http://thecowboyandtheindian.com/board/ ... .php?t=133
After meeting up with Chaille ....went to the bus station but I couldn't help but have this feeling that I didn't quite fit in... it seemed as if the entire inner city was attending a pan handling convention...
when I was finally approached.... I was in shock and disbelief ...
"Dudes!....you are at a fucking bus station! ....if the people here had any money, they wouldn't be here!"
too early to tell if I got through to any of them or not....we can only hope....
Finally boarded the bus and was on my way.....
But once again I didn't quite fit in....
It seems that California has many attractions that don't appear on the "points of interest" section in the road atlas.....one of them being a prison conveniently located a short distance from all greyhound bus stops.... there were so many I lost count....
soon the bus was full of happy, smiling, tattooed faces with that look of wondrous disbelief than can only be found in eyes of five year old children seeing their favorite cartoon character on the big screen for the very first time ......and ....
recently released felons hoping to spend as much of their $200.00/start a new life/allotment before seeing their parole officers for the very first time…
I estimated that by Bakersfield, the ratio of recently liberated was eclipsing the 90% mark..... sans myself, a woman visiting her "man" in "lock down", and her three children who were paying close attention to the other passengers as they one day would likely be on this very same bus wondering what to do with their very own $200.00...
The woman, not unattractive, was receiving quite a bit of attention from several of the passengers who seemed interested in both her tattoos and her life story….
“He just can’t keep his shit straight” she said to a sea of heads nodding in agreement and comprehension…
“He does okay for a little while, and then it is back to the same old shit!” and once again the word ‘shit’ seemed to need no translation.
"He has been paroled three times in eleven years” and points to her children as if to prove her point…three boys they were, the oldest still at least a decade away from his first official bus ride…
she concluded with “I finally had enough of that shit!”
and I, for one, believed her… after listening further I deduced “that shit” was a repeat felon and doing life and even doing that poorly …apparently he was going to be transferred to a facility more in tune with his special needs…
Pelican Bay Maximum Security Penitentiary…
her problem I surmised …appeared to be one of an “X-Factor” ….she married and spawned with an ex-con who then became her ex husband and now is going to ex-iled to live with the pelicans
if it has pelicans, how bad can it be?
By the time we rolled into Fresno I figured she was going be okay though… she was reciprocating attention to a half dozen or so of the most tenacious of her potential suitors ….
I sat back and wondered if her future ex was amongst this group ….
just time enough to give the little tykes some fatherly advice… “Don’t say nothing without your lawyer present” …then he’ll give them a new brother to play with before going off to that place with the pelicans….. The X-Factor continues….
The federal express rolls into Modesto and surprisingly enough…. No stabbings, nor riots, and they didn’t have to throw anyone in the hole …. Amazing...This was to me at least considering the cargo they were carrying and how they handle it …
Bus station employees are about the rudest class of people on this earth…
now I am no expert on customer service but….. as a passenger on this “Federal Express” I became aware of a subtle difference in social etiquette between “free” and “un-free.” …
for example…humor
…as hard as I tried, I couldn’t seem to imagine a scenario where my friends… upon hearing a story of one of our colleagues being simultaneously stabbed and sodomized…would burst out laughing …
the “un-free” have a different sense of humor…
It made me wonder if the bus company was really thinking this whole aggressive approach thing through though….
By Stockton I assumed that they were all harmless enough …. Guys getting out after a long stretch need time to adjust ….I sold a couple t-shirts to a couple of my fellow passengers … assuring them that these were what was in style now... before departing and we would have to all stay in touch ...all the while wishing we would never have a chance to reminisce about this one day while feeding the pelicans….
Dropped off some shirts in Stockton with Sue the Artist girl and picked up Mom’s old car from my older brother for some t-shirts and 350 future bucks….. with some kind parting words of encouragement from him like “Hey …don’t fuck this up….this was Mom’s car and I have been taking care of it.”
I resisted the urge to say how nice it was for him to take care of all Mom’s "stuff" when she died… he took care of it so quickly that her body hadn’t had a chance to cool before her "stuff" was in his warm embrace……
instead I said “Thanks.”
I headed south …an 82 Olds w/a four banger that was running a little rough but all the fluids checked out and I figured that was from it sitting all those months….I was going to take care of Mom’s car alright ….I was going to sell the stuff off that I had filled it with, then the car, and then run another series of shirts for my company …..
It is Mom’s car not Mom... I thought…
I knew the difference ….
fairly uneventful all the way to LA ….good MPH on the car and things were starting to look up ….
pick up my computer in San Diego and BLAMMO…. Might stand to make between 1-1.5K on this deal enough to roll some shirts and a couple of tacos to boot ….
A sign appears San Diego 45 Miles …..
I am almost home free …Sandy Eggos ….TJ …and then back home to Valle Dorado… I have risked everything on the success of this trip ….. I miss it there …can’t wait to get back…. I thought …..
I get in …take the dog for a walk … get some tacos…sell this stuff … …and BLAMMO
Only this wasn’t me saying it but the motor on the Olds ….
It had blown up…
This is about as bad as it can get ….. I thought as i pulled into as rest stop...it had a view of the ocean and I could see birds diving down and scooping up fish...
Pelicans? ...Why do I feel as if I am totally fucked?
Little did I know at the time.... this was just the foreplay...
CKA Moderator 
