.C. finally finished his long, dry speech, and invited the first band onto the stage.
"Hey everyone, we're the Pinheads. We'll start off by warming up with a song many of you may know, 'The Power of Love' by Huey Lewis and the News," Marty said by way of introduction. "So how about we dance?"
A few people cheered at that, and a whole lot more joined in. Bryan, the drummer, counted everyone in and the song started.
This time, everyone made a big effort to keep the volume down. Consequently, they finished the entire song without being interrupted. Marty could see that everyone in the hall were enjoying themselves thoroughly. "Okay everyone. Now we're about to play something new we wrote for this special occasion. I call it 'The Clock-Tower Blues'. It isn't the most imaginative name, but here goes."
The song started rolling fairly gently with the first verse:
The clock was keeping perfect time, A tower dangerous to climb, When the rain came down, A freak storm hit our town, And the hands they stopped on a dime.
It was ticking so magnificently, Proud for all the world to see, When lightning struck, The cogs all stuck, And changed the course of history
The drums banged loudly twice and a loud twang erupted from Marty's instrument, signaling the much heavier chorus.
No it isn't fair to our poor clock there, to be replaced by something new. The clock you see is our history, to fix it will never do.
No it isn't right and it puts me to fright, to mess with its inner core, For it was the end of our loyal friend, When it failed at ten o'four.
Everything slowed down again for the second verse:
On the twelfth, of November Something that we remember The thunder rolled, As we've all been told, And made it into an ember.
There was a similar transition into the chorus. People were really starting to enjoy themselves.
No it isn't fair to our poor clock there, to be made to run again. A dance was held on that night, I'm telled, it's a trip down memory lane.
The guitar lead through a long instrumental arrangement before stating the concluding chorus.
And it's such a shame to make any claim, that the clock should again go, For when I look it is like a book telling us about long ago.
By then, the hall was filled with people cheering and dancing. The drums clashed slowly to a stop and the guitar ran down with a bit of a screech, Marty trying not to overdo things. The audience went wild as the Pinheads bowed and left the stage. The M.C. introduced the next act and people began to calm down.
Marty was intercepted by Jennifer, who gave him a quick kiss, saying, "That was wonderful playing, Marty. Just wonderful. I'm so glad that you got a chance to perform, and for so many people."
"Yeah, it sure is. But the thanks goes to my Mom, who got us in."
"Why thank you, Marty," said Lorraine from behind. "You certainly did a good job with that clock-tower song, given the time you had to write and practice it. It was nice music. Not too loud. I remember, although not very well, how a boy played guitar at the dance thirty years ago. He was just terribly loud. I'm glad you haven't turned out like him, or like your aunt Sally, poor child."
"What about her?" Marty wondered.
Lorraine didn't have time to open her mouth. A burly, businesslike man suddenly appeared and started talking. "Hey, you're Marty McFly, right?"
Marty gulped nervously. "Uh, yeah."
"Great! You are exactly what I need."
"Oh? How so?" Marty was a little intimidated by the big man's overbearing manner.
"Ahhh. Just the other day I was saying to myself, 'Phil,' (Since that's my name, Phil Dransellton, owner of Dransellton's Mega Pet Store), 'Phil,' I said to myself. 'What you need is a bright young musician and songwriter to come up with a new radio jingle, that's what you need.' Because, you see, business is slow at the moment, and a radio ad is just the thing, and our current one is just too old and commonplace. So what do you say?"
"Me? Did I miss something?"
"Why no, you didn't. I did. I meant to ask you if you would come up with a nice little ditty to advertise my shop, seeing as you did so well on the Clock-tower."
"Oh. You want me to write you a song?"
"Of course. From what I've heard today, you'd be perfect."
"Thank you. I'll look into it, Mr Dransellton."
"Please, call me Phil. I'll drop some documents by tomorrow. Have a fun night!"
The businessman vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Marty turned to his mother, and found empty air. "Hey, where did she go?"
"Another organiser needed her help," Jennifer explained. "Let's dance."
