The Okcitykid – A Peaceful Vet

I can relate to this song. I’m almost fifty, grew up mostly in Springfield, Illinois, the land of wheat and corn fields for miles and miles.

My best friend Calvin stood about six foot tall and had a full beard and Mustache when he turned 14. His mother had been married about 6 times and her last husband she tried to run over with her car in the driveway, ya, so he left.

Calvin ran away from home at 14 using a false identity passing off as a 17 year old he landed himself a job in an old folks home as a nurse’s aid.

At fifteen he got married and had a son and by 16 he was divorced. It was at this time he had announced that he was bisexual and became a pimp for one prostitute and she was a beauty. I would come by and visit everyday. She would tell me stories of her life of how other pimps would threaten her with a gun or beating but Calvin was so gentle. I was in love with her beauty, strength and openness, but she saw me as a sweat innocent virgin that she dared not corrupt and I’m thinking, corrupt me, corrupt, but I never got so lucky.

All manner of people would come thru his door. Men who dressed up like women hoping to pick up another guy and not get beat up, Drug pushers, dealers and hit men.

And I was 16, living in Springfield, Illinois, the land of wheat and corn fields for miles and miles.  At seventeen I figure I already seen it all so I might as well joint the Navy, that was 34 years ago.