in space, the stars, are no nearer.

i remember calling my girlfriend to come get me. i guess i had been depressed.
at the time, my parents had been fighting.
we lived in a two bedroom apartment with one bathroom. it seems like i was always depressed during that time.
i remember getting some stuff together, and telling my mom i was leaving. but i didnt tell her where.

im sure it didnt matter, seeing as i had a limited range of travel.

these things happen when you're growing up.

my mom started crying and asked me why i had to go. i told her... i feel like i dont have a family.
and i still remember what she said.
it stays in my mind, like a memory chiseled in stone.
with tears in her eyes, she says... sometimes i feel like i dont have a son.

of course i start crying, if i wasnt already. but my ride has arrived and its time to go.

throughout this whole time, my father just sat in his room and said nothing. he didnt even yell at me.

i walked out the door and got into the car. i dont remember if sam was there or not, but i do remember the music. it was Hey Joe, by Jimi Hendrix. we drove down the road. i listened to that song and cried. but it was the solo that really got me. i have always liked something about that solo, and that night, it brought me home. too bad i didnt know where home was.

i was 16.

i had a gun and a reason, but all i could do was stand still and watch the stars fade away everything in my world.

when you're 16, things change. relationships shift, some break, and things are never the same.

i dont remember where i ended up that night. but i knew i came back a few days later.

i left for the marines a year or so after that. i always tell people that i joined the military so i didnt have to go to school. and part of me believes that. but part of me suspects that i left to get away from that place.


you and me, we grew up together.
as soon as we learned to walk, we ran as far as we could.
all the time, searching for something we already had.
Hey Joe...