Chapter 10: Joe Downtown
Joe went downtown and hung around Joske’s. It wasn’t the same without his buddies. He left the store and walked over to the Alamo. He decided to go to the bushes. He saw some military guys to give the spiel too. He decided it was better to go talk to the girls first. He cut through the Hilton hotel to go down to the river. As he entered the lobby of the Hilton it was packed. People were going crazy. There were people with cameras nudging their way towards the hotel front desk. Joe got caught up in the crowd. They were now moving Joe and he had no choice. Joe’s mom was political, and Joe was aware of the 1968 presidential election. It involved Humphrey and Nixon.
Joe was swept up in the crowd and moving towards the front desk and not on his own volition. He was moving backwards and bumped into someone. He turned around and looked up at the man. It was Hubert Humphrey. Joe stood there frozen. Humphrey looked down with a big smile and said, “You okay son?” Joe nodded in the affirmative. Humphrey put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and moved on. He couldn’t wait to tell his mom. Joe finally worked his way out of the crowd and headed for the river. He went downstairs and straight to the River Theater. He crossed the bridge and walked to the bushes. As he approached all three girls slowly came out of the bushes. They stopped when they saw it was only Joe. Debbie said, “Where’s everybody?”
Joe stopped but was smiling, “They had to go to relatives for lunch. I thought I would come down and check on y’all.”
Missy said, “You came down here by yourself?”
Joe hesitated, “Yeah. We’ve never had any trouble. I thought I’d check on y’all.”
Debbie said, “Aw, you’re so sweet. Come back here a minute and we can have a good time.”
The girls took Joe back to the bushes and they all took care of him in the biblical sense. Joe was so glad he came downtown today. The four of them came to the edge of the bushes to talk and smooch. As they talked Joe looked up and noticed the guy who faked stabbed Debbie walking towards them. He was wearing the same gray suit when he stabbed Debbie and was walking at a determined pace.
Debbie turned towards Joe and said, “Get outta here. Don’t run just walk away and if he comes after you run to the other side of the river.”
Joe turned and walked towards the bridge. As he was crossing the bridge he looked back at Debbie. The guy walked up and grabbed her. As he grabbed her, he looked at Joe. Debbie didn’t seem upset, and the gray suit escorted her into the bushes. Joe was upset but knew there was nothing he could do. As he got to the other side of the bridge, he ran up the stairs into La Villita and disappeared.
Joe walked around awhile and decided to send the military guys down there to have their fun. If everything was alright, they would go about their business as usual. If something was wrong who better to take care of it than military guys. He could observe from the bridge.
Joe went to Alamo Street and Houston. He saw guys walking and looking around. They were scouting for girls. Joe did the usual procedure. He walked up to the guys and said, “Hey, y’all looking for some fun. I know where the girls are.”
They would stop and look skeptically. One guy sarcastically said, “How much do I owe you to tell me where the fun is?”
Joe quickly said, “Nothing. Go to the Arneson River Theater and cross the bridge. Go left and walk along the grass of the river until you come to the first bush cluster. There are three gorgeous girls that will take care of anything you want to do. See ya.”
Joe walked off and the air force boys headed that way. He talked to several more groups of airmen and sent them towards the bushes. Joe decided to walk to the bushes and see if everything was alright. As Joe went to the top of the bridge, he noticed a line of airmen. He observed a while, and everything seemed normal. He left and went to the arcade in front of the Alamo. He played pinball for a while and then headed back to the bushes.
As he crossed the bridge and approached the bushes everything was quiet. Apparently, the girls took care of the Air Force. As he approached, he loudly whispered, “Anybody home?” Nothing happened. He got closer, “Anybody home?”
Debbie suddenly emerged from the bushes with a big smile, “What are you doing back here darlin?”
Joe walked up, “I came to check on you. I saw the guy in the gray suit earlier. I sent some airmen down here and decided to make sure everything was okay.”
She grabbed his face and scrunched it up as she kissed him saying, “That’s so sweet. I don’t know what I’d do without you and the guys.” She finally took his hand, and they walked back to bushes where all three girls showed their appreciation.
Joe was exhausted by the time he got home. On an air conditioned bus. He got off the bus and decided to see if Dave and Mike were home. He walked towards their houses. Both guys were standing in Dave’s yard. They waved when they saw him.
Joe walked up, “So, how did the dinners with relatives go?”
Dave said, “Hey man, my uncle Jesus just got out of prison and showed up at the dinner. He got drunk quick. He was stumbling around and put a candle by some curtains. The next thing we know the curtains are on fire and everybody’s running around trying to put it out. My grandpa finally went out the front door and came back in with the water hose. He put it out, but it was a mess. Then my uncle started talking about his ex-girlfriend in front of his wife. That didn’t end well. She punched him in the stomach, and he threw up all over the carpet. My dad was standing there and said, ‘He kinda looks like a dog don’t he.’ Some of the relatives were laughing and some were mad. It was crazy.”
The boys laughed and Mike said, “Mine wasn’t that crazy but we did have my aunt Jamie mess up the enchiladas and then start yelling she couldn’t help it because she was pregnant.”
The boys again laughed, and Joe said, “I went downtown to see the girls.”
Dave looked at Joe, “You went downtown by yourself? What were you thinking?”
“I wanted to see how the girls were doing.”
Mike was smiling, “Did the girls take care of you?”
Joe smiled back, “Yeah, twice. Once when I first got there and once before I left. They’re doing great by the way. Get this. I ran into Hubert Humphrey in the lobby of the Hilton.”
Both Dave and Mike Looked at Joe quizzically. They obviously didn’t follow politics. They had no idea what Joe was talking about.
They moved on. Mike said, “Great! Let’s go downtown tomorrow and check it out.” Joe and Dave agreed and decided to meet up at ten in the morning. The boys split up and went home.
