The din coming from the interior of the party house was deafening. I moved inside, stepping to the left in order to keep my right hand free, and also allow Gularte to be a second target instead of both of us potentially being taken as one. There were about a dozen women moving about in the mist and one who was dancing nearby yelled out…
“Hey, it’s the San Clemente cops,” after which she began to laugh even louder than the music.
Spellbinding as always James.
Thanks Chuck, much appreciate your compliment, as usual!
Semper fi,
Jim
I got opened my door, as he was already out of the car almost before the limo’s engine stopped spinning.
Syntax error: awkward wording here.
Thanks for the heads up. Fixed.
Another exciting read after missing too many.
As a butcher I had worked with many WW II & Korea veterans at first. Many retold stories when feeling comfortable or needing to relax, calm down from their haunting memories.
Later would day stories would be returning VietNam veterans, followed by Irish, Afghanistan veterans.
They seemed to appreciate my ear for listening to their stories of time in disparity.
Thanks Ed, much appreciate your loyalty and support, as well as the compliment of your writing.
Semper fi,
Jim
Back then it was so much easier to have people “scrubbed” than it is today . Certain institutions would have gladly created false birth certificates and other records for monetary fees , hand a clerk in a hospital records room 4 500.00 and they would be willing to fill out a false birth certificate and insert in their files and make one up for Mr Wilson himself . Same goes for a church , hand a minister the same amount and he would make up a baptismal record , no questions asked . The tough part would be if Mr Wilson had something in his former life that may come back to bite him , so the agency whoever they may have been needed to do a very careful search and destroy of his past . But when someone is that clean , even a cursory glance at his past or even current record would raise red flags . People that clean just don’t exist in the real world
Thanks Chuck, for that heady and accurate analysis…however, the reality is that most functionaries of today, like police and such, are not truly suspicious all the time because all the time to them does not have such odd circumstance in it. Like the guards at the airports who, after many years on duty looking at X-Ray results, fail to see the image of gun right in front of them on the screen. We get used to things. A totally clean background and identity is something that almost always gets passed right on through, even today. It’s odd but not at all that uncommon. Almost half of the entire U.S. population never ever gets pulled over by the police for any infraction. Hard to believe, but true.
Semper fi,
Jim
Sir,
Thanks for the new chapter.
Always look forrard to each new one!
Always left waiting for new answers to the cliff hangers.
The Walter Duke! Thanks Walt, always appreciate hearing from you and the compliments you constantly pay me. Helps keep me
going for it’s sure as hell not the money!
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks LT. Another cliff hanger!
Thanks for the upside down compliment Joseph! Much appreciated.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT, the F150 didn’t come out until 1975. I myself had a 1972 F100 Sport Custom.
Don’t think any other individual subject I’ve brought up has created more commentary!
Thanks for the input on the subject…
Semper fi,
Jim
We headed into the town for the first time as full blown police officers, dual four barrel carbs hissing through the air cleaner and the throbbing giant pistons making the squad car shake a little and vibrate even…
Bring back GTO memories Lt.??
Have never forgotten the shake, rattle, roll and full-throated hissing intake of that street monster,
‘faster than a speeding bullet’ but unable to stay with a modern Tesla! Funny times, indeed.
Thanks for the great comment and quoting my work in it.
Semper fi,
Jim
It was the deluxe trim on a f100 or f250
Thanks, as I sorta thought I’d gone even more nuttier than many think!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
For being in a post war ‘Limbo’ situation, you certainly had a lot going on. I have worked with a lot of California kids during my years in the military and never have figured out why they all seemed to think they were tough when they were usually all fluff. Stand up to them and they always backed down. Finally, Gularte sounds like he will be a key player in the near future for you.
Looking forward to XIII.
Most people never have real physical confrontation in their lives, but want to sound like they fight and win all the time.
Just part of being one of us anthropoid apes wandering about on the floor of the forest rising above…and trying to be somebody…anybody at all.
Thanks for the depth of your comment and looking forward to more.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another great chapter, Jim, and as usual you keep the reader on his/her toes – thanks!
Couple minor edits, but I’ll leave them up to the usual suspects.
I’ll be waiting, waiting for the next chapter, so write quickly.
Thanks for the help in editing Craig. And also the compliment of your bothering and wanting more.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks again. Enjoyed.
Thanks for the laconic compliment Ted.
I shall endeavor to persevere!
Semper fi,
Jim
More mysteries to follow no doubt !! Thanks for the chapter It. Carry on 😉
Been following story from the start, just an observation, not a criticism:
You mentioned that Gularte had a Ford Ranger, I believe the Ford Ranger came out in 1982 as a compact pickup.
Late sixties full size F150 came in a Ranger version. Check it out on the Internet.
I remember it well. We finally put nearly a thousand pounds of sand in the back to
get traction, as the 390 had like 460 lbs of torque.
Semper fi,
Jim
That’s correct. A Ranger was a high level trim option for an F100. I have a 1968 Ranger
Yes, F100 not F150. My brain records F150 as it’s all we ever see today, with respect to the basic trim of the common
Ford Pickup. Thanks for the comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
Yeah Bob, he’s right. I wanted one, but never got it. Lime green fastback Mustang Mach1 won out.
Fastback Mustang of the time. Could not see out the back almost at all, but then you probably passed everything in sight and were
never gained on from the rear!
Thanks for the comment,
Semper fi,
Jim
Yes and 600 +lb. Hanging over the front axle.
Strange machines for strange times, indeed, Myrle. Fun but odd in retrospective thoughts.
Semper fi,
Jim
The Ranger was the top of the line, like the XLT in later years.
Too true, as others have also pointed out. Thanks for the input Ernie.
Semper fi,
Jim
It was the deluxe trim on a f100 or f250
Yes, as I have been informed by many. Thanks for the correction.
Semper fi,
Jim
Ideally enjoy reading each chapter as you post them! Thank you very much for what you do so well !!
Lt, you have outdone your self! That is the most in depth look into your soul I have seen since I started reading all your chapters!! I will wait, holding my breath, to see the next chapter appear!! Keep em coming. Semper Fi Sir
The soul is a funny place. A place where the person possessing it seldom gets to peer inside at all…much less understand what’s viewed there if actually perceived. Thanks for the supportive comment, not only about the writing but me myself.
Semper fi,
Jim
Beautifully descriptive, fascinating addition to the sagas.
Thanks for the depth of your comment and compliment. That didn’t just fly by me. I am thinking.
Much appreciated.
Semper fi,
Jim
Another good read, Jim.
Kind of an awkward construction, I get what you mean though. How about “there were about a dozen women moving about in the mist and one who was dancing nearby yelled out…”
Quite possibly ‘awkward’ describes either the situation itself or the construct of the language used to describe it.
Thanks for the depth of your thoughts about it and also in writing on here about it.
Semper fi,
Jim
keeps me turning pages. awesome read
Great read. Still waiting to hear more about Ava. The Wilson mystery is intriguing. Glad to hear you got a partner that can relate.
Ava is coming back, sort of like getting quick glue on your fingers and not having any acetone around to get the remnants off.
Ava was ‘given’ to me so I could better appreciate my wife, I think…and she’s coming back, of course.
Semper fi,
Jim
It may be a day or so before I can really look at this due to a prior commitment. My first read found one tiny edit.
You and Gularte make a good team.
Thanks DanC, like you don’t do enough! Much appreciate you and all the help you have given me, and continue to give.
Simper fi,
Jim