Chapter 12
It was early evening, and most of the students on campus were back in their dorms or out eating dinner.
Danny and Cindy were busy preparing for their time traveling mission and even skipped their classes.
After Cindy made them some fake identifications cards stating they were reporters for the Cambridge Chronicle in 1964, they headed off the Garment District store located off Broadway in Cambridge. This clothing store specialized in selling 1960s and 1970s style clothing that were used or slightly used.
Danny went to the barber off the campus while Cindy went off to a hairstylist off the campus.
It was now 6:00 pm, and Cindy and Danny were ready for their mission.
Danny stepped out of his dorm building sporting a 1960s style crew cut, wearing black fine line gabardine continental style beltless and cuffless slacks, a short sleeve brown plaid shirt, brown, tan and green striped casual sweater that buttoned down the front, and black leather penny loafers. He even placed pennies in them for the look. But if someone got a really close look, they would notice that the pennies were dated 2010 and 2012.
Danny walked down the sidewalk from his dorm building with gawking stares from everybody nearby by. Some thought he looked like a nerd while others thought he looked dorky. Danny did not care while he strutted off to the Caffeine Palace.
Cindy stepped out of her dorm building. She had her hair cut and styled to where it curled up at the bottom. She looked like a blonde version of Patty Duke. She also wore gold-colored pullover top with a loop-and-button neckline. She had on trim-fitting Capri pants in berry red color. On her feet were tan-colored pleated vamp shoes with a flat wedge heel. She had a chain handled envelope bag for her purse in hand.
She also got stares from numerous other students who wondered why she wanted to look like a 1960s woman. Some thought she was a geek.
She did not care while she walked down the sidewalk and headed over to the Caffeine Palace.
Danny and Cindy walked down the sidewalk and met each other at the same time by the front entrance of the Caffeine Palace. They had more stares from people who exited and entered the coffee shop.
Danny and Cindy looked at each other.
"You look great. Are you ready?" he asked her.
Cindy rubbed her hand across the pointy bristles of Danny's crew cut. "You look like an upstanding clean cut all American kid," she said then chuckled. "I'm ready."
Danny touched the curls of her hairdo. "A little stiff."
"Hairspray."
Cindy opened up her purse and removed an ID card for the Cambridge Chronicle. "Here's your ID," she said while she handed him his card.
Danny looked at the card. "I'm Chris Moore," he said a few times to get it ingrained in his head.
"I'm Sally Duke, and I have a note pad and some pens for playing up the part as a reporter," Cindy replied.
"Me too," Danny said while he removed a small note pad from his back pocket with a pen. "I also brought some old cash with us. I found some at the coin shop in town," he told her.
"I also found some bills and coins. I just hope it lasts," she added.
Danny nodded in agreement then he looked at her for a few seconds. "Let's go before we change our minds," he said.
The walked down the sidewalk and received more stares from other students milling about or walking on campus.
A little while later, Danny and Cindy walked down the wooden stairs of Dr. Youngblood's basement.
They headed over to the computer console.
They both saw the '19 Days – 23 Hours – 30 Minutes Left on iTravel 1 Mission' message on the computer.
"Last chance. Are you still willing to go on this wild adventure"? Danny asked while he looked at Cindy.
"I'm willing," she replied and did not hesitate for a second on backing out.
"Okay," said Danny, then he sat down at the computer and went through the time travel process again.
When the Google map appeared, he typed in 'Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York' in the search block. He zoomed in on the music hall concentrating on the rear of the stage area. Then he locked in at a stairwell located to the left of the smokestack at the back of the building by Normal Avenue.
Then he typed in the start date and time of 'September 27, 1964, 2230', and the return date and time of 'October 5, 1964, 0310' on the computer.
After he had the iTravel 2 device synced and all the information downloaded. He disconnected it from the USB cable.
"Let's go," he told Cindy while he held the iTravel 2 device in his right and stood up from the chair.
Danny and Cindy, with her purse in hand, headed over to the glass booth. Danny opened the door, and Cindy stepped inside. Danny stepped inside and closed the door. They both looked at each other and nodded that they were both ready.
Danny pressed the relevant button on the iTravel 2 device then pressed the appropriate button on the pad by the booth door.
