County Line Road

by Marie Etzler

  “I guess I owe you a whole bunch of apologies,” Jimmy said.

  “When you get your big Nike or Reebok endorsement deals, send me a few million,” Double A said. “Then we’ll call it even.”

  “If all this blows over, you got a deal.”

  All around them, other cars were full of people with music playing, windows open, everyone talking and laughing. Double A waved to people they knew and pointed them out to Allison. Jimmy looked at every motorcycle to see if it was Rich.

  With the music blaring, Double A tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and Jimmy drummed on the dashboard in rhythm to the song on the radio while waiting at the next light. The light changed and Double A hit the gas and took off down County Line Road. Rows and rows of orange trees zipped by as fast as the music. The further west they went, the fewer houses and shops there were. Only construction sites and pastures and Melaluca trees with their white papery bark flaking in the wind.

  As they neared the Sporatorium, Double A had to slow down and inch along into the parking lot with all the other cars. He tried to avoid the pot holes but couldn’t go around them all. As Double A eased the 442 through Gate 13 at the Sportatorium, the car dipped and bounced across the dirt lot.

  “Thirteen. Is it lucky or unlucky 13?” he asked as the car bounced over pot holes, splashing muddy water on his side panels. “Oh, man, my car.”

  “Lucky 13,” Jimmy said. “I think I’ve had all the bad luck for a year. Do you see Rich anywhere?”

  “No,” Double A said. “I’m sure we will soon.”

  Attendants with glow sticks waved cars down the dirt aisles. Double A parked at the end. “We’re almost on the other side of the parking lot,” he said. “We could have come in that entrance.” He pointed at a gate nearby where cars streamed in, stereos blasting.

  They parked and walked toward the auditorium through the dirt parking lot. Allison tried to brush the dirt off her sneakers, but it only smeared and looked worse.

  “Are those new sneakers?” Jimmy asked.

  “Yeah, but that’s all right,” Allison said. “I’ve decided I’m not going to worry about anything tonight.”

  “Me neither,” Jimmy said and put his arm around her. “I’m getting new running shoes tomorrow. Want to go with me?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  When they reached the entrance, Allison paused to look up at the ten-foot high concrete wall topped with barbed wire that surrounded the auditorium.

  “This is where you guys see concerts?” she said. “It looks like an airplane hanger on a military base, or a prison.”

  “This is the best place to see shows,” Jimmy said. “The crowd is wild, the place is ragged out and no one cares. It’s just a free for all.”

  At the gate, a muscle-bound guy with a shaved head inspected their tickets, tore them in half, dropped half in a trash can and gave them the other half while reciting the rules of no bottles, no cameras, etc.

  Inside the wall, people milled about talking, buying beer or souvenir T-shirts from kiosks set up in the area that surrounded the auditorium like a dirt moat around a castle. Double A wanted to buy a T-shirt, so they went over to look.

  Stepping through the metal doors of the arena, Allison was bombarded by the sounds and smells. The air was a smoky haze, and the noise of the people and the taped music echoed off the concrete floor and metal walls into the huge space trapped in this giant metal and concrete warehouse. Rows of seats swept all the way around in a horseshoe from one end where the stage was set up, across the back of the auditorium and back around. Another level ran above the first with a chain link fence lining the railings of the upper level and all the hallways and stairwells like nets or cages. The floor section seats weren’t bolted down, only attached to each other in long countless rows.

  She looked down all the way to the front row and saw the stage sat partially lit. A wall of speakers, like a honeycomb, rose on both sides of the stage and across the back. The drums were on a raised platform and scaffolding ran up to the rafters above the stage. A ceiling of lights hung overhead, looking too heavy to be up in the air. The chrome of the microphone stands, amps, and drum kit glinted in the lights.

  “Let’s go upstairs and walk around,” Jimmy said when he saw Allison looking around the arena. “There’s a balcony up there, and you can see the whole place. Maybe I can spot Rich.”

  They climbed up the concrete stairs with the crowd. Once upstairs they looked over the fenced railing at the floor section. People next to them leaned over the railing smoking cigarettes and drinking beer from plastic cups.

  “Our seats are right there, close up to the front,” Jimmy said and pointed.

  It was hot and humid upstairs, and Allison felt clammy with sweat. “It’s so hot in here. Can we buy beer?” she said.

  “Yeah,” Jimmy said. “I’ll get it. It will help flush out my system. You want one?” he asked Double A.

  “Yeah, get me one. Here.” Double A dug in his pocket for money.

  “Nope,” Jimmy said with a smile. “I got this.” He waved some cash and turned into the crowd and headed for the nearest beer vendor.

  Allison and Double A leaned on the railing, watching people go by. He saw Jeff and called his name. Jeff looked around until he saw Double A and waved. Jeff had Jeanie on one side and another girl Double A didn’t know on the other.

  “Hey, Jeff!” Double A called. “You seen Rich?”

  Jeff shook his head No, and then he was absorbed into a group of girls and guys who hugged all three of them like a family just arriving at an airport.

  “Jeff is never without girls,” Allison said. “Couldn’t Anna come to the concert?”

