Umm...did I mention that it's 1969? No? Well...uh...it is. Why? Just so I can get some allusions in and have them be right. So, Pony is not fourteen. He's sixteen. That's terrible isn't it? Yes...yes, I think so. Well, I wasn't going to update this story until I finished "the Boy in the Next Row" so it would be less time consuming doing both...but now I'm getting all these great ideas for that fic and besides, I've already started on another one for the movie Stand By Me. Kind of defeats the purpose, huh?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders for one, and the lyrics down below are credited to the amazing band the MC5!
Chapter 7: Kick Out the Jams
Ponyboy's P.O.V.
Shit, why did I have to go and kiss her? I mean, yes, I wanted to, but that certainly does not make it a good decision. Just another thing to prove Darry right when he says that I don't use my head. But I'm not going to tell Darry am I? No. I'm not going to tell anyone...not even Soda. I can't even talk to him now because I'm supposed to still be mad at him about last night. I'm sixteen now and I want him to be fully aware of the fact that he just can't walk all over me. God, he must have been high the other night or something! Why would he take me to some club way the hell across town to talk to some girl who I never knew even existed? And what was this story he needed to tell me so badly? Why couldn't he just tell me himself?
Well, I just plain didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to think about Jackie either.
I was laying on my bed with my arms and legs stretched out over the edges to either side of me, staring up at the ceiling. I'd avoided Jackie that day, not knowing how she had taken the kiss. I wasn't good with that type of stuff anyway.
I stared around the room, looking for something to keep me busy. My eyes landed on the album Jackie had given me the previous night to listen to. I stood up and picked it up off of my dresser. Kick Out the Jams...interesting. I took the album out of the sleeve and set it on the turntable and placed the needle on the edge.
"'Ramblin' Rose'" I read aloud from the back cover. I wondered what music Jackie could possibly be so crazy over when suddenly...
"BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE TIME HAS COME FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU TO DECIDE..."
I immediately turned the volume down and closed the door.
"WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE PROBLEM OR WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE SOLUTION. YOU MUST CHOOSE, BROTHERS YOU MUST CHOOSE IT TAKES FIVE SECONDS...FIVE SECONDS OF DECISION...FIVE SECONDS TO REALIZE YOUR PURPOSE HERE ON THE PLANET. IT TAKES FIVE SECONDS TO REALIZE THAT IT'S TIME TO MOVE, TIME TO GET DOWN WITH IT, BROTHERS...IT'S TIME TO...KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKERS!"
My eyes widened and I picked up the needle and the room was silent. I wondered if anyone had heard that...God, if they did, I thought wildly, they'd think I was starting a riot or something in here. I was confused and slightly overwhelmed as to why Jackie would have this, nonetheless ask me to listen to it. That was the type of stuff you heard the colored speakers and the hippies and those members of the SDS talking about with their fists in the air and people with sunglasses behind them with their arms crossed...or maybe even guns in their hands. I wondered if Jackie knew about that type of stuff, whether she cared about it at fifteen rather; everyone knew about that. In fact, I was almost annoyed that she'd thrown that type of stuff into my life. I didn't much care about politics; I mean, I had an idea of what I thought about Vietnam and all that stuff, but I wouldn't go out and participate in marches or nothing. I had no clue how people could feel so strongly about something that they would even go to jail maybe for life because of it.
I didn't mind black people like other people did; they were on the bottom just like me, so I understood how they felt. And I could even see why they were so angry about being treated certain ways 'cause I know I'm tired of it. However, that was about it for me. I mean, who were these white guys with afros and dishikis from Detroit? And what did they mean by "brothers and sisters"? I'd heard the Panthers and people like that say "brothers and sisters", but I didn't know how that applied to these guys.
Finally, realizing that I was perhaps being too silly and that the record was still spinning, I placed the needle on the innermost ring, causing the album to slow to a stop. Then, I turned it over and placed the needle on the second ring (I wasn't taking chances with the first).
Ya know the Motor City's burning babe.
There ain't a thing in the world that they can do.
Ya know, the Motor City is burning people
There ain't a thing that white society can do...
I took a slip of paper out of the album sleeve to see if they'd really said...white society. I'd heard right; I continued reading the lyrics:
My home town burning down to the ground,
worser than Vietnam.
Let me tell you tell you how it started now
it started on 12th & Clairmount that morning.
It made the pig cops all jump & shout,
Ah said, it started on 12th & Clairmount that morning,
It made the pigs in the street freak out. T
he fire wagons kept comin', baby, but the Black Panther snipers wouldn't let them put it out wouldn't let them put it out, wouldn't let them put it out.
It was the strangest music I'd ever heard...nothing like Elvis or Bobby Day that I still preferred over the tunes of the day. This was like the stuff you could hear on the radio if you went into the city like Cream and The Blues Magoos...stuff like that. Stuff that I'd never quite heard. I liked it for some wild reason. Maybe it was that if Darry heard me listening to it or one of the guys, they'd think I'd turned hippie. But a lot of the guys weren't around so much to hear what I was listening to or to really care; we still hung out just about everyday, but Soda was just about to move out on his own and so was Two-Bit (finally, right?). Darry was the same as ever, except that he'd been promoted and was around a little bit more; Dallas only hung around me for kicks now and I hardly ever saw Steve anymore since him and that girl got married...Joyce, I think her name was.I could tell Johnny. I don't know if he listens to that music much or not or if he'd care or not...well, I didn't much feel like telling anyone for the time being.
It's only music, but it really was some kind of music. It was my music, I guess; mine and Jackie's.
I didn't regret kissing her that much anymore now and was actually looking forward to seeing her the next day at school. I was wondering if she had anymore records like that.
School, the next day.
"Hey, Jackie!" I said, breathless from having to catch with her on the stairwell.
"Hi, Ponyboy." She smiled politely at me then, as an afterthought, added, "did you ever get the chance to listen to my record?"
"Yeah," I said, as we reached her locker, "It was amazing. Do you have any more?"
I'd said this all in one breath, and began attempting to calm down.
"Um...sure. So, you liked it?"
She looked more than surprised at the fact that I had asked for more
"Oh yeah...yeah." I said, for emphasis. "Do you have any more."
She looked absolutely...delighted. Yeah, that's the perfect word: delighted. "Well, that's their only album so far, but I've got plenty of psychedelic stuff that I got up in New Jersey."
New Jersey...I thought vaguely, the possibilities.
"Well, do you think it would be all right if we listened to them at your house?" I asked in a level voice, but I was eager as ever inwardly.
She seemed hesitant to answer this. I wondered if I'd said something wrong. "Well...I guess. My mom's working until six, so I guess that's alright."
The bell rang and she said that she was going in the opposite direction. I briefly considered saying something about the other night, but decided against it and headed off to class.
Okay, I feel really bad for just changing the time now...but it really bothers me about having everything right in my stories. I kind of like this chapter (hope you did) just because I could ramble on about my fav. groups, even though Ponyboy was kinda OOC (and it was short)...well, please review!
P.S. thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 6: streetpanther1, Ahelpless-Pyro (thank God someone thinks that I've done good on this whole time-period thing), catherine (I can hardly believe that I haven't updated in seven months), Dreamer for lyf (...what questions?raises eyebrow suspiciously), a458sbcglobal, clear-sparkle, and Johnny-cakes-Depp (Steve'll be in and out of the story, maybe in the next chapter).