joseph engraver
10-03-2025, 06:33 AM
Billy suddenly asked. Tom can you explain what is so important about Utopia I want to know?....
Utopia is a very special small town, Billy and the people who live there want to keep it like that. Two years ago representatives from Cola Bottling showed up and wanted to drill artesian wells, and put in a bottling plant. When they presented this plan to the mayor, he held a town meeting... Cola was willing to build new roads for transporting the water, build a new state of the art school and gymnasium and give all the residents a sum of money. The meeting lasted five minutes before the town´s residents decided they want to stay a small town and did not want Cola´s trucks and equipment destroying the harmony of Utopia. They threw them out and told them not to return.
I had a half brother who lived there, that I loved… one day…he was drunk and went riding on his Harley, and it got him killed. I inherited the small piece of land he had there.
It is located along the banks of the Sabinal River, which has some of the most beautiful cypress trees growing along it. It also has the best bass and trout fishing in Texas...That River flows from springs one hundred mile to the north. The water in this river is purified by limestone. It is the purest water in Texas, and it needs no filtration, that makes it a very desirable product to sell.
There are two things that are essential for life, water and air .Now you cannot bottle air but you surly can bottle water. It so happens that there is an artesian spring on my piece of land. The time I spent in prison gave me time to think of a way to make money by bottling Utopia water, and then promoting it to the tourist that come year round. I have some friends in Utopia, if I keep the operation small no one will object.
A small bottle of water sells for around a dollar and cost less than ten cents to produce so you can see that a good profit could be made .The only fly in the ointment is the fact that I don’t have the money and my credit with any bank is zero. But Utopia is still a long way away and we have Saint Joseph looking over our shoulders. Something to make money will turn up.” Billy nodded his head in agreement as he said, “I think you are right Tom. I am sure of it”
They went out to the truck and filled the gas tank, and watered Gimpy, and then they got into the cab. Billy drove onto the highway; suddenly he stopped: shut down the engine and looked at Tom as he said.
”Tom, you have saved me from the downward spiral into hell that I was heading into. You have made me believe in myself, and I shall not forget you for that, but I don’t think we can continue together if you are going to drink your health away. I want to go to Texas, and I want to believe that we can develop the Utopia water bottling idea of yours; I know that you are a good man and I trust you. I do have the education needed to manage a project like this, but I cannot do it if you are going to waste your life sucking on a bottle of booze. We have more than enough money to make it to Texas now. Or I have enough money to leave and find my way alone. Is there any chance you would be willing to join Alcohol Anonymous if I go on with you to Texas? They have helped many a good person from disaster.”
Tom looked down at the dog in his lap then he looked Billy straight in the eyes as he said “Billy, I have been thinking about this ever since you got into this truck. I lost my half brother Rodger to booze and my father’s marriage failed because of it. And because of it I now have no driving license. And now you have brought my drinking to the surface .I honestly don’t know if I am capable of restraint but I want to make the effort... I give you my word as a Texan. I will give the AA a try. Now you can put this old truck in gear, and let’s head for Utopia”. He took out the harmonica and started to play the “Yellow Rose of Texas”, while Gimpy barked and howled in harmony
Chapter Seven
On the road again
Suddenly Billy said, “Tom, we need to buy some bullets for your gun. I feel much safer knowing it is not empty. Let’s stop at a Seven Eleven store and buy a box of them.” Tom stopped playing the harmonica and shook his head in disbelief.
”Billy, you are more in need of education about guns than I thought possible .First of all I don’t have a gun, I have a revolver, and they’re not bullets, they are cartridges. The bullet is the lead part on the end of a cartridge. We are not in Texas. We are still in the democratic, anti gun; states Federal law prohibits us from buying cartridges here. Especially since us both have been arrested, and we are from out of state... But you are right; we do need to buy some ammunition for my Colt, if for no other reason but to protect you Billy. Saint Joseph had truly better look over us.
