We packed the car up on Monday morning and said goodbye to our friends, and with a heartfelt thank you for helping to make it such an awesome week-end. I was not sure what my plans were yet, but either way, I knew I would not see these guys for a long time to come. John and I started heading back to Madison, our hometown and the source of my troubles. It is a very beautiful city and I feel privileged to have grown up there but my feelings now were of dread at what the overlords had planned for me. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that I did not want to sit in a cage and by the time we reached the city limits, I had made the decision to stay a fugitive. Now, I had to figure out where to go, I still had the options of Washington State with my friend Stacy, and also South Carolina with my friend Bec, I would give them both a call when I got somewhere safe.
As we pulled into town I figured the safest place would be a hotel room under John’s name and we found one on the far eastside of the city that was cheap and out-of-the-way. John registered and paid for two days then provided a much-needed boost as when we were saying our goodbyes, he hands me $500 and tells me to pay him back someday down the road. Very cool indeed because my funds were starting to get fairly thin and this would help get me started wherever I ended up. I showered up and kicked back with a smoke, I felt a nervous excitement about being back home, I loved thinking about all the good times I had in this city but I knew I was a marked man and that I would not be able to go anywhere people knew who I was. The cops had a program called ‘crime stoppers’ where you could turn someone in anonymously and get up to $2000, over the years I had known people who would turn in their own mother for a twenty so I was going to take no chances.
I first called my parents to set up a meeting to touch base. They did not approve of my decision to run but I knew they were cool enough to let me make it and not interfere. we made a plan for dinner the following night at a restaurant near the hotel I was in. My next call was to some of my friends that had helped me the first night back in May, they were happy to hear I was still going but puzzled as to why I was back. A question I was starting to ask myself, not the smartest move when you want to stay free, but there was no changing that now and I had to find another destination. I was in luck as my friend Stacy was in town visiting her family and came over with a few other fiends to say hello, when I told her that things did not work out in Colorado she immediately offered a place at hers again and this time I immediately took it! She was heading back out the next day and I could come anytime after that. My plan was set once again, out to Washington and see if I could make a go of it, I just had to make sure I stayed off the radar while I was here. Over the next two days I laid very low only calling a few well trusted friends to meet up with and mostly at the hotel. I had dinner with my parents where they pressured me to turn myself in and I calmly explained to them that possessing a plant is not a crime but that kidnapping was and that the real criminals were the ones with uniforms looking to put me in their dungeon. They were sad but understood my determination and wished me the best of luck on my journey. We finished dinner and said our goodbyes knowing we may never see each other again, it was hard saying goodbye to my mother so I held tight for what seemed like forever when we parted ways.
The next morning I called a taxi and headed to the bus station, I figured it would be safe after 3 months, I was not on any most wanted lists and I was pretty sure there would be no poster at the station with my face on it. I had no problems getting a ticket, the only thing was that the bus did not leave until the afternoon and that meant sitting around a bus station all day knowing that I was wanted and that every face that looked at me was potentially someone who would recognize me and turn me in. That lasted about an hour (which seemed like 10) until the paranoia got the best of me and I had to get out. I put my bags in a locker and headed out, the station was downtown so I was not out-of-place walking around. I went and had some lunch then walked down by the lake to enjoy my hometown one last time. It was perfect as I spent the whole time there without a worry, when I headed back to the station, I was relaxed and felt at ease. As we pulled out of the station I was already drifting into the dream world and before we were out of the city, I was fast asleep.
I was sleeping for a couple of hours when I was awoken by a commotion on the bus, I could not tell what the trouble was but the bus was pulling over on the side of the street. My anxiety sharpened when two cop cars pull up and the cops boarded the bus. My first thought was that my luck had run out and this was it, but it only lasted a moment as the bus driver says something to them and then points out a guy up near the front. It turns out he was some perv who could not keep his hands off the girl in the seat next to him and she complained to the driver who in turn called the police. They drag the guy off the bus and come back to get his stuff and in a case he had a big glass bong. Talk about stupid, traveling with that and then making a target out of yourself by being a pervert? I took it as a sign from the universe not to be an idiot and I would be alright. The bus headed out again with no more troubles as we headed north towards Minnesota and then on through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and then into Washington in 2 days. The trip was actually pretty nice considering it was on a bus, that part of the country is very beautiful and I found myself staring out the window for hours. Before I knew it, the bus was pulling into Mt Vernon, my destination, and the place I was going to get very serious about making a new life for myself, I had the very real feeling that if I could not make this work, then my journey would be over and a cage my reality.
Stacy was at work when the bus got to town so she had her room-mate Clair come and get me, we had met once in Wisconsin but it had been a few years back and I wasn’t sure I would remember her. It turned out that she had the same vague memory as me and after a few sideways glances at each other, she said my name and the recognition came flooding back, we said hello, had the usual small talk, then jumped in her car to head to what would be my new home. She had picked me up in Mount Vernon but they lived in Burlington, they are sister cities on the banks of the Skagit River. As we pulled into the driveway, I could tell I was going to like this as two dogs and several cats came to meet us. The girls were quite the animal lovers as was I and I had always wanted a dog and now I had two to play with. The house was a modest three bedroom with a garage and a backyard that ended at a stream. When we got inside I was slightly disappointed when instead of giving me the third bedroom, Claire told me that I would be staying on the living room couch which was a sofa/sleeper. She said that the third bedroom was her ‘art studio’ and that she needed it for when she felt inspired. In hindsight I should have seen that as the first sign that this was not going to be the right solution and may even end badly, but at the time, I was just happy to have a roof over my head.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run