Yellow Buses From Costa Rica
by
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Jeb was the guy anyone might smile toward if he wanted to be considered gracious, but beyond a “hello” and into an engaging conversation was going too far. Then, of course, things would go further than they were supposed to. One might have heard that he smoked crack. Some others might have been told that he sucked dick for it on one particular occasion. He was often in the wrong place at the wrong time, and his dumb ass was always walking into the worst neighbor-hoods, all black neighborhoods. And who knows what he was doing behind closed doors. Some neighborhoods into which he ventured had only ever been the wrong place and the wrong time, every hour of the day, every day of the year.
One could talk to his sister who would tell anyone directly that he was troubled. His older sister had many reasons for why she disliked him. He steals. He lies. He’s on drugs. He smacked her once. The one she might hold onto instead of telling, though, was that she was afraid he might commit pedophilia with her daughter. Where she came up with that idea, Jeb would never understand. For one reason or another, she didn’t want him anywhere near her daughter. And for whatever reason, Jeb was unwelcome in her home, especially on Christmas day, which she had been hosting now for the past decade.
The consolation lunch on Christmas late afternoon was how it had become a real source of resentment and anger for Jeb. For that particular Christmas the Johnsons, his mother’s family, took him to a greasy spoon. A year prior to that, on Christmas Eve, Jeb’s stepbrother threatened to kick his ass for telling his then fiancé she had a sexy telephone voice. Then, while eating at the greasy spoon, his stepbrother made an off-color comment about Jeb and masturbation, and no one said a thing about it. Jeb wanted to wipe the floor with his stepbrother as the rag. He wanted to.
But doing so would have confirmed everything that his siblings and his parents were saying about him in the manner in which they behaved toward him. At that moment, Jeb was thoroughly disgusted by the double standard that his brother could say something like that and no one was bothered, but when he made an off-color remark intending humor, everyone would become offended. Not only that, but to say it in public as he was sitting right next to his wife, the one with the sexy telephone voice, it magnified the level of insult intended, when originally Jeb had no level of insult in his words whatsoever.
These sparkplugs of anger were beginning to throttle deep inside Jeb. “No,” he thought, “let’s do it. Let’s go all the way with this shit.
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About the Book
When Jeb has all his belongings stolen on the primary avenue of San Jose, Costa Rica, something is sparked inside him. He is given the option of returning to his home in the United States of America, but for schizophrenic reasons, he can't seem to accept his situation, or the embassy's help.
Instead, he makes a crucial decision to travel by bus northward through Central America and into Mexico. He hopes he will make it back to America, but he has a limited amount of money and a temporary passport that could expire if he doesn't travel in a timely manner.
Through this sojourn, Jeb comes to believe that people are conspiring to kill him. His understanding of humanity becomes skewed. He no longer wants to live, but he doesn't want to die. He is battling something deep inside him, so far beneath the surface of his mind, that he can't seem to face his reality.
About the Author
William Gregg was born in Virginia in the early 1970's. He is single today and still lives in Virginia. He has no children. His interests are travel, leisure, and music. He has written three screenplays and hopes to continue writing in a more professional vein.