I got the hell out of there and fast. My head was spinning, I had to get somewhere with a phone to find out some details. i knew not to go to my work but there was another bar that had been my regular haunt for years and the owner was a good friend, so I headed there. Upon arriving I immediately downed a stiff drink and ordered another. My friend’s sister was working and she asked me if everything was alright? I told her (not very convincingly) that I was fine and asked if I could use their cordless phone. She said sure, I thanked her and headed for a distant corner of the bar. I first called my friend whom I had rented the apartment from and she confirmed what I feared, the cops had called her and gotten a key to go into my place and they told her that I was going down. Next I called the lawyer that had handled my original case, he told me that I needed to turn myself in and that he would help if I showed up at his office with a thousand dollar retainer the next morning. That didn’t sound very appealing but I had until morning to decide, I just had to keep from getting caught until then. I called my friend Bec, we worked together and had been very close friends for a while so I knew she would help out. She told me to come over, so I finished my drink and took one last look around the bar that had been my favorite watering hole for many years and said goodbye.
I arrived at Bec’s house and she instantly gave me a big hug and held tight as I think she knew that one way or another this would be the last time we would be together for a long time to come.
I was fortunate enough to have a few outstanding debts owed to me and while at Bec’s i called to see if I could get paid. two of the three had the money ready and while the third did not, i trusted that he would one day make good ( and one day he did ). We headed out to collect from my friends and one of them was even cool enough to say I could leave my car in his driveway. Bec insisted she drive my car just in case they we came across any cops on the way. I followed in her car and felt very relaxed. After we collected the money we decided to go to Jocko’s, a seedy bar downtown with a reputation for drugs ( we were regulars ). Bec started calling all of the usual suspects in our fun little drug circle and over the next couple of hours they streamed in to have one last party with yours truly. As we were sitting there discussing my situation and what options I had, one of my good friends, Jeremy, speaks up and says that I should take off and go live somewhere else. I certainly did not want to go back to jail so his suggestion sounded appealing, but where would I go? He asked if I knew anyone that lived outside of Madison? I did! I had two of my best friends growing up that had moved out to Colorado about a decade earlier, i hadn’t seen them much over that time but when it comes to childhood friends, time is not a factor. I called them up and explained my dilemma, they were very sympathetic and said ‘come on out’. Nice, I had a destination, but I needed to have some necessities.
My friend who rented me the apartment was there and she offered to go back to my place and fill up a travel bag with essentials She went there to discover my room-mate and he was not too happy that his place had been ripped apart by the cops and also that he was now without a room-mate, but to his credit, he did not try to get me busted and with what happened next, he had every opportunity to. When my friend went to leave she opened the door to find a cop standing there, he asked her who she was and if she knew me? .She calmly replied that she was my room-mates girlfriend and that she was going home after visiting him. My room-mate overheard this and came over to the door, put his arm around my friend and asked the cop ‘is there a problem’. The cop said no and that if either if them saw me to let me know that I was in big trouble. She returned with all the things I asked for and more importantly, without the cop following her, she gets my vote for an Academy Award.
While we were waiting for my friend to return with my things, Jeremy asks me ‘how much money do you have’? With what I had collected added to the sixty in my wallet, I had $760. He said ‘that is not enough’ and proceeded to pull a wad out of his pocket and peel off $1000. ‘Here, this should help get you started’ he says as he hands me the bills, I was speechless, here is a guy that knows he will probably never see this money again but gives it up without a second thought, what a great friend! I gave him a big thanks and started feeling like this just might work. He also said that I needed to get out-of-town pronto, like tomorrow at the latest and that he had a place in Chicago I could stay until I got my way out to Colorado. And to top it all off, he said he would drive me down there! A top quality guy if there ever was one, he will always be considered a great friend and I still hope to someday have the ability to pay him back.
We stayed at the bar until closing time and then headed off to an after party at one of our friend’s places to have a last blowout together The party rocked on until the dawn streamed through the blinds, and as people started heading out, I was filled with an overwhelming sadness knowing that I would probably never see most of these people again. I began to think about all the people I might never see again, friends, family, it was quite overwhelming and if not for the fact that I was high as a kite, I would have probably turned into a blubbering idiot. Before they had left, two of my friends, Bec and Stacy had offered me alteratives just in case Colorado did not work out. Stacy was moving to Washington State very soon and said I could come out there and stay with her. Bec would be moving to South Carolina in six months to be near her parents and that I was welcome at her place anytime. This was great news as it gave me a bit of a cushion and maybe a chance to see them once again. After everyone had left I fell into a restless sleep, dreams of being chased and caged filtered through (a recurring dream I would have for yea.s to come).
I awoke to find Jeremy getting things ready to take me to Chicago, it seemed he was even more nervous than me. He had a hat and sunglasses for me to wear, he had mapped out an alternative, much longer, but off the beaten path route to take and was shaved and showered ready to go. I guess I can’t blame him as he was transporting a fugitive over state lines. So off we went, it was mid afternoon and the drive would take about 4 hours, getting us into Chicago right around dusk, perfect to miss the rush hour and before dark. As we headed out of my home town I found myself staring out the window like I did when i was a little kid, watching the office buildings slowly turn to houses and then farmlands. Thinking about all the good times I had in that town and the good times never to come because of the stupid war on weed. When my hometown had faded away and the signs started telling us Chicago was in the distance, I started to think about the big city that I had visited on many occasions and had fallen in love with. I had been a Cub’s fan since we got cable TV back in the 70’s and it was spring in Chicago, maybe I would have to do a game before I headed west. By the time we pulled into Chicago, my anxiety had turned to excitement.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run