Adeline's Streets

My eyes began to burn as I was slowly opening them. The window in my room allowed the sun in; the place was filled with rays of bright sunlight. Aaron must've opened my curtains before he left. I was having a dream about a boy I never met in my life, but for some odd reason I had a connection with this boy. I don't know what the significance of this dream meant, but the thought drifted away when I realized that it was Tuesday morning. I had a terrible headache because I chose to fall asleep around 4 a.m. I checked the alarm clock beside me; it was 8:30 a.m. I had thirty minutes to get ready for school. I combed my hair, and then I slipped on a pair of blue jeans. I walked to the living room where I had placed the new band t-shirt I bought last night. There it was, it was a bit wrinkled because I had carelessly rolled it up in a ball and tossed it on the couch. I put my shirt on, grabbed my keys, and then ran out the door. Luckily, there was no traffic in sight. I drove to the usual neighborhood I always parked my car at. I grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat and locked the car. I began to walk towards campus. I was trying to visualize the boy in my dream, but his face and body were a blur now. I had completely lost the visual perception I had of him. The only thing I do remember is the feeling he gave me when I was with him, it was a feeling I'd never felt before in my life. It was different.
I glanced down at my dark-brown leather strap wristwatch, 9 o’ clock on the dot. I entered the building and ran down the hall. As I got closer to my classroom, I slowed down and pulled myself together. When I opened the door every body looked to my direction. I was the last student to show up, luckily my professor was running late. I took the last open seat in the back of the room. When I sat down I realized that there was no way in hell I was going to stay up for the next two hours. Some days I do not have an excuse to why I'm late, but it's usually because I go to a show the night before. I couldn't miss it! Voodoo Glow Skulls were going to play at Gilman!
I'm at shows more than I am at home, school, or anywhere! I swear I practically live in a venue. The first time I stepped in 924 Gilman, I knew I was home.
I remember my first show at 924. It was about four years ago. It was the day I made a life changing decision. I remember I was taking a walk down my old neighborhood, thinking, “Fuck home, fuck everyone, fuck this place. I want to be... free."
I wanted to run away from home at the age of eight to be accurate, but when I hit high school is when every thing completely didn't make sense to me anymore. I began to notice that I hated this place. I use to live in a lonely suburban area. It was such a small town that when you kissed one person, you practically tasted the saliva of the entire population who resided there. The closest store was a twenty-minute walk. Everyone followed the same trends because there were only ten fashion stores in the entire area. You might say that they were all from the same corporation because they would sell the same styles. I would always redesign the clothes I bought through those stores, but when I couldn’t find what I was looking for I had to shop out of town. I really hated that the only store that sold band t-shirts in that rotten place was, Hot Topic. Hot Topic claims to sell ‘uniqueness’ clothes, but the only thing I saw is the common trends, ‘what’s in, what’s hot’, and those mainstream band t-shirts. Shows are where I purchase most of the band shirts I own. My crazy cousin, Michael and I would take the train out of town and go to shows all the time. The bands we listened to would never come visit our town, I don’t blame them either.
I kept telling myself that if I stayed any longer in this place I would go insane. I thought of a plan; I would run away to Berkeley and stay at a hotel for a few days. Then I would find a job and move into an apartment. I wanted to live in Berkeley because it was the nearest city to escape to, and I already knew it was beautiful. Berkeley was only an hour away from my town but that hour made a difference. Different people, a different environment, and a different lifestyle would surround me. It would be a whole new life! I believe I finally convinced myself it was time. I had it all figured out, or so I thought. Every thing seemed so easy back then.
I walked back home, opened the front door, and ran up the stairs to my room. I lay on my bed and crossed my arms over my eyes. I started to cry a little. I peaked my eye out to see what time it was; it was 6:30 p.m. I looked out my window and noticed that the houses and streets were a golden color. The sun was slowly starting to set on the horizon. The beautiful view gave me hope that one day I would be able to see this view again, but it would be from a place that I could call 'home.' I couldn't handle my life anymore it was eating me alive. I packed up my stuff in a black sports bag and left.
Luckily the train station wasn't far from my house. I t was a 20 minute walk. By the time I got to the station, it was 7 o’ clock and the sun was gone. I bought my ticket pass and patiently waited for the train to arrive at 7:15 p.m. I sat down on a cold bench, and beside me was a crumpled magazine. I picked it up and read the front cover, "Bay Area Visitor Guide." My train had arrived and I took the magazine with me. I walked in the train and sat on the seat closest to the doors. I opened the magazine and searched for the cheapest motel; the best deal I could find was fifty bucks a night. I was so excited to get there already, but at the same time I felt apprehensive. “I can’t believe I’m really going through with this,” that sentence replayed over and over in my mind during the entire ride.