  “No, her parents wouldn’t let her,” he said. “They say they’ve heard stories about this place. Not that anything’s going to happen to us. But that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to do anything to make her dump me.”

  “Why would she do that? You’re great,” Allison said.

  “When I got grounded I thought she might,” he said. “Thank God that’s over. But even before that, I used to wonder why she was going out with me. Sometimes, when I pull up to her house to pick her up, I’m afraid she’s going to come to the door and laugh at me and say, ‘Yeah, right, like I’d ever go out with you,’ but it doesn’t happen.”

  “And it won’t,” Allison said. “What did you get grounded for?”

  “I was with him when he got arrested at the mall,” Double A said.

  “What! He got arrested? When?”

  “You didn’t know?” Double A said. “He didn’t tell you? Oh, shit.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He’s going to kill me,” Double A said, pacing.

  “Tell me.”

  “Okay. Why not. I’m in it now.” He explained.

  Jimmy came back with the cups of beer.

  “I could buy two six packs for the price of these,” he said as he passed the cups out.

  Allison handed him the necklace. “I don’t accept stolen property.”

  “What? I didn’t steal that. Wait.”

  She was heading down the stairs.

  “Why did you tell her? I was going to.”

  Double A was speechless, but he wouldn’t have been heard anyway because Jimmy ran after Allison.

  He caught up with her on the stairs.

  “I did not steal this,” he said, necklace in hand.

  “You got arrested,” she said, trying to push through the crowd. “And didn’t tell me. I was honest with you about everything.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Please look at me. It was a stupid mistake. I was embarrassed to tell you, but I was going to.”

  “I trusted you enough to tell you about my sister, something very hard for me to talk about, but you don’t even trust me enough to tell me this,” Allison said. “I already live with two people who don’t talk to each other. I don’t need that with you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jimmy said. “You’re rig
ht. I don’t want to be like my parents, especially not my father. You’re the only person I ever met who even gives me a glimpse of how I want to be. I promise I won’t ever do anything like this again.”

  “I know,” she said. “We both have a hard time trusting anyone.”

  She hugged him, and he held her.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  He got them through the crowd and back to the entryway.

  “Wait,” she said. “Give me a minute.” She breathed in deep and exhaled. “I don’t want to just go home and sit there, thinking about my sister. There’s no way past this but through it. I’m all right. Let’s go back in.”

  “Are you sure?” Jimmy said. “I mean, I don’t care about this show. If you aren’t in the mood –”

  “I’ll get in the mood. Who said ‘Fake it til you make it’?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Even if you’re not sure you’re going to make it, you have to try,” she said. She wiped her face. “I must look great now. Raccoon eyes.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When your make-up smears.” She rubbed under her eyes.

  “Not my make-up,” he said, trying to joke.

  She actually laughed, much to Jimmy’s relief.

  “Yours looks great. Let’s go in.”

  They joined the stream of people going inside like salmon running up a river.

  They had to show their ticket stubs to get on the floor section for their seats. Double A was already there. They squeezed in past the other people who were already in the row and sat down on the metal chairs.

  “Thank God,” Double A said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I figured I’d come here to the seats anyway.” He waved to the seats. The beer they just bought was sitting there. Double A had carried them downstairs.

  “It’s all right,” Jimmy said.

  Allison nodded in agreement and then saw the cups. “You saved the beer!”

  “There is a God,” Jimmy said.

  They all toasted that sentiment and drank. The crowd was filling in the seats all around them, and it was getting loud.

  Allison finished her beer and looked around for a place to put her cup. Double A pointed under the seats. She bent over to put hers down and caught a glimpse of all the other beer cups strewn under the seats, most of them crushed from being stepped on. When she sat up, the guy behind her started talking to her. He was really stoned and couldn’t focus on her face. She couldn’t hear a word he was saying and squinted at him.

  Jimmy put his arm around her and glared at the guy. He got the message and, when he turned around to talk to the next girl, he threw up on himself. At first he didn’t notice until he smeared his hand across his chin and looked at the vomit dripping from his fingers. Allison turned away in disgust.

  Suddenly the lights went out. The crowd surged with one giant yell, all voices in unison. An announcer’s voice came through the speakers, welcoming them and the opening act. The new band ran out on stage playing the hit song off their first album. They were loud and energetic. The lead singer was a short little guy who jumped around, making himself seem bigger than he really was. They played for about forty-five minutes and then the house lights came back up, the road crew exchanged instruments, and the audio engineer checked the sound from his island out in the audience.

  When the main band was announced, the crowd surged and cheered to greet them. Allison couldn’t see when the whole crowd climbed up on their chairs. She tried to see through all the people who clapped their hands over their heads. She got up on her chair.

  A blast of light flashed across the audience and the guitar screamed and the audience screamed in response. Allison recognized the song and cheered too.

  The drums and bass joined in, building up the sound with the climbing notes of the lead guitar. Then the lead singer jumped out of the darkness in a flash of light, microphone in hand, his black hair flying as if electrified.

  The wall of speakers blasted and Allison could feel it bombarding her entire body. Through the crowd she could catch glimpses of the band as they played. The guitarist’s fingers moved so fast, they were a blur as he made the guitar scream out, going higher and higher, like it was climbing a ladder of sound, and everybody cheered, clapped, and screamed.

