7) Random "bum" I gave a ride to.
I believe this story falls under the F'd up and Thoed category.
I was on my way up to a party in Houston when I noticed that I was low on gas. So I stopped into the Chevron station at Bay Area Blvd and 45.
As I was filling up I noticed this guy bouncing around the station from pump to pump wherever someone was filling up. So I'm cursing Chevron's slow ass pumps hoping that I'll finish up before he makes his way over to me.
No such luck. I notice as he's getting closer that he has a pretty severe limp. No clue if he was handicapped or if he'd been injured. He's wearing a blue and red basketball jersey along with matching cap and shorts. No clue what team, so feel free to imagine whatever team you'd like that wears blue and red. Not to be racist now, But I should probably clarify that he is also white, as even I'm starting to imagine a black man as I type. He was probably around 23-25 years old, a tad bit scruffy, but all and all appeared a bit better off than your average bum.
He finally approached me and said "Yo Man...". I instinctively cut him off with my standard, "Sorry bro, I don't carry any cash on me". I could tell by the tone of his response that he was obviously frustrated. "Man, I don't need cash, I ****in got cash!" as he pulls out about $500+ to show me. So now I'm confused, and a bit curious. "Sorry man, what do you need?" And he tells me he needs a ride.
So at this point I feel a bit bad about confusing him with a bum, and even though he still appeared a bit shady I told him that if it wasn't out of my way then I'd give him a ride. Damned if the dude wasn't going my way. Just needed to get to another gas station up 45 at Fuqua. So I told him to hop on in. I noticed he had a hard time getting in and that he used his right arm exclusively. I didn't ask him about it, but I ended up getting the story anyways.
He finally got buckled in and said, "Thanks Man, My **** of a girlfriend stole my ****ing car." To which I responded, "Dude, that's ****ed up. You know where she went?" Told me, "Nah man, ain't no tellin with that *****. She's ****ed up on crack and definitely has no business drivin, but I guess that's what I get for leaving the car running. All I can say is "Wow". But he then assured me that I didn't have to worry about him. He'd been clean since he got all cracked out and had a stroke. Which explained the limp and the dead arm. Unfortunately his girlfriend did not learn from his misfortune and was still an addict.
At that point I figured we'd gotten to know each other well enough to enjoy some tunes together, so I turned on my radio. Had my 'Disturbed' Album in at the time and as it came on his eye's lit up. He asked, "You like these guys?" and I told him "yeah man, this is a CD, not the radio" So I turned it up and began head banging with my new crippled, crack dealin, cracka ass gangsta friend all the way to the convenience store/gas station where his buddy was working and could take care of him from there. Now normally I wouldn't be jamming out in my truck like that, but figured it was a better option than making further small talk with my current co-pilot.
Finally made it to his destination. He thanked me and offered some cash for the ride. I had to decline as I figured that would negate any good karma I had coming my way for doing my good deed of the day. Plus, the story alone was worth more than money to me. Might have negated the good karma anyways as I couldn't help but give him a sarcastic little "You stay clean now, ya hear!" shout out as I left. Thought it was kind of a dick move on my part, but feel I earned it at that point. Since then I have limited myself to picking up only female bums as I am anxious to hear his girlfriends side of the story.