what happens in sioux city, stays in sioux city.

i would just like to start this off with a large sigh. last night i had someone sleep in my truck with me for the first time, i didnt want it to happen, his name was hector. i woke up around 7 in the morning to him trying desperately to close the doors for some reason as the rain beat down upon the truck. i had to urinate and then i had to puke and then i had to poop, it quick of succession. hector started to freak out a little bit, i got out of the truck and walked around barefoot in the rain, in sioux city iowa. i didnt know where i was, and currently i will try to reconstruct what got me there.

the morning was like any other, i got up and found a place to wash up and use the internet. the place i went to was the convention center downtown, right across the street from it are the movie theatres, i had a plan for this day. the new harry potter had just come out and i wanted to see it, i was even willing to pay for it. after i got done with my morning i walked over to the theatre, there was no one there there was no one there taking tickets, so i just walked right in and went into the nearest theatre.

it was still over an hour before the next showing and nothing else was on at the time, so i walked out the back and propped the door open. then i went to my truck and drove around to find a grocery store. eventually i found one, it was a bit far away and i was rushing to get back to the theatre in time. of course i got back with plenty of time and someone had removed my door prop. so i walked around the building, saw no other sneak point and when in the front to pay.

for $7 i watched harry potter 6 and i wasnt very impressed. i had read the book three times and would safely say it is my favorite of the series. i just do not understand why the movies have to be so untrue to the books. during the movie i had deigned to watch it again right after, you know, get my full $7 worth. but after the movie it didnt seem worth it, so i ducked into a different theatre instead. there i watched the new sascha baron cohen film, bruno. that i laughed to and found to be better that harry potter.

it was about 4:pm now, i was hungry again but decided to settle for a drink. i had gone to a bar the day prior and they had a good happy hour special, and it was happy hour. so i walked over there. it was kind of like deja vu. the same bartender, and all of the same people were in the same seats as the day before. it was eerie and i ordered my drink and sat in a corner table so i could use the outlet to charge my computer. i sat over there, minding my own business for a couple of hours having two drinks on happy hour. but then everything changed.

there wasnt anyone in the bar, and i was enjoying that. there was the bartender, nikki, a few other bar workers and one other guy. i decided to have another drink, nikki was talking to the other guy at the bar so i sidled up to him to get another beer. this guy and nikki had been outside together a few times and seemed to be dating, and nikki was drunk now. she walked over to fill up my beer but didnt come back, so i started talking to john.

super sad bht and john

i asked about his relationship with nikki, he said it was complicated, and then we started talking about more things. about portland, los angeles, my travels, him leaving for culinary school soon, etc. by the time nikki came back she was on our side of the bar and john and i had become buddies. he introduced me to her as "his new best friend" she countered that i had become her new best friend yesterday. they made out a little bit and then she left, and john and i were just sitting there again. he said that we should leave after this beer.

i hadnt given any though to leaving with him or pursuing something outside of bar conversation with him. it hadnt crossed my mind at all. but when he said it, i thought about it and it seemed okay. i was about 8:pm by then and i was just going to go back to my truck, watch a movie and fall asleep. he was offering more of a night, so i took it. he suggested that we go from the firehouse, the bar we were at, to the strip club called teasers, it was only a couple of blocks away. i was okay with that. on the way we stopped at my truck and i dropped off my computer and we each had a shot of whiskey. the beginning of the end.

the three amigos!

we got to teasers and we were just hanging around outside, john was smoking his cigarette and i was just waiting for him. up comes hector. clearly i didnt know his name when he walked up, but he came up to us and asked us about the strip club. i told him it was a $3 cover and he gave me a five. i didnt have any change and he said to keep it. he told us his name, and that he was from norfolk, nebraska. he and his girlfriend were pregnant and he had just kind of left home without telling anyone and came to sioux city to have a good night. we hung out and chatted more and when he and john each finished smoking we all went inside. john paid everyones cover and then i bought everyone a beer. hector threw down a bunch of singles and we sat at the stage watching the dancers.

i cannot help but laugh as i think of this. we were an odd crew of people, but we just sat there and each kept buying drinks for one another, and getting singles, the dancer were very touchy. it was a nice experience. then john purchased a bottle of sparkling vodka. i had never seen this before, but it was a small bottle a little bigger than a wine cooler. he poured each of us a shot and i think hector made a toast and we drank. it was good. and now, everything was a good time. we knew most of the dancers, we had plenty of drinks, i was content. then we all got another shot to finish off the bottle. i didnt need that, i think that was when i was officially drunk. however i do still remember the awe in my face when i learned that john had spent in excess of $60 for that little bottle of vodka.