"Let's make sure we're just like one person," he told her then he held her hand. Then again, he also wanted to hold her hands, and this was a viable excuse.
Then they both heard the whirring sound from inside the booth.
Bright lights filled booth like fireworks.
The booth started to vibrate.
Psychedelic colors illuminated the inside of the glass booth. There were blue, red, orange, yellow, lime green, and blue that appeared in abstract shapes.
The colors slowly started twirling around.
Then they started twirling around at supersonic speed.
The booth started to spin.
Danny and Cindy saw that the basement was nothing but a blur inside the booth. Then pain like thousands of needles hit every inch of Danny's body. "Ahhhh!" he screamed out in pain.
"Ahhhhh!" Cindy screamed out in pain.
Then Danny and Cindy disappeared in the booth with a flash.
The booth stopped spinning.
The psychedelic colors dissipated in a flash.
The booth stopped vibrating.
The bright lights fireworks dissipated.
The whirling sound whined down.
The booth was empty, and the basement is quiet except for the low hum of the bank of computers.
On the computer monitor, the '7 Days – 4 Hours – 20 Minutes Left on iTravel 2 Mission' message was on the monitor below the mission message for the iTravel 1 device.
It was now September 27, 1964, at 10:30 that Sunday night.
By the Kleinhans Music Hall, the Buffalo Police had both ends of Normal Avenue barricaded off from the public under the street lights.
At the one end of the barricade by Normal Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, stood fans under the street lights. Thirty adoring fans were not able to get one of the two thousand, eight hundred, and thirty-nine tickets for the concert. They just hoped to catch a glimpse of their favorite rockers.
The other end of Normal Avenue had a few fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite rockers.
Amongst the fans at the barricade by Pennsylvania Avenue was Pastor Elmer Watson and fifteen of his faithful followers. They held signs protesting the presentence of rock and roll bands while he had his beloved Bible in hand. His followers held up "The Rocking Tones Are Pure Evil," "Sinners!", "Rock and Roll is Music of the Devil" and "Rot in Hell!" signs.
Bruno walked up to Elmer.
"Good evening, I'm glad to see that some people have come to their senses that these rock and rollers are true sinners," Bruno said to Elmer.
Elmer looked at Bruno. "Yes, and we have to do what it takes to stop these sinners from corrupting America," he said.
"That's so true," Bruno said then he paused and shoved out his hand. "I'm Pastor Harold Smith from Albany, New York."
"I'm Pastor Elmer Watson from Montgomery, Alabama," he replied and shook Bruno's hand.
"Keep up the good work against these sinners," Bruno said then he walked away.
Elmer watched Bruno walk away then he turned his eyes back to the Kleinhans Music Hall for a sighting of the five sinners.
Since both ends of the street were barricaded, the Buffalo Police only kept officers down at those barricades. So they did not notice the dark rear entrances of the stage. They concentrated their eyes on the crowd for any possible threats.
Then all of a sudden, a huge spot of psychedelic colors appeared in the air four feet above the bottom of the dark stairwell located to the left of the smokestack at the rear of the music hall.
There were blue, red, orange, yellow, lime green, and blue that appeared in abstract shapes.
The colors slowly started twirling around.
Then they started twirling around at supersonic speed.
The colors slowly started spinning. Then they started spinning at supersonic speed.
Then the colors were gone in a flash.
Danny and Cindy appeared in the air four feet above the bottom of the stairwell.
The second they realized they were in the stairwell they dropped and hit the concrete with a thud followed by a little moan.
"That didn't work exactly as planned," Danny said while he stood up in a little bit of pain.
"Well, at least we didn't vaporize into thin air," she said while she stood up in a little bit of pain.
Cindy and Danny look around the stairwell. "Did we make it?"
"We made it in the stairwell," he said while he shoved his iTravel 2 device into his right pants pocket. He then quietly walked up the concrete stairs, and when he got up high enough, he peeked outside. He saw nobody was in sight. "It's quiet out there. I'm not sure," he told Cindy then he walked up the to top of the stairs. He looked to his right and saw the police barricade at the end of Normal Avenue by Porter Avenue and Jersey Street. "There a police barricade, so that's a good sign."
Cindy looked at the barricade.
Danny and Cindy then headed left along the curved brown brick wall. They then saw the police barricade at the other end of Normal Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue with the fans and protestors.
