For the whole time Joel and I were there, the Assayer kept telling us that to protect our claim, we should MAKE a claim! (I'm sure he thought that after the claim was made and the location known, We would become "worms food", thanks to the cut throats that he was obviously working with, and they could claim it for themselves and be rich!). As he opened a Cola for us, he went to the back room to make a call! Joel and I looked at each other and began to sweat! (was this what we were warned about?).
After the call,the agent came out and asked how we wanted our monies, the whole time I'm sure he was thinking, CASH! He was taken aback when we asked him to call a bank representative AND a representative from "GRAND CANADIAN LIFE ASSURANCE Co." to come to his office with a notary.(he had no idea what I had in mind, neither did Joel!)
(Joel and I had come to develop trust over the months we had been together and now it showed. I told Him all about it later ........He damned near beat the shit outta me, then later wanted to buy me a hooker and a bottle of champagne.)
The Assayer seemed to sweat as we waited for the people in question to arrive,( he wasn't prepared for this new situation.), all the while telling us things like , youths like us would do better with CASH so as to have a more exciting life, girls, abundance, a bank would only be a hindrance. Joel and I both had the idea he was doing his best to talk us out of "a bank intercession", as we waited . I managed to get a glimpse out the window and saw some guys out by the corner just hangin out doing there best to look cool.
They blended in about as well as "JASON", in a girl scout bake sale!
The officials arrived after about 30 minutes later, to the chagrin of the Assayer, and as it happened, at the same time.(go figure!).
The first guy was from the Banko National, the other was a pencil necked guy from the assurance company.(but he did know his numbers!). I got down to business and asked that our funds were credited to the bank and from there authorised to pay for the purchase of $54,000. of life insurance in both our names,( remember folks! THIS WAS 1964 !), therefor NOT having any money on us! the other 2 GRAND to buy passage on ANY FUCKING STEAMER OUTTA HERE!--ANYWHERE!!
That's when the Notary took over and made it legal. Meanwhile the Assayer was sweating bullets! The whole time stealing glances surreptitiously out the window, the other people didn't seem to notice, but I did...............
It was now about noon............ The bank official, the Insurance Agent and the Notary kinda picked up on what I had in mind , and I think approved. As a matter of fact they thought it was brilliant! I asked if any of them could help us get passage on a freighter to say, England? To our surprise, the Notary told us that she had a bother who worked in the Port Authority, and could do just that. Then I asked if We could have a ride to our Cantina/hotel , for safety sake. They quickly acquiesced and we were off out of harms way. The whole time the assayer was shitting his pants, swearing, and cursing his bad luck!
The banker insisted that He be allowed to take us to lunch so that Blanca , the Notary, could arrange for passage. We didn't argue. as we waited for our food, they asked all sorts of questions about our travels and adventures to date. They had as much fun listening as We had in telling.
Blanca came back as the meal was being served, with the news that all was well and We had been booked passage on a "LYKES BROS. LINE" freighter and was scheduled to leave port in 5 hours to LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, and to be ready for departure in 4.
When we left each other after the meal, the trio was kind enough to ask if, WE would be ok? They told us that our plan to have them come to our rescue was outlandishly brilliant!, and were happy to assist in the out smarting of the "cut throats".
We were dropped off at our rooms and we all said good-by, where upon Joel and I walked over to the cantina and had a drink,(or 3), to talk over what We were gonna do. It was really a no brainer! As we sat there getting pleasantly SLOSHED. We really didn't have much to take with us, so that issue didn't raise its head, but what about our bikes?
'That's easy,lets go outside.", I said to Joel. The first person We saw was Anso, the kid we had asked that morning to watch our bikes. 'hey Anso! We've decided not to pay you money for watching our bikes." I said. He looked crestfallen, he thought that were cool guys and would keep our words, not like grown-ups. Joel picked up on what I was about to do and started to grin. Anso started to get angry. Before he could start to cuss us out, I told him that We decided to give him and his brother both our bikes. That's when his jaw dropped! HAHAHAHAHA, the funniest look you ever saw! Once he stopped hugging and kissing us on the cheeks, he asked why?
I told him that we had finished our business and were to leave in 2 hours to ENGLAND on a boat at pier 53, and would he and his brother mind giving us a lift? After we had told him why we came to CARACAS, and what other guys had told us to look out for and why we had to get out...........well he understood it all and said he would do everything in his power to get us there on time! We got our packs, lighter now by a few POUNDS!, got on the back of the bikes. Elitto (his brother had joined us crying with joy.), to drive Joel on, NOW HIS BIKE! TO THE PIER. We were escorted by a shit load of their friends , mostly on bicycles and 2 or 3 on mopeds, Thur town to the pier. (TALK ABOUT BEING HAPPY, YOU COULDN'T SEE ANSO'S OR ELITTO"S TEETH FOR ALL THE BUGS ON THEM!~ HAHAHAHAH).
We thought we were home free, with minutes to spare, as we came up to the,"STEAMER", WHEN 2 OLD '48 CHEVY COUPES came screeching up to block our way 30 yards from the gang plank!
What happened next took only seconds and it all seemed to have been choreographed in RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL! AT THE VERY LEAST FROM A SCENE FROM, "WEST SIDE STORY", Anso yelled out something neither Joel or I understood and all the kids got off there bike and seemed to form a skirmish line between us and the 5 guys that got out of the cars. The 5 guys pulled knives! The kids pulled switch blades, pipes and bicycle chains!
Joel pulled out his "sling", and I pulled out my "WHAMO". For a moment we thought it was tits up!, but then the reality of the situation hit us. IT WAS OVER 4 TO 1 ODDS! in our favor even though we were all kids!
The 5 guys realised that discretion was the better part of stupidity(!), and backed off. they got in their cars and with alot of shouting and swearing drove off to where ever they came from. No one was hurt!
Seconds after the "cut throats", drove off , we just stood there in silence all just looking at each other, shaking, coming down from an adrenalin, nervous high! One kid , Pico, I think , started to laugh nervously then was picked up by another and another and another, until we were ALL laughing! After we ALL got done, Joel and I went over to ANSO and his brother ELITTO and hugged and said our thanks to them and all the kids. There was no use in attempting to exchange address because most of the kids lived on the streets and most couldn't either, read or write. So We just said thanks!,and got on the boat and walked into another chapter of my new life.
E S D
1 comment:
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