Especially if any of my friends found out you want to buy bullets in a convenience store. Where do you buy ammo in a case like ours? We need to find a flea market or a gun show and then we will find someone who doesn’t quite follow the laws and will sell us all the ammo we want. We have two thousand mile to go, and I have no doubt that we will find plenty of “bullets” once we cross the Mason /Dixon line.”
The very idea that Billy was going to be driving for another week was too much, and he said so. “Tom if we have such a long trip ahead of us and I am doing all the driving .I want to enjoy it, we are not in a marathon, we have money enough for the trip now, and no one is waiting for us in Utopia. Let’s take our time and see the country .I have never been more than fifty miles from where I was born and for the first time in my life I am free .If you are in agreement, I want to stop at flea markets, antique shows, and fairs-.I want to see anything that is part of America’s culture.
And that includes historic sites and anything else we discover along the way. And right now I want to stop at a shopping mall and buy a portable radio for me, and Gimpy a collar with a leash so I can take her for walks a couple of times a day.”
Tom sat in silence as he thought Billy’s demands over. He under stood that their age differences caused them to think very differently. He had seen all of the country and parts of the world he wanted, and was ready to go to Utopia as fast as possible. Then he remembered how much he liked to travel when he was younger.
He said “Billy, you are driving and you have the money, which gives you the right to decide. But I am older, wiser, and have more experience, so we will make a compromise. You can stop anywhere you want to, as long as it is not in large cities, I cannot tolerate them...
The matter was settled; they drove southwest, listening to country music on a new portable radio. Gimpy, wearing her new collar sat on Tom´s lap watching the country side rolling by. They stopped at the historical land marks, flea markets, and at a pawn shop in Kentucky where Tom bought six rounds of ammunition for his Colt.
Now that the weather was warmer and Tom was armed again, they slept in roadside parks.
Tom slept in the camper, and Billy on the front seat with the packsack beneath him. He wondered how much money was in it, and when to tell Tom about it.
They built campfires and cooked meals over the open flames. Then Tom played his guitar, Billy the harmonica, and sang while Gimpy yipped and barked in time to the music. Tom would take his sombrero off and pass it around to the small audience they attracted. They made extra money to buy gas and beans while traveling toward Texas.
Utopia is a very special small town, Billy and the people who live there want to keep it like that. Two years ago representatives from Cola Bottling showed up and wanted to drill artesian wells, and put in a bottling plant. When they presented this plan to the mayor, he held a town meeting... Cola was willing to build new roads for transporting the water, build a new state of the art school and gymnasium and give all the residents a sum of money. The meeting lasted five minutes before the town´s residents decided they want to stay a small town and did not want Cola´s trucks and equipment destroying the harmony of Utopia. They threw them out and told them not to return.
I had a half brother who lived there, that I loved… one day…he was drunk and went riding on his Harley, and it got him killed. I inherited the small piece of land he had there.
It is located along the banks of the Sabinal River, which has some of the most beautiful cypress trees growing along it. It also has the best bass and trout fishing in Texas...That River flows from springs one hundred mile to the north. The water in this river is purified by limestone. It is the purest water in Texas, and it needs no filtration, that makes it a very desirable product to sell.
There are two things that are essential for life, water and air .Now you cannot bottle air but you surly can bottle water. It so happens that there is an artesian spring on my piece of land. The time I spent in prison gave me time to think of a way to make money by bottling Utopia water, and then promoting it to the tourist that come year round. I have some friends in Utopia, if I keep the operation small no one will object.
A small bottle of water sells for around a dollar and cost less than ten cents to produce so you can see that a good profit could be made .The only fly in the ointment is the fact that I don’t have the money and my credit with any bank is zero. But Utopia is still a long way away and we have Saint Joseph looking over our shoulders. Something to make money will turn up.” Billy nodded his head in agreement as he said, “I think you are right Tom. I am sure of it”
They went out to the truck and filled the gas tank, and watered Gimpy, and then they got into the cab. Billy drove onto the highway; suddenly he stopped: shut down the engine and looked at Tom as he said.
