Louder Than Thunder

Mary remembered the name of the club and asked the concierge if they knew where it was. After a moment of strange looks toward her clothes, she was given directions and was on her way. After about fifteen minutes of walking, she began coming across other rockers and motorcycles parked along the street. She knew she was going the right way.
The strange thing was, instead of looking at her as though judging whether or not they wanted to jump her, they were looking her up and down. It was the look of men stacking up the women around them, judging which ones they wouldn’t mind laying with. While Mary was uncomfortable, disgusted even, she ignored them instead of picking a fight. She walked confidently - as she always did - and entered the doorway the majority of them stood around, trying to seem like she was in the right place. She looked up only briefly to check the name and be sure this was the place.
It was an unusual feeling for Mary, being in a rocker hangout. The place looked like fifties nostalgia; malts, cokes, burgers and beers were served on the fly, and a jukebox constantly played Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and the likes of. It was a diner and a club in one.
Leather jackets covered the torso of almost every customer, with only a few wearing jean or suede instead. Not much dancing was happening, not at the moment anyways. Mary wondered if it was always like this. It didn’t seem like much fun. Seeing as she didn’t know anyone, she took to the dance floor. She wasn’t as familiar with how the rockers danced so she followed along. It wasn’t so dissimilar, but there were slight differences in the way they held themselves and moved their bodies.
As she twisted her body along with the music, she looked around the place as non-chalantly as possible. She spotted Keith sitting at a table with the others from earlier. They were mean looking greasers but, then again, so was Keith. They had cokes and beers all around, and it seemed innocent enough at first. Keith started dancing as well, but Mary avoided him the whole time. Maybe it was due to the outfit and the context effect; he thought there was zero chance of seeing her there, therefore he doesn’t see her.
Mary needed a break, so she bought herself a coke and sat down at the counter. She had lost track of Keith and was trying to, again, look around casually. When she caught sight of him again, he was faced with something less innocent than the bottle of coke: the bag of coke.
One of the rockers reached into his jacket and pulled out a baggie of the white powder and dropped it on the table, where Keith had rejoined them, and lit a cigarette. At first, Keith pushed it away, showing him his cigarette as if to say,
“I’m good with this ‘ere.”
The whole group made chicken of him and began taunting him, which Mary could hear over the crowd.
“Come on, Keith, it’s just coke,” one of them insisted, pushing it back towards him
“I know, I’ve done it before and the band and I almost lost a gig because of it. They made me promise not to do it again.”
“Hey, man, it’s just once.”
“If you like it so much, you do it then.”
“I will if you will,” he said, sitting back proudly with his ultimatum in place.
“You won’t stop until I take it, will ya?”
“Nope,” stated the rocker.
Mary could only guess why he was so insistent on Keith. Perhaps it was just to say he’d shared cocaine with the Keith Jones, and perhaps he bought this bag especially for the occasion. It’s not like it was cheap, especially not on the kind of money most teenagers made.
Mary watched as the rocker - hidden from authority by the crowd which had gathered around them - set up about a dozen lines for them, and for anyone else who wanted to join in, and Keith snorted two lines easily. He was quite obviously a practiced user, and the rocker probably knew that. Keith put a hand over each nostril, taking a second sniff to ensure proper inhalation. The rocker held out a hand for Keith, who looked up at him with dark, red circles under his eyes and then took it. He shook his hand as he pulled Keith to his feet.
“Let’s have some fun, then,” Keith said.
Mary was tired of watching this scene. She headed into the crowd for another dance. Keith and the rocker, along with a couple others from the table, joined the dancing as well. Mary began debating leaving. She knew it was probably the best idea. She was about to head out of the crowd when she found herself face to face with Keith.
They slowed down their dancing to a stop and their faces froze on each other as realization washed over Keith. He shook it off and looked down at her outfit.
“Mary?”
“Yeah,” she said, suddenly shy.
“You look. . .good.”
Mary rolled her eyes and started to walk out of the crowd; however, Keith followed her out. She made it out on the street, where Keith caught up with her.
“Hey!”
“What?” Mary snapped.
“Why you leavin’?”
“Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Why are you dressed like that?”
