‘Never judge people at first sight’, Scout had sagely told us, on a day that now seems a lifetime ago. And right he was. He was right in the case of Dirty Mike and he was oh so right when it comes to Calves.
As I wrote earlier, I wasn’t too fond of Calves. His sarcastic manners often came off as rude and a little condescending. We saw him previously at McDonalds at Cajon Pass, although I didn’t write about him then. He arrived when we were already sitting on the grass and instantly scoffed at us for not using the McDonalds app, since there were discounts. Coyote had clearly had enough.
‘You’re being a bit aggressive’, he flatly stated.
Calves seemed taken aback. With downcast eyes he muttered: ‘I’m sorry, I’m just really hungry.’
After that, his manners towards us completely changed. We had fun and laughed together. He offered to order for us next time, so we could use the discounts. I didn’t think too much of it then and left him, quite sure we wouldn’t see him again.
But then, some days later, he appeared at Casa de Luna, clearly high. I was with him waiting for our food in queue, as he suddenly said: ‘I’m really sorry for how rude I was to you guys, I thought a lot about it and it’s good that Coyote called me out for it.’ In that moment, I saw not a sarcastic, mean guy, but someone who was, almost tenderly, just looking for connection, like all of us.
