Falling Down (Ch. 12) - Randy Halprin
Randy Halprin
"We tend to see a person in the moment, not as the journey they travelled to get here." Kat Lehmann
Memoirs
**Warning...contains offensive language, and reference to drug use**
FALLING DOWN : PART ONE (1995)
Chapter 12
(by Randy E. Halprin)
A Memoir
After the Pageant, Thanksgiving was on the horizon, and I needed to figure out what I was going to do. After my Aunt Carol passed away in 1991, our family began making trips to San Antonio, Texas, as a Thanksgiving tradition. When I began attending school in Kentucky, getting me to San Antonio became difficult, and so I would spend the holiday with my friend, Wayne, in Ohio. I wasn't allowed back home but going with Wayne, whilst our friendship wasn't as tight as it once had been, his family was still an option. I could also stay at the K's, but they were going to spend time with family in another town, so I would be there alone. My only remaining options were to either stay at the school alone or to use some of my remaining money to stay in Louisville. There was a seedy motel off Bardstown Road called the Bardstown Inn, and it was very inexpensive; this seemed like the best bet for me and I'd be able to spend the holiday with Tracy. I just had to figure out a way to get there.
I talked to Wayne and he called his mom up and asked if it would be possible to drop me off in Lexington before she took him back home. She was confused that I wouldn't want to stay with them, but she was willing to do so. After I talked to Mrs K, she said that if I got to their apartment in time, they would be willing to drop me off in Louisville that Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Day...It was all falling into place!
School was out after a chapel service early on Wednesday morning, and then I met up with Wayne. He told me my ex-girlfriend, Amy, would be riding with us because she lived in a nearby town close to Wayne's home. When I started dating Tracy, Amy and I hadn't talked since, but I was okay with her being there anyway. I just thought it would be a strange experience riding in the same van with the girl I shared my very first sexual experience with.
Tracy and Jim's mom were picking them up so I ran over to them, hugged them, and told Tracy I'd call her as soon as I was in Louisville. Then they all got in their car and left, and Wayne's mom got all of us in her van, and we were on our way. My brother, Wesley, went to another friend's house for the holiday.
When we drove into Lexington, I gave directions to Wayne's mom on how to get to Versailles Road, and we pulled into the apartment complex. Mrs K was once Wayne's teacher as well, so he wanted to say “hello,” and Amy joined us as well. Mrs K was surprised to see Wayne and hugged him, and we all chatted for a bit. Her little daughter came running from another room calling out my name, “Ramby!” And I swooped her up and began to spin her around as she laughed. I sat down on the ground, with Bethany in my lap, and Wayne and Amy left.
“Let us finish getting our things together and then we'll drop you off in Louisville,” Mrs K said. I played with Bethany for a bit and then we all piled into their Dodge Spirit.
After about a 45 minute drive, I asked them to drop me off on Bardstown Road, and Mrs K asked if I had a way back to school because they wouldn't be able to pick me back up or take me back to school. I hadn't, but I told her I did. I figured I would just take a Grey Hound bus back on Sunday, and all would be fine. They pulled away and I walked up the road to the Bardstown Inn. I wasn't enthused about the place, and I'd never stayed in a seedy motel before. My hotel/motel experiences have always been good, and this place looked like there were some shady people hanging around...I freaked out a bit before walking to a payphone and calling Tracy. Fortunately, she was home...
“Hey...I'm outside of the Bardstown Inn. I don't know about this place; it gives me the heebie jeebies. Do you know of another hotel in the area?”
She told me there was an inexpensive Hilton up the road, and so I walked up there and entered the lobby. I asked how much it would be for three nights and the cost was astronomical! I had enough for two nights, but all of my money would be gone, and I wouldn't even have enough for food and expenses. I settled on having one night there, and figured Tracy would be able to find me a place to crash until Sunday.
I called Tracy from my hotel room and gave her the room number. She told me she'd come on Thursday morning – family were already at her place and she couldn't leave. “Cool. I'll see you in the morning.” I turned on the TV and wound down for the day.
