No Rain
Dueling Jukeboxes Submission #2
Jennifer’s song choice for our Duel happens to be an old favorite of mine also. I enjoyed her memoir story so much, that it has inspired me to follow suit. You can read hers below. And I highly suggest listening to her as you read along, she does a superb job narrating it.
I was thirteen in 1992 when No Rain’s Little Bumble Bee invaded televisions across America. MTV changed everything for me, as it probably did with most others my age. It fed my eclectic love of music, well before I even knew what that meant. With advent of satellite TV, I was able to discover music genres that would’ve never been accessible otherwise.
I was one of the crowd of youngins lined up outside record stores across the country yearning to get my hands on releases like Pear Jam’s Ten, Nirvana’s Nevermind, and the Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
I was still relatively innocent at thirteen. Still a virgin, and hadn’t began drinking or drugging yet either. We’d camp out and swipe a handful of beers from my older cousin, maybe. I did and didn’t have permission from him, if you know what I mean. But there was nothing more than that. Hell, I thought I was a big deal because I could dip Skoal Longcut for about five minutes or so at golf practice.
I haven’t thought much about those days. Usually when someone ask’s me about my childhood I just say I can’t remember much — other than maybe spending time with my grandparents during the summers. I might mention riding bikes all over, everywhere, every day, all day. But that’s about it.
I don’t know why. I had a great childhood. And those years would probably be the highlight of it. I’ve just never been reminiscent of being a kid. I guess I didn’t really want to be a kid, even when I was one. I was always hanging around others that were older than me… This was about the age that I started to scheme — which gets us into Cotton territory, so I’d better just put the brakes on. Let’s stay innocent for this’un.
I’d gotten a blue Suzuki 250cc Quadrunner for Christmas that year. So I’d graduated from riding the neighborhood on a bicycle, to slinging rocks in a circle at every opportunity. Y’all, I wrecked my four-wheeler the very first time I got on it!
When Dad pulled up at the backdoor with it that Christmas morning, I’d hopped straight on it in my pajamas. Mama’d already had my helmet ready, she knew what was up. And I’d tore through the gears with the throttle bottomed out before they could say more. I knew exactly where I was headed — The Cereal Bowl. Yeah I know it’s corny. But come on, I was a preteen once too.
The Cereal Bowl was this dirt bowl, out in the middle of a pine forest behind the home I grew up in. This was my stomping ground, and I’d been riding all of those little bluffs on my bike since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
I did good on the first pass through the bowl on my new, much heavier ride. And I’d caught just enough air on the backside of the second jump, the exit of the bowl to inspire a little more speed on the next attempt. Which as it turns out, was a colossal mistake.
I hit the entrance a little too fast, which caused the ATV to get sideways on me in the air — so when it came down it bounded to the side, causing me to bail just before it landed in a shabby little scrub Oak.
I jumped up and ran over to the ATV, which was lying on it’s side now beside the broken tree. I pushed it back onto it’s wheels and tried to crank it, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. It was probably flooded, but I didn’t know that at the time. For all I knew I’d just totaled my Christmas present.
I got off and looked my gift over, brushing dirt off and cleaning it the best I could. I was sobbing as I climbed back on and tried the key again. But it started that time! It did backfire and smoke a little bit to begin with, but I never gave it another chance to turn off. Hard on the throttle again — now my only concern was getting back and getting the thing parked before mom or dad could put two and two together.
When I got back to the house they were waiting. So I was sure to pull up, with them on the right side of the ATV. They didn’t ask any questions, just instructed me to give my little brother a ride one-time before we were to come back and get some proper clothes on. Which I did.
You know, I didn’t feel like I fit in back in those days either. Maybe that’s why I started getting into drinking and drugging? Like I said in the beginning, this is the last of my innocence. I can say that songs like Blind Melon’s No Rain, are going to be just before I found the likes of my beloved, Pac.
A trip to a cousins house up in Charlotte, NC, that summer, would forever change my life’s trajectory. That story involves a railway trestle, a dare, an introduction to the 36 Chambers, and subsequently a whole new world…
This is my second submission to the Dueling Jukeboxes writing prompt. You can find the newsletter and my first submission, I’ve Got It Bad, below. Happy Reading!🤠🤙
Writers, I hope this’ll inspire you to submit your own prose of up to 1500 words before our deadline Monday!
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Oh and if you’re an email reader, just hit reply — I want to hear from you too!