My father and I argued a lot. It was sad that the two of us could not get along. I know that I felt like he hated me and I guess that I felt the same way about him. I tried to avoid him at all cost. Working helped that out a lot.
One day I did something that I would remember for the rest of my life, and surely I would never forget what this meant to my family as it is almost brought up every time we get together.
It was a hot day in July, I had just broke up with my girlfriend. The night before I had an argument with my father that was real bad. I was tired of working so much so I quit my jobs. And most of my friends went off to the service. I went to the bank and withdrew all of my money,a whole Eighty dollars. Went home gathered a couple things, jumped on my motorcycle and left. As I was leaving my father was coming home, we waved at each other. He had no idea what I was doing except that maybe he thought I was going to work.
I was on the interstate and heading south. I was really leaving home. With just the clothes on my back and eighty bucks in my pocket. I was gone! I rode my little Honda CB160 down the highway like I was “Then Came Bronsen”, I rode for about four hours when I came to the city of Louisville. Wouldn’t you know it I was lost. It was night around 9:00 p.m. or so. I needed gas so I pulled into a gas station.
It was only going to cost about about .50 or something like that. In 1970 gas was still about .25 per gallon. I needed to go to the restroom and I could see that I was in an area of town that I should not have been in. I opened the restroom door and there stood a big black man and he was having sex with a girl, she was sitting on the sink. He scared the crap out of me. I headed to my bike as fast as I could. I asked someone how to get back on the highway, he said, follow this here street for 22 blocks then turn left and go another 12 blocks and I’ll come to the exit. I took off thinking that I was just fed a lot of bull. I found the exit a few blocks away.
I continued heading south not knowing where I was really headed. I just knew I wasn’t going home. I followed I65 south for about an hour and a half to Cave City. I pulled into a motel and got a room for the night. This was the first time I had ever spent the night all alone. At first I felt real grown up, but as the night wore on I heard things in the night. I didn’t sleep real good. I was thinking about what my parents must be wondering. How up set they must be. Then I started thinking about where I was going. I figured I’d go south to Florida, never been there before, and then I would follow the Gulf Coast line around through New Orleans, and then south through Texas to Corpus Christi where my grandmother (Mimi) lived. She would take me in. At least I had hoped that she would. I really wanted to spend some more time with my uncle Floyd too. He was sick and was dying.