The next morning I woke up, took a shower and got dressed. It was a very cold and grey morning. I turned on the TV to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and waited on Tracy. At about 10 in the morning I began to get a bit worried about Tracy as she was supposed to come earlier, so I called her house. Her mom answered and told me that Tracy was already on her way. I grabbed my jacket and left the room to wait on her. I was worried about the time because I had to check out by 2 in the afternoon, and I wanted a little “personal” time with her.
I saw her walking up a side walk, long brown coat pulled tightly around her as the wind picked up. We went back to the room and messed around for a while, and at about 1.45pm we started getting dressed, and I remember a maid walking in on us as I was pulling up my pants. “There are people in here!” I yelled, embarrassed. She quickly closed the door.
I dropped the key off in reception, and then Tracy and I started walking back to her place. The roads were completely empty. Normally, there would be non-stop traffic speeding up and down Bardstown Road, but all you could hear was the howling wind, and the barren trees swaying like tortured ghosts.
“I'm hungry.” Tracy said.
“I'm running out of cash...where can we go that's not going to cost much?”
Across the street was a Thornton's grocery and gas station, and she suggested we get some hot dogs there. We crossed the street and entered, and sure enough they had one dollar hot dogs with all of the fixings, so we made a couple and sat on the side of the curb. She leaned into me as we ate in silence. I could tell something was bothering her so I asked what was wrong... “I thought you'd be able to spend Thanksgiving dinner with us, but my mom said, no.” This kind of surprised me... “I thought we were good?”
“Yeah...I don't know. She's acting strange again...Don't worry. Jim and I will slip away and bring you something to eat, but you'll have to spend the evening alone.”
“Alright...nothing new there, I suppose.” I said, hurt.
Tracy had to get back home but before she left I asked her to see if she could find a place for me to crash. She said she would, kissed me, and headed back home. I walked up and down the empty streets until the sun began to set, and it became bitterly cold. There was a little strip mall near my girlfriend's house, with a lobby for a 24 hour ATM machine, so I went inside to warm up.
A couple of hours passed when I noticed Jim and Tracy walking by...I ran outside and joined them. Jim was carrying a huge paper plate covered in aluminum foil, and Tracy had a plastic cup of soda. They presented them in unison and both said, “Happy Thanksgiving!!!” I thanked them and we walked back into the lobby so I could eat. As I was enjoying the food, Jim kept picking bits from my plate... “Dude! You've been stuffing your fucking face all day. Let me enjoy the food!” I said, teasing him. Tracy told me that Friday and Saturday I could stay at her friend Daniel's place, and I was relieved. For Thanksgiving Night, I had to fend for myself, but everyone was supposed to meet up with us tonight and they had plans to go see a movie.
“Is anything open tonight?” I asked. She told me there was a theater showing “Mortal Kombat” at 9pm, and someone was going to pick us up soon. Not long after, a car pulled up, and it wasn't anyone I knew, but Daniel was sitting in the passenger side seat. We climbed in and Tracy sat in my lap.
The movie was surprisingly good and very faithful to the video game. In the original video game, as you are kicking your opponent's ass, one of the creators of the game will pop out and say, “Toasty!” to the side of the screen, and then disappear. I remember in one part of the movie, as Johnny Cage was kicking Scorpion's ass, someone in the theater yelled out, “Toasty!” and everyone laughed!
After the movie we all piled back into the car. No one knew what to do next, so Jim said he might know someone with some acid, and if it worked out we could all “trip balls” on Friday. Jim gave directions to a street I'd never been on before, and when we arrived, we all jumped out of the car. The house, as I remember it, was a duplex, and when we opened the outer door, there was a staircase that was painted abstractedly with all different colours, and dots and swirls...It was like a Jackson Pollock painting!
We went upstairs and rang the doorbell. A girl in her early 20s opened the door and said, “S'up?” Jim said he wanted to talk to someone and she told us all to go inside. Looking around, there were pieces of homemade art and sculptures. The ceiling light was made out of spaghetti strainers, and it looked really cool. There were a few people, obviously stoned, sitting on a couch watching an anime movie. The guy showed up and Jim walked off. They were gone for about five minutes and when they came back the guy said, in a serious tone...
