Chapter Six
It’s the Thursday before I’m off on my trip to Michigan to visit with my son and grandson. I don’t get to see my grandson very often as he lives in Switzerland, so I’m pretty excited about it. Then, on Sunday afternoon, we’re off to Vermont for a few days to see some color and visit with good friends.
I’m sure there is wi-fi in Vermont, although it was rare the last time I was there. Let’s face it, my next door neighbor when I left was a herd of jersey cows. Seriously — it’s the truth. I am going to bring my laptop, but the chances I’ll have a chance to do another blog post while I’m away are pretty slim. I will attempt to pop in to say “Howdy” to my friends on Facebook though.
So, this Chapter will be it until I’m back in Ohio on the 19th. I’m going to take my video camera, so, with some luck and good weather, I should have some “Beautiful Vermont” to share with you later on.
Be well — be in peace,
Ron Rink
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It was still light out when I left the bowling alley, so I got on my bike and headed out to the north. I did start to feel some fear as I rode along. I wasn’t going to be sleeping in a bed that night and I could feel the trepidation of not knowing what I was going to do to keep from getting caught. I knew I would be able to stay out of sight after the bowling alley closed. I wasn’t sure where I’d go during the day?
After it started to get dark, I got really hungry. There was a small store on Ryan Road past the other bowling alley so I went in and bought some peanut butter, crackers and milk. I sat on the ground next to my bike while I ate some of my food. Since the light was fading quickly, I decided to head back in towards Eight Mile Road because there wouldn’t be any lights out this far when it got real dark. There were lots of stores and other businesses along Eight Mile Road.
Later, I found this car lot which was closed up for the day. I drove my bike around in back of it and found an old metal chair near the back door. I ate the rest of my crackers and peanut butter, drank the milk, and then fell asleep in the chair.
One thing I didn’t have at my young age was a watch, so when I woke up I didn’t have any idea what time it was or how long I had slept. It was dark and I guessed it must be pretty late. There was hardly any traffic along Eight Mile Road. It was eerily quiet.
I rode over to the bowling alley.
It was closed for the night.
I went around the back and tried the door.
It was locked.
I started to feel sick to my stomach. I knew there would always be a chance I couldn’t find someplace inside to spend the nights, but I was so sure the bowling alley would be where I would go, that finding it closed caused me to panic. I started crying and was getting back on my bike to ride somewhere, although I didn’t know where, when I remembered what Billy had said about the bathroom window being unlocked.
I walked around the side where the bathroom was but the window was way too high for me to reach. I looked around for something to stand or climb on so I could reach the window. I found some old boxes in a storage area behind the building. They were wooden crates, so I stacked a couple of them up by the bathroom window and climbed up. It was easy to open the window and climb in when I got up to it. Once I was in, I looked around and said, “Oh, shit!” I realized I had left my satchel outside on the back of my bike. So, I climbed back out the window, got the bag and moved my bike back into the same area where I found the wooden crates so it couldn’t be seen.
It was pitch black inside the bowling alley. There was no light anywhere. I didn’t dare turn any lights on, so I just started to feel my way along the walls. I did know the layout of the place, so I had some idea of where I needed to go, but it was still too dark to see anything and my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet. Eventually, I could begin to make out the shapes of things and had a better idea of where I was. It never occurred to me how I could just have stayed in the bathroom. There was no one in the building so I didn’t actually have to go back into the corner. That was the plan only if I had sneaked in before the place closed. However, I continued slowly moving along the walls until I got into the narrow passageway behind the pin racks and felt the opening to the corner.
I was frightened.
I don’t think it was the dark as much as it was the idea I was alone in this dingy, spooky building. Every once in a while I could hear things moving around. I don’t know if it was just the wind blowing against something outside or whether it was rats or mice inside. I had no idea—I just knew I was one scared little eight-year-old kid.
After I sat down in the corner, I remembered I had left all those boxes stacked up under the bathroom window. I was thinking about what to do about it when I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew my eyes were open and I could see it was getting light outside.
I went into the bosses’ office to look at the clock he had on his desk and saw that it was a few minutes after five o’clock in the morning. I found some bologna and bread in his icebox and ate that for breakfast. After I went to the toilet I climbed back out the bathroom window and shut it behind me. I climbed down, stacked the boxes back in the storage area, tied my satchel to the bike and rode off.
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