tight rolled jeans, so 80's

I miss being a kid.  I had a friend who lived across the street from me.  He was very handsome and out going.  He was very different from me.  At that time, I had a few friends at school, but none in my neighborhood.  He also had a unique name. Kalan. Yes everyone always said that sounded like a girls name.   He and his family moved into the two story house across the street. It had been vacant for a few years.   His friendship came at a point when my brother stopped wanting to play with me. He had his friends and would often go play basketball with them. Kalan’s mother was a manager at a local store.  His dad was very laid back but did not work.  I found this odd.  I guess because my own father had been the dominate bread winner in our family.  Kalan seemed to know a lot about the world. He was very hip for a kid in 6^th grade.  He listened to real rock music and dress with the latest 80’s trends. He wore acid washed jeans and neon t-shirts with rolled t-shirt sleeves. .  He even tight rolled his jeans so his high tops shoes would show.  If you double them over and then roll them up, that is tight rolled.  He was cool, I was just ordinary.  He was the only kid in our school who had an earring.  He caught hell for it too. Even my Dad made jokes about him.   The older boys in school called him names, but Kalan didn’t seem to let it bother him. For the next year he was my best friend.  He was cute and smart. The local girls all had crushes on him too. I think back now and maybe I had a friend crush on him.  I did like looking at his body. But I was too shy to say anything.  I had feeling I didn’t understand.  He had an older brother in high school.  He was a little odd but smart.  Kalan and I would hang out and talk. He introduced me to the music of the Beastie Boys. Their album ‘Licensed to ILL’ had been released in 1986.  It was very popular music that was not played in my small town. The Beastie boy also released a song called Brass Money.  I had no idea what a Brass Monkey was, but I loved listening to the song at high volume. We listened to it over and over.  Kalan would try to sing the rap lyrics like a rapper.  It made me laugh. We would talk about our friends from school or about our families.  He always wanted to start his own business.  He would have been good at it. He had natural charm and was friendly.  We were both in junior high band.  Kalan was a drummer and I played the trumpet.  As a drummer, they had different percussion instruments to use.  The snare drum was just the basics.  There were other larger drums and various other instruments.  It was not unlike Kalan to play with them all during class.  We would walk home together from school and often play after school.  He always wanted to go ride bikes.  Some times we would explore the alleys and end up in a small wooded area behind a near by housing development.  There were some small mounds of dirt and some tree that a bike trail had been made through.  Some times you could see dirt bike or three wheeler tracks.  But they were just as fun on regular bikes too.

Kalan moved the following year. I was heart broken.   I think his mom switched stores.  That happens in small town.  People move in and out all the time.  And some families stay for years,  like mine did.  I am pretty sure I cried. I told him goodbye.  I remember I gave my friend my address so we could write and our number so that he could call. But I never heard from him again.  I wonder if he ever started his own business?