Rap Session

“Hey, man, do you remember that place you used to live?”
“What place, bro?”
“You know the one. That crappy little place on Stanley Avenue. Back in 1969.”
“Yeah, I remember it.”
“Do you remember all those nights we spent getting wasted? Man, we had some high times in that apartment!”
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. That was a decent time in my life.”
“Me, too. Weren’t you still in school, man?”
“It was my last year at the university.”
“What was your major? Wasn’t it philosophy or some shit like that?”

“Yeah.”
“Well, that was some wasted bread, wasn’t it. Hope you didn’t take out any loans on that degree, man.”
“It wasn’t wasted, bro.”

“Who was that chick you were seeing back then?”
“Which one?”
“You know the one. The blonde chick. Man, she was wild!”
“I don’t remember that.”
“What? You don’t remember her? Man, she was foxy!”
“Oh, I remember her now. Her name was Sunshine.”
“No way! That wasn’t her real name.”
“No, but it’s what she was called. I don’t remember her being wild, though. She was a vegetarian and did yoga and shit. Pretty mellow, really.”
“She did a lot of acid, man.”
“Well, we all did that.”
“Wonder what she’s doing these days.”
“She died a few years ago, but I don’t know the story.”

“Have you seen that building lately, man? ”
“No, I quit driving through that part of town years ago.”
“I heard someone wants to move all the homeless out of there and make loft apartments out of it.”
“It was a ratty place back in ‘69. I can’t imagine what it’s like now. Full of ghosts and memories, I imagine. Ghosts and memories.”

“Do you remember the fridge, man? It was so loud, it kept us awake all damned night.”
“When we were wired and couldn’t sleep.”
“I miss my long hair. Man, I miss even having hair! What do you miss?”
“Hm, I don’t know. Just being young and healthy, I guess.”

“Do you remember those roaches, man?”
“I thought we always smoked them up.”
“No, man! The cockroaches in that place! Shit, they were so huge, we used to call them the Furniture Movers. One night on ‘shrooms, I swear I saw your cat using them as roller skates!”
“I never had a cat, bro.”
“No way, man. You had an orange cat.”
“I never had a cat.”
“Yes, you did, man.”
“Dude, I never had a freakin’ cat. I’m allergic to cats!”
“Ah, man, that’s one of my favorite memories...”
“Sorry. I never had a cat.”
“You had a cat. Do you remember how thin those walls were, man? Just lathing and plaster. There was a hooker living next door. She kept us awake a lot.”
“Good thing I had that noisy fridge, huh, bro?”

“Heh! Remember that time Ronnie tried to change the bulb in that ceiling light and he nearly broke his neck when the chair rolled out from under him?”
“Nah, I don’t remember that.”

“Hey, man, if someone gave you a time machine, would you go back to 1969, and that apartment?”
“Hell, yeah, bro. Sometimes I just lay in bed trying to will myself back there.”
“Would you move that chick in with you? That Sunshine chick?”
“Definitely.”
“Would you take me with you, man?”
“Sure, bro. Why not?”

“This place isn’t too bad. Not since you moved in.”
“Yeah. Here we are, the Woodstock generation, all in nursing homes, just waiting for the drug cart to come around.”
“What I’d give to be back in that apartment of yours, man, doing the shit they give us here!”
“Me, too, bro. Me, too.”

Mag 210


Copyright © 2014 SK Waller