Between two worlds
There was a lady on my section who was African American a wonderful woman called Lisa, she was not a part of the happy hour crew she was happily married, a fine upstanding Christian woman with a heartful of trouble, while I seem to walk both roads, I saw her trouble and we spoke about it, she opened up to me and my heart went out to her.
She was a born again Christian who believed in spiritual gifts and speaking in tongues and this was her problem, she was being outcast by her church because she couldn’t speak in tongues, they told her she never had the Holy Spirit unless she was able to do this because it was a sign of the spirit, this is the sad thing about being a Christian, the diversity is so immense.
I myself was what I considered to be a born again Christian, the word Christian meaning a follower of Christ, was certainly not practicing my faith but I was not declaring my faith to anyone, it was my private business between myself and God, however I could not sit back and watch this woman live in torment, was seriously causing her physical and mental harm.
I had to help her and so I invited her and her husband to my apartment for a talk about it, as a fellow believer I had knowledge about spiritual gifts, she told some others who also wanted to come and so I ended up with a small Bible group study in my apartment, I am not going through details of the study because it is not what this book is about, however it is all part of my journey.
I started visiting various churches and I was surprised by the differences, not just the diversity which I think is common knowledge but how things were delivered, I don’t know the correct or best way to describe this, Ross told me his friend played in a band at a church called David’s Cave it was quite a drive but I made the journey.
When I arrived it was nothing like I was expecting, in fact total surprise, it was located in a shopping square, there was a bar a few doors down and so I walked around to the entrance where a couple of girls were sitting on a step having a smoke, and one was asking her friend a question which I gave my answer to, this was rude of me to but in on what others were saying but they were fine with it and they looked up at me and I held my hand out and said “hi I’m Peter” they shook my hand and we started chatting.
I told them Ross recommended the church to me and gave the name of his friend, one of the girls said her husband also played in the band, and then we went into the church where I was even more surprised, I was in my Sunday best and this was a young church which was great.
The band was upbeat the youngsters in there jeans and tee-shirts pastor Giles was cool with his long hair much like a rock church well it was certainly rocking and most the congregation had problem pasts such as addiction and would certainly not fit into any conventional church with all their rules and so I fit in well with them.
I made good friends with John and Christine, Christine was one of the girls I had spoken with outside and John was her husband, I also met Ross’s friend, I got on well with everyone and their love of God and Christ was very apparent.
John and Christine live in Tempe which was close to me and so I visited them outside of church and we would also travel together, a church barbecue was arranged in a park, to me this was what God was all about, love and excepting each other for who we are, not judging and condemning, there was nothing false about these youngsters or their parents.
I also got on well with pastor Giles, and the time came when baptisms were coming up for those wanting to be baptised, I had been christened as a child but I was of the belief that it was to be a conscious choice which you cannot make as a baby and so I put my name forward to be baptised.
The baptism took place in one of the church members parents’ house who were also supporters of the church it was in there swimming pool and full submersion, a really good day and pastor Giles baptised me, the next time I saw him I told him that he had been praying for a miracle, and that his prayer has been answered, he was dumfounded, he later said he was going to have a spiritual meeting at the church in the evening.
This was not a charismatic church at the time and the evening was extremely passionate as we sang you could feel the change in the air, all was good.
I drifted to another church totally the other side of the scale, this was a rich church and I was invited to the home of the pastor and his wife, it was some house, this was a church with resources, and outreach possibilities, we had a good meeting at their home, and maybe a week later a program to the feed the hungry was announced all member we asked to provide what food they could and collections were made then we went to downtown Phoenix and setup a kitchen and fed the hungry, all types of people turned up and we would talk and they were all welcome.
Later I was asked if I wanted to go to Mexico to help them start a ministry in Nogales, they would provide an interpreter, and so a small group of us went off to Mexico.
Nogales is just inside Mexico over the Arizona border and is a tourist attraction, at least where you first cross the border to where the stores and bars were, however we were not going to that part, we went in up the hills to the real people who had nothing.
When we arrived at the village my first impression was that of a scrapyard, I don’t intend that in a disrespectful way, there vehicles were old and beaten up, they lived in shacks, on the inside was no carpeting or dividing doors only curtains however I have never seen such happy people and that is what has stayed with me even now, when I hear and see people griping over materiel things I wonder how they would cope in their situation? Happiness comes from within and each other it is neither brought nor sold, the company we keep and what we chose to be.
We sang in Spanish I was invited to stay for dinner my interpreter told me I would offend them if I refused and so I stayed, I was in the kitchen watching the lady make tortillas which was an experience.
It was explained to me that they go into the desert and cut the flat cactus, scrap the spikes off then dice it, we were also having some sort of re-boiled belly pork, I may be wrong with the pork bit, it was like some jelly stuff? I would never make a cook connoisseur; my descriptions leave a lot to be desired not just with food but in general.
