Brother Joe

Joe was one of those friends that always came through. It was in 11th grade when he beat the shit out of the guy who had put me on the ground with an umbrella from out of nowhere. Not just any guy, the baddest guy in the school! Joe with all 5ft and 120lbs took out the 200 pound bad ass with some mean uppercuts.

When he did that, I knew we would be friends for life! Later when we started riding the Harleys, he was always up for a ride, never bitched and moaned like most of the pussies, not Joe. He would ride in the rain the fucking snow if it happened to catch us, he didn't care.

We spent some years smoking killer weed, he loved that shit and would spend all of his hard earned money on it, when we were young it was fun, but as we got older I lost interest, he still lived in that 70s kind of funk. The years went by and we spent less and less time together, since I had gotten married and he hadn't, we didn't have that much in common anymore, he sold his bike so he could continue to smoke the killer weed that he loved so much.

Not me, I had responsibilities now, a new wife and shit to take care of, people talked shit about Joe behind his back, but I always backed him up, I never forgot his loyalty to me......pothead or not he was still my friend and I didn't want to hear no shit about how he was wasting his life, it was his fucking life, if he wanted to smoke weed, that was his business......no one else's.

Finally, Joe found a woman who seemed to be able to influence him. She cleaned him up and helped him to reduce his habit from an ounce a week to an ounce a month, not bad, not one other person had ever influenced him to do that! Suzi, Joe's now wife was cool, she had a heart of gold and soon we all were hanging out together , having cookouts and small backyard parties, Joe seemed real happy.

He still had his stash of the best weed money could buy, but he didn't seem to waste all of his money and time on it anymore, that was a good thing. I remember their first kid, Jake, he was born on one cold ass Michigan night and Suzi had a hard time, she almost didn't make it. Joe got scared, he didn't want to lose her, she was the best thing that ever happened to him. He got so scared, he would use rubbers, he was afraid she would forget to take the pill and get impregnated again, he wanted more kids, but he didn't want to lose his woman.

He was kind of fucking strange, but he loved his woman, so he would buy them condoms and we all laughed at him and made fun of him, but he still did it he was fucking serious about it. Joe had taken over his Dad's shop and it was a nice machine shop, it was a very successful business when Joe took it over, but it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Joe was not the businessman that his Dad was, it was hard for Joe, but he tried until finally he gave up and let his little brother run the shop and he just worked there, which was good.

This took a toll on him, he felt he had failed and began to buy too much weed again, only now weed was very expensive compared to the old days of $40. ounces, now they were $250. ounces. But he didn't care, he started spending all of his money on weed. Suzi tried to get him to stop but he just kept on. I couldn't just sit back and watch this shit, one day I took him for a ride in the old Buick and told him straight, he didn't want to hear it, but he knew I was right. Finally he agreed to slow down on the weed.

We were not kids anymore and all that smoke had taken a toll on his health anyway. That night when he had the make up sex with his babe, he didn't have a rubber because he had spent all the money on weed. She got pregnant ! Now he was freaked out, Jake was now 2 years old and doing good, but he sure didn't want anything to happen to his Suzi. He quit smoking, cold turkey, no more weed, for the first time in 10 or more years.

He took good care of his wife for the next 9 months, he didn't work the overtime, he came right home and took care of his son and wife, it was cool to watch, he had finally become a man! I will never forget that spring morning when I got the call, Suzi had died giving birth to Jessi, the baby lived, but the mother was not strong enough to go through the 24 hours of labor and her uterus would not stop bleeding......

Joe was never the same after that, he did his best to take care of the kids, but a man is not prepared to take care of an almost 3 year old son and new born daughter......it was very hard, we helped him as much as we could and he loved us even more for that, but deep inside he was a broken man. The years passed slowly, Joe had recovered from the loss of his babe, but he never would look for a new woman, he was just that kind of guy, loyal to the fucking end!

We became closer than ever and Jake and Jessi called me uncle and I was almost like a second Dad to them, I took them to school and doctors, since Joe had a regular job and I was a self employed painter, I could come and go as I wished. This went on for a few years, but finally one day, I just didn't want to live there anymore, I wanted to go to Hawaii...

I had lost interest in my lifestyle there, people seemed selfish and into getting high. I grew weary of it all, coke was coming into vogue and I hated that shit, it fucked up our friends lives so much that I just couldn't take it anymore! So the day came when we were going to take the old bike to California and then fly us over to Hawaii and ship the old bike. Joe was so sad and upset, he didn't even show up early in the morning to say bye, I understood, we had spent time with him the night before so it wasn't that big of a deal. Joe was afraid of life without us, we helped raise the kids, but it was time for us to go find our home and make our own family, Joe understood, but he was scared.

The Hawaii adventure took more time than we expected, we got stuck in California for seven months before we could make it to Hawaii. By then, things had changed for Joe, he was back to his old ways, getting high and wasting money on weed. He hid it well from us, but we heard, I didn't confront him, it was his life, but I made sure that the kids always had what they needed, I would send extra money to Joe's bro and he would buy what was needed. It got pretty sad.

More years passed and one day I got a call from Joe, he didn't sound very good. He said "Bro, I have cancer, they are giving me a couple of months max"............. I had to hold myself back from breaking down and crying right then and there! "What, are you sure?" I asked. "Yep" was all he said. That was the whole conversation. We decided to go home and see him, it was hard for us, because we didn't have that much saved and the wife had a job, but I could come and go as I wished like always.

When we arrived two weeks later, it was a long drive from the Detroit airport to the west side of Michigan. But in 3 hours we were home, straight to Joe's place. He came to the door, I just about fainted when I saw him..........fuck, he looked bad! He looked like one of those people in the Nazi death camps, he probably weighed 80 lbs if that.

Damn it was a sad sight, but the kids looked great and they were very happy to see uncle and auntie. Joe's first words were "I'm glad you came now". He didn't have to explain why, it was clear that his days were numbered, he seemed to accept his fate and actually was almost like his old punk ass self.

We talked for hours and hours and caught up on everything. And then without warning he bluntly said "I want you to take the kids back to Hawaii with you". I couldn't speak, I started crying, what the fuck was he talking about, me take his kids?! "Joe, I can't do that!" I said quietly with my face in my hands. "Yes you can bro, you have to, your the only one I trust to raise my kids right, Suzi would have wanted you guys to do this, she loved you bro!" he said now with tears in his eyes too.

He died two days later and left everything to us, his insurance policy was a big one and it paid for everything and then some. The kids were happy to leave with us, they had seen Hawaii on TV and thought it looked pretty cool. It has been 20 years now since then and today is Jessi's wedding day, I gave her away.

Joe would have been proud of her, they rode away on her new husband's chopper with her white dress blowing in the wind! Jake came back from college to see his little sis get married, he is a smart educated man, his Dad would be very proud of him, the boy wants to cure cancer.

So I went down to the beach on the old bike today. I tossed a lei from the wedding into the ocean for my old bro, he was a true brother and I am honored to have been a part of his life. His life continues in his kids, they are great people and have that same loyalty that their old man had. Back on the old bike for a late ride to blow those old memories out of my head.

copyright thewind 2008