Stories of the
Old Neighborhood
The Window | Liar and a Thief | New Years Eve| Cutting The Cake | The Pipe | The Drive | Late Night Munchies | The Riot | Graduation Night | Punching Out |The Shopping Cart
Disclaimer: This is strictly nostalgia and in no way reflects our current behavior, nor our current attitude towards alcohol, drugs, vandalism, or violence.The Window
In the Mid-70's, Todd
and his friend Danny were walking home from school. They had
crossed the street to the block they both lived on, and walked by
the corner house were the crossing guard was stationed. At this
house was a stationwagon parked in the driveway. Todd, being a
notorious vandal, had found a small pebble on the ground.
Instinctively, he hurled in the direction of the parked station
wagon, parked about 50 feet away. Only expecting this small
pebble to merely ping off the fender or roof, Todd was shocked to see it completely
shatter the side window of the stationwagon. Danny, who was wise
to Todd's hijinks, didn't even bother to look back, but ran at
the sound of the smashing glass. Todd also ran, and they ran to
safety about 10 houses down. Danny was not convinced that Todd
had smashed that window with such a small pebble until he went by
the stationwagon later in the day and saw the side window
completely missing. Todd's vandalistic status was now even more reknowned in the neighborhood, although the owners of the
stationwagon never found out who had smashed that window. That
car still sat in that same driveway over 20 years later (with a "new" side window), another historic site in
the "Old Neighborhood"...
In December of 1979, it was what appeared to be another normal day in shop class at Rio Hondo. Todd was in 8th grade, and it was the last day of school before the Christmas break of two weeks. Mr. Blair was the shop teacher, one who actually had all of his fingers, but an auto accident earlier in life had left him crippled (and in need of crutches), as well as crotchety and often angry. Todd had been in lots of trouble with Mr. Blair the previous year due to his vandalism, from setting safety posters on fire with a hot crowbar to throwing erasers and large rolls of solder into the soldering ovens. So much so, that on the first day of the school year, Mr. Blair threatened Todd that anymore hijinks would result in suspension. However, this year, up to that point, Todd had been a model student, doing whatever vandalism he did privately and out of Mr. Blair’s view. Mr. Blair had even commented on how Todd how changed and how he was really impressed with his good behavior. However, on this faithful day, that would all change. Mr. Blair made his daily trip to the bathroom, which everyone knew would take 15 to 20 minutes. Suddenly, Greg Mason and Danny Martin Del Campo started in on a vandalism spree. Perhaps thinking that the two week break would thwart the discovery of the damaged (or missing) items, this vandalism barrage saw tools being busted up or thrown onto the balcony or in the dumpster. Danny threw a few tools outside (such as the aviation snips) that he would later steal after school was out. Todd, seeing this rampage, joined in and stuffed several pencils down the sink drain, threw some mallets up on the balcony and in the trash can, and busted several other things up. When Mr. Blair was spotted returning to the classroom, everything resumed to normal, and Mr. Blair appeared to be none the wiser. However, as Todd returned to school (now January of 1980), the jig was up. Todd had missed the Monday back from Christmas break due to sickness, and it was then that Danny and Greg were busted, and, most likely, ratted Todd out. Todd heard this news from Greg and Danny the next day, and dreaded the task of going to Mr. Blair and hearing the news from him, expecting to catch Mr. Blair’s full wrath. Meeting him in front of the shop class, Mr. Blair was uncharacteristically calm and sympathetic in telling Todd that they all were suspended from shop class the rest of the semester (about a month), and would have to spend that time in the office. Todd apologized, and Mr. Blair was gracious, maybe even disappointed, as if he knew Todd was only an accomplice in the ordeal and not the main perpetrator. However, as Mr. Blair crutched away from talking to Todd, he spotted Greg, who had just lined up for class, as the bell had rang. He slowly went up to him, looked him in the eyes and pointed to his face and shouted, “You’re nothing but a liar and a thief!!!”, then slowly continued down the hall. Greg was left with a look of terror and devastation on his face. Mr. Blair had shown his true colors, but this time it was Greg who had caught the fury, not Todd. More importantly, a catch phrase was coined that would live in infamy in the Old Neighborhood.
New
Years Eve
It was the year 1984 going into 1985, and times were good for John and Todd. John had got together with Matt and Craig to form "After Forever," a hard rock cover band, and were partying a lot, as they were sophomores in high school. Todd was living in Northern California and came down for New Years Eve with his friend Tim. Also joining the crew was John's girlfriend at the time, Darla, and her friend, who were staying at a relative's house next door to John. Todd's uncle Kenny scored the alcoholic beverages a few nights before and John had scored the illegal substances the day before (in a fairly terrifying drug deal), some "sweet leaf" for the band and crank for Tim. As New Years Eve day rolled around, After Forever was prepared to do a "gig" that night at John's parents house. It was their first performance and John's parents had put together a big spread for the occasion with over $100.00 of lunch meats, crackers, and vegetables. Meanwhile, the crew got the alcohol (Budweiser, Schlitz Malt Liquor, and Jacque Bonet champagne) and other party favors packed up and went over to Matt's house. Nobody was home there, as Matt's mom had already taken off for the evening. After stopping by the infamous local liquor store Jug 'n Jigger to pick up some ice and a bag of Doritos, they arrived at Matt's pad, iced down the booze and commenced to partying. It was roughly around 2 to 3pm, and since they had to be back at John's house for the gig at 5pm, they slammed down as much alcohol and substances as they could in a few short hours. It was a literal loading station. Unfortunately, the massive intake of booze and dope started to catch up with the crew. First was John. Shortly after 5 PM, John's parents called Matt's house to remind them that it was time to head back to the pad. John couldn't get Todd or Matt to go back with him, as Matt was jelled out on the couch watching a Black Sabbath concert video, and Todd was jumping over the couch in a drunken fit of energy. Obviously, they were loaded, so John got everybody else together, and started heading back to his house. They only got one house down, when John shouted out, "Get away everybody, I'm going to get sick!" John made his way to the bushes of the next door neighbor's house, fell to his knees, pulled his hair back with his one hand, and proceeded to empty his body of the substances his body had taken in, puking in the bushes. Nevermind the fact that the next door neighbor was out watering his bushes at the time. The neighbor didn't do anything, though, as he was probably afraid of all the hippies outside his home. Tim and Craig got John back into Matt's house, and then split back to the pad with the girls, leaving John with Matt and Todd. Around 6 PM, John's parents called again, wondering where John, Todd and Matt were, as some of the invited guests to the gig were expected to show up soon. So the three of them finally headed over to John's pad, and once they arrived, John was immediately pulled aside by his dad. Evidently, John had found a legal alien's wallet containing a green card at an upholstery shop and had taken it home, and thrown it in the trash. John's dad had found it in the trash, and proceeded to interogate him about where the wallet had come from. "A wallet is a man's life!" was John's dad's argument, but John was so loaded, he just kept smiling and laughing. Once that was over, everybody reunited, as the girls had gone home briefly, as Darla also got sick. The crew piled into John's room, and he put on the Jim Morrison Poetry Album, "American Prayer." He turned off the lights, and everybody just jelled out. That is, until he heard a groan, and quickly turned the lights back on. Todd, who was laying on the floor, had puked all over the carpet and several records that were close-by. Tim and John quickly escorted Todd into the bathroom, where he spent the next few hours hunched over the toilet. John was in a panic to clean the mess up without his parents finding out, and after a few hundred paper towels, John came up with the perfect solution. Next thing you know, John had the vacuum cleaner out and vacuumed up the vomit, no problem! They wondered afterward what John's mom must have thought a few weeks later when she went to clean out that puke filled vacuum bag! With