similar to the science and astronomy buildings
at the Universities in Dallas and Austin
low lying concrete bunker style buildings
with black reflective glass
there with an older man
who wears a round bowlers hat
he is a suspicious character
an old crony of mine
that I don't remember
both of us dressed in shabby clothing
he is talking to some students
I walk over to a bar nearby
reminiscent of the Posse East
wooden picnic tables out front
see a group of guys I know
we greet each other
they ask if I want a beer
I lie and tell them I am waiting for a friend
(the man with the bowler hat)
mention I don't have any money
act like I didn't mean for them to...
but a casual friend that works for the Police
reaches into his pocket and counts out 61 dollars
a roll of ones
gives it to me
I put it in my pocket
saying that I will try to get him back in a few days
this seems to displease him some
so I say I will try to pay him back
either later today or tomorrow
he tells me
just whenever you can
another guy I know that works at UT
also gives me a roll of cash
sort of cynically says
yeah pay me back "whenever"
like he is never going to get his money back
as soon as I put the money in my pocket
I know that I am going to go buy drugs with it
I start thinking about who to call
where to go
where to buy a apparatus
without anybody made aware that I am using again
I walk back over to the campus lounge
now more of a cafe
pass a group of recent graduates
dressed in caps and gowns that don't know where to go
standing in the middle of the street
huddled on the corners
the shady man with the bowler's hat
is still there at the cafe
wondering where I have been
he's been waiting on me
I don't tell him
I've got a lot of money in my pocket
but he knows something is up
he leaves and I follow him
wanting to get away as soon as possible
so I can score some drugs
we are walking across the campus
on white sidewalks where there are no trees
he takes a circuitous route along the sidewalks
away from where we need to go
walking fast and getting ahead of me
I cut across the grass to catch up with him
ask him
why did you travel away from where we were going?
he says
we don't travel, we voyage
saying this last word with a lot of flourish
