When they returned from Spain I was called in for a meeting at Eric’s house. I arrived and knew straight away by the excited looks on everyone’s face that they had big news. Duke and Eric were there accompanied by Duke’s girlfriend Lena, and Katja. They sat me down and pulled out a folder with the details of the new venture, it was a 5-bedroom villa on the southern coast between Malaga and Marbella, just outside a little town called Fuengirola. They had signed a contract for 11 months and were going to be starting on the 1st of October. After showing me all the details and some pictures of the place they asked me for my final decision and with all the excitement in the air, I was caught up in it and gave them an enthusiastic “YES”. We proceeded to have a little impromptu party to celebrate the new venture, Katja made a joke about how I would probably be hiring the hottest Spanish girl I could find to be the maid and that I would also probably be sleeping with her, a prospect that intrigued me quite a bit. The party ended and I headed back home with a nice feeling about what was coming, a new beginning once again.
It was the end of August and I had one month until we were to leave for Spain, I was hoping that the plants that Etienne and I had on the roof would be done by then so I would have some weed to sustain me until I could get a grow in down there, but it was going to be close as they still had a lot of budding to do. With Etienne’s declining mental state, I was worried that if I didn’t finish them then they would end up ruined and my summer of work would be for naught. I was hoping that the new school semester that was about to begin would pull him out of his funk. That hope was dashed when after 2 days of classes he just up and quits, returning to lying around the house naked. When I saw that I knew I had made the right decision to leave, there was nothing I could do to help him and I was probably even hindering his recovery because my sympathy was very low. I also knew that I would have to take Miss Kitty with me, Etienne did offer to take care of her, but in his current condition, I feared that she would end up being miserable and I couldn’t have that. Of course taking her down to Spain was also a risk but at least there she would be loved.
The weekend before we left there was a big going away party for me down at the Nes-Cafe. My pool and baseball team-mates were all there along with a motley crew of friends that I had gathered over the 9 1/2 years living in Amsterdam. It was a very special night and I had to choke back tears on more than one occasion. I found myself doubting the decision to leave, why was I leaving over 9 years of trust and love for a place where I knew no one and didn’t speak the language? A real sense of apprehension set in for the first time, but after a few more beers it was pushed to the back of my mind and the night continued in true party fashion. We had a going away pool tourney that I won once again and had a few folks telling me they would be glad to see me gone from the tourney’s. As the evening was drawing to a close, I made sure to take a minute with each of my friends to say good-bye. It was very emotional saying good-bye to that many friends all at once, when I left my home town all those years ago I never had a chance to see any of my friends there to say good-bye so this was my first real experience of it. When the night finally did end and I was walking back to the house I shared with Etienne for the final time, I was wondering if this was the last time I would see this beautiful city and more importantly… have I made a huge mistake?
The feelings of anxiety were still there when I woke up but I had to fight through them as there was no turning back now. We were leaving in 2 days and Duke had already rented a transport van for the trip down there. Unfortunately the roof garden project was not finished yet and needed a couple more weeks to fully mature. Etienne promised to finish the job but I was skeptical whether he was up to it. Not having any other option, I gave him praise and encouragement hoping that would motivate him to finish it properly, I could only hope. I packed up all my worldly belongings and was able to fit it all into a few duffel bags. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring made me stop bothering to gather nice things, what’s the point if they can just take it all away from me. One thing that was going to be a bit of hassle was my canned food collection. A few years earlier I had started buying an extra can of something every time I went to the grocery store and putting it aside. Now I had 3 big boxes of various canned goods and I wasn’t prepared to just leave them behind, besides they might come in handy if things go wrong down in Spain. I would have to wait and see if they fit in the van after everything else.
The day of departure arrived and I had a mixed bag of emotions running through me. The strongest and most pronounced of these being fear, mostly because of the thoughts about the trip itself. I knew with the open border policy in the EU that it was as easy as going from one state to another in the U.S., but not having any type of documents meant that I would be screwed if we did get stopped. The worst possible outcome would be to leave to safety of Amsterdam just to get caught on the road somewhere and never even make it to Spain. With no other choice I turned my thoughts to the positive side, thinking about how great it would be when we jumped in the pool for the first time. When Duke pulled up I had all of my stuff down from the third floor and waiting by the front door. The van was huge with 3 bench seats in the back along with an extra 2 feet of space to the back door. The front seats were Duke and Katie, a friend who was going down to help drive and then enjoy a week in the Spanish sun at the villa. The first bench was duke’s dog who was dying of cancer and he wanted him to have his last days in the sun. The next bench was me and Miss Kitty, I was a bit concerned about whether the cat and dog would get along in such a small space for so long, but they were alleviated when they sniffed each other and relaxed in for the trip. We put the litter box under our bench hoping Miss Kitty would use it along the way. On the final bench we piled up my stuff and had plenty of room in the back for my boxes of food and my bike. Etienne came down to say good-bye and as we gave each other a big hug I had a twinge of shame come over me as I thought about my lack of sympathy over the past summer. He had been one of my best friends over the years not to mention helping me more than any one else and I had re-payed him with indifference to his suffering. I thanked him for all he had done and vowed to stay in touch, I told him to come visit anytime and he said he would. With my final good-bye sorted, we headed on down the road towards a new life on the Costa Del Sol.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run