TRUCKIN’
So there I
was…. 15 years old…. Just making my way through the parking lot to my high
school. Brockton High. I was in 9th grade and that time my sister Kerri
was in her junior year. We had gone across the street to the convenience store
to get those snowball snacks (its like a big marshmello with pink coconut
shavings all over it, probably wicked unhealthy but yummy). It was me, Kerri
and her friend Billy. We spent a lot of time together at that time. Things were
not going well at home with Mom and it was becoming overwhelming for both my sister
and I. Billy was having his issues at his home too. We had dysfunctional homes
in common. This particular morning Kerri and Billy were being a bit secretive.
I demanded they tell me what was going on. Kerri said that she hadn’t wanted to
involve me but couldn’t leave me behind. They told me they were running away. I
had a choice to go or stay…hmmmmm stay with mom while she freaks the fk out
that Kerri has run away and take the brunt of all those emotions….or go with
them on this adventure. I decided to go with them.
“So where
are we going and how are we getting there?”
They told
me we had to take the city bus back to our house before we did anything. My
parents both worked in schools and we were no strangers to getting off the
school bus and walking to the other side of the parking lot and grabbing the city
bus back to the house to hang out and play hookie. I don’t remember being
scared or nervous, just ready for the adventure.
Oh yeah….
So we get to our house and Kerri and Billy told me of some kind of “bet” that
doesn’t make much sense now, so I’m thinking I may have forgotten some details.
But they told me that the “bet” was that if Kerri really runs away she/we were
going to shave her head. She had long hair almost down to her butt. Well ok
then. We only had Bic razors so that’s what we used after chopping away at her
hair with the meat scissors. Yes, my sister was shiny headed when we were done….luckily
she has a nicely shaped melon. The details of how the adventure got us to Logan
Airport in Boston that night are pretty fuzzy for me.
We had
$40, a carton of Camel non filter cigarettes and a little bit of marijuana. We
were Truckin’.
“Truckin',
got my chips cashed in
Keep
truckin', like the do-dah man
Together,
more or less in line
Just keep
truckin' on”….
The next
memory I have is sitting on a bench at the airport next to that stupid art thing
where the ball goes all around these stupid chimes non stop. We were sharing
chicken nuggets and trying to figure out our next move. We had chosen the
airport because we figured no one would question us there and we would be safe.
We decided to spend the first night there…next to the stupid thing with the
chimes… NON STOP! Kerri was resting on the bench but Billy and I were to
anxious to sleep. We had a lot of cigarette breaks outside that night, that was
actually when I learned how to flick a cigarette (random lil fact for you).
…”Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on
Main Street
Chicago,
New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street
Your
typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it
up and see what tomorrow brings”….
I
remember it taking a long time to get to the sunrise the next day. This may
have been the part where we shared the chicken nuggets. So now we had less than
$40. No idea where we were going or how we were getting there but we were all committed
to the fact that anything was better than our lives at home with our parents. We
went to the Greyhound station from the airport. I cannot remember our first
destination or how we chose it. But there we were sitting in the very back of
the bus where there were three seats across so we could sit together. We were
Truckin’.
….”Dallas,
got a soft machine
Houston,
too close to New Orleans
New York
got the ways and means
But just
won't let you be”….
As you can
probably imagine we were overtired and pretty slap happy after a long night
next to the stupid noisy statue with the chimes. I was sitting in the middle
seat and somehow a conversation started about how cool it would be if the three
of us were Siamese triplets attached at the wrists and the ankles. It did not
take long for it to turn into a conversation between Billy and Kerri about all
the ways they could think to torture me since I would be in the middle. At some point one of us said we should call
ourselves SSB (Sister Sister Brother). I actually have the tattoo on my left
arm, just the letters SSB. I get a lot of questions about what it stands for
but I usually don’t feel like getting into the story with strangers,…. And yet
here we are now, hahaha. I have a terrible memory but we took a couple busses.
