I've told the story quite a few times but theres no better place than here to put it down in sans serrif for all of you to read.
The Almost Dead Hooker - by Kirk Shelton.
Based on true events.
When my band was on tour we saw many things and met many people. There were a small group of people we would travel with and get to know throughout the tour. Band members, tour managers, techs, roadies, etc. One of the types of people you never really talk to or get to know are the truck drivers. If youre on a bigger tour the headliners have a full 18 wheeler truck that they cart around thier gear, stage, lighting and everything else you get when you have a real tour budget. Mudvayne was one of those bands.
We first became aware of Mudvaynes truck driver in Allentown PA. The club loading dock was down a side alley and we were pretty impressed with the skill it took to get that huge trailer down in there. We saw him kinda wipe the sweat from his brow as he hopped out of the cab. he
looked at us with a face of pride and relief. We looked back and gave him our props to his good driving skills. we said somehting like "damn man good job, i dont think i could get my car in that spot" All the while thinking to ourselves that he probably does stuff like that all the time and it was probably not that big of a deal to him. Later as we started moving our gear into the club we began to have loading issues of our own. This place was the most unorganized club we'd ever played. load on was a pain in the ass, and loading off down roped off cooridors, down stairs and through a sea of sweaty, drunk, self rietious Mudvaybe fans wasnt a walk in the park either.So as we finally settle down and cool off from being so frustrated at the loading situation we see the truck driver walking away from his truck with a duffel bag. Before our encounter earlier we wouldnt have noticed but now we kinda knew this dude. He told us he was off the tour and going to work for some other better paying tour. Well that sucks, we all thought to ourselves. Right about then a new driver gets dropped off by a taxi and starts to check over the truck. We walk over to him and make a point to casually introduce ourselves since we had just gained a new respect for truckers. He had a little more haggard appearance than the last guy but what the hell, he was a trucker. He hopped into the cab and after he gets settled he starts to pull out of the alley to get on the road for the next stop on the tour.
As he pulled out we started to hear this loud scraping tearing metal sound and suddenly our images of seemingly magical skilled masters of the fine art of manuevering 70 feet of steel were fading like the truckers blurry blue prison tattoos. As if he didnt hear what we were hearing he kept pulling forward. We went around to look and we saw his truck inch by inch ripping the steel framed canvas awning from the front of the club right out of the concrete wall. He finally realised what it was and stopped. Not before there was hunks of stucco and painted plaster coating the sidewalk and the hood of his semi. Welcome to the tour!
This is the guy who Mudvayne is depending on to get their gear from town to town!
Jump a week, five towns and five shows later. We had just played El Paso Texas which borders Mexico. A big group of guys from the other bands and crew went over to Juarez. Juarez is where members of another band we had toured with went and came back with tales of the "Farmacia", pain medication abuse and drunken gun shooting. ahh México es bueno.We're playing McAllen Texas which is pretty much Mexico. English was the second language there. For some reason, as Ii was hanging out at the merch table, explaining to the Mexicans that we cant accept Pesos for T-shirts, I start having a conversation with the crazy driver. Half paying attention to him, he just keeps rambling on about stuff. He mentions that he just got out of prison like 5 years prior. He tells me how he used to run meth and cocaine for the Hells Angels in the 80's and got busted. At this point i realise this dude is fucking nuts but being naive like I was I gave him the benefit of the doubt and coudnt fully give up on this guy. There had to be something good and noble left in him. after all he had a pretty decent trucking gig for a pretty big band. right?
Wrong.
A couple days later we find ourselves in Las Vegas. The buzz was hot in the air about Mudvayne heading south to Mexico to play some huge rock festival. But the tour is coming to an end. One more show in LA and we head home, Mudvayne to Mexico. We got to Vegas early and while mudvayne had a ton of gear to set up we were just waiting around. hanging out backstage and in the loading dock with the other band and some of the crew. It was early afternoon, which was practically morning for us. We were comparing how sleeping is tough on the road. V-Shape mind
was still in a van and got hotel rooms, we were in a bus but it was a pretty crappy tour bus with little to no emmenities, while Mudvayne and thier crew had new top of the line Prevost busses with DVD players and stuff in each bunk. at this point crazy trucker jumps in on the conversation and says "you have trouble sleepin?.. cuz i got some pills for that when we were south of the border" I tried to end the convo and said "no i sleep pretty good.. sometimes i oversleep" then he quickly countered excitedly, "well, i got pills for that too!.. wake you right up!" i'm thinking this guy is a complete nut, but again, rolling with it. he overheard us talking about the cool shit Mudvayne has in thier bus and says "hey you should see what i got in my cab". I was curious and interested so i followed him to the front of his truck which was backed into the loading zone. I didnt realise it at the time but i was the only one to follow him. The group of dudes i was talking with seemed to dissapear."Hop on up" he kind of chokes out with a voice remeniscent of a pack of Marlboros. I climb up and sit in the well weathered driver seat. I bask breifly thinking it was kinda cool sitting up there. Then he says take a look. I look around in front of me and to the passenger seat and dont see anything unusual. Just another worn out seat and a slightly more complicated dashboard than i'm used too. but nothing i didnt expect. I look at him like "what am i supposed to be seeing here?" then he
points behind me toward his sleeper cab. "oh yea" i thought and looked at eye level for some kind of cool TV or video game set up. Seeing nothing i was about to look back at him ... then i saw it.As my eyes moved down, to about the level of my knees. With only the dim daylight shining through the windshield into the unlit sleeper cab, behind the driver seat, on a shitty bed the width of the cab, I saw a woman. She was completly nude laying on her back half covered at the waist by a dirty blanket. She had the phisique of a holocaust victim. Very emaciated and greyish. It might have been the lighting. As i take in all of these observations. all within a few glances i realise she isnt moving. Instantly i freak and think "oh my god she is dead, this guy has a dead hooker in his truck oh my god, holy shit" i think I even screamed a little.. Then as I'm about to jump and run as fast as i can she moves. Doesnt wake but inhales quickly. he whole body shudders as violently, yet still unconsious she gasps for air in a breathy, but fast 'eeeghhhhh' then a second later she does it again.
what the fuck? i think to myself. then say to the trucker dude. "what the fuck man?!" as i stare in shock and awe. He then replies.. "You can have her man, go for it, she aint gonna wake up for a good 2 or 3 hours...." holy shit this is a hooker? instantly visions of all those truck stop whores popped surfaced in my memory. he continues "...yea, she wont wake up, i gave her some of those pills i got in mexico. you can do whatever you want to her and she wont wake up"UGH........completely disgusted, freaked out and slightly frightened I sunk out of the seat while "saying, ugh no thanks man I'm cool" then once on pavement i walked as fast as i could back to the stage door. I saw the group i had been talking to before and said "dude that guy is fucked, he has a almost dead hooker passed out in his cab." then gave a brief recount of what had just happened.
they all laughed "did you hit that shit?" laughing they said "why do you think we didnt go over there, that dude is fucking nasty man" thanks for the warning assholes.
I dont think i've been the same ever since.
this has nothing to do with this story but i think it's fitting i put it here anyway.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/27/health/main2615067.shtml
1 comment:
God damn crazy people! My dad should be a truck driver.
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