And dance they did. The band played and the temperature rose. Everyone appeared to be having an enjoyable time. Marty glimpsed his parents dancing too. Lorraine was smiling broadly, which probably meant George had said something sweet to her about density. Either that, or ticket sales were high.
A few songs later, a band called 'Kataclyzm' played. Somewhere buried in the noise, Marty detected something familiar, although he could not put his finger on what it was. Because he had heard the M.C. say that the group had just put out a successful album, he determined to visit the music store in the near future. In the meantime, he enjoyed the music and Jennifer's company.
Eventually, the number of attendees still present dwindled and the event came to an end. Marty found himself wiping tables and stacking chairs. He figured it was fair to help out, since his band had been allowed to play largely due to his mother's involvement. He was most glad to have Jennifer alongside, giving a hand. And he had a good opportunity to talk to his mom.
"What did you say you asked me earlier?"
"About Aunt Sally. You've always said things like 'You don't wanna end up like your aunt Sally', and 'I'm glad you didn't turn out like Sally.' So what exactly happened to Aunt Sally?"
"That's a sad story, the one about Sally. She was in her early teens, at the beginning of the sixties. I think she was getting rather bored, since I was her only sister, and I was always with your father. It was also partly rebellion, I believe. In any case, she got in with a bad crowd, as we say. After a while she went missing, and..."
"And?" Marty prompted gently.
Lorraine paused. "She was later found to have died of drug overdose."
"Whoa. Your sister took drugs?"
"Apparently so. The police said she didn't take anything until after disappearing, but I really don't understand how they could tell. She is quite a sad story, Sally."
"Too bad. I'd hate to lose a sister, even Linda. It must have been hard on the family."
4:25 pm
Nov 12 1985
Hill Valley California
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch! Crackle. Pop!"
"Uh, I think that was up too high, guys."
"Yeah, Marty, we noticed. Maybe we should move the mike away from the speakers."
Marty shook his head to himself. Man, these guys could be clueless at times. "What do you think you're doing, putting it here in the first place?"
"Uh, we thought...um, it seemed..."
"Nope, you didn't think at all. How about letting me take care of that. You guys can go and, er, and help Bryan with the drum-kit. Yeah, do that."
Marty quickly rearranged all the sound equipment into useful positions. He intermittently called out explanations to the others, in the hope that they might remember how to do it next time. "These guys are quite a long way from becoming a professional band," he thought.
Finally, all the equipment was correctly placed and wired for sound. "Okay, guys. Let's have a quick practice, to make sure we're in tune and quiet enough. We don't wanna get kicked out because we're too loud again," Marty cautioned.
"What song should we do?" asked Trevor, the bassist. "How about Johnny B. Goode?"
Marty shook his head emphatically. "We'd better do one of the songs we're playing tonight. We have 'The Power of Love' down pat, so it would be best to run through our 'Clock-tower Blues' another time."
Trevor agreed. "One run through, to make sure we're smooth on all the changes."
All the other musicians agreed, and they quickly practiced the new song. Jennifer was called away to help with something else halfway through the song. When they were finished practicing, all the band members put down their instruments and went to see if there was any thing they could do to help.
Marty quickly found himself handing out flyers at the door, flyers detailing the night's schedule of events. After ten minutes of early arrivals had trickled through, Marty spied Doc buying tickets with his family. He called out, "Hey Doc, over here!"
Emmett waded through the crowd, family in tow. He looked through the schedule that Marty gave him. "This seems to tell me everything I need to know," he commented in a pleased voice. "However, it would be even better if it contained a map of the hall: with the crowd, I cannot see where the food tables are."
"That's easy Doc, just head for the middle of the crowd. You can't miss them."
"Thank you. Do you know where Jennifer is?"
"Yeah, she should be in the kitchen, why?"
"Just keeping track of everyone. It is good to know in the event of an emergency. Which reminds me, what songs are you playing?"
Marty realised Doc's concerns. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything which will remind anyone of 'Calvin Klein' from thirty years ago. But really Doc, no one will remember that after thirty years. And even if they do remember a little, they'll think it's just a coincidence."
"I am glad to see you are being careful. There is no point in tempting fate, as it were. Now if you will excuse us, we need something to eat."
