You wrote it down, keeping a record – you need proof – 9:48, Saturday night – One day, when you’re ninety and they ask when you’re life changed, you’ll know.
Talking to yourself in the bathroom mirror – you always talk to yourself – you never answer back. You ask you questions and you stare – big, blank stare – filling holes in galaxies blank stare.
And then it happened – you were asking when the beard was coming and you wondered out loud what you would look like with a mustache.
It wasn’t a loud crack – not a plaster-falling-off-the-ceiling kind. Just a dip in your voice, midway through mustache – like an adult was banging on a door, trying to get out.
Scared the crap out of you. What’s that new voice going to sound like?
What if you sounded like an airhorn or a cartoon?
Your luck – stuck sounding like Bullwinkle for the rest of your totally unnatural life.
People won’t talk to you without laughing.
Girls will NOT take you seriously.
Speaking of which: Things have been getting just a bit skewed lately.
You’ve been noticing. Girls don’t look at you like toe-jam or laundry anymore.
You caught one or two staring – like the way you look in the bathroom mirror. Curious – baffled – not a single clue. But you had suspicions.
You stare back – they look away – you both take up coughing as competitive sport . Red faces between you.
But suddenly you want to know who these girls are – what do they like?
They laugh a lot, especially when a guy talks to them. Gotta make a note of that.
Do they watch Route 66? What do they think about? What do they think about you?
You can’t ask them – you aren’t there yet. Can’t ask anybody anything – you aren’t fully grown.
What’s it like, being on a date? You’ve heard stories. Making moves and bases.
Whole other set of problems – getting a new voice is tip of the iceberg.
You think you see something growing on your upper lip. Gotta start shaving.
Shop for blades – electric razor? Your dad has one. Ask him.
Aftershave. You’re going to have to start smelling different.
Body odor. You never noticed it before.
Never noticed a lot of things – never noticed all the hair growing out of all the places you didn’t expect.
You see it every day at the gym. Some guys look like Caspar – other guys look like Mighty Joe Young.
Clothes have suddenly become important – finding a personality has become more important.
Losing the bicycle has become important. Being cool has become important. Even if you don’t know what cool actually is, it’s become important.
Dancing is important. Learning how to kiss is important. Learning how to smoke Is important.
Your life just got complicated at 9:48 on Saturday night.
You keep staring in the mirror, waiting for more changes. Doesn’t work like that.
Happens when you’re asleep.
Fall in bed – turn out the light – put the transistor in your ear and wait.
So . . .what about that girl in passing period to your English class? Was she smiling?
Were you?
And while you’re waiting for the answer, here’s a half hour of Bobby Dale at KFWB from midnight on March 24, 1963.
Not to make you crazy or anything, but tomorrow is the last day. If we don’t make it – this all goes away. Sorry.