At the table she was very concerned if I was liking it, I have been known as a picky eater in the past, so anything different was a challenge, the tortillas were to die for, absolutely the best, I was not too good with hot spicy, but it was doable and I told her it was good.
I went for a walk around the village and found a quite spot to have a smoke, however I was seen, and it never seemed to be a problem to the Mexicans, but to some beliefs such as this church it is totally taboo I do try to show respect to non-smokers by being discreet but denying it would be deceitful, I am who I am.
I never went back to the church however I did visit Mexico a few times but not with the church, I was clearly walking between two worlds.
During this time I had resigned from my job I had been a collector for 10 approx. months but now it was time to go it alone, really it was not my scene, and I had come with different plans, which involved import export and working for myself, I had got myself a business name put an ad in the paper and started working for myself in property repairs, while doing this I also took a job topping out on a construction site.
Top-out refers to the plumbing installed after groundwork and before finish.
As you know I had a lovely Le-Baron GTS car, I was making a left turn on a green arrow when a police officer on a Harley Davison bike came out of nowhere needless to say I hit him, he skidded along the road and when he came to a stop he radioed officer down, and I was swarmed with flashing lights, I just sat on the kerb I had no idea where he came from, While I was sitting on the kerb a youngster came up and sat next to me and said you know it wasn’t your fault?
I was baffled because the cop came from nowhere; the lad explained that he was stationed behind the police officer when he just took off while his traffic light was still red and without displaying any lights while I was in my turn, the officer had shot a red light without warning. The officer had also admitted guilt at the scene to his buddies, he told them that he could avoid the first car but couldn’t avoid me; he had swerved to miss the car in front of me which meant there was no way that I could be at fault.
They breathalysed me and I was clear, however I still had to go to court but I was confident because the lad told them at the scene what had happened and so they knew it was not my fault. I never contacted my insurance they were in Texas and as far as I was concerned it was a clear cut done deal, the officer admitted it was his fault at the scene and I had a brilliant witness what could go wrong? I figured if I won my car would be repaired and the insurance need never know, I knew that in the UK even if the accident is not your fault it can affect your premiums because it goes on your record, and why should I pay a premium for what is not my fault?
The day of court comes and now the officer is changing his story, they have this big drawing pad up on an easel and his defence draw a diagram of the scene, even in his drawing it showed the other vehicles still at the junction and he alone made the turn had the lights been green the other traffic would also have moved, I had no defence representation only me.
My witness took the stand he stood his ground and told them the officer shot a red light; he was sitting right behind him.
The officer had no witness in his defence only a drawing on a big piece of paper and I lost… I got done for failing to yield, I was still on my UK licence so they couldn’t touch that but I got a fine, and as we walked out of court the officer turned to his buddies and thanked them, I talked with the lad he was there with his dad and none of them could believe it they said I had been screwed I said so what’s new, my respect for those in the system was quickly fading.
Now I have a car with a busted up fender and needs a front end, I get a summons from the police for $6.000 for a new bike, so I called the insurance and of course the first question was why did you not contact us before? I did a telephone interview with them, I was expecting them to reject me and refuse to pay, I was told they would have represented me I explained I thought it was a done deal, he was a police officer, an upstanding representative of the community, my insurance handled the claim and I heard no more about it.
Work was coming in but I also did some telemarketing in the evenings to make extra money but it was pressure selling and I am not good at that, people either want the product or they don’t, I had a list of rebuttals in order to pressure them, I went to plenty of companies because I was an ex-debt collector it was easy to get that type of work. I was on my way but it was hard work, I had all sorts of work coming in enough not to do telemarketing anymore.
My mum was coming for a visit and I was having problems with my apartment because when the monsoons came my roof leaked all over the place I had to put containers in the living room and the bedroom the rain literally poured in, I had reported it and the management promised to sort it out, I had to get things as ship shape as I could for my mum.
I never saw my work colleagues again once I had left my job now my favourite dance place was Studebakers, it was disco music the DJ was brilliant he wore wigs and wild dress it was a party night every time, I enjoyed the environment and I can disco dance, I was on my own to the degree I went out alone and came home alone, I was not interested in picking up women I would dance and say thank you then walk away, no chatting up, I was just having fun and letting off steam.
There would sessions throughout the evening when the staff would do a set dance on the dance floor and another when they would dance on the bar non-staff were also invited to dance on the bar and so did I danced on the bar with the waitresses plus I got a badge for it which said “I did it on the bar”, and I got more than one.
My mum arrived from the UK via Texas she was going to stay with her good friend Mildred who she normally stayed with, Mildred had lost her husband a few years or so back and now lived alone in her house, my sister and I meet up with her mum and so I took my sister and mother to Studebakers, there was also a classic Studebaker car in the room, and we had a drink, I was just showing her my hangout.
