kev in the woods and friends

Canterbury, Kent

i was free at last, released from the torture chamber. out in the open world and not a clue of what to do next. so i improvised. i found really expensive internet, about two pounds a half hour on a network that had to be the latest in dialup. out of all the potential hosts i got denied by some, no answer from most, and one with vague directions on meeting up at a subway stop at a certain hour. one accept an hour away in kent but no phone numbers. at this point, i hated heathrow, london, and england altogether. i wanted out, so i looked for a bus station heading to the next town for hitchhiking out of the country. my biological clock was telling me it was midnight, but it was mearly  after noon when i found a station and a bus heading to gillingham. twelve pounds. it was expensive but i'd pay anything to get out of london. an hour later i boarded a bus heading south. in which i was the only person under the age of sixty-five, wondering exactly where i was heading. fuck it, im too tired. after leaving the city limits i got to take a nap. the bus stopped briefly, but i conveniently and purposely stayed alseep until the next big stop. groggy eyed i got up after hearing the engine stop running and asked the bus driver "how many miles until canterbury?" the bus driver replied in a shocked manner "son, were in canterbury, you've missed your stop." i faked an 'oh no, im so sorry' and got my pack. i'd like to thank all the dumb tourists for making scenarios like this common. without them, i'd have to pay double (or the correct fare) for traveling some places. the bus stop was pretty close to the city, all commercial and no nature to pitch a tent. it was late May but in england it meant it was cold and wet. not ideal for laying a cardboard mattress in an alley. i found WIFI outside a hamburger joint that shall remain nameless and logged on with less that 5% battery. as soon as i was able to get through the 'hotspot-sign-in' mumble jumble and into my couchsurfing account, my laptop died. i took out my charger and realized i had the wrong port for charging. DAMN THE ENGLISH AND THEIR STUPID OUTLETS! i walked a few blocks looking for either a cyber cafe or electronics store to buy a converter. no luck, so i walked back once again crossing a group of homeless people eyeing me down. right across the street was a poundland* (a chain of cheap items for only a pound, the english equivalent of a dollar store). low and behold, they had the converter i needed. i bought it right at closing time. in england, everything closes at 6. hooray for me.  i rushed back to the burger joint and since i have strict views on boycotting this chain, they refused to let me charge my computer. well fuck you right back. i walked back down a few blocks again, playing my guitar this time. no real plan but to ask for a nice spot to camp for the night. seeing the homeless, and realizing their experience with the outdoors i walked up to them befriend them with cigarettes. there was four of them, comfortably sitting on the ground drinking cider and smoking recycled tobacco from butts they found on the floor."do you mind if i smoke a cig here?" i asked. and since the camels i gave them were a luxury in their eyes, they happily accepted. "thanks fow the fags mai', wheau you frum?" they asked "im from texas, i just landed and had to get away from london". "gouwd choiz mai', have sum sai'da". we shared a like for tobacco, a dislike for authority, and a bit of alcoholic cider since i had never tried it before. they requested some songs ive never heard of and some i had but didnt know how to play. either way, we got along well. the sun started to go down so i asked them if they knew a place i could camp for the night. one started giving me directions on how to get out of the congestion and under some trees while another bumped him and whispered " the mate cood stay widdas, can'ee?" he quickly changed to "ouw, you cood stay widdas. we stayin in the fowest mai', bi-yu'iful naichur mai', no one weull bover you". fuck it, lets see where i'll end up tonight. i followed him to the bus stop and spent two pounds on the public transit out of the center. i shouldve pay attention to where we were headed but i didnt. i just followed. our stop was up in a far away neighborhood. we walked across the street into an open field and made our way into the woods with only a small trail to guide us there. we crossed some railroad tracks and then a small gate onto another winding path through thorned trees. our route forked out and we were lost temporarily until hitting a marked tree. "this way mai". another few minutes of walking led us to an open campground with five others tents already pitched around a fire. i met the others who were quickly trying to make space for me in one of their tents. "thanks but i have a tent of my own"."oh thas brilliant mai'." one helped me pitch it up and i started scatering everything out of my new pack, even my old backpack. i made sure i took everything i needed and walked over to the one mate that brought me to the woods. "here you go kev, its all yours" he tried to refuse but i insisted. i was just given one, so i had to pass on the genorousity. "take it, itll be of some use for you and itll just be extra weight for me". kev was in his fifties, living in several cities throughout england only months at a time. he was leaving canterbury within a few days so this backpack couldnt have had better timing. he was truly grateful and in exchange he became protective of me. that night,  the others would tease eachother and when they would tease me he would bark at them to stop. "its okay, kev, no harm done" i would giggle. i would sit silently by the fire and he would ask "izrayell, you alrigh'? au you hungry mai'? we've go' food, take wha'eva you like" he was the proud owner of a tent with a stockpile of canned food. there was also steve-o, a young lad in his early twenties, and his girflriend who must have been around forty.  they had a child together of which they didnt have custody of. problems with their parents, altogether just a rough life. upon meeting them i gave them a couple of american coins. simple gifts. practically nothing on my part, but to them it was enough to develope a strong bond, a trust you find with only your closest friends. we were experiencing living in the woods together, away from the shops and fat businessmen. i came as a tourist, and i had these homeless mates taking good care of me. later that night, they explain the woods were training grounds for the british navy. wicked. this is where i ended up tonight. the fired faded to embers, and slowly everyone headed off to bed. goodnight. i got a good eight hours of delicous sleep that night. around seven in the morning i woke up and joined the others for a simple breakfast of beans and black tea. we chatted until around ten, a couple of them already taking sips from the gin bottle, and i went back to the tent for a nap. a few hours later, i was awaken by the sounds of walkie talkies and  new voices. the group had desperation and worry in their tone when they talked. police? wtf is going on? my heart pounded, i wasnt supposed to get in trouble, i made a promise. after a few minutes i got enough courage to peak through my tent window. kev was dizzily sitting on the ground, drooling blood, with  five paramedics around him, one handing him water from a plastic bottle. my heart raced even more. i unzipped the tent door halfway, and stuck half my body out, on my way to be by kevins side. but steve-o's girlfriend caught a glimpse of me and signaled me to wait in the tent. i sat there, veins pumping intensely through my whole body, watching the paramedics take kev out of the campsite. it took some time for my blood pressure to regulate. the others informed me of kevs condition, he had stomach ulcers, but this day was particularly bad. with the whole incident, things were quiet.  jon was still drinking gin, pissed drunk at this point and spotted a passerby through dense woods. he started cussing at the shady character which lured him over.  he came over in camoflauge and an oversized bacpack full of military gear. they shouted angrily back and forth and the military guy warned us to be out of the campsite by the next morning. "ou fak off!" babbled jon with the rest of the crew trying to hush him up. the tight group from yesterday was falling apart. maybe it was only picture perfect for my arrival. a friend of a friend came by the camp shortly after the camo'd tough guy had left. i chatted with him bit about texas as i packed my tent. "i need to find internet, and just in case i cant find my way back through the woods, ill take everything."."you need needa use the web mai'?  you can cum use i't a' ma place, is neerby?".  " yea sure thanks" and i off i went following yet another stranger. on the way to his flat, he explained how he would love to travel like me, but his heroin addiciton wouldnt allow him to leave his city for more than a few days. he was now perscribed a synthetic drug to mimmic the addictive chemicals in heroin. only given a limited dosage, he had to refill at the local pharmacy every two or three days. i wondered what i was getting myself into, but didnt panic. everyone around me seemed to be living a tough life, while I was having fun on vacation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury