40 LICKS

By Meirav Devash

I’m at a Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden.

On my left, my dad. On my right, another aging Stones fan. In my hand, a beer. Three seats away from me, a respectable-looking man wearing a button-down shirt, corduroy slacks, and wire-rimmed glasses is alternately screaming, "Keith! Raise the roof!" and "Joan Baez knows rock and roll!" at five-second intervals.

The man on my right leans in and knowingly says, "That guy’s ON something."

Two hours later, the man wearing a button-down shirt, corduroy slacks, and wire-rimmed glasses is STILL screaming, "Keith! Raise the roof!" But now he’s alternating it with, "Fuck yooooooo!"