Bleeding Perseverance - Episode 35

Autobiography Fridays

CHAPTER 14

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A Dysfunctional Road Trip,

Faces From A Simpler Time,

& Parting Ways

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Still holding tight to the lie of having an Indian background, Mom said we had to stop over in Lamedeer, Montana for a few days. A small Indian reservation where some of our supposed relatives lived.

Mom had written a couple of people in the past there on the reservation who shared the same last name as the one she had purgefied for the past few years, in hopes of establishing some bullshit kin. One was a woman who believed Mom’s fictitious claims and wrote her back. After all, these were simple people who weren’t used to outsiders coming in acting like they were relatives.

For a reason I’m not sure of, when we rolled into Lamedeer we couldn’t stay with the woman and ended up staying with an elderly woman who somehow came into the picture. Mom called her Grandma Norma, and she was an old lady who had quite a thing for the country artist, George Strait. It was sad to see Mom manipulating these people, but since we’d only be there for a few days Chino and I bit our tongues.

I believe the woman Mom had written somehow sensed that she had been duped, because we hardly saw her while we were there. Seemed she always had an excuse why she couldn’t stop by. Gee, could Mom’s strongly distinct Caucasian features have given her away? With the combination of that and the absolutely pathetic accent she was trying to pass off, it’s surprising the whole tribe didn’t get together and toss our asses off their land!

After a few days of playing pool at the local diner I liked to call The Chicken Coop Chino and I were happy to be getting back on the road. No offense to that simple way of living, it’s just that we were city boys and therefore could only handle so much of being on ‘Indian Time,’ I sure did enjoy the fried bread though!

Next stop, Billings, where we’d just stay the night. Chino had decided he wanted to shave his head and did so during the stay over. Only after the fact did it occur to me that I should have asked to give him a haircut beforehand. When would I ever again have the chance to see if I were any good at it? Lesson here? Learn to see opportunity when it’s in front of you.

The long trip ended up taking six tedious days. Of course being the budget deficit queen she was, Mom soon ran into money problems. Chino and I had both given her a significant amount at the start of the trip to help out, but finances were bound to get screwed up anyway. Obviously we were the two who had to be turned to at first. I was especially upset because my savings included my first ever tax return of around $500. I had planned to do something special with it like further my pursuit of music, and just shook my head in mourning when her bullshit promise of paying me back spilt forth. This was Mom we were talking about, who through her actions believed that just because time passed it somehow erased debt. This is another thing on the infinite list we prove to be opposites in. Whenever I borrow money from someone I make absolutely certain it‟s paid back. It may take time, but there’s one thing the loaner can rest assured on, and that‟s the fact that they‟ll get their money back. As for getting my money back, I knew Id never see it again, and indeed that turned out to be the case.

After emptying me and Chinos pockets, Grandma had to be called for help. We were headed her way anyway, with plans to move on to Riverside the following month. Chino and I had made plans to get an apartment together after my surgery. An idea I really looked forward to. Meanwhile, we continued on to Stockton.

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It had been about two and a half years since we had last seen the family in Stockton. Loyd, our step-grandfather, hated having us around and despised Mom entirely, although hed put a little effort into hiding it. He had always been overweight and a heavy smoker, and now that he was retired from bus driving he had become worse. He spent most of his time sitting at the dining room table with his cigarette hand close to the air purifier since Grandma was a non-smoker. This is where hed eat, pass gas and complain/give his piss-poor advice on everything under the sun. (Many times doing it all at the same time) All from sitting there on his dining room throne.

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Grandma and Loyd didnt want the cats in the house, so we had to keep them tied under a tree in the front yard during the day and in Chino’s car at night. They didn’t like it that much, especially since they had been house cats, but there was no other options.

Grandma told us she had recently received a phone call from someone from our past, and if possible, they wanted to see me and Daniel. It was Sandra and Dow, who were still living in the same house in Ceres. It had been eight and a half years since Daniel and I had last seen them, and we were thrilled with the idea of seeing them again.

We called them, and within a couple of days they were taking the two hour drive to Stockton to see us. Man was it surreal seeing them after so much time and experiences had passed. Sandra came bearing potato candy and Dow seemed to be the one who had most drastically changed. He was still working at the Rainbow Bread Factory. Still on the line, and boy had it aged him! He had developed problems with his hands and no longer looked liked the towering father-figured we once knew him to be. It was saddening, but at least he was still fighting on.

Our afternoon of reuniting went well, and before it was over we all decided that Daniel and I would return with them to Ceres for a week or so to catch up on old times.