“I don't know any of you, but I know Jim. I'm not happy he showed up like this, but he's been cool. Don't do this shit again.” We were confused...I'd never actually seen a “drug deal” go down. Then we all left and Tracy asked what that was all about.
“He's pissed I showed up unannounced, and with you guys...He kept saying he was carrying so many felonies on him, but it's all good. I reassured him, and...” He paused as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of foil, “I got this! I bought 10 hits, so we'll do it tomorrow!”
We piled back into the car and drove back to Bardstown Road. After Daniel's friend dropped us off, we all walked around for a bit, then we walked to Tracy and Jim's house. The lights were out and I told Tracy I'd sleep in the lobby of the ATM, so she ran inside and grabbed me a blanket and beanie to keep me warm. We all hugged, and I left. I was exhausted, so I walked straight back to the strip mall and entered the lobby, wrapped up the blanket around me, and fell asleep immediately. I don't know how long I'd been sleeping, but I was woken up by the loud radio of a Police Officer, and when I opened my eyes fully, two cops were standing in front of me.
“You okay?” one of them asked.
I panicked a bit, but trying to think fast, I said, “I was supposed to meet up with friends and go to a Hardee's for breakfast...What time is it?”
“You got some identification?”
“Yeah...” I replied, reaching for my wallet. I pulled it out and handed the I.D. To them. They looked at it, looked at me, then one of them asked, “You homeless? This I.D. Is Texas.”
“No sir,” I responded. “I go to school in Oneida. Private school. I was just going to meet some friends for breakfast.”
“Well, you need to wait somewhere else. You're sleeping next to an ATM machine and someone driving by saw you and called us. Okay? So, let's get moving along and don't do this again.”
“Yes, sir.” I said, wrapping up in the blanket.
They watched me walk to the street to the Hardee's diner, and I entered. Feeling like they were going to make sure I wouldn't leave, I bought a cup of coffee – which I really hated at the time – and a biscuit, then sat down and ate. Soon, the cop car drove off and I waited a little bit longer before heading back down the street to Tracy's place. I was at their door step at around 7 in the morning, and they came out to join me. Tracy's mom stepped outside and said “hello” and I asked her if it was okay if I came in. “No.” was her only response.
I can't remember what we did that morning, but I remember Jim saying that my drummer, Joe, was going to be in town and meet up with us. This was a surprise, but I was happy. The plan was to drop the acid, then head down town to see what kind of adventure we'd stumble into. By Friday afternoon our group was me, Tracy, Daniel, Jim, Joe, and another girl from school we call “Tink,” after Tinkerbell. She was Jim's girlfriend, and she was always a lot of fun. How all these people managed to make it to Louisville, I don't know, but it was going to be a blast! That was for sure. We hopped on a bus and headed down town. Someone said they also had weed, which wasn't a favorite thing of mine, but my mindset at the time was, “when in Rome...” What could it hurt? We found an abandoned parking garage, and Jim passed out the acid and we all dropped it at the same time.
I remember McDonalds was doing a promotion around this time called “Monopoly.” They usually did it twice a year, and would offer game pieces, based on the board game, and if you matched them up you could win prizes – the biggest prize was $1m in cash! They were putting these pieces in the city newspapers as well, and would often have at least one prize for a free soda or cheese burger or fries. That was how they roped you into buying more stuff. Jim broke into a corner newspaper machine, and picked out all of the free Monopoly pieces from the stock of newspapers...Soon after we began scratching them off, we were swimming in free drinks, burgers and fries. “Jackpot”! He said.
We walked around as the acid took its hold, and whilst I remember slightly tripping – mostly seeing a bunch of colours – I was disappointed...My first experience with acid was much more intense. We were all enjoying ourselves, but it seemed like a disappointment. Whoever had the weed suggested we “toke up” and so we headed to the abandoned parking garage again. A joint was rolled and placed in alligator clips that were attached to a long handle. By this time I was buzzing a bit more...I could feel the acid getting a foothold and I didn't really want to take a hit of the weed. It made its way down the line and I hesitated, but everyone said, “C'mon!” I took a hit and started to cough...A couple of people laughed, and I passed it along.
