It’s late on New Year’s Eve, paper hat on my head. I’m managing a band that just finished their first performance and is late for a second show they’re doing downtown, which has a midnight set time.
While I’m waiting for them to get ready, Mark pulls out a Mankind velcro wallet and shows me his new business card. Finally, I head over to the gas station to pick up the keys to the rental car, and the clerk hands them over easily, only needing me to say the make and model. As he passes me the key ring, I decide that this is how I’ll get a free car if I ever need one in a pinch.
Tyler and an old man are busted for selling cocaine and they get arrested on the fourth floor of Holy Heart. Along with another man who committed an unrelated crime, the three are handcuffed together, forming a mini red rover team, and I’m unable to get past them. I really need to get to the bathroom, but I don’t have insurance to use the toilet before school starts. Cactus Jack, understanding my predicament, says, ”Well, if he gets caught at least he has the perfect excuse – he was pissing while running on the treadmill!” This really hits home for me at the time.
I’m now in class and it’s close to the end of the semester. Most of my marks hover around 40%, mostly due to my shoddy attendance record. I start ranting about genuinely wanting to learn but being sidetracked by important life events, and I disguise the rant well so the teacher gives me a break without realizing I pranked her.
I walk outside and a rabid wolf approaches. I don’t kick him in the face for some reason. He comes very close to me and I sneak back inside. He attacks the door, and I take a picture, a closeup of his mouth.
Suddenly it’s daytime, the wolf is gone, people are gone, and the air is crisp. But Dude Love remains.