It's been over a week since my last entry; I've been dealing with some health problems which I shared in my "Homeless Journal" blog. I'm typing while sitting on a sofa, grateful to have a place to recover for a couple of days.
I'll continue my story, when I started working for Lou, a man that on a good day was generous and on a bad day was violent. It was between 1989 and 1990 when I became Lou's helper. Working for Jack had been a good experience and I had hoped that being Lou's helper would be just as good.
Within a few days of work I learned that whenever we had a letter or package with a time limit of delivery, Lou would do anything to get it to the destination on time. Going against a one way street, driving on the sidewalk, ignoring red lights, you name it, he did it. At first I was scared to even be in the van, but within a month I saw that he would always get away with it so I got used to it.
He would be verbally abusive almost on a daily basis. Lou was a tall man, almost 6 feet tall and well built, back then I was a thin 20 year old. He would threaten people who would dare disagree with him and not even respect his wife's sons.
One day someone cut him off and he sped past the car and blocked it. He got out of our van with a baseball bat and began to hit the other car. The man inside the car was scared out of his mind. Lou hit the hood and the driver's side door. I was afraid he would hit the window and break it which could hurt the driver with the broken glass.
People started to gather at the sidewalk, screaming for him to stop. Two men rushed Lou and managed to disarm him. He began to fist fight both men easily, he was bigger than them. I heard sirens and feared that if he got arrested, I may also be charged for his actions.
I picked up the bat and threw it inside our van and had to shout "the cops are coming Lou! we need to go now!" hoping he would come to is senses. It worked, he ran so fast that he was a blur that ran past me. He started to drive away before I even had a chance to get in.
I ran at full speed after the van. Lou slowed down just enough for me to hold on to the passenger side door with one foot in the van, and then he floored it. Fearing that I may end up falling off and breaking my neck I begged him to slow down for a second so I could get in.
It must've been at least ten blocks before he stopped a moment to let me inside the van. Lou was laughing and enjoying himself while driving like a maniac. Within minutes we were far away and hiding in the upper level of a parking lot. He told our dispatcher that he wasn't feeling well and was calling it a day.
He boasted about what happened as if he had been in the right. As if the man that had cut him off had it coming. I had no choice but agree with him, fearing that not taking his side may get me hurt. Considering the man practically lived a stone's throw from me, it would have been a bad idea to upset him.
After an hour he started driving to Brooklyn, we were going home. Lou made sure to let me know "nothing happened today" if I wanted to keep working and stay in one piece. It was a threat which I did not ignore. I never mentioned that day to anyone else, until now.
Back then I was afraid of him, too scared to quit. I worked for him for 2 years. Over that period of time, I witnessed him get away with threatening people (including the owners of the business we worked for), breaking more traffic laws than I can remember and damaging private property.
Slowly my confidence grew as I became more of a friend to him than an employee. I would be able to talk back to him without any repercussions. Unfortunately I also became an accomplice to his actions. At the end of the second year of working for him, I would resent him more and more over his racist comments about Hispanics.
Name calling was normal to him and I had become mostly accustomed to it. However one morning he said something about my grandmother, I won't repeat what he said because it was disgusting. I asked him to take it back, to apologize and we'd be on our way to work or I would quit. Of course he didn't apologize, instead Lou continued to disrespect my grandmother. I got out of the van and shouted "I quit!" walking away. He called me a "pussy" and drove away at full speed.
I was scared for the next few days thinking he may threaten me to go back to work for him. He never contacted me. On occasion I'd see him around, but not once did we speak to each other.
Thinking back, I wish I had quit earlier, because I had picked up some bad habits from him. He introduced me to smoking weed, brothels in Manhattan and hookers in Brooklyn.
I lived near a high school and during those years I worked for Lou, some seniors from the school would befriend me so I could get them beer and weed. That would lead me into my wild 20's, a time when I became egotistical, more selfish and very promiscous.
That is all I can write tonight.
May you walk in the light of God.
Sincerely.
Luis
Sincerely.
Luis
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