Desperation

It’s funny how circumstances can push us into areas we would never go willingly. Desperation has a way of changing us overnight it seems. Perhaps it is in these times that our true nature comes out, it certainly tests your courage and your boldness to venture into the unknown.

The next morning we woke early and went out into the park keeping a lookout for our friend. We were glad when we saw him meandering through the park casually picking up litter with his grabbing tool. He saw us waiting for him. We waved him over and invited him to stop inside the van to discuss our business.

We filled him in our plight and told him we needed at least some cash so we could buy enough gas to get back to Seattle. He was prepared to offer us $30 cash and 900 hits of LSD for the van. Back then you could still by gas for 50 cents or less a gallon. We had to do the math in our heads as we sat around the van. Desperation besides forcing you to act can also hinder your clear thinking. We agreed to his deal. We were desperate and didn’t seem to have any other choice.

The plan was he would come back later that morning after he completed his shift and we would do the deal. We spent the morning going through our stuff in the van and loading up the Mustang. The trunk was very small but there was something of a back seat in it. We stuffed every nook and cranny leaving only room in the front for the two of us to sit.

True to his word our friend arrived later that morning. He came with two large beautiful white Alaskan Malamutes. He explained that he took his dogs with him whenever he did a drug deal as part of his protection.

So we were all inside the van and he took out a baggie filled with little yellow pills that had green speckles on them. We had no idea what LSD would look or smell like, so we had to take his word that it was what he said it was. He gave us the $30 cash and we signed the title over to him.

To celebrate he wanted us to go with him on a short test drive. He was at the wheel and we had to explain to him that he had to take it a little easy as the motor mounts were in bad shape and the engine had a tendency to lurch into the radiator. He didn’t mind as he explained he planned to take the van out to his country property and park it there as living quarters for when he would visit the place.

He was giving us a tour of the large Boston beach park area that was his work domain. We stopped at a spot called Pleasure Bay Park and he invited us on a walk. The park was filled with people enjoying the sunny morning. We strolled along the pathways and he lit up a joint and passed it between us. We couldn’t believe how bold he was being smoking in public view, but we figured he must know what he is doing.

We finally returned to our parked Mustang and then our van drove off never to be seen again, though I suspect it may still be parked on some rural property to this day.

Our first order of business after getting out of town was to get something to eat. We tried not to splurge but we were hungry and we needed a hamburger really bad. After lunch we continued to drive trying not to think too much about whether we had enough money to make it home or not. We purchased a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. That was to be our entire diet for the rest of the trip.

We soon began to worry if we had been ripped off. We had no way to know what was really in the baggie we had hidden under the carpet beneath the glove box. K. said we needed to try it to make sure. I told him there was no way I would ever take any of it, so he volunteered to be the guinea pig while I drove.

Afternoon wore on to evening and into night and K. was yet to feel any reaction to the small yellow tab he had ingested. I don’t remember the logic in the route we chose; I-90 would have been the most direct way. But by nightfall we were on a small highway in West Virginia. I pulled off the road onto a small gravel clearing alongside. The back seat was so full our bucket seats wouldn’t recline very far, so we had to sleep in an upright position that night.

We didn’t say it out loud, but we were both thinking it, we had been ripped off. It was also becoming clear that we would run out of money and gas before we reached Seattle. During the past month I had hit, on several occasions, what I felt was the lowest spot one could hit, only to be followed by another even lower spot.