"F!": My Grungey Seattle Adventure (With My Besty and With Mudhoney)

3: 'Here Comes Sickness'

3:17

HOLLY

Man, I really hope I didn't aggravate Rex too much. I'm really not used to travel -- my only time at an airport was when I moved from Minnesota to Reno, Nevada. Then when I went to KC for college, that was by car. And it was my car, not some rental!

So somehow I ended up on the other side of Seattle. I was directed to another rental car facility by the people at AVIS, so I called an Uber to get to their location on the other side of town, then figured out that the AVIS people probably meant for me to go to the Enterprise at SeaTac, so there was no need for that Uber ride across the city. Great. But here I am at last, heading toward the West Seattle Bridge in a white Hyundai with a Florida license plate. 

I wonder if I will meet any significant people on this trip. All my heroes are from Seattle, and most of them appear to still reside here, too. I'm here for Rex, sure, but I've also wanted to come to the Emerald City for a long time because of the music. But I didn't get into either school I applied for in Seattle, which led me to KC. I'm glad about that, though, despite being sad at first. KC has my heart. I know I won't stay there forever, though. Maybe Seattle wi-

"HOOOOONK!"

What the..?

"honkhonkHOOOOOONK!"

Great, I just pissed someone off by drifting into the wrong lane. Hehe. Lane, Layne. I wish I could've met him while he was still around. What a guy he must've been.

Now that I'm in Seattle, and I'll be here for a week, I have a pretty good chance of meeting at least one of my grunge heroes. I imagine encountering Kim Thayil at a fro-yo shop. Wait, does he even still live he-

Knock, knock. knockknockkncokknockKNOCK!

My thoughts are once again interrupted by a loud rapping sound. What did I do this time? I turn my head cautiously to my left and see that inside the car next to me is a hand knocking on their car window. Then this guy flips me off, and not only that, he holds the gesture while continuing to slam his hand on the window like four more times. "Asshole," I mutter to myself. 

I focus back on the road ahead. I've never gotten the finger from another driver before, and this is making me pretty upset. I really don't know what I did to deserve the gesture. I decide that when this guy drives up to me again I'm gonna give it back to him.

Here he comes. I can see as his car pulls closer that it's an older man in a yellow rugby shirt, baseball cap, and vest. A little much for this weather, I would say. I'm just in a tank top. The guy turns his head in my direction again, and just as I get my hand ready to flip the bird, a wave of recognition overcomes me.

The angry driver who I now know the name of turns to face me again. It looks like he noticed my middle finger up, dang it. "F!" he yells in a smoker's rasp, stepping on the gas pedal. Not "F you." Not "Fuck you." Just "F." 

Wow. Okay... That just happened! Matt Lukin, former bass player of one of my all-time favorite bands, Mudhoney, just flipped me off. The finger he held up once held the notes on classic tracks like "Touch Me I'm Sick" and "Suck You Dry".

I keep my eyes locked on the icon's license plate as he drives away from me and my wildest dreams. This isn't a moment I can just let go of. It's Lukin, man! I make the impulsive decision to follow his car. Just for a bit. Maybe we can stop and talk this over. What do I have to lose?