“Like what? What am I dressed like? Like you?”
“Like a greaser girl. I mean, there’s some things you could ‘ave done better but-”
“Oh, now you’re going to criticize the way I dressed?”
“I mean, you’re a mod. Why are you even ‘ere?”
“I don’t know, why are you here?”
Mary wasn’t in the mood to explain, so challenging him seemed to be the best option.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“But. . .do you wanna dance? I just got this weird feeling, but, I thought I’d ask.”
“That’s called an erection. You see, when you reach that certain age you start to feel funny down below when you see pretty girls.”
“So funny,” Keith said in a snarky voice. “I’m serious though.”
“Look, Keith, I’m sorry but I’d really rather not. Go enjoy your cocaine high while it lasts.”
“Come on, seriously?”
“I’m serious. I’m done here.”
Mary turned to leave, but Keith wasn’t finished.
“Why did you come?” he asked.
Mary stopped. She wasn’t exactly sure why she followed him. It was a curiosity, for sure, but why was she so curious towards Keith? Perhaps she was hoping to see another side of him, a side that the other girls, and maybe even the boys, didn’t know about him. Perhaps it was some sort of wonder about this well-known man, to see what he was like outside of a rock star touring America.
“That’s for me to wonder.”
With that, she turned the corner and left Keith Jones standing alone on the Chicago sidewalk.
That evening, they played one more show in Chicago and flew out the next day. Mary never told the other girls what happened. They arrived in San Francisco with no bookings for the first day. Darlene and Eric were quick to find a watering hole, and Michelle and Sidney went out for a walk, leaving Mary alone yet again.
She thought constantly about how Keith acted towards her that day. Was it simply the way she was dressed? Did seeing her in a new light make him see something different in her, or was it in the moment? Was it the cocaine, leaving him an insatiable desire to dance and flirt tirelessly all evening?
She continued to think about it as she prepared to go on a solo shopping trip, hoping for a new dress for the next show. Though she didn’t pay attention, she passed by Keith on her way to the elevator. He watched her as she passed, waiting for her to notice him.
“ ‘ey!” he yelled at her.
Now she turned around, gazing down at him.
“What d’you want, then?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Are you ignoring me?”
“Would I be talking to you?”
“I guess not. Do you want to talk?”
“I was just going out.”
“You can take a minute though, can’t you?”
“Alright.”
With that, Mary walked over to him.
“What d’you want to talk about then?”
“Hold on, let’s go in ‘ere,” he said, opening his hotel room.
Mary sighed as she followed him inside. He dropped his leather jacket on the table and opened the curtain. He faced her again, crossing his arms. As she awaited him to start, she bit into her lip nearly ripping off the top layer of skin.
After what felt like a minute of silence, Mary began to think he wouldn’t start. Something had to be said though.
“Look, Keith, I don’t want this to turn into a death match, but there’s something I need to know as well. I just want to know why you were so insistent on me staying.”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it the clothes?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it the cocaine?”
“Look, I don’t know what it was but in that moment I just felt so. . .”
“Randy?”
“Wha- Well, maybe a li- I mean, what? No!”
“What then? What was it, or what is it?”
Now, Keith didn’t answer.
“Is that it, then? I’ve silenced the great Keith Jones?”
“I guess I’m a believer that actions can speak louder than words.”
“Although it doesn’t hurt that you have a big mouth.”
“Hey, I was starting to like you, alright?”
“So, what, I’m prettier if I don’t speak? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean, then?”
With that, Keith gazed into her eyes. He was, in fact, out of words. With lack of an appropriate verbal response, he scrambled to make up the empty space.
In one swift movement, Keith pulled Mary in close to him, crashing his lips to hers in the process. Mary, entirely not expecting the action, at first found it warm after a moment of fighting. For that split second, there was nothing romantic or sexual about it. It was more of a gesture of apology.
As she slowly realized what was taking place, however, she shoved Keith away from her body. He had a look of utter rejection on his face. Mary decided that she wasn’t going to get anything out of him for the time and, on top of that, she was extremely uncomfortable by now. She stormed out of the room, leaving Keith dejected and alone.