Todd out of commission in the bathroom, John, Matt, and Craig proceeded to play their set, with Tim, the girls, John's folks, and a few family friends in attendance. Todd eventually came to once the set was over, and joined everybody else in the living room, as they started munching on a bag of Doritos that had picked up earlier at Jug 'n Jigger. John's dad, already upset over the wallet episode, noticed that no one was eating the lunch meats and vegetables they had prepared, and spent a lot of money on. Although everyone was loaded or had been sick, they found enough room in their stomachs to share this bag of Doritos. When John's dad came into the living room and saw everybody eating Doritos, he angrily complained "I buy over $100.00 worth of G*d Damn lunchmeat, and you're in here eating G*d Damn Doritos! That'll be the end of that S**t!" and then stormed off. Still, John's folks made the crew eat all that food over the next several days. John, musing on the whole evening's proceedings, said, "You know, this is the best time I've ever had. My girlfriend is here, my friends are here, my friends from up north are here, the band jammed, we have food, we had cool tunes, we had booze, we had dope, everything!" However, John became more analytical, and said, "Let's see, if I had to choose from only one of all those things, I'd choose...the dope!" This, of course, while he had his arm around his girlfriend, and with all his friends near. Still, everyone managed to laugh about it. Soon after that, After Forever played their set over again because Todd had missed it in the bathroom. Besides, there wasn't any beer or dope left, so there was nothing else to do. Tim, in the meantime, had gone into John's room, turned the lights out, and put on the Queensryche tape, "The Warning," and just kept listening to it over and over, while staring out into space through John's window. Funny thing was, Tim had earlier complained that the crank John had scored him was "s#*t" or "sugar", yet here he was several hours later tripping out big time. Still, John and Todd went to check in on him several times, and finally noticed that John's 3 foot ceramic Jesus statue had been smashed. When Tim was questioned about it, he claimed not to know what happened to it, and John was pretty upset (Years later, Tim would eventually confess to "sort of" remembering knocking the statue over). Nevertheless, the crew all kicked back, and watched the Dick Clark New Years Eve special, and passed out shortly after that. It was a New Years to remember (if those who could), and it all went down in the Old Neighborhood...
It was just a few short days after the New Years Eve party, and the crew was back at it again. Todd had again coaxed his gullible uncle Kenny to score some beer, and John had again scored some smoke. So John, James, Craig, Todd and Matt (no Tim, as he was off with his cousin) were partying in the Rec Room and playing pool, as John’s parents had gone to bed for the evening. Then the munchies hit John, Craig, and James. John then remembered that the neighbors from down the street had given John’s parents a huge anniversary cake. So John said “Let’s have an anniversary cake munch!”. He then grabbed a big frickin’ knife in the kitchen and cut the cake in half, then cut the half into three huge pieces, which they devoured. Unfortunately, John left the cake out, and John’s Mom awoke the next morning to find the cake half gone, the other half engulfed in ants (although John would get stoned again later in the week, and eat the other ant-infested half of cake!). Needless to say, John’s folks were pissed again, and it didn't help that the side back door hadn’t been closed all the way, thus unlocked and unsecured. It was blamed on Matt, as he was the last to leave that night. However, it could have been easily Todd’s fault, as he had went out that side door to make a late night deposit: an empty bag of beer cans in the middle of the busy side street. Of course, Todd stayed outside long enough to watch it get hit by a car and thus scattering smashed beer cans all over the street. Still, even though the dudes were in a lot of trouble that week, John couldn’t remember a funner time in his life. And where else could it have happened other than the infamous Old Neighborhood?
