I got drunk again. Stumbled outside the Teen Center. Nearly got run over by some asshole.

Turned out that some asshole was Hank. He seems me fallen from grace, dirty, scruffy... He wants to have a man to man chat. And I figure, well, what have I got to lose?

So we sit down. And he tells me about where he came from. The carefree lifestyle. The wife. The kids. The cheating. The divorce. The amazing world adventures...

And as he's talking, as I'm watching his mouth move up and down on that puffy, middle-aged face, two things occur to me:

A - this guy's adolescence and young adulthood... Sounds a lot like mine.

B - He's a pathetic old windbag, clinging to girls half his age, with no real sense of direction or ...

I don't want to be that. I can't be that. If I just run after one skirt and another, leaving behind whatever family I might find, alone and hated by my children... I -

I made a decision. I got back to my place, I wrote a check to my landlord for the next month's rent with a note saying that I was vacating my apartment. I packed some books, some CDs, and a bunch of clothes.

In a few minutes, I'm going to take this all out to the car, throw it in the back, and say goodbye to Los Angeles, hello to the open road. I've had it too easy. Time to live life a little harder, meet some people, learn some trades.

Got 23 bucks in my pocket and a pre-paid cell with 120 minutes on it. I'll be in touch... someday when I've learned who Parker Abrams really is.

( Out of Character )

Current Mood: hopeful