Then they saw The Rocking Tones 1953 GMC Coach bus parked backward to the right of the double stage door entrance.
Parked six feet from the bus were the two Chevrolet G10 white vans. The roadies Tom and Kenny were relaxing inside the rear of the vans.
"We made it. We're in nineteen sixty-four," he told Cindy when he saw the bus and the two vans.
Cindy was a little hesitant in believing it at first until she noticed the clothing and hairstyles of the people at the police barricade. "I believe you're right."
Danny and Cindy crept along the curved wall and got to the steps that led to the stage entrance undetected. The police were too busy keeping an eye on the fans by the barricade to notice the two time travelers.
Tom and Kenny were nodding off in their vans and did not notice Danny and Cindy.
Gus, the bus driver, was inside the bus taking a snooze to rest for their next trip down the road.
Danny and Cindy crept up the concrete steps to the double stage door. Nobody noticed.
Then Danny placed a hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. The door was unlocked, so he slowly cracked the door opened. The sound of sweet rock music was heard from the stage. The voice of Jacking singing "She's my only baby" was heard coming from the stage with the sounds of girls screaming.
Danny motioned for Cindy that they should step inside the building.
The quietly stepped inside, and Danny quietly closed the stage door.
They stood inside behind the stage and heard The Rocking Tones jamming to their hit song "She's My Only Baby."
Danny smiled at Cindy and motioned for them to get closer to the stage to get a better glimpse.
Danny and Cindy inched their way over to here some stagehands gathered and were looking to the left at the left side of the stage.
The second they walked behind the stagehands, Cindy's eyes widen in a little shock when she saw The Rocking Tones perform their song on stage. "It's really them."
Danny nodded with a proud smile.
"What's our next move?" Cindy quietly asked Danny.
He pondered that question for a few seconds. "Hopefully we can tag along with the band as reporters," he quietly responded.
For a few more minutes, Danny and Cindy watched The Rocking Tones perform their song with most of the girls screaming from the audience.
"Who are you, and how did you get back here?" asked a curious security guard that walked up behind Danny and Cindy.
Danny and Cindy looked behind them and saw two music hall security guards with their arms crossed. They looked pissed.
"Ah, we're reporters from the Cambridge Chronicle," Danny said while he reached in his back pants pocket and removed his ID card that Cindy printed up.
Cindy followed Danny's lead and removed her ID card from her purse.
One of the security guards took the ID cards and checked them out.
Off to the side stood Roger Beaumont. He saw Danny and Cindy and look suspicious while the two security guards checked out the ID cards.
Roger walked over and glanced at the ID cards in the guard's hand. "I didn't authorize reporters from that paper to get backstage," he told the two security guards.
"Okay," one of the security guards said then he handed Danny and Cindy back their ID cards. Then he grabbed Danny's right arm.
The other security guard grabbed Cindy's right arm.
They escorted the two to the rear stage door.
A little while later, the two security guards escorted Danny and Cindy to the barricade by the other fans.
"Officers, make sure these two don't come back. They snuck in here somehow," the one security guard told two of the Buffalo police officers.
The two police officers grabbed Danny and Cindy by their arms and walked them around the barricade.
The officers gave them looks that they better not try this again then walked away.
Danny handed Cindy back her ID card then he motioned for them to walk away.
"Now what?" he asked while they walked through the crows of anxious fans.
Danny pondered their next move while he stared at the Kleinhans Music Hall.
Standing behind Danny and Cindy was Mickey Hanson and Maureen Abner both around the same age as Danny and Cindy.
Mickey had his thick black hair a little bit longer and started to grow over the years. His nose was a little larger and had a crook to the left. That was his trademark.
Maureen had brunette hair that curled at the bottom, just like Cindy's hairstyle. Maureen had a mole above the right side of her upper lip. This gave her character and a little sex appeal as did her dark brown eyes.
Maureen Abner glanced over at Danny. "Did you come out of the music hall?"
Danny and Cindy nodded, they did.
Mickey Hanson walked up to Maureen's right side. "Did you see them?" Mickey asked and looked excited.
"We did."
"They were playing She's My Only Baby," Cindy added.
"She's my only baby," Maureen sang out with a beautiful voice.
