Left of the Law

Journal Entry from my friend "Tippy Toes"

Wednesday Sept 7th,
After working a 5night set of the graveyard shift, i was going to bed at around 1pm (like my head had just hit the pillow) when there was a knocking at the door. a few moments later my father came downstairs and gravely informed me, "There's a man at the door to see you and he's not going to go away". i then went upstairs and had the pleasure of being served a subpoena as a witness for the prosecution for a preliminary hearing in a court in vancouver AND that i had to be there in under 25hours.

if i was not present for this hearing the bastards would put out a warrant for my arrest with the intent of jailing my ass when i was found. so sleep was pretty much outta the question after the dropping of that little atomic bomb and after the joy of talking to/yelling at the prosecuting attorney and found myself unable to get out of the damn thing i started a load of laundry (as i had no bloody clean clothes. EVERYTHING was dirty, I had two days off to do nothing but sleep and domesticate myself…and damnit it was gonna be laundry day when i got up...) and started makin calls to arrange my travel and stay for the trip.

After a couple of hours i was packed & ready, caught a ride to the ferry terminal and rode over to vancouver, caught a bus on the ferry and rode it right downtown. i called the friends i was keenest on seeing/staying with, made arrangements for rendezvous, and then immediately went to my old regular bar (the cambie) for a much needed drink... where i saw just one familiar face, but the place was just the same. after splashing my nerves with a gin&tonic i skytrained it to coquitlam and found my people, "Jackie the Knife" by name, then we took off in a fast (but bouncy) car up to a damn fine house in the hills where we drank and played pool, yakked it up, danced and played for several hours, then back to "Jackies" place for a few more hours of great fun… then to bed for there was court in the morning. when i awoke in the morning, around 11 or so, i took stock of myself and my shit. i'd been awake for like... 34hours or someshit and quite drunk when i went to bed so i needed to check things out and do inventory. turned out i'd gotten sloppy the night before and after taking my wallet out to get bloody rolling papers from it when we were playing pool i'd left it on the counter.

so after a few phone calls with no signs of life on the other end Jackie & i decided to head on up there and see if maybe someone might be around. it took a few tries and a bit of cursing & yelling but they got up and were kind enough to return our wallets (somehow Jackie had left hers there as well). i was dropped off at a skytrain station and headed to downtown vancouver towards the court house feeling hung & strung. i grabbed a burger midway there on a train transfer and realized that upon entry to that courthouse i was going to be searched thoroughly and in my shoulder-bag i had a bag of weed (70-80$) and a pipe (225$ & irreplaceable) that if discovered by a sheriff would cause me much grief and i'd not get to see either of them again... and i was quite sure that i'd be wanting them when the hearing was over. so i called a good friend of mine "Fat Tony", works the frontdesk at a hotel downtown, still a trainride away from the courthouse but still downtown and arranged to leave it with him, if he was not at the desk when i arrived i could as ask any of the staff to 'check my bag' for 2$ dollar fee. having plans to see him later in the day already i headed to the hotel to deliver to him my satchel of doom when i arrived at the hotel, now getting short on time and beginning to hurry and run, there were two people working the desk (neither of them Fat Tony) and eight people in line. after a ten minute wait with no fat-sign and the line advancing only one person I left;slightly panicked now I headed to the bus depot to put my bag in a locker there, it was closer than the hotel and i couldn't imagine a line-up for a row of lockers at a bus depot... so off i went and upon my arrival as i walked through the HUGE doors of the front entrance of Pacific Station i saw signs indicating luggage lockers. i followed these bloody arrows and signs all over and through the bus depot looking all about the whole time and at the end i found.... nothing but an empty spot on the floor. so i headed for the 'information booth' and although it was unmanned there was a piece of paper taped to the front of it explaining that all lockers had been removed due to the perceived threat of terrorism.