In the Mid-80's, the After Forever crew of Matt, Craig, and John, along with John’s friend James, had planned a night of loaded fun at the Laserium show at Griffith Park, which was having a Led Zeppelin night. The crew had scored some beer, and unloaded it at John’s pad the usual way: through the side gate and through John’s bedroom window. Then all the dudes went on a joy ride in Matt’s mom’s car afterward, as she had left town for the weekend. Matt didn’t let the fact that he did not have a driver’s license stop him from driving, as he had just got his driving permit. Still, they cruised the hood. As they were driving, they noticed a truck following them at one point. John had joked aloud “What if that is my dad following us?”. As they pulled up to John’s house, Matt and Craig dropped John and James off, then took off, to return later for the Laserium show. Just then, sure enough, John’s dad pulled up into the driveway. He HAD been following them, as the next door neighbor had alerted him that he had seen the dudes pass something, probably booze, into John’s room. Roy (John’s dad) interrogated John and James as to what was passed through the window. John tried to explain it was music equipment, but Roy wasn’t buying it, knowing they could have just brought music equipment into the house. Also, Roy knew Matt was driving without a license. So, Roy said he would question Craig and Matt when they arrived about it, to see if there would be any discrepancies in their stories. When Craig and Matt did arrive, Roy confronted Craig in the front room as to what was passed through the window. Before Craig could answer, John ran from the back room and yelled “It was music equipment, Craig!”. “G*d Damnit, John!” was Roy’s response. Still, the jig was up, and they were forced to surrender the beer, as well as Matt getting reamed for using his mom’s car without a license. As punishment, although they were still allowed to go to the laserium show, the beer would be left to sit on top of the refrigerator in the rec room, as a reminder of their failed attempt. What Roy was unaware of is the crew still smoked some pot and got stoned before the show, and later stole some of Roy’s whiskey when they got back and partied. The following night, Roy let the dudes go ahead and drink the beer after all, figuring they had “learned their lesson”. The only lesson learned was the crew got over again, and another crazy story from the Old Neighborhood was born...
In the later 80's, after another night of getting stoned, Matt and John decided to make a late night food run to the local Der Wienerschnitzel up the block. This Der Wienerschnitzel had been around for years (Todd often ate there as a kid when he still lived in the Old Neighborhood), as it was a partier's staple for the munchies. Once arriving to the walk up window, Matt and John perused the menu. Having a limited amount of funds between them, Matt and John then got into a heated argument over what to buy from the menu, which lasted about 15 minutes. Matt was notorious for being stingy, and John was notorious for being argumentative, and both were being stubborn and belligerent as they continued to debate over what food to order. Just before coming to blows, an employee inside Der Wienerschnitzel opened the order window and alerted both Matt and John that the fast-food joint had already been closed for about 15 minutes. Matt and John then just looked at each other, and started to bust up in laughter. They walked home jovially from there, as even though they did not get their fix of late-night munchies, they had another great story to share about the Old Neighborhood!
Graduation Night
John, Matt, and Craig graduated from Arroyo High School in 1987, and Todd
came down from Northern California to attend the ceremony. The
graduation ceremony went as planned, with one exception: during the benediction at the end of the ceremony, a guy came
riding up on a dirtbike from the wash behind the field, and he was straight-up naked, wearing nothing but a
werewolf mask. As he turned around to leave, his motorcycle stalled, and a fat security guy started to close in on him. Luckily, his dirt bike started, and he raised his leg to flash his privates to the fat security guy as he rode away. So, with that, the ceremony concluded.
That night, as Matt and Craig attended a formal Grad Night celebration at Disneyland, Todd, John and John's girlfriend Lisa went to a party
in Monrovia, about 5 miles away from John's house. John's
parents dropped them off, and they were to told they had to find their own ride back. They had a blast partying, but Todd continued to nag John about asking
people for a ride back. At one point, John rolled around on the floor, saying "Stop!" to Todd's persistent questioning of their ride situation. Still, John didn't talk to anyone about getting a ride, and a little past
midnight, the party began to break up. With few people left at the party to
solicit, John talked a guy named "Little Rick" into
giving them a ride back home. Little Rick was a dwarf who played guitar in a
local punk rock band. He drove a modified stationwagon, and away they went.