I don't know whether it was the hit of the joint, or the acid working through my system, but I felt a sudden rush of pure joy, and I fell back laughing! The joint made its way back to me and I took a deeper and longer hit, and began to cough uncontrollably! Everyone was laughing, and I was laughing and coughing, our laughter echoing throughout the cavernous parking garage. “I'm going to die!” I said, rolling around coughing and laughing. Another joint was put on the clips, and by this time I was so gone I put the handle to my lips and began to suck “It's not working anymore!” I laughed...Joe grabbed the handle, put it right for me and said, “You are sooooo out of it!”
Once we were done, I couldn't think straight. I was tripping, I was high, and I felt like my brain had decided to slip the surly bonds of earth and jettison itself away from my body. For some reason I started singing Elton John's “Rocket Man” out loud, and was rudely interrupted when Jim and Tracy began to sing “American Pie” by Don McLean...but soon, everyone joined them. At that point, Jim pretty much took over leading the pack and suggested we all head to McDonalds. When we got there, a debate began over who was going to place the order for the free food from the Monopoly prize pieces. I jumped in, mind still foggy, and said, “I'll do it!” Unanimously, everyone said, “Hell no!”
“Nah! I got this! I can handle it...just give me the pieces and I've got everything under control.”
Jim reluctantly handed me the pieces and I headed up to the counter. Everything was insanely bright, and the beeping sounds of the fryers and cash registers were distracting, but I headed to the spot where a black woman was waiting to take my order...I think I was drawn in by her dazzling finger nails: long, bright, and sparkly. “Can I help you?” she asked, forcing me to focus. I stared at her, blinking my eyes (probably) and said, “Yep. You sure can.” And went back to staring at her nails. Could she tell I was high? I wasn't sure...
“Okay...what do you want to order?” She asked. God bless her patience!
“Hmmm. See, I came into a prize windfall of sorts...” I said handing her the dozens of monopoly pieces. “All of these...Load 'em up!”
She disappeared, probably trying to check if they were legit, but she made the order. Soon, a tray was full of drinks, French fries, and burgers. Feeling victorious, I headed to my group of friends. I wasn't particularly hungry, but they all devoured them. Tracy and I sat at a table to ourselves, and as she began to pick at some French fries, I heard something that sounded like a basketball game.
“Is there a TV in here?” I asked, puzzled.
“No...?” Tracy said, looking around.
“Stereo?”
“Nuh-uh...”
“I keep hearing a basketball game! You can't hear that? They just said foul on Scotty Pippen! You didn't just hear the whistle?”
Tracy smiled at me and shook her head, “You are fucked up.”
“It's the Bulls! It's a Chicago freakin' Bulls game, and I'm listening to it in my head. It's clear as day! How...how am I picking this up???”
Jim came over and started laughing, “Man, you are out of it, dude!”
I started laughing to myself and then for no reason whatsoever, Jim sat next to a guy eating alone and tried to talk to him. Tracy ran over and pulled him back over to us. All of my friends were laughing and I sat there listening to the basketball game playing in my head.
At some point, we left and hopped back on the bus to Bardstown Road. I was going to Daniel's, but we decided to walk up and down the road until most of us began to come back down. I was still buzzing, but not nearly as bad as I had been. Jim and Tracy had to get back home and so Daniel and I walked to his place. I remember hanging out with him in his attic, staring at the black sky until I could finally fall asleep.
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur, and then Sunday came...I had just enough money to take the Grey Hound bus back to school. I told everyone I'd see them in a few hours, caught the transit bus back down town, and bought my ticket. I arrived back at Oneida around 6 that Sunday evening. The holiday was over with, and the fun had come to an end. As I walked to the chapel for the Sunday service, my friends joined me and we slid into the pews. We all giggled and joked about the holiday weekend...Our little secret. Jim leaned into me and said, “Fuck OBI, right?”
“Yeah...” I said, smiling back.
He opened his hand and showed me a couple of hits of acid...
“For later,” he said.
“Why not now?” I replied.