As we rolled out of Amsterdam I took one last look around at the city I had grown to love so much and an overwhelming sadness came over me as I thought about all the good times and great people I was leaving behind. Leaving was one of the hardest things I had ever done but I was so sick of cleaning up after people I was willing to sacrifice my place in the best city the world has ever known. There was another reason to feel apprehensive about the prospects of a new business and that was the financial crisis that was beginning to unfold. We didn’t know how bad it would be at the time but we were a bit uncertain about what it could mean for us. Once we were out of the city, Duke took out a bag of weed and said “roll one up” and without hesitation I was on it. We had about an hour until the border so we had no worries as we smoked up going down the road. With the open border policy in the E.U., crossing borders was as easy as crossing state lines back home so I was not too concerned about getting stopped. I barely noticed as we crossed into Belgium without so much as a traffic cop in sight. We put the weed away until we got into Spain knowing that the French would be the most uptight about it. We crossed into France without incidence but Duke said that the French liked to set up checkpoints at the first gas station after the border so we thought we would outsmart them and not stop until the second gas station. As we pulled in I noticed something was not right straight away as there were traffic cones set up dividing the cars. When I looked up ahead I could see that we had been wrong and the border check was here at the second station. I was feeling the panic creep up as we inched towards the dozens of border guards just ahead. They were not checking everyone as I could see some cars get pulled over and some let pass on to the station. When we get to the guard that decides which way we would go, he looks at Duke and Kate in the front and waves us through without being checked. I don’t think he noticed me and figured it was just a married couple in a van. I let out a huge sigh of relief as we pulled up to the pump and filled up, it felt like it took forever filling up and all I wanted to do was get as far away from the pigs as possible. As we left the station a smile started to grow across my face as I had once again escaped a close call with the law, I was starting to lose count it had happened so many times.
We made great time through France and about 12 hours into the journey we were crossing into Spain. It felt great to be in my new country but the trip was only halfway done as we had to drive the entire length of the country before we were home. The drive through Spain was long and boring with the scenery hardly changing the entire time. It was like the background of a primitive cartoon as nothing but hill after hill of olive trees occupied our view. It was more than enough to put me to sleep and for nearly 4 hours I was snoozing like a baby. When I awoke I was stunned to see the exact same scenery whizzing by, did they grow anything but olives in this country? The last couple hours were a white knuckle ride because Duke had been driving non-stop for over 20 hours and refused to give up the wheel even though he was starting to nod. I had to be on constant alert as he would droop his head and I would nudge him or yell something. It was very frustrating as each time I would offer to take over and he would just say he was fine. Twisting, turning roads through rolling hills didn’t help the nerves much either but to Duke’s credit he got us there in one piece and in under 24 hours as well, it must be some kind of record. The villa was situated on top of the hill overlooking the city of Fuengirola and beyond that the Mediterranean See. Katja was already there along with a friend she knew from Madrid, they had been there for a day and had done nothing but sit by the pool, a prospect that was very appealing to me. The place was built like no other I had ever seen, there were 5 bedrooms in the main house, a big pool, and under that a guest apartment that would be mine. It was a bit unsettling when I saw that my bed was under the deep end of the pool, not the best place to feel safe sleeping. I couldn’t be too concerned with that now as I was here and there was no turning back. I put all of my stuff in the apartment and got Miss Kitty settled then put on my swimming shorts and hit the pool.
We had a great day just chillin’ by the pool, I remember thinking that I could certainly get used to this. The pool deck had a BBQ pit built right into it and we took full advantage of that the first night with steak and shrimp along with frozen margaritas to wash it down with. I could not have imagined a better first day and all of my previous apprehension washed away. The second day was time to get down to business, Katja was not happy with the level of clean the owners had left the place in so we would hit it hard getting it up to standard. We spent 3 days cleaning and moving things around to get it ready to put in furniture for a business. After spending a excruciatingly boring day at IKEA, we spent the next couple days putting together furniture and finalizing the cleaning up. We finished the day before Dukes girlfriend Lena arrived and we spent the day sitting by the pool and patting ourselves on the back for making the place shine like a diamond. The next day Duke retrieves Lena from the airport and the first thing she says when she walks in the door is “I can see what Katja meant, this place is filthy”. Well that didn’t sit too well with Duke and they stated a screaming session that would last all day and into the night. I made myself scarce by staying down in my room for most of it but I could still hear them yelling when I turned in for the night. The next morning it was made all too clear who had won the argument as Duke calls me up to the big house and says we will be spending the day cleaning. This is where I made my stand and told Duke that we both had agreed that the place was clean 2 days ago and I was still on that page. He told me that somehow after fighting for 12 hours that he had seen the logic in Lena’s argument and that we had to give in to her. I said that he was welcome to and I could understand why as he was fucking her but I was not going to capitulate to her demands and would not be helping. To make sure that I was not somehow guilted into helping, I took off towards the beach for a day in the sun. I had a great day cruising the beach bars on the promenade and returned to the villa with a nice buzz and a warm feeling inside. That was shattered when I got back and saw the look on Duke’s face. He had spent the day trying to make his bitch happy by scrubbing a toilet for nearly three hours only to finally realize that the stain was permanent and was never coming out. Something I could have told him before he ever tried as I had tried to clean it the previous week. Saying this only made him more furious and I could sense he was about to blow his lid. Lucky for me I had 2 friends from the baseball team arriving that day and Duke had already agreed to pick them up from the airport so he had to leave before he lost his cool. However I knew that it was not over as Duke was a great guy but he had to be right about everything and once he gave in to his bitch, I knew trouble was on the way.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run