Little Rick sped to El Monte to drop off Lisa, then sped towards Temple
City, roughly a 15 mile trip. At one point, Little Rick had finished his pint of whiskey, and tossed it
out of the car doing about 50 MPH in a 30 zone, screaming as the bottle smashed onto the street. They eventually made it back to John's pad in one piece,
and it only struck Todd and John later how ripped Little Rick had to be. A 90 pound
dwarf drinking a pint of whiskey had to be like a full-sized
person drinking a liter of whiskey, and he also had several beers at the party ! John's typical spontaneity got them home, but much
quicker and more dangerously than anticipated. Thanks to Little Rick's fast driving, they had made it back to John's pad in
time to run down to the 7-11 to pick up a 6-pack of Hussongs Beer before 2 AM.
This time they used safer transportation, some ten-speed bikes. They continued
to celebrate John's graduation, lucky they had made it through that
night riding with "Little Rick" in the Old Neighborhood!
In early 1988, it was what appeared to be another “normal” night at Little Caesars, where both John and Matt worked. John was working a night shift, and was wanting to get off early to go to a party. John’s manager wasn’t willing to let John get off just yet, and assigned him the task of sweeping the floor. John was angry (a rare occurrence) and decided to “clock” out anyway...by literally punching the time clock with his bare fist. He shattered the glass on the time clock, and cut his hand in the process. Shortly after that, before there was time to clean up the shattered glass, some district managers from Little Caesars had shown up and saw the damage. John had already been in previous trouble for accidentally smashing up his manager’s car with his dad’s truck one night when he had stopped by Little Caesars drunk and violent (also a rare occurrence). It also didn’t help that John had taken blood from his cut hand and had fashioned Indian war paint on his face, and walked stone-faced and expressionless out the door. Needless to say, he was fired that night. John walked home, and as he entered his house, John was confronted by his dad, Roy. Roy was wondering why John was home from work early, and asked, “Boy, why are you home from work? What did you do to your hand? Is...is that blood on your face? Annie Rose (John’s mom), this boy is a DAMN PSYCHO!!!!” John said nothing, and went into his room. Only later did John and his friends wonder what anyone walking or driving about that night in the Old Neighborhood thought when they saw a big, angry dude walking down the street with blood smeared on his face like war paint. Despite his dismissal from Little Caesars, John would later get a job at Pace Wholesale, and Matt also quit Little Caesars soon afterward, once he had ripped off a large sum of money from the safe! Still, it was another crazy incident in the Old Neighborhood...
It was a New Years Eve Celebration in the Mid-90's, and John, once again, found himself partying in the Old Neighborhood. He had brought a girlfriend with him, Monique, from the High Desert down the hill to celebrate with him at the New Year's Party. While John and Monique had been involved in a previous relationship, they weren't really going out at the time. They were more party buddies, which is what they did at Craig's pad, which, at the time, was on Daines Drive, just a few houses down from where Todd used to live in the heart of the Old Neighborhood. Late in the evening, John suggested the idea of visiting an old friend in the Old Neighborhood a few blocks away. Soon John and Monique were off, and on the way, they happened upon an abandoned shopping cart. John suggested that Monique jump into the shopping cart and he would "give her a ride". She agreed, and John was soon pushing her down the street in a shopping cart. Unfortunately, John somehow lost control of the cart, and dumped it, with Monique inside, onto the street and pavement. Monique cut her hand on a bottle on the street, and suddenly became enraged at John. "You did that on purpose!!!", she exclaimed. John was taken back by this sudden change in mood, and got upset at being accused of dumping the cart (along with it's cargo) on purpose. A long argument ensued, with both parties becoming enraged. Monique eventually walked back to Craig's pad, where she promptly conned a friend of Craig's named Todd (not the Todd of this web-page, thankfully!) into a night of drunken sex. John also went back to Craig's, and just stayed pissed off for the remainder of the party (what was left of it), again getting to enjoy another "ordeal" involving Monique. They eventually reunited the next morning, and drove back to the desert that next day, with little to say to one another. Needless to say, John no longer gave Monique rides in shopping carts, especially in the Old Neighborhood!
