Work was slowing down again and the income was dropping rapidly. It was about four times as much money in the summer compared to the winter. I went to the owner and proposed a flat salary for the whole year of 650 guilders per week and she went for it. I would also be obligated to run the reception for 2 shifts per week in the winter but that would be a breeze and I now had a guaranteed wage no matter what. The after work get together’s at the Hill were a bit tense for a couple of weeks with Matt and Karen giving me a hard time about ‘stealing’ their houseboat from them but soon enough they found a place of their own and things mellowed back into the relaxing vibe the Hill was known for. With Frank off the party train, it was left to Kurt and I to keep the engine going and we kept chugging along on a weekly basis. We found our favorite club over in the Red Light called Trance Buddha and it was awesome. They had two dance floors, cheap drinks, and it only cost 5 guilders to get in. The drugs were as easy to get as a loaf of bread at the supermarket and we gave just about every combination a go during those days but nothing ever came close to our original combination of ‘strolling’ and Kurt and I were dancing machines while on it.
I was playing pool leagues for the Nes with the same crew again and we were having great fun. We had leagues every Tuesday and we would usually meet up at the Nes and take a tram or train to the competition. Back in those days you could still smoke on the trains and Joey would hardly wait for the doors to close before he was lighting up a huge joint. Frans would pay for everything and even bring a bag of top shelf weed or hash from the Nes and we would be ripped by the time we had to play, we loved it. One night in early December I was in the middle of a game when my phone rings, I ask my opponent for a break and answer it. It was my brother, I had not talked to him since we had the falling out almost 4 years earlier and my first thought was how good it was to hear his voice. That thought soon evaporated when the reason he’s calling becomes clear…he’s calling to tell me that our step-father has passed away. He had a massive heart attack right in front of my mother and died before an ambulance could get there. I felt a numbness overtake me, I thought about my poor mother and how devastated she must be. When I hung up the phone the boys could see something was wrong and when I told them what had happened, Joey came right over and gave me a big hug and offered his condolences, a very kind gesture that I have never forgotten. Frans could see that I was in no condition to continue and told me to go home and call my mom, the other team was equally as sympathetic and said the same so I said my good-byes and headed home. Once there the first thing I did was to call my mother, it had been almost a year since I had spoken to her and I hated that this was the way we got back in touch. She was obviously a bit frazzled but we were able to have a nice conversation and I was happy to be able to comfort her a little, even if it was from half way around the world. As I hung up the phone with mom I felt an overwhelming sadness creep in and starting to reminisce about the life I had with big Jim, we had a rocky time in the early years but ever since adulthood we had been very close and I felt terrible that our last encounter had been a return to previous times. With the thought of never being able to make that right again, the tears started to flow.
Not being able to go to big Jim’s funeral made me both sad and angry, sad obviously because I wasn’t there to say good-bye and angry at the scumbag hypocrites who tried to convince me I was free only to enforce rules on me that made me a slave. The one good that came out of it was to take my recently awoken thirst for knowledge and shift it into high gear. I wanted to know all that was available on how the world worked and how the sociopathic crowd had gained control. I started reading books at about two per week, and the information was pouring in. Ever since I started smoking cannabis when I was 16, I had been distrusting of government and their enforcement goons but I was now starting to see a much clearer picture of the mechanisms used to control people and it was truly diabolical. I felt liberated with my new understanding of the way it is and was excited to share my focused views with others. I was naively thinking that everybody else would see it the same way and we would start the grass-roots movement to bring down the tyrants. What I didn’t expect was that I was up against a lifetime of conditioning by the tyrants themselves of how much we need them and how bad it would be without them. Most people didn’t even want to hear it and the few who did, would agree to a point and then revert to their indoctrination and argue for their oppressors. It was very frustrating indeed but I would not be deterred so I kept on reading and sharing.
Life started to roll on fairly uneventful, the holidays came and went without much joy as I was thinking of my mom and how much she must be hurting without big Jim. For New Year’s Frank took a break from his drug hiatus and joined Kurt and I for a night of ‘strolling’ through the city, we had a great time and finished it off on the dance floor of our favorite club. After the holidays I settled into a comfortable routine of work, pool and studying. I started working a couple of overnight reception shifts per week at work. It was very boring but gave me loads of time to read. One night at about 3 in the morning I was cleaning the reception area and listening to music.A particularly rippin’ jam came on and I turned it up loud while I sang along. Having bars on either side and a hotel above, I thought I was safe to have it that loud at 3 in the morning. I saw the error in that thinking shortly thereafter when I was mopping the floor by the door I noticed a spotlight coming down the road and looking into each business. I immediately realized it was the cops and that someone had complained about the loud music. I ran over and turned it down but did not have time to get out of the reception area and when they flashed the light in and saw me, they knew they had the place. I pretended not to notice them and carried on cleaning with my back to the door. That didn’t work as the next thing I hear was one of them banging on the door. I turned around, trying to muster the best confused face I could, to see two cops standing there with the usual stone-face of cops. I went to the door and asked in my best british accent what the trouble was? Of course they told me it was because of the music and that I must keep it down or they would return and give me a ticket. One of them asked me for an I.D. but was not bothered when i told him I had left it at home. There was no mandatory I.D. law (yet) and they had no reason to believe I was working illegally so they warned me and left. Phew, I just had my first encounter with the Amsterdam police and it was a breeze, however I realized that if I wanted to make this life work that I would have to be much more careful in the future. When I first arrived I did not know how things would be or how long I would be here but now with the good job and a nice place to live, a meaningful life in Amsterdam was beginning to emerge.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run