song as summary in "the next big thing" flash fiction

I was sitting in the Dennys at Sunset and Gower, I was staring in my empty coffee cup. I was thinking that my friend Frank had been lying, he said we’d meet there for a few late-night coffees, but he still hadn’t shown up. Still, if California slides into the ocean, if the San Andreas gets its bloody fill, it’ll happen when I’m visiting my brother there, or else it never will.

The whole town felt angry to me. Imprisoned saints and deputized thieves and yet we’re the desperados under the eaves. Though I’m the one allowed to leave. Because I didn’t spend near enough time shaking hands, spent my free time with my friends and family. When you’re chasing dreams, you’re never really free. The whole town felt angry to me.

I was sitting in Dennys at Sunset and Gower, I was listening to the air conditioner hum. While it couldn’t replicate the lyrics, it damn well knew the tune. So I stepped into the sun, it had somehow become noon, but the bright light hurt my eyes and I had to look away down Gower Avenue. I could only look away. Look away look away look away.