JJ's Words of Wisdom Part II

"Maybe you make the blood spill into the other dude's boots, just to fuck with him."
JJ, describing pranks on the slaughterhouse floor with a twinkle in his eye.

I was privileged to get a private performance of life on the slaughterhouse floor. It really did the trick of removing any desire I had to participate in that process. I think when JJ lit his joint up and toked a bit and launched into his story I was the happiest I'd been in months. I thought, "This is the good stuff. This is priceless."

Liberty

Someone once said, "I do not fear death, I fear life without liberty." and that's how I've been feeling lately. I went downtown to the demoralized empty storefronts of Corpus and played my hymns on Sunday. And the only people were the gray faced drunks waiting for a handout to buy a tapped beer from the early morning bar called "Cheers". Or maybe they'd buy a 24 oz can at the only remaining market nextdoor. There's a bachelor apartment where queers and depressed men fiddle with their window AC units while they wait for their kids to call (their kids never call because their ex wife, the bitch, has turned them against him). And I played and for a while I thought someone was watching me and enjoying it but it turned out to be a curtain that looked like a person's shoulders. No one gave me money but everyone wanted to buy my Vespa Ciao.

JJ's Words of Wisdom

"A closed mouth doesn't get fed."
JJ

My buddy JJ got out of jail a few weeks ago in New Mexico. He was arrested for capital murder, kidnapping, torture, theft by deception and hindering an investigation. There were some other drug charges that were immediately thrown out when the attorneys started haggling over coffee. JJ finally was found guilty of wrongful imprisonment and and accessory to torture. He spent 9 years in jail but likes to say it was 10 because he spent three years before his trial even was held. 7 years was spent in solitary confinement, maximum security with 20 minutes to go to a yard and jog in place where he could see a cloud or two through a window at the top of a wall.

"I'm 60 years old. I won't fight you. I'll knife you and drag your guts through the dirt." (JJ swiftly pantomimes gutting a man, but winces when his hernia scar stretches)
JJ

Drama in Paradise

The Salvation Army meal last night was some kind of meat patty covered with cheese. The milk had an expiration date of July 13, a week ago. The jug wasn't bloated but the milk made my eyes water when I put it in my mouth. I'm not being ungrateful because it's more than most Christians have done on my behalf. I merely want to describe my days as they happen because I feel alive and I feel surrounded by real people with character and troubles and limps and arthritis. There is no subterfuge or manipulations. I can handle pain but I can't tolerate ulterior motives. I prefer my bunkmates to the pretense of the Cosmopolitan world. I need authenticity to survive and the Salvation Army is real. There are no petty complaints here about politics or minor scratches in paint. We don't argue over small details like spoiled milk. The paper plates fold over and become useless but no one complains.

And Fuck You Temp Agencies

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.