All i wanted was a pepsi

When I was a 9th grader (final year of Junior High), I started hanging out with J who lived a few blocks away and was a Jr. in High School. We had similar taste in music and girls. It was the 80's and hacky-sack was all the rage. We'd play for hours on end. Then we'd go inside his old house and listen to music in his basement bedroom. On the way, he'd often stop and grab a Pepsi from the fridge. He'd swig part of the soda and then grab his mother's scotch bottle if she wasn't home and add a healthy pour to the can. A little swirl and he was headed down the stairs. If he'd done it too often, the scotch bottle often hit the kitchen sink for a little additional volume. I always wondered how he didn't get caught.

Then again, maybe she knew and didn't care. I'd seen the left over roaches in the ashtrays in the living room. I don't think his mother was the roll your own cigarette type. A little pot now and then probably helped her though the week. J never offered me a Pepsi, leaded or unleaded, and I never thought it was odd. I just wanted to escape into his black-lit postered bedroom. The Human League - Fascination was a in constant rotation, J also introduced me to the Surf Punks. His influence led me to be the first kid in my school to wear parachute pants too. I can still hear the swish sound they made when I walked. All the 'neat' zippers and pockets. Add a Bonzai shirt or Chams and I was set to go. Too cool for school.

He dated a girl from yet another school for awhile. C was wild. She lived with her grandparents. I remember J's excitement as he told me she was on the pill. I think she was a 9th grader too. She had a Luv truck painted pale yellow. The three of us used to drive around listening to Metallica when they were still underground. "Bass solo take one," and Clif Burton would rip from the tinny speakers with a mind boggling sound. We'd never heard anything like it.

I remember her calling me after J and her broke up. "We're friends right?" yes. "Would you like to be closer friends?" What a conundrum. Stick by J's side or go out with his Ex? It took me all of about 5 seconds to say yes. I wasn't about to pass up a cute girl chasing me, and I was being offered the keys to the kingdom. By god, I was gonna turn the key and kick down the door. We met the next day with one of her friends (who I'd briefly had a fling with in J's basement bedroom) in a local school yard. It was summer, so we could hang out and not get into trouble. I remember grabbing her ass, but we never kissed and I didn't kick down the door 'til years later. Perhaps I had bout of conscience. I don't recall.

I have a Surf Punks CD burned in my iTunes. When I hear random tracks from it, I always wonder if J is still sipping Pepsi's with scotch from a can.