shortly after that however, hector wanted to leave. he felt that we had more to explore and wasnt content to stay at this place for the entire night. i didnt really want to leave, but hector convinced john and john had invited us to stay the night at his house. so i went with them. actually, i drove them. looking back, it wasnt very smart to drive. but this night wasnt about smart things.

hector wanted to go to the next strip club. john wasnt that into it and i was just driving, i had informed them of my financial situation and hector said all of the drinks were on him for the rest of the night. i couldnt say no, so i did what i could. first they each had another shot of whiskey, i waited on mine. then the three of us piled into the cab of my truck and john was driving us away from anywhere i was familiar with. at this point, john was very drunk.

the place that we went to was called mavericks. a strip club in the seedier part of town, but here we were. when we parked i got out the bottle of whiskey and offered around some shots, doing my part. hector wouldnt allow john to have one, so the two of us took shots and then went inside. again, john paid the cover for us. now, i dont know how it happened, but i didnt get very far into the club. immediately i started talking with one of the dancers, she was called secret. and she said she was cold. so i offered her a shirt. i have a few that i dont ever wear, so in the event i didnt get it back, no big deal.

after i gave her the shirt, she asked if i would massage her shoulders. of course i would. so i started doing that and eventually we were in the parking lot and i was making out with her/massing her body in someone elses pickup truck. apparently the truck we were in belonged to the bouncer and when he came out he chastised us and told her that she knew she couldnt do that kind of stuff here. i went back inside. that episode, massaging and such lasted the better part of an hour. it was midnight now. i went to find my friends.

john, bless him, had falled asleep at the stage and one of the dancers was currently slapping him. hector was trying his hardest to get a free lapdance. hector was happy to see me and asked where i had been, i told him, and he was jealous. he wanted more than ever to close out the place and try to go home with a stripper. john and i had other ideas. it was late and we were all very drunk. luckily i hadnt had anything to drink while i was at the bar, so when we finally rounded hector up i was more okay to drive than i had been the last time. still not the best decision, but we had to get out of there.

we all piled into the front of the truck again and we were on our way to john's house. but hector was persisting that the night wasnt over and instead john led us to his neighborhood bar. he insisted that he only lived two blocks from the place and hector was placated for the time being. when entered and it was mellow, but people were friendly and everyone knew john. but no one knew him as john, they all called him j.t. we ordered some beer and just hung out there. hector took out his green card and was showing it off to everyone that would care.

he was very proud of his green card and we talked a bit about us/mexico relations and then him and the owner, pete started talking about something. i turned my attention to the lady sitting next to me. her name was nikki, but not the one from earlier. she told me her story and asked how i knew j.t. i explained my story and then i asked j.t. how he knew here. he said it was complicated but that he wasnt the father of either of her children. he also assured me that he never made out with me. then she said that they had made out just last thursday, a mere 6 days ago. it was hilarious.

peeing!

at one point in the night he was trying to make out with her again, and i kind of broke it up. i am not sure if either of them appreciated it, but it felt like the right thing to do. we were at this bar for a little over an hour, before it got ridiculous and we had to leave. our plan was to walk back to johns house and we would all sleep there. once outside, john proceeded to fall down almost immediately. i picked him up and sat him on the hood of my car, hector peed on the building and then started a tirade. he demanded to go back to the strip club, saying that it was still earlier, we still had an hour to go. i told him there was no way i was driving, and he pouted for a bit but eventually understood.

and then the long march home. john wasnt sure any longer where he lived at, the other patrons at the bar were looking out for johns best interest and didnt want two strangers taking him home. there was a mini-standoff but john assured the bar folk that he wanted to go home and he wanted us to take him. i assured them that we were all right. hector on one side, me on the other, we started to walk/carry john home. then someone yelled at us that we were going in the wrong direction. of course we were.

