After many tough goodbyes the night before that made me cry. I awoke after only four hours of sleep at 6am to pack my clothes. I had gotten most of my things down to 6 boxes and had left it at my friends apartment. He had asked me the night before when I was going to get them. I think they where throwing off the apartments Fung shwai. I had decided to travel light so I put what I could in a duffel bag. I always try to travel light. Maybe it's the catholic inside me or something, not wanting that many possessions or something deep I saw in a movie from the 70s( maybe it was from eat, pray, love?).
It was still dark and as a night person who doesn't really wake before 1030 most days of the week this was extremely hard as hell. Than I saw the temperature: it was 29 degrees not counting the wind chill. Jesus Christ! What the hell lord?! This is how iam going out?! Really?!Shit!
I finished packing and threw on my clothes. I tossed on my new pants I had bought the day before. I had been at the dog park with zoey the greatest dog in the world bent over to pick them up and split them wide open. Thank goodness their was an H and M near bye . They where a nice pare of blue slacks. I tossed on a light desert color dress shirt, my brown hoodie and my green h and m jacket that kind of looked like the one worn by Jamie Foxx in Django unchained( oh how I wish I was that cool), tossed on my beaten up Mariners hat and woke up my friend mike I had been staying with the last couple months. We hadn't seen each other that much the last couple of weeks. I had seen him Wednesday night when I got home and found him and his friend Patrick wearing wigs and white contacts getting ready to do their youtube show called FaceTime a brilliant bizarre show that makes adult swim look like pray time with jimmy swaggart.
I knocked on his door, no answer. I knocked again. Nothing . Finally " hold on iam awake".
He came to the door looking like he too had only gotten four hours of sleep. We had talked for 20 minutes the night before. I told him what I was leaving until I got settled in LA. I have mike back his keys( They had been Patricks pare and he had been itching to get them back).Mike and I talked a little bit, hugged and than I left.
Again so many emotions where going through me at the moment. I had already cried the night before, now I was just thinking ,"Christ what the fuck am I doing?! I could stay right? Life wasn't so bad? I mean yeah my acting career had platued three years before and I had needed a change, but come on, lets just stay a little bit longer!" But I said no and dragged myself outside .
I had stepped out of the building on 165th and broadway and the evil bastard wind came off the Hudson and bitch slapped me hard like a pimp in superfly.
"Fuck" I thought maybe California isn't that bad".
I made my way to the ghetto subway station on 168th in Washington Heights. I had told my fairy godmother Dave to meet me at 8 at Times Square 42nd street to see me off at penn station.
I had decided to take the train cross country to LA. Maybe it was because I had seen that brilliant film "step up 3d" where they take off from grand central at the end to California, but I decided lets be crazy, lets take the Amtrak! Unlike when I first came to NYC, I relized I needed a couple days to ease into things. Let my head be straight as I made this huge change. Not end up a mess on Hollywood blvd. So since I didn't have a car and also after doing too many greyhound rides, Amtrak it is! Would there be a sleeper car? No cause that shit be expensive and I wanted to have enough cash to survive in LA.
I sat on the A train heading south, feeling a feeling in my heart that I had only experienced a few times in my life. Of course when you want something to go slow it ends up going fast and that train got to 42nd street in record time.
As I got out of the subway for the last time I made my way up to my exit and out into the street. It was starting to snow and people where rushing to work. I text Dave and walked over to time square to look around one last time. I saw all the people with signs outside the good morning America window. It's funny in the entire nine and a half years I lived in NYC I never woke up early enough to go and see GMA or the Today show. But as I said I didn't get up before 1030 unless I had too. I took a good look around Times Square.
It's funny when you live in NYC you hear a lot of people saying how much they hate it. Oh the tourists suck!where's the porn and smut?I miss the 70s and 80s! The sex shop I lost my virginity at is a Disney store now! I on the other hand was always cool with it. Maybe it was because I hadn't lost my virginity in a sex shop. My lose I know. A friend of mine tells a funny story about how a well known boutique in the west village was a notorious gay sex club back in the 80s. Oh to be young.
I looked around took some pictures and headed over to see Dave who was at a Deli near the theater where the infamous Spider-Man was playing. I lugged the heavy ass duffel bag over to the deli. I found Dave looking stylish as usual dressed in a big fancy overcoat, a black scarf, sunglasses, and his long blonde hair flowing as usual. It was always flowing, never knew how he did that, except it was Dave he just did that.
We sat down and talked. He like a number of people had said this is a good thing. It's alright to be scared, but this is the journey you need to go on. I tried to in take it all in. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was 845. It would take around 15 minutes to get to penn station and Amtrak had said be there 30 minutes before your departure. My train was at 935. I grabbed my things and made my way with Dave down 8th avenue right than another bastardly wind came off the Hudson and smacked us in the face. Damn this pimp ass bitch of a wind wasn't being nice.
As we neared penn station the crowd got thicker as commuters where coming and going. My heart got tighter and I could feel a lump in my throat. Fuck this was hard. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Dave and I entered penn. The place was a madhouse of people. Of course one of the biggest transit hubs on the eastern seaboard on a Friday would be busy. Dave asked me where my travel tag was. My what? He rolled his eyes and went"honey go to the nice gentlemen at the Amtrak desk". I love Dave. I got my travel tags than printed my tickets. Amtrak has this funny thing of not telling you which track your taking off from until 10 minutes before the trains supposed to leave. So everybody stands waiting thinking and hoping to be near the right track and get a good seat. I once had seen Disgraced former governor and hooker lover Elliot Spitzer waiting for a DC train talking to a young girl in her 20s. Hopefully it was his daughter( I miss that guy).
At 925 they told us which track. Everyone rushed over to the track entrance . Dave gave me a big hug and said he was proud of me. I said goodbye and he left. As I was in line the Amtrak cop pulled me out of line and checked my bag. Makes sense, giant duffel bag, sketchy looking dude. Heck I would of wanted a strip search. I checked out thank goodness. A hippie guy from my hometown had once been pulled out of line by security at sea-tac airport. he had been brought into a room questioned for a couple hours causing him to miss his flight. The tsa guys pulled out rubber gloves and I guess where going to do the body cavity search. He freaked dropped his pants saying" wow man I got nothing! I got nothing!" He had forgot that he had gone commando and was charged with indecent exposure. I didn't want that to happen to me.
I got on the train and was able to grab a seat. I sat down and wrote a note telling my love for everyone and NYC that I posted in Facebook. I took a deep breath and the train pulled out of the station heading south out of New York City.
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