"Lucky you. We love them and think they're better than The Beatles," Mickey added.
"We're driving around to all the places they're playing this week," said Maureen.
"Did you say, you're driving around to all their concerts this week?" asked Danny with a gleam in his eyes.
Maureen and Mickey nodded in agreement that they were.
"Mind if we tag along?" asked Cindy.
Mickey and Maureen looked at each other.
"Sure. I'm Maureen Abner, and my boyfriend is Mickey Hanson," replied Maureen.
"I'm Chris Moore, and this is my colleague Sally Duke," he replied.
They all shook hands.
Then the crowd at the barricade started cheering, and then some of the girls started screaming. They saw The Rocking Tones standing by the front of their bus waving and blowing kisses at the fans. This was something they loved to do for the fans there were unfortunate not to get tickets for their concerts. Jackie figured it would help keep their fan base grow if they showed the band cared.
"The Rocking Tones are leaving. Let's head out of here," said Mickey.
Mickey and Maureen rushed off through the crowd with Danny and Cindy right behind them.
They walked right past Pastor Elmer Watson while he held up his Bible.
While Danny walked by Elmer, he glanced down and gave Danny the evil eye while he held his Bible up in the air. Elmer thought there was something odd about Danny, but he could not place a finger on it. So he looked away and stared at The Rocking Tones still waving by the front of the bus.
Elmer's stares gave Danny a weird chill throughout his whole body.
Danny rushed away from Elmer.
He and Cindy continued to follow Mickey and Maureen down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Danny, Cindy, Mickey and Maureen soon heard Elmer yell out, "Repent you, sinners!"
"That Bible guy gave me the creeps," Cindy told Danny, Mickey, and Maureen while they walked down Pennsylvania Avenue.
"I know what you mean," replied Danny.
While they walked down the street, The Rocking Tones got inside the bus.
Gus started up the bus and drove away.
Tom and Kenny got out of the two vans and headed to the rear stage door.
They went inside the music hall to tear down the instruments and drums and cart them off to the vans.
A little while later, Danny and Cindy sat in the back of a green and white four-door 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air. Mickey drove with Maureen by his side.
"We're from Brooklyn," said Mickey.
"Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also go to MIT," replied Danny.
"Ah, smart people," said Mickey.
"Mickey and I just started Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. He wants to major in English, and I'm going major in Nursing," Maureen replied.
"Maureen and I have tickets for the Ed Sullivan show this Sunday. We can't wait to see The Rocking Tones play live."
"Are you two going?" asked Maureen.
"No. We lost out on that one," replied Cindy.
"Too bad. We're really looking forward to seeing play in the flesh," said Mickey.
"So, we saw you being escorted away by those two security guards, did you sneak in the music hall?" asked Maureen.
"Yeah, we work as part-time reporters for the Cambridge Chronicle," replied Danny.
"We were hoping to write an article about The Rocking Tones for our big break into journalism," Cindy added.
"Too bad they tossed you out of there," said Mickey.
Danny and Cindy both silently prayed they would have better luck at the next concert. Then Danny looked at Mickey and Maureen sitting side by side. He had the urge to sit next to Maureen. He shrugged off that feeling as he was too chicken to scoot closer to her.
"Mickey here wants to be a famous writer. He's actually good and likes writing mysteries," Maureen told Danny and Cindy.
It took Danny a few seconds, but then it dawned on him that he bought Mickey's book in 2014. But he did not want to spill the beans, so he kept his mouth shut.
It was a quiet drive while Mickey drove his Bel-Air through the streets of Buffalo.
Then Mickey reached over and turned on the AM radio.
Mary Well's My Guy song played on the radio station.
"As a matter of opinion I think he's tops, my opinion is he's the cream of the crop," Maureen sang out then she kissed Mickey on his cheek. She rested her head on his shoulder. He placed his arm around her shoulder.
Maureen continued to hum along with the song.
Danny and Cindy glanced at each other for a second. Then they both stared out their door windows. Danny had another urge to slid over next to her and place his arm around her shoulder. She doesn't want me for that reason. He thought to himself then returned to watching the night time view of Buffalo drive by.
While Danny glanced out his window, Cindy turned and took a quick glance at him and smiled. She wondered why Danny did not try to take her out on a date. She shrugged it off and went back to looking out her window.