Late in 1993, my brother Loyd was driving a truck from the refinery in Artesia, NM to Los Angeles. He wanted to take the opportunity to come spend some time with me and asked me to come pick him where he had to drop off the truck. He said he would be getting a great deal of money, so he would be able to afford to pay his way.
While I was in LA, I wanted to see "Short Cuts" in 70mm. It was showing at a movie theater in Westwood. After I picked up Loyd, I drove him to the bank so he could cash the check he received. We went to where the film was showing and bought tickets. However, we still had more than an hour to kill before the movie started. Loyd suggested we pop by and see a couple of our cousins who he said lived nearby. I asked him where. "San Bernardino." "Oh, Loyd, you have no idea how large the LA area is. That's an hour and a half away. You don't just 'pop in' to San Bernardino." We got something to eat and then went into the movie. Loyd was really tired from driving, but managed to stay awake during the 3-plus-hour film.
We drove back to San Diego. Loyd slept most of the way there. We got to the apartment and he just crashed.
There was a day that I wasn't working and Loyd wanted to drive up to San Bernardino to see our cousins. We went up and spent the day there. Mostly all we did was hang out, visit, play games and listen to music. It was nice because it meant I didn't need to spend any money. We came back home that night.
While I had to be at work one day, Loyd decided he wanted to go see "Addams Family Values." I drove him to the same movie theater where I'd see it with Criz. He would just have to walk back home, which included having to hike up a 15% grade for about a half-mile. When he got to the top, he had forgotten how to get home, but he found a nearby market he had been to before and was able to navigate from there. I asked him how he liked the movie. He said it was really short and hard to follow. I immediately realized he had walked into the wrong auditorium that started the movie at an earlier time. I offered to drive him back so he could see the first half hour, but he declined.
Loyd was also expecting to receive a check at the place he used to live with some friends in San Marcos, TX. He called his friends. Yes, they had received the check. And they had already cashed it. And spent the money. WHAT? (I guess they thought he didn't know he was going to be getting a check so they decided to help themselves.) Loyd got one of them to send him a check for the amount he was supposed to receive. Somehow, he managed to talk my roommate Hudd into depositing that check and cashing it out. Hudd obliged and Loyd treated us all to lunch at a Mexican restaurant.
Loyd's plan was to buy a used car for real cheap and drive it back to New Mexico. He was able to find a car he could buy about a block away from the apartment. It didn't run, but he was certain he could fix it. So that's how he spent most of the next two weeks. He would enlist my help from time to time. At one point, he had me turn the key for the ignition. Loyd would signal me when to let go of the key. The starter would keep turning over, but the car wouldn't start. This went on for about five minutes. I asked, "Loyd, are we TRYING to start the car?" "Yes." "Well, I need to step on the gas pedal." "NO! Gas is coming through the line. You DO NOT need to step on the gas pedal." "I can tell that the engine will start if I step on the gas." "NO! YOU'LL FLOOD THE ENGINE!" "If I step on it just one time, IT WILL NOT FLOOD THE ENGINE!" Loyd relented and allowed me to briefly step on the gas pedal ONE TIME. I did that and the car started right away. Loyd looked at me and then made a "We're not worthy" gesture with his arms.
But starting the car was half the battle. The other half was getting it to continuously run. Loyd was able to get it to run enough that we could drive it to a mechanic in Pacific Beach, whom he hoped could diagnose the problem so that he would know what to fix. But on the way back, the car stopped running while we were on I-5. I saw Loyd pull over to the shoulder behind me. I also pulled over next to a call box. I was able to get AAA to come out and tow the car back. We were just a little outside the 7 mile range for the free towing, but the tow truck driver was cool and brought it back to our original location on Texas St.
Now that Loyd knew what he needed to fix, he had to get the parts. But he didn't have much money left over and still needed to get back to New Mexico. He had to ask the woman he bought the car from if she would loan him some money. She wouldn't do it. This meant we had to turn to Mom to get some money so that he could come home.
In the meantime, we got to spend Thanksgiving together. We ate at Furr's Cafeteria and saw the film "A Perfect World."
Loyd finally got the car fixed enough so that he could drive it home. We got the money from Mom and Loyd went back, and just in time. He had been staying with me for three weeks. We were starting to get on each others' nerves.
After he left, Hudd's father found out that the check Loyd gave him had bounced AND HE WAS ANGRY! He was so angry, he was threatening legal action against me and Loyd. I had to get a hold of Loyd's friend and tell him that he needed to send a cashier's check. Not a regular check and not a money order. It had to be a cashier's check made out to Hudd, or he was also going to face legal action as well. He actually sent the cashier's check and then everything was alright with the world after that.
On a sad note, one of the cousins Loyd and I had seen in San Bernardino passed away in the last couple of weeks. His life came to a rather dramatic end and I'm sorry I was never that close with him.
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