Saturday, March 15, 2008

less fortunate

its half hour to eight. i know this because i can see the fast ferry has just pulled in. its already dark and closing time is near. in a couple of minutes people will start getting off that ferry and ill watch them walk down the pier towards town. out of the dark and into the bright, warm lights. i dont know if ill get to town tonight. in less than thirty minutes this last boat is leaving and with it leaves my last chance to get to boston tonight.

with this in mind i am still at work welcoming customers into the shop. i work in the pirate museum at the end of the pier, right next to the ferry dock. i am here but my mind is halfway to boston. time is short. im undecided. should i take it? should i get on?

i check my watch. twenty minutes. they are done unloading and people start getting on. this is going to be close. every night i hate people that walk in the shop just before closing time. tonight, i hate them with passion. ten minutes. ready? this is it. tonight we close early! thank you! bye!

i shut everything down like a storm blowing out candles. in two blinks of an eye and three of another i set the alarm and lock the door. i pay the man forty-five bucks for the ferry ticket and step on the boat at the last minute.

the horn blows loud and we are off. i am in deep with a serious adrenalin rush. way deep. i keep calm but i am building up inside. i have a sick buzz in my ears. heart is pounding hard. i am ready for anything. the ship is backing up, turning, then slowly exiting provincetown harbor.

i walk up to the huge front of the ship and step close to the front railing. the bright town is on my right. i stare at the dark water down under, then far out the sea. i start reckoning. its pretty obvious from the start that i am way over my head in this.

why i got on this trip is because, a couple of days ago, i read a paper add announcing a concert: godsmack and rob zombie ...together for the first time. i thought: i have to see this. it is my first time in the US and it is going to be a relatively short stay. since i got here i didn't leave town. this is the only concert in the boston area during my stay. its not that i care that much for these bands but i somehow need to see them live. if this is the only chance to see a big concert in the states ill take it. its true i dont have a ticket. and its true i have no idea how large the boston area really is. i know i need to get to the tweeter center in mansfield. i heard something about a train that can take me there from boston south station. i have no estimate of how long it takes to get there. i dont really know how to get to this station. i don't even know what time the gig starts; the add didn't say. i am well underprepared.

i dont realize that the directions i ask from a indian fellow working at seven-eleven are of no good for me, because i cannot understand what he is talkning about, beacuse of his thick accent. i dont take into consideration the state i sink into when i arrive in boston harbor, witnesing that amazing typical american coast, lined up with tall, luxurious hotels, full of lights, just as ive seen before... only in movies. i dont count on that tom&jerry effect when walking among the skyscrapers of south boston and turning my head, feeling my neck is about to screw off my shoulders. i dont plan for that energy rush when i run, without a clear reason, towards south station, but when i get there i catch the train seconds before it leaves.

there is a lot i dont know and a lot i havent thought of. i am way over my head in this. i have this gut feeling that i felt before. probably it works this time too. its good enough for now. the wind is picking up. the ship is out of the harbour and is taking up speed. let this thing take me to boston.