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Chapter 12 By Punkerslut
Everything on the camera slowly darkens while grasshoppers chirp. The camera then shows a street corner around noon time. Kevin is on the sidewalk spanging ("spare change?") while Sweep is curled up in a ball on a bench. The camera is so far away from them, that you cannot hear them talk. They are standing outside of a hardware store. Someone walks by, hands their change to Kevin, he points to their cigarette that they're smoking, and they give it to him. He nods and smiles. Then Gunner comes running out of the store and both Kevin and Sweep book it with him. At the beginning of this scene, Gunner does a short voice over, "Technically, what we were doing was Direct Action." and the song, "Do They Owe Us A Living?" by Crass starts. The next scene is at night time on the street. They group of Gunner, Sweep, and Kevin are walking fast down the street, looking everywhere to see if anyone is watching. Kevin passes a trash can, he pulls out a plastic bag he sees hanging out of it, empties it into the trash can, and takes it with him. They walk up to a street sign that says, "Neighborhood Watch Program -- All suspicious activity will be reported to the police." Gunner lifts Sweep up on to his shoulders. They're all looking around. Then Sweep snaps his fingers at Kevin, who pulls out a wrench and hands it to him (still with the price tag on it). Sweep takes off one bolt of the sign, then he snaps his fingers at Gunner. The camera, looking at just Sweep, shows Gunner's hand move up, handing him a bottle of vodka. Sweep takes a swig, and the camera shows Gunner taking one. Then Sweep takes the other bolt off, hands the sign and wrench to Kevin. Kevin puts the sign in a plastic bag and pockets the wrench. They all book it down the street. The camera then shows a store window front, and focuses in on a window decal that says, "We Support Neighborhood Watch Programs." The camera moves fast upward the window and then stops, showing the reflection of Gunner, Kevin, and Sweep, just standing there, emotionless. Then, in slow motion, it shows a brick flying through the store window, as the song by Crass stops. Kevin chucks the sign in the store, and all of them run, as an alarm sounds. The camera looks at the store window, slowly zooming out, while Gunner does a brief voice over. GUNNER, VOICE OVER: A society full of plenty, with adequate housing and food, has turned us into a subculture of criminals. The politicians will say that criminals are bad human beings, but it would be more accurate to say that we are simply human beings. I'm a criminal because I stole food to satisfy my human cravings, the way Jacky is a criminal because she went into a squat to sleep. Without crime, I'd be out of the job. The song "Street Punk" by the Casualties begins to play. The camera focuses in now on an entirely different scene, a punk rock show. Gunner, Spike, Lily, Freak, Kevin, and Sweep are all standing in the line. TICKET TAKER: That'll be five bucks. Spike and Lily tell the ticket taker that they're homeless, and two house punks volunteer to pay for them. Gunner, Sweep, and Kevin get up. Kevin pays three dollars, and a lot of change. Gunner and Sweep get up. GUNNER: Uuhhh, we two are homeless. TICKET TAKER: Ah, just go in, man. They go into the punk show. There's a sign on the door that says, "The Deviated Swabs, Punk Show, $5, All Ages." Once inside, they all start rocking out. Instead of a mosh, like at traditional metal shows, there's a circular area, where people are running back and forth, between two fronts of the ground. Once they hit one front, every sustains their hit, and then pushes them back into the other front. Kevin is doing this with extra aggression. Spike and Lily also engage in it, but as a form of entertainment. Everyone is drinking beer, some are drinking whiskey or vodka. Gunner is holding two beers and drinking from both of them while talking to Rat. They have to shout over the noise to communicate. GUNNER: Have I ever told you that I get an erection when I think about you in my squat? RAT (smiling): You sick bastard... You can imagine what happens to me when I think about you in mine. GUNNER: Is Tank here? RAT: No, Tank isn't into punk rock shows. GUNNER: Hey Kid! What's up! Hey Kid ambles by fast drinking a beer. His dog is tied up outside. RAT: I like Hey Kid. GUNNER: Yeah, he's a good kid, a good kid. He puts forth effort and you know, uhhhh... he's a good kid. RAT: We should fuck. GUNNER: Whoa, you just totally read my mind. Rat grabs Gunner by the neck and pulls him to the ground, as they start making out. Another couple is fucking in the corner a slight distance away from them. The crowd is singing along with the singer for the chorus of "Street punk! Oi! Street punk! Oi oi!" Most of the punks there are drinking beer. As for the description of the punks, many of them are skinheads, many have mohawks, some have long hair, some have dual mohawks, and some have simply spiked hair. Some of them have it dyed green, pink, red, or blue. Once the song by Casualties ends, "Kill the Poor" by the Dead Kennedys starts. There is one scene during the show, though... A nine year old, Asian girl is rocking out, wearing blue overalls and a long sleeve purple shirt, all the clothes very dirty. A twenty year old punk, wearing hundreds of studs on his leather jacket and lots of patches, walks up to her, and poses his upper arm to her, and signals her to run into him. She smiles and does this. And then he pretends to be hurt and pleading for pity. While the punks riot in their own way, Gunner does a voice over... GUNNER, VOICE OVER: It's honestly hard to accurately describe the punk scene. A lot of the kids here are house punks, but we love them nonetheless, because these kids never treated us like some sort of fucking trend. To them, we were brothers and sisters living on the underground. Sometimes some gutter punks would crash out at a house punk's house. They paid for us to get into shows now and then. Optimistically, when I think of punk, I think of a show I can go to where people drink a lot and the fans and the band aren't afraid to speak their minds on issues of politics or things that matter. But then you walk down the street and you see someone who was at the same show, and they're dressed like you are, but they're an asshole. They don't care about worker rights or squatter rights. You can be apathetic socially and still be somewhat nice, but these guys are just fucktards. And some gutter punks don't even like punk music at all or even go to shows. They just drink a lot and fight. In a lot of ways, it's overly confusing. But that's what happens when a scene refuses to give in to conformist megacorporations that pile the millions at their doorstep so we will admit that forcing children to work 14 hours a day in Indonesia is humane. So fuck it. Burn their office buildings and take over the fucking Pentagon. There are some definites to punk music. It's always loud and angry, and the fans are always loud and angry. Most of the time the fans love alcohol and violence. Often times there are political elements to the lyrics. As to the dress code of punks, wearing suspenders, plaid pants, mohawks, patches, knee high boots -- it's a fucking outfit, wear what the fuck you want, I don't care, but some people do, consciously or unconsciously. We wear these clothes because it's part of our culture and what we like to wear.
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