“Next stop Berkeley, please remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop,” the announcement replayed a few times through the speakers. Once the train stopped, I scurried out of the station. The sky was pitch black but there was a full moon tonight. I walked down the empty street until I could find a telephone booth. I couldn’t believe I was finally here. Everything about this place was beautiful. The air smelled fresh and the weather was warm. The streets were empty, which caught me by surprise because it was barely 8 p.m. It was probably because these streets were mainly filled with small shops and business stores. I spotted a telephone booth in the corner of a street, right next to a tire business. I reached for quarters in my front right jeans pocket and dialed the motel number. They took forever to pick up the line but I got through. "Hello, I want to make a reservation. One room, one bed, for one person please.” I could hear the lady type down my information. “My name is Adeline Renee." I looked to my left to search for the nearest street sign. “Excuse me, right now I’m on Gilman St. can you tell me how far I am from the motel?” I grabbed a pen from one of the pockets in my sports bag, and scribbled on my hand the directions she was giving me. I hung up the phone and continued to walk down Gilman St. If I was correct, my destination was only ten minutes away... However, I never checked in.

It was beginning to get a little windy. I was walking for a few blocks, until I hit a stoplight. I glared at the red hand stop thinking it would help change to the white walking man quicker, but a flyer on the floor distracted me. Out of boredom I picked up it up. "924 Gilman St." and surrounding the headline were a list of bands who were going to be performing in five minutes. I was curious so I decided to check them out.
After all these years I have to thank my boredom. 924 Gilman Street changed my life forever. It was exactly what I had been looking for my whole life. I felt right away like... I was home. I don't know how I was able to survive all these years without this place. I mean I've been to many venues before but there's just something about 924 Gilman that blows me away. If you ever want to meet punks with originality you have to check Gilman out.
Gilman doesn't allow drugs, fights, nor weapons. If you get caught you'll never be allowed back in. After the show, I bought some beer and drank the whole pack outside Gilman. It wasn't my brightest idea knowing that I had to save up for my own place but I was really depressed for some reason. I got completely wasted. That was my first time getting really fucking drunk because I had no idea what the hell I was doing. From that moment on, I don't remember much. All I do remember is sitting against a wall and Aaron walking toward me asking if I was going to need help getting home. I answered, "I dont have a home."
The next day, I woke up in a living room filled with sunlight. I was laying on a couch, a warm blanket covering my body, and I had a nasty headache. I was in Aaron's apartment. When I began to feel better we started to talk. I gave him my reason to why I was homeless. As the time went by, we opened up to each other. He told me that he saw himself in me because I was taking the exact same steps he had once took. Aaron didn't judge me, he understood where I was coming from. After four hours of conversating, he offered me to move in with him. I was going to say no but then it hit me that I was looking for an apartment. I took his offer. To this day, he has been my roommate and best friend. After all these years, I've come to see him more like a brother.

No matter what, Aaron and I will always have each other's back. For example, Kayla. Kayla was his ex girlfriend. She was this really short girl who was always getting into fights. Her height never stopped her. Aaron had been dating Kayla for about two years but he wanted to break up with her for two main reasons. One, she would always give him a bunch of problems with other people. Two, she was so dramatic. Still, though I believe those were good enough reasons, he could not do it. Aaron really did like her. That all ended one day at a show.
Kayla was acting like a complete bitch. Aaron was trying to calm her down and all she did was make him feel lousy. Normally, I don't butt in into other people's business, but she went too far when she threw soda on his pants making it seem like he pissed himself. I had had enough. I went up to her and flung my fist at her face. Kayla's friend Gabby, who every one said had the knuckles of a man, came up to me and got in my face. I grabbed her hair to get a good grip of her head and I punched her skull repeatedly. Gabby blanked out for a few seconds. I turned towards Kayla and I noticed she was holding a knife with her right hand. The chick was about to shank me. With all my strength I punched her face, hoping I would hit her before she cut me. Kayla took a step back and touched her face. She looked at her hands and saw blood. Her nose and mouth were bleeding. She covered her face to keep the blood from dripping on the floor. Aaron dragged me away from the fight and we dashed out of Gilman before I got caught. We ran until no one could see us and then he stopped me and said "dude look at your arm." I didn't feel it back then but she did get the chance to give me a cut. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around my arm. We could not believe I had beat them up all by myself. I was worried because Kayla and Gabby were best friends with Veronica. I have to admit, I'll be a bit scared if Veronica would want to fight me one day. She's never lost a fight in her life and she's always getting down with punks. She has the reputaion of being the toughest girl in town. You don't just get a title like that in Berkeley you have to earn it. Once you do earn it, it will become memorial. The next morning Kayla called Aaron to apologize and hook up again. Aaron said no. He hated Kayla after the fight. He told me if she were to have given me a deep cut, he would have made her regret it for the rest of her life. Anyway, I believe I recieved some respect that day too.

As I was beginning to dose off again, the professor said, "You guys are dismissed." Finally, nap time!