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| Sometimes I would get up when she left for work, sometimes I just stayed in bed. One morning I woke up before she did, and I sat there on the bed looking at her. My, she has really aged. Was it my fault? I did not know why this was happening to us, but I knew I had to get away. When everyone had left the house, I got a few clothes together, looked around the house for several minutes, said goodbye, then my friend and I left. I didn’t know where we were going, or when we’d be back. |
| I stopped by the bank, but there was no money. The clerk told me the account had been closed several weeks ago. Now we did not have any cash. I said to my friend, “We still have to go”. We made it to the highway and I put out my thumb. We sat there in one place for several hours before someone picked us up. He asked me where we was going, I said anywhere, does not really matter as long as we get away. I cant tell you where we went or how we got there, but the next thing I knew we were in Las Vegas. Bright lights, busy streets and too many people. Maybe I can get a loan from somebody. I went to every bank and loan company in town. They all wanted collateral. I told them to call my hometown bank and they would verify everything they needed to know. The hometown bank told them more than they needed to know. They did everything but throw me out of their office. I was called everything but Mister. |
| After 1 1/2 years being gone, I knew I needed help. But no one to turn to but my friend. I got a job at a nightclub in Vegas to get some cash for me and my friend. My friend and I shared a lot of laughs together as well as many tears, When you see one, you would usually see the other. When I introduced him to my other friends, they would snarl their noses as if they were too good to be his friend. When I would go over to my family’s house, they told me to never bring my friend there again. Why is everyone treating me this way. My friend knew more about me than my family did. He knew my weakness as well as my strengths (which was very few). I had given up my job for my friend, even my family. I thought I needed my friend more than I needed them. We would drive around town whistling at the girls, even shared a jail cell together. It did not matter, I was with my friend. Driving down the highway late one night, I had a wreck. Lucky, there was no one seriously hurt. But I wound up in jail again with my friend. |
| He just laid there on the bunk and laughed. I told him he didn’t have the worries I did. Again, he just laughed. What a friend he was turning out to be, getting me into more trouble than I could handle. |
| I had some money to call home, and I told my wife that it was good to hear her voice. Before she could say anything, I told her that I needed help and no one else to turn to. Please help me! I had just enough money for a bus ticket for me and my friend. It took about 18 hours by bus to get home. She was waiting at the station. I just stood there looking at her, and she asked me about my friend. She said he had to go or everything was still the same. I told my wife that I need a friend who would be my pal, and someone I could talk to with being criticized for everything I did. |
| My friend had a big shoulder that I could cry on, that’s more than what my family gave me. After listening to me and her mother talking, one of my little girls said, “Daddy, I don’t have a big shoulder, but you can have my shoulder to cry on if you want to. You can talk to me and I won’t grip at you. As she said this, she ran into my arms with tears rolling down her cheeks. I then realized that my family meant more to me than my friend. I put my little girl down, hugged my wife and told them to follow me. I went over to the kitchen sink, took out Mr. Jack Daniel’s from my coat pocket, took the cap off, turned it upside down and poured it out. I then threw the empty bottle into the trash can. I said, “Goodbye my friend, I don’t need you anymore”. |
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| SONG: HERE'S A QUARTER |
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