We were aimlessly wandering around not knowing what we were going to do… just Truckin’
….”Most
of the cats that you meet on the street speak of true love
Most of
the time, they're sittin' and cryin' at home
One of
these days they know they better be goin'
Out of
the door and down to the street all alone”…
The funny
thing was that every bus stop we ended up at would play the song ‘Truckin’ by
Grateful Dead. It became the theme song of our journey.
The next
thing I remember is being at a bus station in Connecticut, in a busy city and
completely broke from taking busses all over the place with no destination in
mind.
This was
when Kerri decided to call her boyfriend A.J. who was at Umass Amherst at the
time. He came to CT to pick us up and that is when Billy and I learned that had
been her plan all along.
…”Truckin',
like the do-dah man
Once told
me, "You've got to play your hand"
Sometimes
the cards ain't worth a dime
If you
don't lay 'em down”….
Next
thing I remember is the ride to Umass….but the funny part is that we smoked a
lot of pot and I really don’t remember much of the ride.
We
arrived to A.J. dormitory he shared with another classmate. All of a sudden I
am sitting in this circle of like 10 college dudes and the three of us.
…Sometimes
the light's all shinin' on me
Other
times, I can barely see
Lately,
it occurs to me
What a
long, strange trip it's been”….
This is
when the hash and the three foot glass waterbong made an appearance. Oh boy. I
was only 15 years old. I was no angel but no drug addict … yet…. either. I had smoked
pot but never out of a water bong before so when they asked if I knew how to
use the bong and asked if I had ever used one before…. I brushed them off and
boasted about the 6 foot water bong I had smoked out of before. I sat nervously
awaiting this monster of a smoking apparatus filled with hash which I had never
tried.
…”What in
the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost
her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin' on
reds, vitamin C, and cocaine
All a
friend can say is, "Ain't it a shame?"…
Again,
things get fuzzy at that point. We were drinking liquor and laughing from our
high shortly after our arrival. I remember Billy threw a whiskey bottle out of
the second story dorm. We were out of control and free from parental control.
At one point Billy felt sick so we ran down the hallway looking for a bathroom.
Billy couldn’t wait…he opened the women’s bathroom door and upchucked spaghetti
all over the tiled floor. Not sure how long we stood there but we were mesmerized
for a few moments.
…”Sittin'
and starin' out of the hotel window
Got a tip
they're gonna kick the door in again
I'd like
to get some sleep before I travel
But if
you got a warrant, I guess you're gonna come in”…
I am
really not sure how long we stayed, one night? Three? No idea. I have one
memory of this lil hippy dude (who was tripping his pants off) trying to
convince me to go home. And using his own form of sign language to convey the
reality that I will be cold, maybe lonely, hungry…
At this
point Billy and I had realized that Kerri had planned to run off with A.J. the
whole time. But for whatever reason A.J. decided to stay at school. So now we
were broke, hungry with no where to go. Kerri did NOT want to go back. Billy
and I had come to our senses. Kerri decided to take a bus halfway across the
country to live with my brother in law’s brother. Billy and I got a ride to
South Station in Boston so we could get back to homes that didn’t seem so bad
at that point.
….”You're
sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel
Get tired
of travelin', you want to settle down
I guess
they can't revoke your soul for tryin'
Get out
of the door and light out and look all around
Sometimes
the light's all shinin' on me
Other
times, I can barely see
Lately,
it occurs to me
What a
long, strange trip it's been”…
So we
parted ways. I feel like I remember seeing pictures of us hanging at South
Station as we walked in. Somehow our parents were there waiting for us. We were
tired, partied out and ready to get back to regularly scheduled programming.
…”Truckin',
I'm a goin' home
Whoa,
whoa, baby, back where I belong
Back
home, sit down and patch my bones
And get
back truckin' on.”
It was a
long strange trip that if nothing else the story is worth telling at least once!
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