August 29, 1992
They said they'd do a concert and this was it, three-ish hours each way up to the Rosemont by O'Hare. Mindy and Rob had gotten her parents to watch the kids and they offered their minivan for space if they didn't have to actually drive through town, Rob being the frequent regional traveler was cool to get them to and from the toll roads. There was talk about sharing a room but then that would be seem too grown up.
These two are pretty easy company and Nick gets to stay comfortably on the fringe of things. For most of the trip he rides shotgun as Rob stabs them northward and they basically riff on whatever passes by.
Eventually the gals just have to bring him in, Noreen prods, "Hey honey, what was that you did that time, with the cable TV show?"
From the driver's seat, "You had your own show dude?"
Nick stares out the window for a second, "Well, it was just that one time we patched in."
"Fill us in, we promise we won't walk out."
"Great. Well, it was two summers ago, my folks had finally given in and gotten cable in order to stay better informed, as they put it."
"So are they more informed?"
"I can safely say they have more options to fall asleep to in the living room."
"Ain't that how it is?"
"So there was the option to patch in, and one day I mentioned at supper that I could get onto community access and do something with the camcorder. This was right before I graduated -"
"High school?"
Noreen offers, "He's an oldie but a goodie."
Nick continues, "And don't you ever forget it." He doesn't see her stick out her tongue in the back seat. "So my folks kept encouraging me, said I have a unique perspective on life and it would be a hit, good way to...broaden my horizons, and I had brought it up during lunch at school, and word got around, I guess everyone thought I'm this techno wizard of sorts and it was the thing to do."
"Wow, so the ball got rolling?"
"Yeah it took on a life of its own. So a couple weeks after graduation we had everything set up on a Sunday night, that was an open slot, you know, usually some kind of school play or preaching or whatever, and so I set up the stuff, oh, and a neighbor had taken an interest in it and verified it was live. So I sat down in front of the camera, and, well, had nothing to say."
"So you froze?"
"It was more like, I had taken care of getting it all hooked up and working and hadn't really thought about what to say."
"Annnnd what did you say?"
"I just stared into the camera, and noticed it was doing the autofocus and the ring was spinning, so I kinda followed it by tilting my head, and I could hear laughter from here and there."
There were chuckles and muted laughter all over the car as well.
"So I think I grinned, and said Hello, wondering if I would hear it echo around town."
"Um....*chuckling*...did you?"
"Not at first, but then I pulled the mic closer and really spoke, up HELLOO - that did the trick. And the laughter got louder."
"So what about this unique perspective on life?"
"Tried taking a swig of pop to clear my head, and maybe it was the nerves, or the microwave nachos, but that produced a pending burp, one HELL of a burp-"
After realizing the girls were losing it back there he nearly derails, but keeps going. The stocky, slightly paunchy Rob, with his all-business haircut is still in control of the car but pretty red in the face.
"Yeah, and at that point I just had to, pulled up the mic, they said my eyes bulged out, and I just let 'er rip, made a very cavernous HWARRRRRRRK."
From the back seat, amid gasps, "Oh god, oh god, we may have to stop so I can pee soon!"
"The laughter roared but that was about as far as it got, the signal went dead on everyone's screen, never found out why, it was still sending, but the theory was that the cable company didn't like it, oh well, I was done."
"Wow, sorry I missed that."
Rob wipes his eyes, "Yeah all that buildup then you ended up killing without hardly saying a word."
"I still have a tape."
"Honey you have a tape of that and you never showed me?"
"It's just a weird thing that happened a while back, didn't really think about it, never watched it."
"Oh sweetie you are too much. Promise me we'll watch it sometime?"
"We'll see." Nick just stares out into what's left of the daylight as the gals cackle on in their own language. He's tempted to ask if Rob wants to listen to any traffic reports but that would, once again, seem too adult.
In the days leading up to this and getting settled into his office and taking stock of this and that and messing with this and that, in Nick's tesseract of a mental calendar this weekend was shrouded in a haze of DefLep-ish cover art with their trademark logo in the center, as if a test card until it was time for the show. He had never been to a real concert, Tim had snuck off to a few but Nick hadn't had the connections needed to go with a group and besides, music was something for one's own space, the bedroom, the car.
He dozes off before they pull over for a break and to switch seats so Noreen can get them to Rosemont. He hadn't been up this way since junior high when a youth group caravan tried to take in the entire Museum of Science and Industry in one day. Word to the wise: you can't.
They opted for cheap seats and stood most of the night, gals leaning against their guys. Nick is constantly tempted to feel beneath Noreen's clothes but never does, although there are some hard feelings between them at times and she makes it known she's aware of it.
He'd wondered if they'd play Let It Rock, which would have been uncomfortable for some reason, ever since he realized what the song is about, more than just a concert anthem, it would seem. The biggest surprise is the driving Tear It Down, seems they had put it on the new album after recording it a few years before as a B-side, he remembered it from Z-Rock.
With ears still ringing and thousands of strange faces in his memory, a drive sounds good, Nick volunteers to get them through the metro, windows cracked about an inch he thrives on urban highways which have lightened up just a tad. Eventually they divide up by couple this time as Rob takes his wheel back. The other three get to doze off and pass the trip easily.
Before they drop him off, Noreen coos, "Whatever you do just think of me while you're doing it. See you soon."
Nick doesn't even get as far as the shower before collapsing on his bed, not awaking till about 20 after 10 to an empty house but a plate of eggs and sausage in the fridge to heat up.