THE CLOCK STRIKES
Story and photos by Mofo
With experienced fingers he unties,
adjusts and reties his new, white Chuck
Taylors, taking a little extra care synching
up the right Chuck. It needs to be loose
at the bottom and snug at the top
because the ball of his foot and big toe
are panged with tenderness resulting
from yesterday's brief, but heated mid-
afternoon skate session at the legendary
elementary school banks.
The soreness in his legs from trying to
ride the way he used to in more limber
days reminds him he hasn't skated much
in the last year or so. In dull pain satisfac-
tion he eases into his favorite chair,
remembering that he's over a week late
with his rent.
He lifts his head, pointing an ear toward
the sound of an ambulance siren in the
warm summer night's distance. Tragedy
in torn twisted metal on the King's
BURT YMA
2.
Highway. Mothers will be crying tomor-
row, he thinks. It saddens him, having
recently experienced the same three
times in as many months. No friends and
no loved ones when you're dead.
Sitting up, he flicks on the T.V., sits
back and reaches for the pint of Tres
Generaciones on the coffee table, takes
a shot and winces because his nose
burns. A commercial pops onto the
screen, then another, in the trend of
adverts utilizing old time rock 'n roll
songs for its theme. He flips the channel.
and catches "The Buddy Holly Story,"
starring Gary Busey, on the pay channel.
He's seen this movie before, and liked it.
Suddenly he's up in his crisp Chuck
Taylors, dashing off to the bathroom. He
returns, armed with a Q-tip, in as much
time as it took to get there. No sooner
does he ease his butt into the chair, wat-
ching Buddy Holly perform on the Ed
Sullivan show, then the phone rings.
"Hello"
"Hey, 'sup? Whatcha doin'?".
"Buddy Holly Story on the T.V., got new
Chucks and I'm gonna clean my ears to
Eargasm'."
"Cool out, Geeker, wanna sesh with
the Brotherhood tonight? We got a park-
ing garage with a no bust situation."
"Is Muggs Muldoom still with you
guys? I don't like that little shit. He owes
me money."
"Naw. He's in jail. This is how 'toopid
Muldoom is: he tried to rob the grocery
store across the street from the third
precinct, and to top it off he was
AIMROTJAD