"Sure Doc. Have a good time. You too, Clara."
"Thank you Marty. I must say that this event is quite different to the social events I am accustomed to," Clara responded.
"Don't worry ma'am. You'll adjust in no time."
"Thank you for your confidence. I must say... oh! Where are the boys?"
Emmett detected the concern in his wife's voice. "I'm sure they will be somewhere close," he comforted. "See, there they are, talking to that man with the balloons. I think we should join them."
Marty watched the actions of the Brown family members for a minute, giving minimal attention to the schedule flyers. From what he could see, Jules and Verne had received a balloon each, and their father was giving them a mini-lecture on the properties of helium, which they were unfamiliar with.
He smiled to himself He had always considered Doc to be 'family', and it was good to see him with a real family, especially now that they lived in the present time, and were rather friendly to him.
It was a shock, really. He had not expected Doc to end up with a family when he started time traveling. He had not truly expected it when Doc and Clara were left in 1885. But he had not expected Doc to build a train into a time machine either. He was sure that Doc had not expected the changes either, but the scientist had a lot more time to adjust.
Thinking of adjusting, Marty was having a hard time adjusting to the changes in his own family. The changes were all positive, giving his home a nicer atmosphere, but the results of the changes weren't that big. His parents and siblings still had much the same characters, and were mostly predictable. His parents' attitudes had certainly changed for the better, and Dave and Linda had followed suit.
Marty wasn't sure where he fit into the changes. He only properly remembered things the old way, with the occasional memory of the changed reality unexpectedly popping into his mind. He had never been very integrated with the rest of the family, being the youngest of three had that effect. His dad was still distant, his loser mentality replaced with a sort of overachievement tendency that kept him busy. His mom was just as useless in her comments about Jennifer: she seemed to have moved from one extreme to another. It was surprising how things seemed to even out.
At least the band was still the same. The teenager rubbed his hands together in anticipation, excited about showing his talents to the world, and ready to enjoy the music regardless of the outcome. In doing so, he noticed that his hands were empty, so he moved towards the food table.
"... one of the rising new bands in the region, the Pinheads. Thank you for your attention." The M.C. finally finished his long, dry speech, and invited the first band onto the stage.
"Hey everyone, we're the Pinheads. We'll start off by warming up with a song many of you may know, 'The Power of Love' by Huey Lewis and the News," Marty said by way of introduction. "So how about we dance?"
A few people cheered at that, and a whole lot more joined in. Bryan, the drummer, counted everyone in and the song started.
This time, everyone made a big effort to keep the volume down. Consequently, they finished the entire song without being interrupted. Marty could see that everyone in the hall were enjoying themselves thoroughly. "Okay everyone. Now we're about to play something new we wrote for this special occasion. I call it 'The Clock-Tower Blues'. It isn't the most imaginative name, but here goes."
The song started rolling fairly gently with the first verse:
The clock was keeping perfect time, A tower dangerous to climb, When the rain came down, A freak storm hit our town, And the hands they stopped on a dime.
It was ticking so magnificently, Proud for all the world to see, When lightning struck, The cogs all stuck, And changed the course of history
The drums banged loudly twice and a loud twang erupted from Marty's instrument, signaling the much heavier chorus.
No it isn't fair to our poor clock there, to be replaced by something new. The clock you see is our history, to fix it will never do.
No it isn't right and it puts me to fright, to mess with its inner core, For it was the end of our loyal friend, When it failed at ten o'four.
Everything slowed down again for the second verse:
On the twelfth, of November Something that we remember The thunder rolled, As we've all been told, And made it into an ember.
There was a similar transition into the chorus. People were really starting to enjoy themselves.
No it isn't fair to our poor clock there, to be made to run again. A dance was held on that night, I'm telled, it's a trip down memory lane.
The guitar lead through a long instrumental arrangement before stating the concluding chorus.
And it's such a shame to make any claim, that the clock should again go, For when I look it is like a book telling us about long ago.
