Unexpected Roads

This story is about me, a boy who grew up in a small town in West Virginia. One night, my dad and I were watching the news, and they showed the hippies and talked about what they were doing. I told my dad that it was what I was going to do. He told me to go for it. I did. At thirteen, I hitchhiked to Virginia Beach and back. When I got home, I did go to jail. My grandfather would get me out. He was a deputy sheriff. I left home a lot. I always went to the beaches: Daytona and Myrtle. We used to sleep on beaches.

At age fourteen, I was taught something that I would need in my life. I was into harder drugs by this time--acid drugs that made you trip and see stuff that ain't there. Every time I would run away from home, I would be in jail when I got back. I didn't go to school much. I went to parties with my friends. I was tutored in the eighth grade. The school passed me from the ninth grade to the twelfth to get me out of their school. I don't know how I passed, but when I got to the eleventh grade, something happened. I was kicked out of school for drugs. I quit school and went to school at night.

I had to drive to night school. I was studying to take my GED. The classes were three hours a night. My best friend also quit high school and came to night school. We skipped school one night, drove to Pennsylvania, and pulled an armed robbery. I didn't go home for three days, but we got busted. This was April 1975. I took off and went to Virginia Beach with some friends. I hitchhiked back and had my first meeting with the real law (FBI / US Marshals). They were camped out in my family's yard. I had charges against me--murder and kidnapping. I wonder what happened.

Four years down the road, I ended up at the carnival. I did that for twenty-five years. I cooked sausage, pizza, and fried veggies. I did rides and games. The life I lived was different from anyone else's life. I got more education on the road than I did at school. Life gives you so many challenges; you never know what to expect. Just like the roads I have traveled--unexpected roads.