Thief-of-Hearts

.....how Our Higher Power works.....
(.....a trapped BIKER gets saved from a piece of shit)

During the several years that I have been running personal ads on
various sites, with the exception of my 3rd partner (former), I have met
many men - some good people but for the most part there were far too
many who either did not know what they wanted or were too caught up
into the cyber games. I had also spent much money, traveled many
miles on my motorcycle, took a lot of time answering numerous
email's and even more time was spent on telephone chats. It was
during the month of March (2002) when I decided - enough was just
enough! I was burned out and very disappointed that I was not able to
find my soulmate. I was growing weary of the many people out there
who still continued to play games and seemed to be interested in
nothing more than sex or chasing after the impossible "perfect white
knight". Back in December 2001, I had made a commitment to myself
that if I did not find my partner by April 2002, I would end the Internet
search to embark upon a planned road trip that I had also been
dreaming of doing. After having traveled 700 miles from Austin (TX) to
Springfield (MO) and then doing another 2500 miles of back road
exploration in the Ozarks, and then doing another 1500 mile round trip
to Austin in January 2002 for a lab/doc thing, I had given myself a
much needed boost of self confidence that I could indeed handle a
longer road trip.
On top of all this riding I also took in a couple of trips out of Springfield
to visit "potential" partners.
So I was itching to get on the road and just drive...........

.....kinda how I felt after leaving Austin on
Labor Day 2001 towards Springfield.....
.....at that time I had no idea
where I would wind up at.....

.....bike serviced and I am ready to rock & roll
onto the roads ahead.....BIKE WAS SOLD 10/02

I just as quickly dismissed what it was that I might have been
feeling knowing that I was to come down to Atlanta to visit
someone else and that was where my obligation was to be ?
with the ?other? man, whom we will refer to as ?M?..Later on
that same evening I had a couple of cell phone chats with ?M?
and I told him that the weather was so great I almost started to
head towards Atlanta ? his response was ?that will be OK too
if you want to come down now ? why waste anymore time??
The following morning we IM chatted for a while and I followed
up with another cell phone call. We both were excited about
meeting each other and agreed that my visit to Atlanta was to
be brief with no expectations from each other. The weather
again was great that day and in the late afternoon I called ?M?
back and asked if he would really mind me coming down to
Atlanta a few days early on my motorcycle. I told ?M? that I felt
as if I should be leaving later that evening and wanted to get a
?go-ahead? from him. ?M? was elated and overjoyed about it.
So much that he also wanted to meet me in Memphis (a
halfway point) and although at first I did not want that to
happen, I allowed ?M? to talked me into meeting him there
instead of Atlanta.

Fall 2001 Springfield

I already had given this much thought and originally wanted to meet ?M?
the following day at the Peabody and then continue driving onto Atlanta. But
he told me to wait by the phone and he would call me back. A few minutes
later I was called back and told that he had reserved a room at the Motel 6
so that he could be there waiting for me. Although I was not happy about
this I just accepted it for what it was ? his eagerness to hook up with me as
well!When Steve came home from work that evening he was somewhat
surprised to see the bike loaded up and ready to go. I told Steve what was
going on and reminded him about what he had said earlier about looking
in the Southeast. If it all turned out bad I would just go ahead and head out
towards the Grand Canyon via Austin. I also told Steve right before I
mounted the motorcycle that I felt as if I were going to meet the wrong man
but that I kinda felt ?something? else was pulling me towards
Atlanta.Thursday evening from Springfield at 9:53PM CST, March 14, 2002,
with nothing more than $200 in my pocket and a loaded motorcycle carrying
only tools, laptop and a few CD?s - I headed out on US 60/62 East, bound
towards Memphis via US 65 Southeast towards Memphis into the cold
night air, fully dressed and excited about what might be waiting another 700
miles away. The night ride through the Ozarks was beautiful and quiet, very
relaxing and tranquil - it was also "the calm before the storm" - yet to come!

.....lizards sit still watching the world
around them.....thus they gain much
knowledge and wisdom from their
quiet and patient observations.....

