A Sunday Morning in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz: Coffee and Chaos
I first awoke at 2:00 a.m.
“I am God,” he had said to me after returning from a five-day missing-person sojourn to Southern California.
The words bounced between my ears like a game of Pong.
I awoke again at 5:30 a.m., replaying the details of the previous day’s three-and-a-half-hour diatribe about painting, cars, health, and the biweekly efficacy of alternating prescribed pharmaceuticals.
“I have no adrenal function. The doctor prescribed me these drugs. They lose efficacy over time, but they allow me to work for fourteen hours straight.”
Finally, at 9:30 a.m., I awoke for the day, wondering…
Would I spend my morning working through documents at the coffee shop?
Would I spend my morning in the passenger seat of a truck equipped with custom springs capable of supporting a seven-ton load, headed for the dump?
Would I spend it taking instructions delivered through a relentless barrage of words accompanied by a series of emphatic gestures?
My landlord is generous. We get along. I owe back rent, need the work, and could use the money.
I loaded a laptop, charger, and headphones into my backpack, prepared for anything.
Surprisingly, his door was shut.
I continued.
As I turned the corner, passing the partially assembled, brand-new e-bike in the driveway, I found four sheriff’s deputies gathered at the building diagonally opposite my residence.
I walked toward them, smiling and pointing at them, as is my style.
“Did you hear the fight?” one of them asked.
I paused, surprised that I might have slept through a fight… never breaking stride.
“I didn’t,” I said. “Who was fighting?”
“People,” the tall, fair-haired deputy replied.
“Where?”
“Right outside your residence.”
I knew not to push.
“Not the cats,” I said. “If it were the cats, I’d be talking to Animal Control.”
Collectively, the sheriffs shifted their stance. The fair-haired gentleman crossed his arms attempting to resist a smile. The female sheriff caught my stride on the way to her car, looked me in the eye and let out an audible chuckle.
“I’m on my way to get some coffee. Have a beautiful day.”