Spike and Mike part 6: LA again

From Seattle Dan went up to Van Couver and I was sent back to LA. It seemed Spike and Mike were always playing in LA. I got Allegra's number and her Uncle's number so that we could keep in touch. I think we were pretty sick of each other by the time we left. I decided that four to six weeks was the perfect relationship.

A break in my relationship with Dan was a good thing too. I think Dan and I got an over idealized vision of each other in Sacramento as we dealt with our sense of loss together and expored the world around us via roadtripping, music, literature and fun drugs. Since hooking up with the festival we got to see the worst of each other with competitiveness, depression, and neediness. I loved Dan but hadn't felt that love for more than a moment in many months. I was sure he'd have a great time in Van Couver and I was glad to have more time alone to settle my head and steer myself back towards being someone I didn't despise.

The crewleader in LA was Tanya. She was nice enough, but her boyfriend was Kent, a scrawney little guy, who despite being so skinny was absolutely obsessed with all things macho. He was into big bikes, and liked to think himself a biker. He talked about fags in his feminine voice. He was probably the most disliked person in the company. Tanya wasn't so bad, but working with her meant having to see Kent.

I was sharing a room with BJ. Our apartment was your typical white trash apartment complex. We had a pool that nobody ever used. A a gaggle of 17 year old girls hung out around it, smoking and wearing cloths that didn't quite fulfill the function of cloths. I was reading Celine's Journey To The End Of Night and was content to stay home most evenings. BJ and I drank a forty ouncer or two a night but we didn't get too crazy.

We were hanging out, blasting the Pixies on one of our boom boxes when there came a knock on the door. I opened it and standing in front of me was one of the pool's teenie boppers. She had the body and face of a woman, packaged in a tight jean skirt and a t-shirt that might have fit before puberty hit. Fact is she was curvier than most women I knew. She had the kind of hips that usually don't show up until the mid-twenties.

"Can I help you."
"I was just sitting out here listening to your music. Who are you listening to?" She asked in her flirtiest voice, bit her lip, bent one knee, the whole nine.
"Um, that's The Pixies." I swallowed hard.
"Can I come in and listen with you?"
Damn! I looked her over. I conjured up some rationalizations. I was only 21 myself. She was probably 18 or damn close. I'd treat her nice.
"Uh, no. I'm sorry, that would be a bad idea."
"Okay. I'll just sit out her and listen if that's okay."
"Oh. Okay." I shut the door and BJ scolded me. "Dude! What are you doing? That girl's HOT!"

He was right, she was hot, and I needed to spend some time alone. Fantasizing about doing the wrong thing was my reward for doing the right thing. This may have been the first time since I joined up with the festival that I was faced with a decision and chose to do the right thing.

Of couse knowing that she was still out there, listening, was too much, so I took off The Pixies and I put on the Carpenter's which BJ had reluctantly admitted to liking, and I figured that was safe.

The 7-11 around the corner from our house is where we bought our forties of Mickeys. The clerk had a cool old school 7-11 jersey, white with red and green 7-11s all over it. I asked if he'd sell it to me and he said no way, but he did sell me one of the newer read ones with a green collar. It became my favorite shirt.

BJ and I were out doing hop and hits, I would run in and drop flyers on counters while BJ drove to the next corner to wait for me. I ran into a 7-11, wearing my shirt, and the kid at the counter asked if the flyers were from corporate. At first this confused me. Then I remembered what I was wearing. "Oh, yeah, the shirt, um no man, I don't actually work for 7-11."
"Excuse me. Did you just say you do Not work for 7-11?" The asker was an older guy in a suit wearing a 7-11 tie. He was helping do inventory or something.
"No. I don't. I bought the shirt." I told him as I made for the door.
"You'll need to leave the shirt and you'll need to tell me who you purchased it from." he informed me.
"Uh, yeah. I'm leaving. Bye."
He started after me. "You're not leaving with that shirt."
I turned around just as he was about to reach me. "Woah! There are cameras in here. If they record you laying a finger on me, they're going to record me kicking your ass in self defense. Do you really want that? If you do, go ahead and touch me?" and with this I turned to leave.
"I'm calling the police!" he yelled after me.
This was great. The cops, in LA, are going to put out an APB to find the kid who is wearing a 7-11 shirt without proper clearance. Needless to say, I kept my 7-11 shirt.

I spent most of my free time reading, listening to Tribe Called Quest, The Pixies, The Modern Lovers. We had a few celbrity run ins. Chris Penn came through with two beautiful asian girls. They only stayed in the theatre for a few minutes. Penn was apologetic as they left.
"They thought the cartoons would be more, you know, cute." he explained.

A guy that had been a child star on a popular sitcom came by. He was a short guy with lots of really dumb tribal tatoos and and one big AA tatoo. Tanya was addicted to AA also so they hit it off. I found him pretty dull. He was catching a bit of attention from a stranger, Tanya, so he skipped the movie and basked in for over an hour, getting his $8.50's worth I guess. His neediness was more than I could bare so I took a walk.

There was a coffee shop around the corner from the theatre where I'd sit and read and I watched a-lot of flicks on the theatre's other screen, which featured mostly Chinese and Hong Kong cinema. I saw newer Jackie Chan flicks. This was before his American revival. I hadn't realized he was still making films. He was as gracefull and amazing as ever, like Gene Kelley if Gene Kelley had ever kicked a guys ass with a ladder. I also saw Sex and Zen- a soft core kung-fu porno, The Legend Of Fung Sai Yuk- starring a fella named Jet Lie and more.

I was still pretty down, but it was more particular. I just knew that LA wasn't happening for me on this trip and that I needed to get on to the next town, but I was learning to just ride it out. I worked as hard as was necessary for the shows to do as well as possible and if I wasn't having a great time all the time I was reading wonderful stuff, mostly Celine. I was writing, and though it was mellow dramatic crap it was writing and that was something.

The list came through, once again they wanted me sent to Arizona. I was sure I'd fit in fine in Arizona, but Scott was the Crew Leader and I wasn't ready to deal with him again. Mike Sharp was bringing a crew to Tallahassee Florida, where I had some good friends. Mike owed me. He had cleared up our legal issues and gotten all charges dropped without me having to return to Chicage, but he'd also had me sit in a jail cell for 14 hours. I called Mike up. I was going to Tallahassee.

>>>>Part 7 just ahead, Tallahassee Fla (that's Florida!)>>>