Ringing as it curls up and dies

He’s waiting for the bus without his shoes on, almost walked out of the door forgetting them altogether as he tried to untangle his long cord of headphones while they blasted. His right ear rings, high-pitched, as the little cells curl up and die within his cochlea, but he doesn’t notice. The bass in his ears is far too strong and the pebble is even stronger as it cuts into his foot, making him so irritated as he tries to pick it out of the hard padding. He is hustling when he sees the bus turn the corner but he can’t get the shoes on in time.
The neighbor’s dog is first in line at the bus stop; he wants to get on the bus to go to the library to look up something on the computer, something on Wikipedia about the Kent State Massacre to see what everyone else has to say about it, to see if they included a note about the CSNY song “Ohio” which he’s been blasting on his stereo. An old, scratched record and he thinks about Neil Young every time, looking at the magazine with the girl crying over the dead curled up on the ground and writing that wonderful song saying “fuck you!” to the powers that be, wielding guns wherever whenever. The dog uses very strong language too, seeing as how the cops love to harass him when he’s just out and about, listening to his music and he isn’t bothering anyone. But the bastards can’t leave him alone; this time, it’s the kid who always wears his pants low, boxers hanging on for dear life shooing him from the doors. Now he can’t even get on the goddamn bus to go to the library and learn. He has his fare ready and everything, all change that he scrapes up off the street when he’s looking at the sidewalk. Now he must watch while his neighbor gets on the bus.
His pants are sagging as he tries to grab his fare and juggle his shoes, shuffling down the aisle barefoot. The bus is lurching along but has to wait at the curb for a moment until the high-pitched whistling has passed. It’s not in his ear anymore-- it’s zipping by on the street. The orange of an ambulance makes him cross himself, kiss his hand, say a little prayer because certainly, someone is about to curl up and die.