”Tom, you have saved me from the downward spiral into hell that I was heading into. You have made me believe in myself, and I shall not forget you for that, but I don’t think we can continue together if you are going to drink your health away. I want to go to Texas, and I want to believe that we can develop the Utopia water bottling idea of yours; I know that you are a good man and I trust you. I do have the education needed to manage a project like this, but I cannot do it if you are going to waste your life sucking on a bottle of booze. We have more than enough money to make it to Texas now. Or I have enough money to leave and find my way alone. Is there any chance you would be willing to join Alcohol Anonymous if I go on with you to Texas? They have helped many a good person from disaster.”
Tom looked down at the dog in his lap then he looked Billy straight in the eyes as he said “Billy, I have been thinking about this ever since you got into this truck. I lost my half brother Rodger to booze and my father’s marriage failed because of it. And because of it I now have no driving license. And now you have brought my drinking to the surface .I honestly don’t know if I am capable of restraint but I want to make the effort... I give you my word as a Texan. I will give the AA a try. Now you can put this old truck in gear, and let’s head for Utopia”. He took out the harmonica and started to play the “Yellow Rose of Texas”, while Gimpy barked and howled in harmony
Chapter Seven
On the road again
Suddenly Billy said, “Tom, we need to buy some bullets for your gun. I feel much safer knowing it is not empty. Let’s stop at a Seven Eleven store and buy a box of them.” Tom stopped playing the harmonica and shook his head in disbelief.
”Billy, you are more in need of education about guns than I thought possible .First of all I don’t have a gun, I have a revolver, and they’re not bullets, they are cartridges. The bullet is the lead part on the end of a cartridge. We are not in Texas. We are still in the democratic, anti gun; states Federal law prohibits us from buying cartridges here. Especially since us both have been arrested, and we are from out of state... But you are right; we do need to buy some ammunition for my Colt, if for no other reason but to protect you Billy. Saint Joseph had truly better look over us.
Especially if any of my friends found out you want to buy bullets in a convenience store. Where do you buy ammo in a case like ours? We need to find a flea market or a gun show and then we will find someone who doesn’t quite follow the laws and will sell us all the ammo we want. We have two thousand mile to go, and I have no doubt that we will find plenty of “bullets” once we cross the Mason /Dixon line.”
The very idea that Billy was going to be driving for another week was too much, and he said so. “Tom if we have such a long trip ahead of us and I am doing all the driving .I want to enjoy it, we are not in a marathon, we have money enough for the trip now, and no one is waiting for us in Utopia. Let’s take our time and see the country .I have never been more than fifty miles from where I was born and for the first time in my life I am free .If you are in agreement, I want to stop at flea markets, antique shows, and fairs-.I want to see anything that is part of America’s culture.
And that includes historic sites and anything else we discover along the way. And right now I want to stop at a shopping mall and buy a portable radio for me, and Gimpy a collar with a leash so I can take her for walks a couple of times a day.”
Tom sat in silence as he thought Billy’s demands over. He under stood that their age differences caused them to think very differently. He had seen all of the country and parts of the world he wanted, and was ready to go to Utopia as fast as possible. Then he remembered how much he liked to travel when he was younger.
He said “Billy, you are driving and you have the money, which gives you the right to decide. But I am older, wiser, and have more experience, so we will make a compromise. You can stop anywhere you want to, as long as it is not in large cities, I cannot tolerate them...
The matter was settled; they drove southwest, listening to country music on a new portable radio. Gimpy, wearing her new collar sat on Tom´s lap watching the country side rolling by. They stopped at the historical land marks, flea markets, and at a pawn shop in Kentucky where Tom bought six rounds of ammunition for his Colt.
Now that the weather was warmer and Tom was armed again, they slept in roadside parks.
Tom slept in the camper, and Billy on the front seat with the packsack beneath him. He wondered how much money was in it, and when to tell Tom about it.
They built campfires and cooked meals over the open flames. Then Tom played his guitar, Billy the harmonica, and sang while Gimpy yipped and barked in time to the music. Tom would take his sombrero off and pass it around to the small audience they attracted. They made extra money to buy gas and beans while traveling toward Texas.