Hard Time

--words and music by Michael Stanley

from "You Can't Fight Fashion", 1983, EMI Records Group


This ain't no Casablanca...
This ain't no black and white
Everybody's armed and dangerous--
And someone's gonna buy it tonight...

And what about the dream
They said would save you?
Oh, Lord--tell it to
The guys who fought the war..
--'Cause you know they're doin'

Hard time
Hard time
And it ain't the way that they told us about it--
It ain't that way anymore...
They're doin'
Hard time
Hard time
So here's to the others--the friends and the lovers--
The ones that the good times were for
Hard time

Me, I've got my moments...
You, you've had your fill
And this'd be one dead cowboy--
Baby, if looks could kill...

And walkin' away just
Ain't that romantic...
Oh, Lord--and ain't that
what we came here for?

--But now we're doin'

Hard time
Hard time
And it ain't the way that they told us about it--
It ain't that way anymore...
We're doin'
Hard time
Hard time
So here's to the others--the friends and the lovers--
The ones that the good times were for
Hard time

--And now we're doin'

...Hard time
Hard time
And it ain't the way that they told us about it--
It ain't that way anymore...
They're doin'
hard time
Hard time
So here's to the others--the friends and the lovers--
The ones that the good times were for
...Hard time
...Hard time
...Hard time
...Hard time

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We moved in with Mike and Betty. Betty has 3 small kids, and custody of her 2 younger brothers and a sister. They have a big house, but seriously, there are ten people living in this house. Our belongings were safely stored in their garage, and we have our own bedroom.........our only space. And the gas is off, so there is no hot water.

It was great that we had a place to stay, but it was uncomfortable to say the least. We didn't stay with them for very long. Our time was spent working, looking for a new place, partying and so forth. Anything to keep us out of our cramped quarters.

There is one specific incident that sticks out in my mind during our brief stay there. Leap and I went out to dinner with my sister, Susan. She and her husband had split up, so she was alone. I know it was my idea to include her in our dinner plans. I had a kidney/bladder infection so I did no drinking. Actually, I was quite miserable and we probably should have stayed home. But for some stupid reason we went out. Leap and Susan were having drinks with dinner. I suffered through, there's really nothing more annoying than watching someone else have a good time when you feel like crap. I pissed and moaned just long enough to convince them to leave.

What happened was, Leap drops me off first because I am in so much pain. He says he will go take Susan home and be back afterwards. I went up to bed and passed out. The next morning when I woke up, there is no Leap, and no car. Ok, so where is this man with my car? The puzzle pieces sucked together immediately. I picked up the phone and called my sister. After about 10 rings a very groggy, hung-over Susan answers the phone. I say nothing and just listen to her saying hello, hello. In the backgroud, very close, I hear snoring. I didn't say a word, the reality had sunk in, my sister is in bed with my boyfriend. I hung up the phone, and then called my mother. I've always been an early riser, but so has my mom. I tell her the situation and ask her if she will please come and get me, so I can get my car.

I had to listen to the lecture about letting Leap drive my car the whole way to Susan's. She continued this rant while my world is falling apart. I just sat there not hearing her, trying to figure out exactly what I was going to do and say when we get there.

Finally, we pull in the driveway, and sure enough, guess who's car is sitting there? This was back in the day when nobody locked their doors, there was never a need. I thanked my mother for the ride and asked her to leave. More rants, but she knew that I would handle it, I only needed her for transportation. I walked into my sister's apartment, walked into her bedroom, picked Leap's jeans up off of the floor, got my keys out, and threw his jeans at him. Still, they are both sound asleep. I stood there for a couple of minutes, thinking what to do. Should I just leave? Should I offer him a ride home? Should I kill them both while they sleep?

I woke them up, there was no physical pain inflicted on them. I suppose the look on my face was enough. I do have some good looks, and some very good, deadly looks. I said, I hope you both had a really good time, because it won't ever happen again. Cherish your drunken memory. And out the door I went. I took my sweet old time getting into the car, starting it, and as I started backing up Leap comes out of the door, dressed, hopping towards me putting his shoes on. I just kept backing out of the driveway and left him standing there. I'll never forget the look on his face. He knew he "screwed" up. Now he is stranded in BFE and has to find his own ride home. He also knows that my sister better not be that ride.

I cried all the way home, not knowing what was going to come next. Would he come home? If he did, what would he say? If he didn't, what would I do, stuck in this house with all of these people? I was only home for about a half-hour and in he came. He hitch-hiked home. Ok, so at least he's not brain-dead. There would have been hell to pay had she brought him home. He came home to silence. I said nothing. Just used those looks, through the teary eyes.

He was very apologetic, proclaiming his love for me. I just went back to bed, said nothing. He went off to work. He suffered through my silence and hurt. He suffered, begged forgiveness, and found us a new place to live. After a couple of days of recovering from the kidney/bladder infection we made arrangements to move in to our newly rented house. Before I agreed to stay with him I asked him one question. Are you going to stay away from my sister? He looked at me with relief and said hell yes, she was the worst piece of ass I've ever had. No reason to go back there. For some reason, don't know if it was the sincerety, the absurdity, or the sheer joy of hearing that my sister was a flop in bed, I decided that I would stay with him. I did love him.

I didn't speak to my sister for a very long time. That incident forever changed the way I felt about my slut of a sister. We moved into the new house, still loving each other, he was forgiven. Perhaps I should have been just a little bit more specific when I asked him that question about staying away from my sister.