from The Palmetto: Adventures with the Southern Underground, by Davis Horner Yates voice came over the speakers. “Velvet Train you are all right and out of sight! Thanks for picking us all up. They’ll be back brothers and sisters; just taking a little break.” When the applause faded and people started sitting down, Yates started to speak. “Hey… J.P.Garrett, can we talk? I know you’re a busy dude and all. I mean, keeping Congaree County clean and decent and moral and white for good hard-working folks is a tough job. But you did take the time to come out and see us today. Yeah, I know you’re out there and can hear what I’m saying,so this is one of the few chances I may have to really talk to you man. And that goes for all you informants and agents who are blending in to crowd this afternoon. I’d like you to hear this too.” “The thing is this. You really don’t listen at all. I want… we want you to know that we think a lot about things. Things like war and peace, like the way people are treated in this country – even the ones that were here before us. How the biggest pieces of pie go to the people that are already too fat. Like how it feels to be lied to, and by the people we trusted and who we thought were teaching us the way America ought to be. And about how many of our brothers in this generation are being sent to kill and to die for that same lie. Mr. Solicitor Garrett, that’s bullshit. And instead of listening to what I have to say and the reasons for it, you box my ears for using obscene words like bullshit. So I use obscene words over and over again, hoping that I might get your attention and that maybe, between all the words and anger and rebellion you may actually hear something I say. Maybe something will get through. Can we talk? “You don’t have to say anything now. I know you have to worry about how important you are and what people might think if you’re seen rapping with a bunch of freaks. You don’t even have to answer in words. I’ll just wait to see what happens. I’ll wait to see what you do, sir. Just remember that as long as I am strong and free and have any opportunity, I will fight with all my might to see this war ended. You should know that, and that there are many others right here today who feel the same. So when you’re deciding what you’re going to do, remember that I told you, right here in front of everybody. And remember that I have nothing to hide and nothing to lose. And remember that I asked you to talk to me. It’s an open invitation. The rest is up to you, J.P. Garrett. Have a nice day!” Ronnie looked at Kris and Neil again and mouthed the word “Damn!” Kris smiled. The band exploded back into music. Ronnie decided to lay back in the soft grass, enjoy the vibe, and let the woofers perform heart compressions on him. After two songs, Yates came back to the microphone: “Hey, people! Sorry for the interruption but we just got a visit from campus security which said one – do we have a permit from the university, which yes, I showed him this piece of paper. And two – could we bring it down a little? The neighbors have been complaining. Yeah, what? So I took the master volume down a notch, and I also need to ask all of y’all to please not be so happy and enjoy yourselves so much? Pretty please, for me? Velvet Train, Go!” Jimmy Bowen kicked in a series of power chords and vamped for a full minute to make sure all the neighbors heard it, then the band came in a heavy blues boogie. Feeling good,have some fun, go downtown, but don’t you wander round, sickin em pigs on you, sickin ‘em pigs on you. “Watch what you do, watch what you say, you on the street you better play the game their way, sickin em pigs on you, sickin ‘em pigs on you” In reality, the crowd listening to Velvet Train had the neighborhood and virtually the entire campus to themselves. Everyone else was tailgating and preparing for the “Slaughter at the Stadium” as one student reporter had termed it. Yates knew this but decided to play it straight with the campus cop. The less confrontation the better. And who would have expected the County Solicitor to actually show his face, or his hand, in such a setting?
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 15:23:38 +0000
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