strangeland

he drove east on blue line 58 towards McKittrick 92351

then turned south up a dirt road that claimed Pozo in 20 miles

10 miles up in it traversing a coarse road terraformed by violent runoff he realised he wasnt thinking at the onset of the ride and now was suddenly pressed for time

he altered his dirt and stone road travail to catch 58 west

as he braved the back hills the Los Padres National Forest he passed small ramshackle houses and marveled at other lots that bore long rusted mobile homes and how they ever got up there

maybe it was the light

it was definitely the election

three years ago he traipsed these back roads but they didnt feel like America today

he felt like a stranger in a strange land

what he had going for himself was his whitishness and if his whitishness wasnt claim enough then in his jacket pocket he had a switchblade his fathers sap lead slag stitched up inside worked leather and knuckles a cop friend of his cousin gave him at a party long ago

he wasnt a scout for nothing

he hadnt boxed Golden Gloves for nothing

the cop was a huge Chicago cop

his cousin lived in a brownstone on the third floor accessible by one of the famous Chicago-style woodbeamed backporches and staircases  riveted and hammocked and chainswinged

he sat just inside the screened backdoor at a small linoleum kitchen table and fired up a joint

a couple of tokes in it a cop making everything around him suddenly small walked through the springloaded screen door

he took a single step to the table and menacingly grabbed his wrist

he took the joint out of his hand What have we here

eyeballed it Nice roll and took a deep hit

Wheres Jim he asked as he exhaled  Nice shit Tastes like the shit I confiscated Nobodys gonna admit they had three duffels when theyre booked on one

No he answered Nobody smart

Yeah Dopers are smarter then junkies eh

Sure  I concur

You concur

I do

I love concurring Seen it on Dr Kildare him and GillespieDamn  I concur whenever I get a chance

Small fuckin world

Yeah it is a small fuckin world Who are you

Jimmys cousin

JImmy You call him Jimmy

I do  You probably call him Jim

He prefers Jim

He does but hes Jimmy to me

I think I know of you from Jim  The crazy fuckin polack

I am a polack Dont think Im fuckin crazy

No you are if youre him  You ride bike with Jim on occasion

I do

Youre him  he went into his jacket pocket  Here man these are for you he pressed a set of knuckles into his hand he took another toke  Lifted them off a coon figured he had plenty more where those came from Might help you in your craziness someday

he tossed them in his hand admired their weight  they fit nicely  Brass  Very nice thank you

Yeah thats what I thought too really nice  Going for the coon he momentarily thought to use them against me you learn to see that the twitching in the eyes around them  Had he I would have shot him in the face  Smart coon   I patted him down took this and some ampoules  Crushed the ampoules in the alleyway smeared them in the cinders under my boot  As I said dopers are smarter than junkies

Jims cousin Ill see you inside  I understand hes got more people coming around tonight a gal in particular who Ive taken a shine to  You stickin around

With police protection Oh hell yeah

Yeah well have some fun  Some other boys in blue are coming when theyre off-shift so dont get paranoid

I dont get paranoid

No  Dont imagine you do   Youre fuckin crazy

Good point

        he was feeling like a crazy fuckin stranger in a strangeland

 

1504,  Monday,  14  11. 16

1246,  Twosday,  15  11. 16

Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People  PUEO (The Protector – Hawaiian Owl) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM8bbQWD5mY&index=21&list=PLz0ZQqOnh7xH3s9Hlgg9Qzm6NfWQrE1DV