I also went with my mum and Mildred to the Big Apple it’s a restaurant where the floor is covered with sawdust it has swing doors proper western place, where the waitress’s dressed as cowgirls and wore guns on their hips, I got talking to our waitress who was wearing two guns I asked if I good have a closer look at them and so she got them out for me they were much heavier than I thought, we had a good time, I was a total flirt.
I went over to see mum at Mildred’s the next day, we sat on her patio it was hot out there, as you would expect I told her there was a way to cool the patio by 10degrees, would she be interested? She obviously said that she would be and asked me how, and I told her about a mist system by Arizona mist, how it sprays cold water in a fine mist which then evaporates, it will cool the patio without getting wet, my mum went back to Texas before returning to the UK, I installed the mist system for Mildred, she was happy with it and now my life continued.
I was always trying out new places and visited a bar where I started talking with a dancer from Australia she sat and joined me at my table for a while before having to get back to work, we had a good chat and we got on well she had a strong Aussie accent, and so we arrange to meet up on her day off she gave me an address of a bar to go to.
The day of the date arrived and I set off to find this bar, it ended up being way out in the boonies, I went into the bar, I was early and so I ordered a drink and waited and waited, it was a no show we hadn’t exchanged numbers and so I would never know the reason. I decided to just go home I went out to the car park which was dark, there was a biker guy standing by his bike, we acknowledged each other and he pulled a gun out from his bike, he never pointed it at me or threatened me with it in anyway, he simply stood there holding it while talking, maybe he thought I may be carrying, then he said “I like your watch” I laughed and “said this old thing it’s a cheapo battery thing the watch your wearing is far better than this” he smiled at me holstered his gun got on his bike and rode off.
I thought no more of it I got in my car and drove home, I had showed no fear because I was not afraid, I arrived home safely.
Back at my apartment I was going to leave due to the leaks not being repaired when they asked me to sign a new lease, they promised me the repairs would be done and I would get a new carpet, my place was a real mess due to water damage.
I signed another lease the monsoons came as did the leaks and no new carpets they reneged on the lease and so I gave them a letter saying that I was leaving the apartment because they had not fulfilled the agreement and I could not live in them conditions any longer, I packed up and left.
I got an apartment right by downtown Tempe this was the place to be if you wanted to party, my last place had been in Mesa, but now I had everything on my doorstep including an English pub with steel darts, I liked to play darts and some bars did have darts but they were plastic darts played on an electronic board with perforations and electronic score board that recorded the score, you had to pay to play and so to find a pub with steel darts was a dream.
I got a notification to pay the contract from my last apartment, I refused on the premise they had not fulfilled their part of the agreement, and so they were in breach not me, but I lost again and my credit rating would be affected, I now had bad credit, I was black listed but business was good, I was making my way without finance or money from anyone, I paid my bills and continued to party, I worked hard but I partied just as hard I lived hand to mouth but I had a good time, what’s the point of having it if you don’t enjoy it?
Downtown Tempe was only around the corner, the roads were closed off on Friday and Saturday evenings it was party time, it was mainly students and they were great, I had some very good times there, I did cross the road and got approached by an aggressive police officer on a motorbike who came up to me and said “cross the road where we like do we”? I said I don’t know? He told me to cross in the designated area or next time he would give me a ticket for jaywalking, and he walked off towards his motorbike.
I just carried on and had a good time it was my birthday again I had come a long way since my first one I Arizona but I could never top that one, this one was different I only wish I could remember it? I was in a bar with some people and had said it was my birthday the drinks were flowing next thing is I’m waking up the next day on my bed in my apartment, I don’t know how I got there I tried to remember and was concerned about going back in the bar in case I had made a fool of myself, however I went back in and asked if I made a fool of myself and that I could not remember, the bartender laughed and gave me a free drink, now I was even more concerned, I just wish I could remember it.
Time has been passing and my sister from Texas contacted me to say that mum was coming over to Texas she would be here for her birthday they were arranging a surprise birthday party for her and if I would be able to make it over, I said that I could and that I would be there, it was kept secret form my mum, my nephew would pick me up from the airport and so I got my flight to Dallas.
My nephew met me and we decided that we would sneak in and change into our swimming trunks and run and jump in the pool, he was going to say he brought a friend home from work, we arrived and carried the plan out, all the family were out by the pool and we ran and jumped into the pool.
He announced that he had brought a friend home and mum didn’t’ recognise me until I got out the pool and I said “hi mum” she said “bloody hell” and we hugged, the party kicked off in the evening she had the time of her life with surprise cake and the works, it was a great weekend and then I got the plane back to Phoenix, I had work to do and customers to satisfy.