Heard from an old friend tonight. Not that I hadnt heard from her in that long, must have just been a few months back…usually twice a year or so. Back in the day, a decade or two ago, things were differant. I was a part of an odd circle of friends. Misplaced punk rockers, bikers, and just plain misfits. We all stayed togeather like family. We protected each other, enabled each other, and generally survived togeather. Often I would wake in the morning to find 10 punks asleep on my floor…Most of the throw away kids whose parents didnt wnat them anymore. We were so close the cops thought we were a gang. There was a time we would have all died for each other. Even if you didnt like someone, if they needed help, you were there because they were family. This girl was special though. One of the most wonderous human beings that I have ever known. At one time I would have killed to have made her mine, but it was never meant to be and I knew it. As such things go, everybody went thier seperate ways, and many of us lost track of each other. Myself, Capt Smashy and a few others have stayed in touch.
So my wife was talking to her on the phone about my kids upcomming birthday party…and then hands to phone to me and we start talking about having a reunion. Lots of times people have talked about this, but nobody has gone through with it. Well, she has. In a couple of months, all the old family will be getting back togeather for a reunion of sorts. Many of these people I have not seen in 15 years or more, some are coming from as far as Louisiana, and nevada. A whole passel of Aging punk rockers and scooter trash, descending on some unsuspecting texas park. We started going through the names of everybody who should be there, and we got to Billy.
Billy was a dear friend. Mind you he was incredably bad for me, but a great friend any way. Picture if you will, a 6’3" half Korean Punk with purple hair. He once got jumped the student council of the redneck school he went to, and wound up taking out half the football team with a nightstick in the cafateria when they jumped him.
I will never forget one day going over to his parents house. I road up on my old BSA motorcycle, and I see a group of punks gathered in his parents front lawn. I walk up and they all say, Hey, badger, you wanna see Billy? He’s in his room, just go right in…I could tell something was up, but I played along. I walked right up and through open the door. Billy hads some half naked punk chick in there…She quickly pulled the covers over her. Billy pulled up his pants, and I said "Hey, this ones cuter than the last one. " Not missing a beat, he said “This is badger, we share everything.”
He was always trying to share his women with me…That was just the kind of guy he was. When I was around him, we were likely to do anything, hell, I almost went to prison on a least one occasion because of shit I got into with him.
One day, billy came out of a club in west Fort Worth, and a group of Nazi Skinheads beat him into the ground with baseball bats. The cowards couldnt face him one on one. He found out where they lived, and drove over to thier house and took a 12 guage riot gun to thier car. In broad daylight. He then decided it was time to leave town. Billy toured the country, living out of dumpsters, riding an old triumph 650 oil in frame he bought by selling mushrooms. He went to sturgis, he wound up in Arizona, last I heard, working as a harley wrench. I still saw him every few years.
I ask about billy, and my friend tells me that the word is that he is dead. She says that every one she has asked so far said the same thing. This really sucks, because I dont know, and have know way of finding out. The lifestyle he chose to live was a hard, dangerous one. Truth is, I was often suprised he lasted as long as he did. I heard from someone a couple of years back that they had seen him, and that he looked like he was strung out. He also had been running with an outlaw Motorcycle club. Chances are pretty good that he is with us no more. I dont know what to feel, because this wouldnt be the first time one of our clan was thought to be dead and wasnt. I was even dead for a while, and every body was suprised as hell when I came walking into the Rocky Horror Picture Show(I was realy just in love, a condition I never recovered from, so I hadnt been around for a long time).
Billy was one of those people who was imortal…Or at least thought he was…This sucks…