  Then the middle of the song quieted down. The echoing of the singer’s voice made the hair on Allison’s arms stand up. He crawled to the front of the stage and sang in the hollow created by the musicians. All the women in the audience lunged forward with hands outstretched toward him. The security guards had to push back the crowd that gathered in front of the stage. People were crushing each other.

  The music made Allison feet like she was looking into a black canyon so deep it seemed bottomless. She let the music take her with it.

  In the front row, the security crew struggled to hold the front rows back while the guitars screamed louder, the drums punctuated the lines and they built to the crescendo, feeding on the frenzy. The lights blasted again as the band sang and played the chorus, ending the song with a punch and blackness. In the split second of silence left by the end of the song, the crowd’s cheering and screaming rose and filled in the moment.

  With the first chords of every song, the audience screamed in recognition. Every time the lead guitarist stepped close to the edge of the stage, the crowd surged toward him. The lead singer leaped in the air, hung on the scaffolding, and ran the full length of the stage over and over. The women watched with their jaws dropped as he arched his back so far that his long hair brushed the back of his knees.

  Everyone screamed and went wild. It was as if the audience was on a cathartic trip, everyone purging themselves of frustrations by screaming and pounding their fists in the air.

  Jimmy was charged up and rode on the energy like a wave. He screamed the lines of the song as the guitars punctuated the lyrics. Sweat ran down his face to the tips of his hair.

  Allison watched his biceps pumping, his neck straining, his mouth open. He was so alive, unleashed. She wanted to grab him, ride the electricity, join him down that raging river, know what it feels like to really be alive. She jumped up and down on her chair, and howled with Jimmy. He grabbed her and kissed her with such animalistic passion that she was dazzled. She felt she’d drunk of the potion and was now intoxicated too.

  The band played all their major hits and songs from their new album. When they ended their set, cymbals crashing, guitars screaming, and lights flashing and left the stage, the audience screamed at fever pitch ceaselessly for over fifteen minutes for them to come back. The band came out for the encore, and the security guards were jostled and squeezed by the people who rushed to the front of the stage. People started to body surf across the top of the crowd. Girls and guys bounced up and down, arms and legs flailing, as they were passed overhead and eventually dropped back into the crowd.

  When it was over Allison’s throat was hoarse and the palms of her hands were sore from clapping. Her ears were ringing and her body was dazed from the decibel level, but she felt great, like something had been released in her. She kissed Jimmy again.

  As they shuffled out of their row to join the crowd coming from the front of the stage, Jimmy bumped into Jeanie. She held her hand over her nose and mouth. Blood ran out between her fingers. Her hair was a mess, and her top was askew. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her what happened, a drunk guy behind Jeanie grabbed her. She spun around and elbowed him in the collar bone. The guy winced then tried to grab Jeanie by the hair.

  Jimmy stopped him by seizing him by the throat. The guy was so drunk, he couldn’t fight back and went limp then crumpled up on the ground. People in the crowd made room around him for a second, but then he got swallowed up as the crowd continued moving toward the exit.

  “Jeanie! What happened?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears. She shook her head No and tried to slip away from him.

  “Wait,” he said to her. “We’
ll help you. Come on.”

  Allison stared at Jeanie’s bloody face in horror then got a grip on herself.

  “How bad is it?” Jeanie lifted her hand. Her lip was cut.

  “Let’s go to the bathroom to look at it,” Allison said, trying to act like everything would be fine so as not to alarm her.

  Jimmy and Double A helped shove them through the crowd and to the hallway.

  Jimmy pushed the gray bathroom door open for Allison and Jeanie.

  “I’ll take her in,” Allison said.

  “I’m going to that bathroom there,” he said, pointing. “I’ll meet you right here.”

  Allison said okay, and Jimmy disappeared into the crowd.

  Inside the women’s restroom, a long line of impatient women had formed. The air stank and everyone had the same strained, focused look on their face. The instant a stall door opened, the next woman in line ran for it, trading places with the woman coming out.

  Allison escorted Jeanie to the sinks. A woman in a fringed top jerked Allison’s arm and said, “Hey, you can’t cut in line.”

  “I’m not,” Allison said. “She’s bleeding. Are you blind?”

  The woman blew smoke in Allison’s face, and disappeared into the next stall that opened.

  Jeanie leaned over the sink and cupped her hands under the running water. The water only ran for a few seconds then shut off automatically. Jeanie waved her hands in front of the sensor, but it only haphazardly came on. Allison gave her some paper towels.

  “Let me see,” Allison said.

  “It hurts,” Jeanie said, her voice muffled through the paper towels. She lifted the towels to let Allison look.

  Allison winced. “You need to go to a doctor. Do you want us to take you to the emergency room?”

  Jeanie shook her head No.

  “What happened?” Allison asked.

  “Kicked,” she said. “And grabbed. Don’t ever go up and surf over the crowd. Guys grab you – all over. They tore my shirt. My bra is gone.” Her voice wavered.

  “I’m sorry,” Allison said.

  “It’s not your fault,” Jeanie said.