.......ONE TIN SOLDIER RODE AWAY.......

It started with a phone call..."I am about 3 miles away, where do you want to meet?"........"Tell em to kick you to the curb at Czech Stop, and I will be waiting"....as it was he was already there when I drove up...I had to put shoes and a bra on for the occasion..(was that a flying monkey over head?) There he was...surrounded by his Mother, Step-Dad, sister, neice and the lovely Hannah Banana......We hugged and it was like we had hugged before...(bird falls from sky)I swear I believe in other lives...cause it was just too familiar to have not been done before..I could hear swords whistling through the air, the thunder of many horses on some distant plain and death throes of the enemy as they feel at our feet...yea, some other time, some other place...we fought a common foe..buckling our swash's and kicking some asses... (a dragon flies across the sun) Evey one had to go inside Czech Stop to use the bathroom, which comes from traveling with little girls...ooops, Sooner had to go too...told them to look at all the cutesy Czech and Texas stuff for sale but not to buy anthing but food as it was all made in China...How pissed I was the first time I saw a Texas University shot glass, with a made in china on the bottom...Hannah conned her Daddy out of more money and then they were on their way to Hillsboro to the outlet mall and we were off on the grand tour.We were in my white Mazda.(is that a troll in the back of the truck?).I told Paul that I was going to take it and get it washed and cleaned but was convinced if I did,it would quit running...Dirt is what keeps it from stalling out at stop signs...I took him down the main street(which is actually Oak St.) and showed him the gazebo, city hall,over the track, and past the Old Corner Drug Store,(a wizard swoops and lands on the roof of the old corner) the Wild West Resturant where Jamie works, the $store, the used shit store and Wolf's Bar...Took a right and went by the hardware store and the West Food Mart took a right and we went by video world and one of the banks..We hooked a left and took him out past the, now closed Depot Bar(a wrinkled old crone stands over a cauldron, stirring and muttering chants) which used to be the bar where I got drunk and had more than my share of fistacuffs...We went down the road and took him past the Westfest and rodeo grounds...(I notice but don't mention the army of men cloaked in animal skins astride restless scaly beasts)then back over the tracks to the City Center where on Wed. they have lunch for anyone who wants it for $2.00 and to the Library so he can meet Miss Henrietta.All this time in the truck I am regaling him with stories about me and my adventures at the Capital(the Depot now)...we were talking like we had known each other for ever..catching up on what has been going on in both our lives..I told Henrietta that she didn't know him but he knew her from when I talked about her in my blog....no response..I said"notice how she doesn't ask what I said about her?"...and she said "I didn't want to know and be shocked."....maybe she's got my number after all....Sooner took some pictures of our little museum of Czech stuff...and a picture of the water tower with Home of Scott Podsednek on it...(I smell brimstone and sulfur)then we drove back to the center of town and to the Community Grocery Store where I had asked Patsy to cool us down some Dublin Dr.Pepper's but they were not cold enough yet..damn..and we got to doing so many other things I fogot to take him back so he could get one...(now I know it was a good thing too)But he got to meet Patsy and I told her I was looking for Brenda so I could kick her ass, and she informed me that David and her may have split up...so maybe I won't have to kick her ass after all...Patsy knew who Sooner was as I had already talked about him and Babs enough that she knew about them..I remembered I needed to get a plug for my a/c so went back to house and he got to see my little hell hole...he gave me a picture of Hannah for my cork board that sits above my computer...he got the tour of the house which took about 2 minutes..showed him action central where I sit in my chair and look out at the birds...and other chair where I read, watch tv and do cross word puzzles...(I see more flying monkeys) We leave my place and head back to the Hardware Store so I can get plug for a/c and a bag of birdseed....We continue to drive around town and he says it just feels so weird to actually be there after reading all about it for so long..told him there were people that actually think I have made my little town up, but even I couldn't invent West...asked him did he see any black faces yet? He hadn't...like I said..it's 1957 here..(toothless cand rone rides a griffin sidesaddle along side of us for a block then turns away)..I feel the need to get in a cool and dark place so I take him to Strickly Country(which used to be Coyote Bob's) so he can meet our Brokeback Cowboys...Before we were out of the truck I spotted Termite..(wacko wacko fame) and introductions were made..we went inside and met Merle, one half of our gay bar owners...T.J.his partner hasn't been well, and stays home most of the time..So Sooner and I sit down at bar and I have Dr.Pepper and he has a long neck Bud...we were non stop talking..about Babs, Denise, Apos, Tex and all the rest of you...how much he misses you all and wishes he had more time to spend on the computer blogging..Told him bullshit..he has a life...he has friends he can actually see and touch...not to be sorry..be happy..I told him I wasn't upset that he threw us all over for some pussy....The bartender who I didn't know is about 6' 4" and about 250lbs...after listening to us talk, with fuck this, fuck that, fuck them...motherfucker all over the place...he sort of scurried out from behind the bar and went and hid in the corner until Sooner needed another beer...Think we sorta freaked him out...we were laughing and having such a good ole time...(I noticed the lights were starting to dim and the Budwiser stagecoach was slowing down...)Sooner's phone rings and they are back at Czech Stop to take him back to Belton...too soon too soon... We head out to parking lot and I'm not sure but I think the sky is getting darker...We drive back to C.Stop and it is all over to fast...(what IS that smell..?) Sooner invites me to the next get together they have at his sisters house in Belton...(I can hear a buzzing and crackling in the air)...We hug, take more pictures...hug again...they drive off and as I turn to watch them go...I see that all the crones, trolls, the army of warriors are fading away....the monkey's fly over head and shout down at me...."Lucky for you he didn't drink the magic potion..it would have weaken him and we would have won the fight this time......the Dr.Pepper...damn...