Manic Monday
(first off...apologies for posting this so late. it's been a crzy week. monday started it all off, and it never let down. i'm just now catching my breath).
So monday morning we had to get up and get mary packed for her experimental research extravaganza. She had to have a physical at 1pm, and then was supposed to check in at 2. So we packed up a bunch of stuff--or really, she packed while i sat there. (i don't know what she wants to take).
The research people are really really anal about getting to appointments on time. In fact, once you're in a study, they even issue fines if you are late. So... we got there at 1.00 on the dot. Mary didn't even park the car, just ran inside. I tried to read a book while she was having her physical. I'm not a strong reader. It didn't go well. I was trying to read Lewis Grizzard's "Elvis is dead, and i don't feel so good myself". I read about 15 pages. It didn't hook me yet. And then Mary came out, and then i just sat there w/ her, and then they checked her in, and then i headed home.
Back at the cabin, the neighbor MK came over. He invited us over for supper to repay us for supper over the weekend. I told him Mary was gone, but i could use some food (especially since i don't really cook). Later in the day, before supper, i saw MK and he expressed interest in going to the infamous Devil's Backbone Tavern. that sounded sort of fun. I had told my buddy Tim, who is coming to visit in Nov, that i'd try to wait until then to go, but i was figuring i'd be bored w/ all the days of mary gone, so thought i might go to the Backbone. MK said i could come over early if i wanted and have some drinks, and we could chat and get to know each other a little better. That didn't sound so fun. I figured I wouldn't come over too early.
So, a couple minutes before food was supposed to be ready i showed up. It smelled pretty good. Chicken fried steak and some ranch style beans. RM showed up too. I was hoping he would, so it wouldn't just be me and MK. Mercy though.... now that mary wasn't there w/ us, i guess it was all good for us to have guy talks, and talk like manly guys. i've never really enjoyed good old manly talks. granted, when i was in college, some of my fondest memories were of staying up late at night, sitting on Brad's green couch, having **cough cough** "titty talks". basically, we would just talk about the hottest girls on campus--primarily Kim Davidson--- and we would lament that fact that we would never get to go out w/ such girls. but that was college. i don't really have a need for such talks these days.
the first round of beers while we waited for chicken fried steaks involved MK announcing: "RM--- i'm gonna really need to go to a titty bar soon".
"Oh. Ok. Austin or San Antonio?"
they discussed it.
both options were ok.
RM said they could do it.
Then RM, always the storyteller, told some story about how late one night he got a knock on the door, and it was 3 hot ass girls standing there. they asked if he was RM. he said he was. they said 'so and so' and sent them, and that RM could help them. here's where i'm not sure what happened. (RM is hispanic, and i don't always understand what he says). i was thinking the story was going to be something about all the crzy things that the girls did, and what a crzy night it was.
from what i could gather though, the girls were strippers/dancers, on their way from San Antonio to Austin, and were going to go perform in Austin late that night. and this 'so and so' guy from SA knew RM, and told the girls that he could fix them up before they got to Austin. so... RM "fixed them up, and had them looking pretty" and they headed to Austin.
WHAT?
What?
what happened there? that story made no sense. but that's what the story was. "fix them up"?
what are they... boxers? is RM a great corner man, like Clint Eastwood in Million $ Baby? did RM have to stitch up their faces, and help them pretend that they weren't battered? is "fix them up" a code for Coke or something? is RM a hairdresser and makeup artist? if so, why didn't the girls get 'fixed up' before they left San Antonio. It's only an hour and a half from Austin. it's not like they had been in the car for 10 hours. maybe i missed on out details or something. but i don't understand it. it perplexed me.
i actually said to RM.. "what the heck? people just know who you are, and they seek you out to fix their problems? that's crzy.".
it's like he's Hannibal from the A-Team, or Magnum PI, or MacGyver. no, motherfucker's better than MacGyver.
from there, stuff just got crazier.
RM started telling a story and in the story he made reference to his parole officer. Parole officer? why did he have a parole officer? oh.. nevermind he said. if you let slip that you have a PO, you have to say why. i told him this.
'oh...murder. he said. i killed 2 guys'.
um....what?
not larceny, or drugs, or assault. let's shoot right for the top. #1. way to go.
so he had to tell the story.
apparently, when he was much much younger, he was at a party, and was outside, and this group of Puerto Ricans in a car called for him to come over. for some reason he went over there. i'm not sure why, b/c as RM tells the story, as he approached he could tell that something was wrong. he tried to play it cool. he said that he had been taught that if you're ever in a situation like that to go at the strongest guy or the one that has the gun. he could tell that the guy in the passenger side has a gun, so when that guy made move, RM lunged at him. RM grabbed the guys arms before he could aim the gun. the guy was trying to point the gun at RM and shoot him. they struggled. RM says he the bad guy still had the gun, but RM managed to get his hands on the gun too, and while they were both holding the gun, RM bent the shooters arms back, up in the air, and pointed away from him. at some point he had got the shooters arms bent all the way back, so the gun was pointing right at the shooters own face. the gun went off. it apparently went thru the guys mouth/head, and the bullet then struck another guy in the car. it killed them both.
the cops were just down the street. RM says it was self defense. he was up for 20 years, but he got 5. he said he was in prison w/ a lot of badass dudes. he said he learned a lot there.
i say i'm a little more scared now.
RM then told a story about working on this paint crew, and everyone on the paint crew had done time. he said it was a requirement to be hired---that you had to have done time.
i wonder if they put that in their brochure?
all of my neighbors have been in prison. MK had already told me his convict story. so instead he told me about his kid, who is in his 20s, and has been arrested tons of times. apparently he went on some crime spree all thru the south on the way back from visiting his grandmother. i didn't ask for details on this one. i didn't really want to know.
we ate the food, we drank plenty of beers.
at this point i was undecided on whether or not i was going to go to Devils Backbone Tavern. but they didn't even ask. they just announced that we would be going soon. i didn't want to appear to be a wuss, so i took Gus home and tried to muster up my enthusiasm.
more later...
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