When he reached the door to the caravan he opens it and asks me if I have found a place to go? I told him that I did at my friend’s place in Fuengirola. A momentary look of shock appeared on his face when he heard this, I think he was expecting that I would not ba able to find a place and I would be on my knees begging for his forgiveness. After pausing for a moment he says to me that it is too far and he doesn’t have the money for gas to get me there. He knew that I had no money because the day before when he got back we went into town and I spent all but a few euros on food and water for the next month. He went on to say that he would only be giving me a ride to the end of the dirt road and that was as far as he would take me. At this point I felt the rage boiling over as this asshole was serious about leaving me and all my stuff on the side of the road. I was seething when I said to him that he was the reason that this was all ending and if he was going to throw it all away then he was damned sure going to give me a ride to where I needed to go! A smirk came over his face as he said “if you speak to me like that again I will cut you into pieces and feed you to my dogs”. Something inside of me snapped and I walked over to the doorway and started raining down blows into his face. It was like a dream as I was landing blow after blow without him even touching me. Within about a minute I was on top of him with my thumb pressing down into his eye socket and going for the kill, It was like I was outside my body with no control over my actions until his screams for mercy penetrated down into the compassionate part of my brain and I stopped the attack. He stood up with blood coming out of multiple places on his face including the eye, which looked like it was an inch back in the socket. I really fucked this dude up bad and now the reality of that started to hit me. What was I gonna do now? I didn’t have long to think about it because moments after I let him up he started running for the house and I knew what he was going for…his gun. He had too big of a lead on me to beat him there, my only choice was to hightail it out of there. I reached into the caravan and grabbed my backpack and then ran down the hill towards the valley where our plants were. When I reached the plants I paused for a moment to look at them for the last time, I felt a wave of regret come over me as I realized that it was truly over and that now my life was in real danger. I ran up the other side of the hill and found a big tree to rest behind and figure out what to do next. I had a good view of the house and caravan from where I was and when I saw the guy who killed animals show up with his rifle strapped to his back, I knew the plan was to kill me if they could.
I watched as they scanned the surrounding area with the scopes on their guns. Obviously Jap was using the eye I hadn’t messed up, but they seemed determined to find me. At one point I thought for sure that I saw the animal killer look under the caravan where Miss Kitty was sitting and shoot her. When I saw this I felt equal amounts of sorrow and anger as I vowed to rip his head off if I ever got the chance. When they went to the other side of the house to search for me I took the chance to leave from behind the tree and make my way over the hill. I was now out of any line of sight, but I still had 9 miles to the nearest town and only my feet to carry me there through rolling hills and dirt roads. The first farm I had to go around was surrounded by a fence that did not seem too secure which was a bit unnerving as there were about a dozen big dogs inside and all with a junk yard mentality. They were barking at me with a ferocity that seemed like they would kill me if they got the chance. Somehow I got by without any of them finding a way out. Next I found my way to the dirt road that led out to the paved road but that brought its own dilemma because if they were in Jap’s truck, I would be easy prey on the road. Any time I heard a vehicle approaching I would jump down off the road into the bushes. Lucky for me I made it to the paved road without them finding me, I felt a bit safer now but still had about 4 miles to reach Cartama. It was another in a long stretch of 100+ degree days and I was feeling it now. I had nothing to drink the entire time, but luckily had some of the spanish version of Jolly Rancher in my backpack which probably saved my life. While walking down the road my phone rings and I was surprised to hear Jap’s daughter Luna on the line. She seemed panicked as she asked me where I was and what I was doing? My first thought was that she was trying to find out where I was so her father and the animal killer could find me, but then it dawned on me that they were afraid that I would go to the police. Something that did not cross my mind and that I would not do ever, but I saw an opportunity to maybe get my stuff. I told her that I was almost to Cartama and that once I got there I would go to the police and tell them about the plants on their property. She instantly said ‘please don’t… what could we do’. I then told her that I would not go to the cops if she were to pack my things into their truck and bring them to me in town. She said she would and even said she would bring Miss Kitty. I froze…I must have imagined seeing the animal killer shooting her, it’s wild what the brain will manufacture when it is highly stressed. This was awesome to hear, I thought I had lost her and was feeling sorrow about it the whole walk, but now I would get her back along with all my things. I called Stu to tell him what had transpired and asked if he could come to Cartama to pick me up? He said no problem and that he would be there in an hour, what a cool friend he was. An hour later Stu showed up and at the same time so did Luna. She was not alone as she had brought the animal killer with her. I felt no bad thoughts towards him and when he said hi to me I could see the respect in his eyes. He was genuinely intimidated by me after he saw what I had done to Jap, and seeing me without a scratch. The exchange went smooth and soon the cat and I were travelling down the road with Stu back towards Gez’s place in Fuengirola.
About half way back to Gez’s, Stu gets a phone call from Gez. He tells him not to bring me there as I am not welcome to stay. When Stu tells me this I feel shocked, not knowing what was going on, I asked to speak with Gez directly. I get on the line and he says the same thing to me, I ask what has changed? He said he had thought about it and decided that it was Stu’s turn to put me up and that he didn’t want anyone at his place now. I felt hurt by this as I thought we had become great friends, but I realized that it was probably more about him losing him mother the day before that anything to do with me and I told him it was cool and said good-bye. Now it was up to Stu to help sort me out or else he would have to just leave me on the road somewhere. Lucky for me he was not going to do that, but after telling me that, he said that I could not come to his 20 million euro house or any of the buildings on the property because it was technically owned by his father. His father was less compassionate than Stu and had told him that helping out people by letting them stay would eventually get him evicted so it was a no go. Stu seemed to have no idea what to do with me and I felt a the stress level rising as we drove around aimlessly with Stu trying to think up a solution. I felt a looming darkness grow with each passing minute and the gravity of my situation hit me full force.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run