The Downsiders
Life Is Good
We entered the club. It was dark and dingy, smelled of smoke and booze. Just like every day we come in here. It was our home away form home. We came here pretty much every day usually right after school and until dusk. But there were some times that we had to work, so sometime the whole gang wasn’t there. And on weekends we were barely home, and we always stayed at Rick’s house because it is the closest, the club being on Cleveland and Rick’s house on Lake Street, only five blocks separating him and our home away from home.
The club had featured plenty of bands, from hardcore acts all the way to some poppy indie bands. No matter who you were you could find something you like here at least once a month. There were mostly just local acts from around town and the surrounding cities and area. But there was an occasional big name band. Again, no matter how big the band, they were welcomed with open arms. The club never really got an official name, so everyone just referred to it as “The Club.” We knew the owner, Henry. He was an old hardcore kid from the 80s. He said the reason why he opened the club was to “keep the music alive.” Henry is a huge influence on us. He has run this club practically by himself, expect for the occasional assistant which never worked out, for about 5 years.
I heard someone scream my name at one point.
“Jane! There you are. I was getting worried that you guys couldn’t make it.” It was Henry, joking around once again. See, he had us coming really early on a Friday because a big band was coming in on Saturday and he wanted everything perfect. It was the first day of Spring Break. We had the following week off and we all were working our regular jobs and at the club. It was worth it because Henry gave us free admission all the time, so it was fair exchange.
“You damn well know that we would ever desert you Henry.” Rick was speaking in his booming voice, it was deep and powerful. It suits him well with his shaggy hair and scruffy look. He walked up to Henry and gave him a great big hug. That’s what I loved about my guys, they were not afraid of affection, no not emo, two different things people.
“I would never say I would help and then not show up. Henry, you know we would never do that to you.” I said as I walked up to him and gave him a hug my self. He grabbed me and lifted me off the ground.
“I remember when you were still little and you first came here.” Henry has started one of his sentiment moments again. “Boy, am I getting old or what?”
“But you are still our same old Henry at Heart. Hardcore trough and through.” Joey Joe said this, I guess him and Colin were done unloading the car. He too came up to Henry and wrapped his scrawny, tattooed arms around Henry. Their arms were completely different. Henry’s were muscular with the occasional tattoo, nothing too large and flashy. While, Joey Joe’s were thin and I would not doubt that it would be hard to find a clear spot of skin.
Soon Colin joined our group. He too hugged Henry but ruffled his short salt ‘n’ pepper hair. He tripped over his own feet while taking his position; he patted down his blonde hair as a “cover up.” He was always tripping over something. It was quite entertaining to watch him at work. Colin works at Barnes and Noble, and when ever he has to stack a shelf, I make sure to have a great sight of what he was doing. I usually had a clear shot behind the counter; see I work at Starbucks, on of those ones that are set in the B&N. But anyways, he always has books falling on him from all directions or the box of books would just be in his way and he would just trip and fall into the box. Most of the workers made sure to have a clear sigh of him because it was just cute how he tripped over himself. Not cute as in, “Omigod I wanna date him sort of way.” You get the point right?
We walked up to the bar that was situated on the side of the club, but it still had a great view of the stage. I sat down on one of the stools as Henry stepped behind the bar and Joey Joe sat to my left and Colin to my right.
“Sorry about the smoke.” Henry noticed me scrunching my nose at the smell and quality of the air “The fix-it-guy is, well, fixing the ventilation system as we speak. There was a lot of smoking going on last night.” He talked as he filled up a coke for Joey Joe, got sprite for Colin and water for me. He knew us like we were his own children. Always fixing us our drink of choice and what not like a father would do. Henry began to set down our drinks and I felt arms extend on my sides. Rick’s arm enclosed me in sort of a box. His smell engulfed my nose, taking away the horrible smell of stale smoke of last night. His arms brought a sense of safeness to me and I liked it. I felt clam sitting in between my two friends and my other friend’s arms. And having my father like figure standing in front of me.
The club had featured plenty of bands, from hardcore acts all the way to some poppy indie bands. No matter who you were you could find something you like here at least once a month. There were mostly just local acts from around town and the surrounding cities and area. But there was an occasional big name band. Again, no matter how big the band, they were welcomed with open arms. The club never really got an official name, so everyone just referred to it as “The Club.” We knew the owner, Henry. He was an old hardcore kid from the 80s. He said the reason why he opened the club was to “keep the music alive.” Henry is a huge influence on us. He has run this club practically by himself, expect for the occasional assistant which never worked out, for about 5 years.
I heard someone scream my name at one point.
“Jane! There you are. I was getting worried that you guys couldn’t make it.” It was Henry, joking around once again. See, he had us coming really early on a Friday because a big band was coming in on Saturday and he wanted everything perfect. It was the first day of Spring Break. We had the following week off and we all were working our regular jobs and at the club. It was worth it because Henry gave us free admission all the time, so it was fair exchange.
“You damn well know that we would ever desert you Henry.” Rick was speaking in his booming voice, it was deep and powerful. It suits him well with his shaggy hair and scruffy look. He walked up to Henry and gave him a great big hug. That’s what I loved about my guys, they were not afraid of affection, no not emo, two different things people.
“I would never say I would help and then not show up. Henry, you know we would never do that to you.” I said as I walked up to him and gave him a hug my self. He grabbed me and lifted me off the ground.
“I remember when you were still little and you first came here.” Henry has started one of his sentiment moments again. “Boy, am I getting old or what?”
“But you are still our same old Henry at Heart. Hardcore trough and through.” Joey Joe said this, I guess him and Colin were done unloading the car. He too came up to Henry and wrapped his scrawny, tattooed arms around Henry. Their arms were completely different. Henry’s were muscular with the occasional tattoo, nothing too large and flashy. While, Joey Joe’s were thin and I would not doubt that it would be hard to find a clear spot of skin.
Soon Colin joined our group. He too hugged Henry but ruffled his short salt ‘n’ pepper hair. He tripped over his own feet while taking his position; he patted down his blonde hair as a “cover up.” He was always tripping over something. It was quite entertaining to watch him at work. Colin works at Barnes and Noble, and when ever he has to stack a shelf, I make sure to have a great sight of what he was doing. I usually had a clear shot behind the counter; see I work at Starbucks, on of those ones that are set in the B&N. But anyways, he always has books falling on him from all directions or the box of books would just be in his way and he would just trip and fall into the box. Most of the workers made sure to have a clear sigh of him because it was just cute how he tripped over himself. Not cute as in, “Omigod I wanna date him sort of way.” You get the point right?
We walked up to the bar that was situated on the side of the club, but it still had a great view of the stage. I sat down on one of the stools as Henry stepped behind the bar and Joey Joe sat to my left and Colin to my right.
“Sorry about the smoke.” Henry noticed me scrunching my nose at the smell and quality of the air “The fix-it-guy is, well, fixing the ventilation system as we speak. There was a lot of smoking going on last night.” He talked as he filled up a coke for Joey Joe, got sprite for Colin and water for me. He knew us like we were his own children. Always fixing us our drink of choice and what not like a father would do. Henry began to set down our drinks and I felt arms extend on my sides. Rick’s arm enclosed me in sort of a box. His smell engulfed my nose, taking away the horrible smell of stale smoke of last night. His arms brought a sense of safeness to me and I liked it. I felt clam sitting in between my two friends and my other friend’s arms. And having my father like figure standing in front of me.