i guess there's no more lockers at bus stations or airports. so. with 20-25 minutes before i should arrive, 12-14 blocks to cover to get there and a few things that i must not have on me when i go there i head down Main St. towards the courthouse not entirely sure what im going to do. a block & 1/2 past the bus depot i come to a sign in front of a low-low-low-rent hostel that claims they have lockers. i head inside for the desk and the grizzled fat man behind the counter informs that they sure do have a 'lock-up' and the rate is 10$ for 24hours, i agree immediately and give the man his purple bill. he opens the door to my right and the room is fucking filled with bags of all kinds, boxes, papers all kinds of crap... the guy tells me to find a spot for my bag&coat, i quickly do and then we're out, key in the lock and door closed. when i ask about a ticket to collect it or if he'll be at the desk in a few hours when i come to collect he tells me that whoever is working will let me get my bag. to ease my apprehension he then took my name, wrote it on a piece of paper which he then HANDED TO ME and told me to have a good day. but with no time to spare and really just being thankful for the vague sense of security i could find over my belongings, however frail it may have been, i continued my by-now running journey to court. i queue up inline for searching just behind the accused in the case, my very good close friend & former partner "Gord the Tooth".

Court was pretty stiff. i was asked many strange questions and i had much difficulty remembering the details that were being questioned of me. however i was not on trial here, a good friend of mine was, and i was not pleased about having to be there, rather pissed about the extremely short notice (the charges were laid more than 1&1/2years ago, the hearing date 6+months ago) and not keen on helping the prosecution in anyway... so i made things as difficult as possible with the bastard while still answering truthfully & politely. i had as much fun as i could but it was tough & stressful and i dont want to do it again. unfortunately it seems that i shall, the charges are going to trial and unless i can disappear again (i'm a bit of hard person to track down, i try to leave little paper-trail, etc.) and not be served the subpoena in person (which they have to do, thankgod) i'll have to do it. i am considering pulling a disappearing act again. it did take the bastards a good long time to find me this time (1&1/2 years;D) and i might be able to do that again. i'm even considering misinformation as a tactic, change the contact info for my government files/id/etc and just make sure that none of matches up with anywhere i might actually be... like my drivers license address, its easy to miss a # off a four digit address and make it three.. but anyway... after court things were a pretty good time, i got to have a few drinks and some fantastic indian food with Gord&Judith and Fat Tony for the evening, then off on transit to coquitlam to see Jackie & crash till the morning. i zonedout with headphones on when i was on the train and missed my stop, by the time i backtracked and got to the correct station it was too late to catch the connecting buss that i needed so i grabbed a cab. before i got in i asked the cabbie if he knew where the intersection of "westwood & dewdney" was located (both four lane goddamned streets btw) and he said that he did, sometime and distance later he explained in poor english that he in fact does not know that intersection that i want to go to, so out comes the map and we look for the damned place. after a few moments with the map i easily find "westwood & dewdney" as its an intersection of neonfuckingyellow lines on a map where most streets are thin &

black… some serious fucking concrete byways that move ALOT of bloody people. after a few minutes more with this wonder of wonders, a streetmap, discover that one of the two streets i desire is the NEXT FUCKING INTERSECTION, A SET OF LIGHTS NO MORE THAN 100ft IN FRONT OF US. the ridicule of the cabbie begins as i direct him to my destination. i get dropped off after many barbed comments and a serious scolding to the cabbie, head on over to the door and give it a knock.... give the door bell a ring... try the door handle and then knock&ring again..... then i'm off for the payphone on the other side of the building. which was (and i'm sure still is) dead to the world but still gladly took my quarter along with a thread of dignity from me and i started my walk to the next payphone… and the next…. and the next…. for 5 fucking broken payphones through many drunken blocks in an area where i know one person for about 20 square miles until i was ready to render the very next inoperative, useless telephone to shards in a quick & vicious fashion. but, luckily, before finding a suitable victim i came to a 24hr 'subway' and persuade the fellow working to let me use the phone... i was pissed about the payphones and i'd had a rough couple days so maybe the guy was more scared then understanding, but either way he let me use the phone. i made contact, got my message through and walked back to find the door open, a shot of jager waiting and a soft bed, warm & ready. 5 hours later i opened my eyes and started to head back, five hellish hours of public transit on buses, boats and trains after that i arrived at my hole under a rock in victoria again with time to catch 6 hours of sleep before my next shift. *unintelligable Rant*