Sunday, November 9, 2008

Still in Gurneville

My life: I knew that Ron wasn't the brightest rooster in the shed and that he has some issues. I also knew he was VERY handsome. We fought on occasion because he felt I was able to pick up more men then him and that I got more free drinks and stupid petty stuff like that. One night I woke up about 4 AM and he was sitting on the bed hovering above me with a big kitchen knife in his hands. When he saw that I was awake he left the room. For some reason it didn't even scare me.

We only had one physical fight during our relationship. He came at me for something and I hit him so hard I broke my hand. I had to be in a cast and serve drinks at the bar for about 6 weeks. We were definitely one of the couples in town that everyone talked about. Ron was a mean drunk and I was a slutty drunk. Once Ron had brought a knife to the bar and the next thing I knew, he had stabbed a guy. He said he stabbed him for being a fat fuck. He was treated from the hospital and released. I don't know why the guy never pressed charges.

One afternoon while I was behind the bar a crazy man came in screaming and pointing a gun at everyone. He was totally off his rocker and started throwing beer bottles at me. Then he just left. A few moments later he was on the TV. (We had one in the bar). It seems he had been off his meds and when psycho. Decided he was going to jump off a bridge after he left the bar. Again, I wasn't scared.

Gurneville was also a town full of drug addicts. People I knew would end up dead from an overdose. One friend who was a Vietnam vet was murdered and buried in the hills. I can still see his face today, he was really a nice guy. Even my bird died one day for no reason. I was talking to her and she just keeled over. I think the town is cursed.

I still wasn't making a lot of money but I was able to pay the rent and my truck payments. Didn't eat a whole lot since I drank most of my meals. Ron didn't work and I supported him too. The day shift didn't bring in as many tips as the night shift so I did all kinds of gimmicks. I wrote the towns first gay gossip tabloid and sold it from behind the bar. I created the "Wheel Of Fortune" guess before the contestant and get a free drink. I held the first annual couch potato contest and even brought a couch into the bar. I did everything to promote the bar and my shift. Then the rainy season came...

I had heard that the river actually flooded the area many times in the past and that the bar I worked at was on the highest level of the town. Since I lived on a large hill, I wasn't worried about my home being flooded. I also parked my truck up very high. The rain came and didn't seem to stop. The river rose and started to take over so Ron and I headed to the next nearest town to spend the night with a friend. We left everything behind including my truck. I still had to be back at work the following morning at 6AM.

My friend drove me back to town and couldn't make it into the city limits. The water was too high for his car to drive through so he dropped me off. I waded through waist high water to make it to the bar. The town was still dry but the outskirts were now under water. There was a line to get in the bar that morning since it was one of the dry areas. By 7AM, the place was packed with people and it was still raining...

That's all I have time for today. Got to get back to packing and selling.

Peace and Love,

Clayton

1 comment:

Susan said...

Kind of living a pretty crazy life! Are you still doing it or are you getting to old? alove your story and keep us posted on the house, Scott isn't to good at keeping his blog up!