Thursday, November 20, 2008

Eavesdropping at a Fast Food Restaurant

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a fast food restaurant – part of a large chain. It was the middle of a Saturday, and I was just grabbing a bite to eat at a location I do not frequent. Actually, the location was in a "bad part of town." Not bad enough for me to hold my pee and continue to the next area, if you know what I mean.

So I was sitting by myself, reading a book and eating. I always carry a book or two in the car. I don't mind eating by myself, but need to have a diversion. I almost always have a book in the car, a stack next to my bed, and others casually thrown throughout the house. When I was in school, I would buy Oxford Pocket Classics – can you imagine having a book, a classic, in your purse? Oh, am I geekish.

I am reading and here a rather large man taking to a family of four. I am going to call the big1 man Frank. Not sure he is a Frank, but let's just do it to give him a name. Everyone deserves a name.

In the course of talking to the family, Frank learns about a guy they mutually know. Frank says that he was the other guy in the backyard story. Non-descript, I know, but that's what he said at first.

Then he talks about some associates, associated with a club known as the 81s. And he asks the family if they know what the 81s are. Luckily for me, they don't know, and he said the numbers represent the letters in the alphabet. But he says nothing more. HA, and I think of things it could be. It didn't take more than a minute to think "Hell's Angels."I could have googled it if I was at work, but the ol' brain still works.

Over the course of the conversation, he goes back to the backyard experience. A little more light is shed. He told the family that he knew they would be okay because "they can't do ballistics on shotguns."

Instantly, I casually look for the entrance. All clear. This guy is freaking me out.

I stay planted because I am interested and afraid.

I hear more about Frank's life – that he held a gun at someone's head because they touched his jacket. And he was not mad at the guy; he just did not want to be touched. Or how he would fight with others. He was a rough guy.

And I can't get it out of my head that he admitted to others that he and a friend killed two people in a backyard. I start to think about what to do with this information. How do I inform the police without having him know anything about me?

And then I remember something else he said. That he had a try-out with the NY Jets. Not that he tried out with them, but that they called him. I have known a couple of football players. They would have dwarfed this man. He played nose tackle and center. I can't remember which is which – I mean, one is defensive line, one is offensive line. But I can't remember which side of the line plays bigger. Point is, the guy had to be lying about the NY Jets. Not sure if he was lying about the backyard.

Just makes me feel better to have that as a possibility.




1 A bit overweight, and I am being a tad kind, actually – not helpful, I know, when I am describing a scene.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to have a friend who told some of the most convincing stories. Not sure how many of them were real, but I guess 60% were false.

Knot

Grant said...

Just to be safe, you should have killed them all before leaving. Remember his advice that you can't do ballistics on a shotgun.

Leesa said...

knot: it is simple math. If you know what percentage of them were false, you can calculate the percentage of them which were real.

Real % = 100% - False %

grant: I prefer spiking their drinks with deuterium oxide (²H2O). Oh, and I just looked at this, and apparently my high school chemistry teacher did not tell us a very effective way to kill someone. Undetectable, he said. Ineffective, I say.

Deb said...

OK. Still trying to wrap my brain around the 81s and how that relates to the alphabet and Hells Angels.

*crosses eyes*

Did they at least serve possum at this restaurant???

Ian Lidster said...

I hope he was lying about the backyard rather than the Jets. Actually I think both tales were bullshit designed to impress.
So, Leesa, you get to eavesdrop on much more interesting conversations than I ever experience. I think I'm envious. But maybe in future you should hold your pee and move on.

Anonymous said...

Ya, but if you aren't sure ... you really can't accurately calculate them.

Knot

Anonymous said...

the fast food will probably do him in (86 him) eventually ;)

Anonymous said...

I have met a few H.A.'s in my lifetime. One was a good friend of mine, he was an enforcer for them, awesome guy. But let me tell you, they don't go around blabbing about what they do or have done, even if you are their best friends. It's a code of ethics for them. This guy was just a massive loser who thinks that pretending to be one will get him some kind of recognition or some nooky...

Cheers!

Pyth0s

Leesa said...

~deb: No Possum. 8=H, 1=A

ian: If I knew what was going to happen, I would have moved on.

knot: there were numbers and equations. I did so calculate something.

btsea: Oh, how clever you are. 86 him. Fun.

Pyth0s: I did not consider the nookie. But the recognition, yeah.

Deb said...

Oh! Ok... I'm a bit slow with these things. Thanks for explaining! (ha)

LarryLilly said...

There is a different number motorcycle gangs use to describe themselves, its the "1%" often inside a diamond, or "One-Percenters", which comes from the Brando movie "The Wild One", where when asked about the life depicted in the movie, the American motorcycle assoc said that the 1% of these bad characters give motorcylcing a bad name.

My current wife was a friend of Sonny Barger, the Oakland Hells Angel Chapter founder. She was at the Altamonte festival when they were providing security for the concert for the Stones. While living in the Oakland CA area, she meet lots of entertainers that liked to associated with them, Willie, Waylon, Kris, Johhny and Hank Jr.

Leesa said...

larry: I met Willie once. And I like the idea about the 1%ers.