It was about six months since I went AWOL. My life was considerably different than it was before I left. My sole source of income was selling drugs and I had to sell more than I was consuming.
I had a few close friends but, everyone else was a customer.
There were times when I wished that I just would fade away. Go out in oblivion. I had nothing to look forward to. Buy more drugs, sell more drugs, take more drugs was the routine.
I said on numerous occasions that if ever caught, I would swallow everything and not be taken alive.
I could not keep up with all the sales. There were a number of people that I would front drugs to in quantity, and they would sell them for a cut or for some of the drugs.
Eddie (another soldier) was becoming one of my faster movers. I took him to Houston with me and hooked him up with Red (my dealer) so that he could make some money for himself.
Eddie and I had just gotten back to Leesville with 100 tabs of “X” for me and a sheet (100 hits) of LSD for him. I helped him put all of the acid in 1″ x 1″ baggies and there were a ton of baggies left over.
For some reason I decided to put all the “X” I purchased, into the left over baggies. It was a random thing because I had never done that before.
On October 28th 1989, just another usual night, Eddie, Jane, Marshall (another one of my movers) and a bunch of other regular soldiers and locals, headed out to Club Late Nite in Alexandria. We got there around 11:00 pm and started making our rounds.
I still had all of mine except for what I consumed and it was all in my leather jacket. Eddie had sold most of his stuff back at Ft. Polk before we got there. He had about a fourth left and he was carrying it in a leather jacket he had recently purchased.
I made my way to the main stage near the DJ booth at the back of the club and started dealing and dancing. Right before midnight a friend came towards me very quickly and in a panicked voice said “Dude, you’re about to get busted!”
It was at this point, I realized that my promise of ingesting all of my drugs was impossible. Why did I put all of them in the bags?
Outside of club Late Nite was a Drug Suppression Team comprised of Army Criminal Investigation Division, Louisiana State Troopers, and the Late Nite security guards which were off duty Rapides Parish Sheriffs.
They had an informant tell them that I would be there “for sure.” My friend overheard them talking about the operation and came in to warn me.
Midnight was their cue to rush in and grab me, and there was nowhere to go.
As I looked over towards the front entrance, I could see two Sheriffs headed my way. They split and moved around the stage from both ends. The first Sheriff grabbed my arm and said “Come with me.”
At the exact moment he grabbed me, I somehow slid my jacket off and dropped it in front of the stage. As they both escorted me out of the club, neither of them saw my jacket leave my body or hit the floor.
People were in shock, watching me being taken away. I couldn’t see anyone or say anything because we were moving so fast.
As I was pushed out the door, I was met with drawn pistols and one of the Troopers shouted “Up against the wall!”
The Sheriff released my arm and as I turned to face the wall, someone pushed me into the wall and kicked my legs apart. “Arms up and don’t move!” one of the cops said. I wasn’t going to move.
One of the Troopers frisked me and found a set of keys and $.10 in my pocket. “Where are the drugs? We know you have them!” I did not say anything.
My “friend”, Special Agent Thundercloud from Army CID, came up to me and said, “We finally caught you. You can make this easy on yourself. Tell us where the drugs are.” Again, I said nothing.
I was so furious. I lost all my drugs and money. I couldn’t believe they caught me. This was not happening. My head was not super clear because I had taken “X”. Was this for real?
They slapped a pair of hand cuffs on me and shoved me into a State Patrol Car.
I was out of Army jurisdiction and so I would be arrested and confined locally. Special Agent Thunderbolt said he would come get me tomorrow when the State Troopers would turn me over to the Army.
As I sat in the car, I said nothing. I still felt like I was dreaming.
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