Bleeding Perseverance - Episode 41

Autobiography Fridays

Although I enjoyed the free movies at Pacific Theatres, if I wanted to earn enough to start vocal lessons I‟d have to get a better paying job. Ritchie told me that they were looking for another security guard there at the bowling alley, so I decided to apply at the main office of the company which serviced the establishment, Renaissance Security.

The guy who owned the security company was like one of those blunt and to-the-point type of guys from New York. But he was willing to give me a chance, and for that I respected him. Before being hired though I had to go take a test that all security guards had to pass before being able to work. And I’d have to get 100% on it.

I thought for sure I’d end up having to take it at least a couple of times before passing, but then, to my relief, I found out that it was open book. So after paying the exam fee and learning all about the legal rights and responsibilities of security guards, (including the fact that a security guard has no more power than your average citizen) I returned to Renaissance with my form stating that I had passed and was ready for hire. And so I actually was and put in a two week notice at the theatre.

For the first few weeks I worked at the bowling alley. Although we didn’t have any special authority other than watching over the place on behalf of the owner, I felt obligated to take the job seriously, meaning always staying alert and keeping an eye out for any disturbances. At one time I had wanted to be a cop, but due to my visual impairment of being blind in one eye, as well as the powers that be possibly having a problem with the way my back was (even though I didn’t, and could do anything anybody else could do) I was told I wouldn’t pass the physical requirements. So this would be the closest I’d ever come to law enforcement.

Meanwhile Mom was already growing tired of Pasadena. Well, it was nearing a year, which kept in time with her usual nomadic clock. That, and the fact that she was again falling way behind on rent and bills. Claiming she wanted a slower pace, she started talking about wanting to move up north to the small mountainous town of Klamath. Had she already forgotten about Greenville, and how restless she had become there?

Well, one thing was for certain. I didn’t want to go. So now with no more than a month to find a place to live I didn’t know when I’d ever be able to get back to vocal lessons. Steve had an extra bedroom at his place, and although he wanted to charge quite a bit for rent and utilities, I didn’t have any other options at the time. Things had gotten pretty ugly between Mom and the owner, so she and the kids went back to the motel we were staying at beforehand for a month before moving on to Klamath while I moved in with Steve. He was an alright guy, yet the type you had to keep your eye on when it came to money. He always wanted to overcharge while bringing it in and pay as little as possible when paying out. His main source of income involved painting well-to-do houses, while taking advantage of hiring really cheap help to assist him. Before I got hired at Pacific Theatres I had helped him on a job. Eight hours of work for only twenty dollars. That’s only two dollars and fifty cents an hour! Needless to say I never went on another job with him again.

One day my boss at Renaissance called me and asked if I’d be willing to work a graveyard shift at Del Taco in Hollywood. I was used to staying up late anyway, and wanted to be someone he could count on, so I said sure.

Hollywood was a lot rowdier of a place than Pasadena, but I was game. So armed with nothing more than my utility belt, handcuffs and a 5-cell Mag Lite (almost two hundred dollars of supplies that I had purchased myself since the company didn’t supply it) I was on a bus to Hollywood with two Jolt Colas and some caffeine pills.

The bowling alley was a convent compared to Hollywood! Gang bangers, prostitutes, ravers. And all other walks of life you could imagine. Most of them were cool though, giving some type of friendly gesture as they came and went. But man was it a seedy place. Prostitutes trying to get into the bathroom to do a job. Some drugs being dealt here and there. And I’ll never forget the two guys who met each other right there in the small parking lot. A white guy had just come out of the restaurant with his bag of tacos when a black guy approached him. They started talking and soon walked over to the white guy’s truck. He took his seat on the driver’s side, leaving the truck door open where the black guy was standing and talking to him.

The black guy was definitely the pursuer, with the white guy being the innocent who was just curious enough to keep the game going. Next thing you know the black guy was unbuttoning his boy toy’s shirt and then began to go for the nipple. Ok, I thought to myself. I’ll give these guys two more minutes as long as he doesn’t go down any further, and if they’re still at it I’m gonna have to tell them to move on. You see, when you’re working in such an environment you have to be kinda liberal. You have to understand that this is how such a place is after dark, and if you go in trying to be an uptight asshole, bad things could happen. Of course you need to do your job, but you need to know when and to what extent to be the person of authority. Otherwise, not only will these people not respect you, but they’ll likely to show it. No one ever advised me on such things. It’s just something I knew from having sense. Fortunately, the two love birds left before I had to stop amateur porn night.

With every passing gang member I really had to stay alert because you never know. Later that night a bass-pounding lowrider pulled in. About a half dozen Mexican American bangers got out, with a few going into the restaurant, and a few headed my way. The one in front started asking me how long I’ve worked there, when did my shift end, etc. I was sometimes coy, depending on the question, while making sure I kept my eye on the ones in the restaurant too.

Once the food was paid for and they started to walk out I breathed a little easier. After all, me and my long flashlight was no match for a car full of ‘homies.’

Before he left, the guy who had been talking to me said, “You working tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” I replied. “I’m not sure.”

“You like tamales?”

“Yeah.” I said.

Licking his lips and looking me up and down he then said, “I’ll bring you some homemade ones tomorrow. See you.”

They then all got back in their ride and drove off, blasting off some hydraulics as they did so. What a trippy night this had turned out to be. Here I was thinking I might be in danger with these gang bangers, but in truth I was just being hit on.

And in a non-threatening way. He had actually spoken very nice to me. So although I didn’t swing that way, I was grateful for the positive outcome. Hopefully the fill-in was for that one night only though, because I didn’t want to lead the guy on.

I got home a little after eight o’clock that morning, exhausted. A couple of days later my boss needed me to fill in on another graveyard shift in Hollywood, this time at Taco Bell.

The one thing I hadn’t anticipated when becoming a security guard is how tediously boring it is, especially for a doer like myself. Just being a drive-thru and walk-up branch, this particular Taco Bell was located in a rather deserted area of Hollywood, which made the time go by twice as long.

The bad thing about such mundane work is that if something actually happens, your response time could be delayed by a few seconds, which in turn could mean a serious disadvantage, depending on the situation. Such a jolt back into reality is exactly what happened to me that night,