so we had to walk back by the bar folk in our ridiculous procession and parlay a few folks that reiterated that they didnt trust us. shortly past them, we all fell down. i scraped my knee pretty bad, it was bleeding, but i popped right back up. then i lifted john up. hector said that his elbow hurt and didnt want to get up. the guys from the bar rushed over to us and i was embarassed. i wasnt so drunk i needed to fall and for whatever reason i wanted these guys to like me. pete, the owner of the bar, decided to walk us home so we could find the place. and eventually we did find it. it was upstairs, i got john up there and he immediately sat on the toilet. i went back down to thank pete and collect hector who had resumed some debate that he and pete were having earlier at the bar.

the apartment was upstaris, there was a bedroom at one end a kitchen in the middle and a front room when you walk in, with just one couch in it. the bathroom was just off the front room. i told hector to take the couch and then i checked on john. he had passed out on the toilet, so i woke him up and he pulled his pants up a bit and we got him in his bed. then i had to deal with hector. i told hector to sleep on the couch and i would walk back to my truck and sleep in it, in the morning i would come and get him or he could come and get me and then i would drive him back to his car downtown. he said no way, he didnt want to be left there alone. i rifled around and couldnt find a pen anywhere to write down my phone number. so i did the only thing i could think of.

i waited until he was in the bathroom and i took off. i literally ran as fast as my drunk self would allow me back to the bar. i got back huffing and puffing, the bar had just closed. it was a little after 2:am and the patrons were just sitting outside. they were pete the owner, heath and nikki, jen and her father richard. richard was a county sheriff. i explained to them what had happened and that i was just going to sleep in my truck. i asked pete if i could leave it parked there and leave in the morning. he said that was fine. richard threatened to call me in for vagrancy.

me and jen, very mean

but that simmered down and we were just hanging out chatting, i was trying to end it so i could get in the truck and sleep, but i wanted some water. pete wouldnt let me back in the bar to get any water, so i pulled out my third reserve, water still from portland, and drank some. jen wanted to try portland water, sucked me back into talking and then hector comes up. he isnt furious but he boldly says "why did you run away?" i told him becasue he wasnt being reasonable, i didnt want to sleep on the floor and my truck was right here. then we argued for a bit, i kept telling him to go back there and stay on the couch, the patrons wanted him to take a cab and get a hotel room, but he wanted to sleep in my truck with me.

i told him no way and showed him the back, how little it was. he wasnt really hearing what i was saying, but got back to talking to pete, and i saw my way out. most everyone else had left and it was past 3:am now, so i crawled in the back and fell asleep very promptly. when i awoke, it was not very pleasant. hector was repeatedly slamming the door to the back of my truck. it was light out and i asked him what he was doing in here, he said that he couldnt get the doors to shut. i wasnt very happy that he was in there. i was laid out on the bed and he was curled up at the end, on plywood, and laying on all my trash and other castaway things that end up towards the door to be taken out in the morning.

it was kind of pitiful and i just shook my head at him and went back to sleep. well, i tried to. i couldnt do it, i had to pee so bad. but it was raining and i didnt want to get out. so i laid there, listening to him shiver. i felt bad, but what could i do? then the hangover came in and i had to poop real bad and/or throw up real bad, the point being that i had to get out of the truck. i told him as much, he cleared the way and i jumped out. by the time i was up, pooping was my number one priority. so, barefoot in the rain, i started walking to johns house. except i couldnt really remember where it was.

i mustve looked pitiful, barefoot in the rain, disheveled, and aimless. eventually i found it, but the door was locked. i was pissed, so i walked back to the truck and hector was up now. he wanted to go to mcdonalds. i said okay, i just needed a toilet. the only problem, or the principle problem, was that neither of us knew where the hell we were, at all. so i just started driving, turning when it caught my fancy and the first thing we came upon was a mcdonalds. i rushed in and sat down, he ordered some food. when i finished, i didnt feel much better, i needed to sleep longer, but first i had to get hector to his car. he gave me some food, but it was disgusting and i couldnt eat it.

we left and eventually found downtown. i dropped hector off at his car, he kept saying how crazy of a night it was, and he was right. but it had to end here. we parted and i drove to the convention center and fell asleep in my truck for about 5 more hours. it was great. but then i was really hungry. i popped up and looked where hector was and noticed that he had been sleeping on my computer. i was a little nervous then becasue i didnt want it to be broken, it really fuels part of my journey. i open it and it was broken. sadly hector had cracked part of the screen. i was mad at him for a moment, but then i got over it. it wasnt too bad, but it still was shitty.

then i made some soup and decided to get out of the truck and jot down my memories before they fade as so many have before them. thanks sioux city.