By then, the hall was filled with people cheering and dancing. The drums clashed slowly to a stop and the guitar ran down with a bit of a screech, Marty trying not to overdo things. The audience went wild as the Pinheads bowed and left the stage. The M.C. introduced the next act and people began to calm down.
Marty was intercepted by Jennifer, who gave him a quick kiss, saying, "That was wonderful playing, Marty. Just wonderful. I'm so glad that you got a chance to perform, and for so many people."
"Yeah, it sure is. But the thanks goes to my Mom, who got us in."
"Why thank you, Marty," said Lorraine from behind. "You certainly did a good job with that clock-tower song, given the time you had to write and practice it. It was nice music. Not too loud. I remember, although not very well, how a boy played guitar at the dance thirty years ago. He was just terribly loud. I'm glad you haven't turned out like him, or like your aunt Sally, poor child."
"What about her?" Marty wondered.
Lorraine didn't have time to open her mouth. A burly, businesslike man suddenly appeared and started talking. "Hey, you're Marty McFly, right?"
Marty gulped nervously. "Uh, yeah."
"Great! You are exactly what I need."
"Oh? How so?" Marty was a little intimidated by the big man's overbearing manner.
"Ahhh. Just the other day I was saying to myself, 'Phil,' (Since that's my name, Phil Dransellton, owner of Dransellton's Mega Pet Store), 'Phil,' I said to myself. 'What you need is a bright young musician and songwriter to come up with a new radio jingle, that's what you need.' Because, you see, business is slow at the moment, and a radio ad is just the thing, and our current one is just too old and commonplace. So what do you say?"
"Me? Did I miss something?"
"Why no, you didn't. I did. I meant to ask you if you would come up with a nice little ditty to advertise my shop, seeing as you did so well on the Clock-tower."
"Oh. You want me to write you a song?"
"Of course. From what I've heard today, you'd be perfect."
"Thank you. I'll look into it, Mr Dransellton."
"Please, call me Phil. I'll drop some documents by tomorrow. Have a fun night!"
The businessman vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Marty turned to his mother, and found empty air. "Hey, where did she go?"
"Another organiser needed her help," Jennifer explained. "Let's dance."
And dance they did. The band played and the temperature rose. Everyone appeared to be having an enjoyable time. Marty glimpsed his parents dancing too. Lorraine was smiling broadly, which probably meant George had said something sweet to her about density. Either that, or ticket sales were high.
A few songs later, a band called 'Kataclyzm' played. Somewhere buried in the noise, Marty detected something familiar, although he could not put his finger on what it was. Because he had heard the M.C. say that the group had just put out a successful album, he determined to visit the music store in the near future. In the meantime, he enjoyed the music and Jennifer's company.
Eventually, the number of attendees still present dwindled and the event came to an end. Marty found himself wiping tables and stacking chairs. He figured it was fair to help out, since his band had been allowed to play largely due to his mother's involvement. He was most glad to have Jennifer alongside, giving a hand. And he had a good opportunity to talk to his mom.
"What did you say you asked me earlier?"
"About Aunt Sally. You've always said things like 'You don't wanna end up like your aunt Sally', and 'I'm glad you didn't turn out like Sally.' So what exactly happened to Aunt Sally?"
"That's a sad story, the one about Sally. She was in her early teens, at the beginning of the sixties. I think she was getting rather bored, since I was her only sister, and I was always with your father. It was also partly rebellion, I believe. In any case, she got in with a bad crowd, as we say. After a while she went missing, and..."
"And?" Marty prompted gently.
Lorraine paused. "She was later found to have died of drug overdose."
"Whoa. Your sister took drugs?"
"Apparently so. The police said she didn't take anything until after disappearing, but I really don't understand how they could tell. She is quite a sad story, Sally."
"Too bad. I'd hate to lose a sister, even Linda. It must have been hard on the family."
Lorraine started to nod when she was called away to explain which storeroom the cordial dispensers belonged in. Marty could not think of anything relevant to say, so he didn't say anything. He just thought about what little he had seen of Sally on his 'trip' to 1955. Although his mom had talked about Sally before his trip back in time, finding out about her demise after seeing her as a kid was a shock. He was certainly glad he hadn't turned out like her.