"Howard Waldrop - Flying Saucer Rock & Roll" - читать интересную книгу автора (Waldrop Howard)

"Hey, look," said Cornelius. "Why don't we try putting the bass part of
'Stormy Weather' with the high part of 'Crying in the Chapel'? I tried it the
other night, but I can'tтАФ"

"Shit, man!" said Slim. "That ain't the way it is on the records. You
gotta do it like on the records."

"Records are going to hell, anyway. I mean, you got Motown and some
of that, but the rest of it's like the Beatles and Animals and Rolling Stones
and Wayne shitty Fontana and the Mindbenders andтАж"

Leroy took the cigar from his mouth. "Fuck the Beatles," he said. He
put the cigar back in his mouth.

"Yeah, you're right, I agree. But even the other music's not theтАФ"

"Aren't you kids up past your bedtime?" asked a loud voice from the
darkness.

They jerked erect. For a minute, they hoped it was only the cops.

Matches flared in the darkness, held up close to faces. The faces had all
their eyes closed so they wouldn't be blinded and unable to see in case the
Kool-Tones made a break for it. Blobs of face and light floated in the night,
five, ten, fifteen, more.

Part of a jacket was illuminated. It was the color reserved for the kings
of Tyre.

"Oh, shit!" said Slim. "Trouble. Looks like the Purple Monsters.

The Kool-Tones drew into a knot.

The matches went out and they were in a breathing darkness.

"You guys know this turf is reserved for friends of the local protective,
athletic, and social club, viz., us?" asked the same voice. Chains clanked in
the black night.

"We were just leaving," said Cornelius.

The noisy chains rattled closer.

You could hear knuckles being slapped into fists out there.

Slim hoped someone would hurry up and hit him so he could scream.

"Who are you guys with?" asked the voice, and a flashlight shone in
their eyes, blinding them.