Return bus trip
Hampton Inn, 1460 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114

After I woke up, I watched TV, showered, dressed, packed and checked out. I sat in the lobby, where I was really zoning out. I was more tired then than when I first woke up. Tom Ellis sat at a table over by me (with his laptop open) with Little Benny and JuJu. JuJu and Chuck came over to me. JuJu talked about "Chopped barbeque" (how Chuck wants his drummer to play). Chuck said, "He don't know about chopped barbeque", which was not true, since Donnell had talked about it at rehearsal on October 11th. Chuck said, "Then when he exaggerates it, it's hot chopped barbeque". Tom asked me if I wanted a poster, I said yes and he gave me one. One of the hotel employees asked Chuck about his band. Chuck said something about playing in Baltimore. Chuck's bus was the first to leave.

The other two buses left at 1 PM. Everyone got on the same bus as the trip up. They asked me to switch seats a couple of times, the second time so Chris could join in a drinking game of 7 Up. They drank Hennessey. At first they were not pouring even amounts, Nece was pouring "drinks" not shots. Pinky said, "That's so ghetto" about them comparing the level of their drinks. Dana made a makeshift shot glass by ripping a Styrofoam cup, but then went the bus stopped for gas, they bought a shot glass. Some of the participants in the game of 7 Up were: LJ, Darrell, Nece, Simone, Chris, and Tracy. Darrell was the first out. You had to do two shots to leave the game. Darrell had previously declared that he never throws up, but that vow went unfulfilled. He threw up into trash bags several times and then passed out for most of the rest of the trip.

Picture taken by and Copyright - Pinky
Ironically, when he left the bathroom, Nece went in. Nece was the second person to leave the game. She ended up passing out in the bathroom for about two hours. This was despite the fact that a number of people banged on the door to try to wake her up for concern over her. We ended up taking an unscheduled stop in Somerset, PA so that people could go to the bathroom since she made it unavailable for others' use. Most of us went to the Wendy's (1030 North Center Av, Somerset, PA 15501), but some went to Ruby Tuesdays (1019 North Center Av). I was the last to return to the bus. Godfather didn't realize I don't have a cell phone, so he called my home. Pinky called Donnell at the Wendy’s, who told me they were waiting on me. We didn't leave until the other bus was also ready anyway. When I got on the bus, I saw Godfather get in the bathroom. During the stop, Nece had woken up, so after fifteen minutes of telling her how to unlock it and her doing it, they got her out. Chris held a bad for her to puke in. Then she passed out for most of the rest of the trip.

Chris & Nece
Picture taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich
Among the movies we watched this trip were Antwone Fisher and The Brothers. I finished reading Dave Barry's Big Trouble - a hysterical novel. We in the back smelled burning and could tell something was wrong. Tim stopped on the shoulder and checked it out. He said nothing was wrong, but that was not true. We stopped again and he told us that a belt in the motor had broken. He tried driving more, making a few more short trips. During this time, Nece woke up and cursed a blue streak. She hadn't realized how long she had passed out in the bathroom (Marvin timed it) or that she had puked. She kept talking, so her sister Simone and others, including surprisingly Angie, joned on her. Tim drove to the next exit #22 on 270, because it was safe to be off the highway. He called another bus. It took so long waiting for the bus that some people left and got people to pick them up. It was at least an hour before another bus came. Tim said the driver was a mechanic and that he would drive to fix our bus. He had us switch to the new bus, but he said we would leave the luggage and have the original bus follow the new one unless it couldn't get fixed now. It ended up that the original bus couldn't be fixed, so all the luggage was transferred over and we left. During this time Darrell woke up. The new bus had a DVD player, and we watched Bruce Bruce. When we got to the parking lot, it was about 10:15 PM. When I walked to my car, one of the other women said to me, "Did you have a good time?" I told her yes. She said, "When you got on, I thought you were on the wrong bus (I guess because I am white)." It was late enough that by the time I got home, I would have to leave for Tradewinds, so I hung out at the nearby McDonald's, changed my clothes, and headed over to Tradewinds.