When I arrived at the Motel 6 in Memphis at 4:45am the following morning, it was not difficult to find the room of the man I
had traveled so far to meet ? there was a yellow hanky tied around the doorknob and I saw ?M?s? car parked close to this
door. The curtain was also left partially opened so that I would be able to spot him laying on the bed. After several minutes
of knocking on the window ?M? finally came to. We met face to face for the first time and ?M? seemed to be ok until I
realized something that bothered me: when I asked where his small sick dog was, I was informed the dog was in the truck
sleeping. This disturbed me as I had been told days earlier the dog had a very bad heart compounded with breathing and
arthritic problems ? and the heat in Memphis that morning was in the low 80?s ? not good weather to leave an animal in a
car, particularly a sick one at that! That should have been an early warning that something was ?not right? about this man
but I shrugged it off as stupidity on his part. I would soon discover my worst nightmare was about to come true.

During the following week to come many things happened that really challenged me, moreso at one time than anything
else in my life with the exception of Alec's sudden death! The ?tests of faith? started right after we took off from Memphis
later that morning. I had had only about 3 hours of sleep and upon waking up at the Motel 6, ?M? offered me oatmeal that
he had cooked up in Atlanta the night before for breakfast ? I went across the street to Burger King but not without hearing
first about how he was a strict vegetarian. After I ate we took off ? I followed ?M? in his car and 30 miles south of Memphis
wouldn?t ya know it! ? the power went out on my motorcycle in the middle of nowhere. Back towards Olive Branch I
discovered a trailer rental place and rented a trailer. We loaded the cycle into the trailer and off to Atlanta we went.
(My third day in Atlanta I discovered the ignition was bad on the motorcycle so a replacement was ordered the following
day, which was on the following Monday. I was told the part would be in on that Thursday.)

UPDATE NOV 2004 - My Hep C Test
came back NEGATIVE - WHEW!

When March rolled around I started talking to some guy in
Atlanta whom I met online. After two weeks of many
telephone chats the man in Atlanta asked if I would be willing
to cut my beard and trim my hair as he "wanted that Colt
model look and I am afraid you might scare my friends". I
had to decline the invitation for a visit as this man was
looking for something that I could not offer (I am who I am
and cannot be something someone wants me to be). About
that same time I met another man from Arkansas who had
also responded to one of the remaining personal ads. After a
week of phone chats off I went to Arkansas - when I got there
I quickly realized that this 55 year old man talked a great
game on the phone but really was interested in nothing more
than sex (and wanting someone to get his bike running)? I
immediately went back to Springfield and started pulling
down any personal ads that I could find remaining on the
internet.I told Steve (whom I was staying with in Springfield)
that I had already started to pull down the last of the personal
ads and was ready to pull my personal ad off of my web site
as well. I recall Steve telling me not to be so quick in doing
this. The motorcycle had also just been fully serviced and
was ready to roll - all that I was waiting on was some really
good weather to leave with. I went to check my email a few
days after I returned from Arkansas and there was yet
another reply to an old posting that had been left lingering on
a yahoo personals group. The email was somewhat
different than what I had been getting and the real plus was
that this guy claimed he was a biker (I discovered later that
he had just bought his scooter a few months ago and at that
time he did not even know what a Magna was). The email
sounded decent enough and after a few discussions
between my roomie and I, I decided to respond. Steve felt
that I should be looking towards the Southeast ? in fact,
Steve had felt that there might be something in that area for
me when I had been talking with the first guy I had met in
Atlanta. Another person beaconing me from Atlanta, Georgia!
I emailed the guy back and then we started IM chatting for a
few days on top of the cell phone calls I also made to him.
This man was also aware that I was planning on leaving
sooner than I had expected on my Grand Canyon road trip.
After much discussion we made arrangements for my visit to
Atlanta but because I was planning on leaving soon for the
Grand Canyon, I opted on taking a bus down to Atlanta as I
did not want to drive 700 miles to discover that I might be
chasing nothing more than another game player. With that in
mind I was prepared to leave on the bus 9 days later for
Atlanta.

A few days before I was to leave for Atlanta, I got my first
glimpse of Clay ? there he was, on this guy?s web cab
getting his nipple pierced. Clay could not see me and he
was waiting for the piercing to be done. I started talking to
Clay on IM chat. When Clay finally realized I was talking to
him, his face had a ?glow? about it and finally he typed a few
words back to me. I also felt there was something very
special about Clay but was not entirely certain what it was
that I might be feeling - but it was a good warm fuzzy feeling
as I vaguely recall.

UPDATE DEC 2002: "piece of shit" - yer still OUT of the loop boy!