Evil Journey: Meth in Michigan to Death in California

By Albert Fales

This story, although fiction, was inspired by an actual occurrence here in mid-Michigan. A van on it's way to an Ohio airport was stopped by Ohio State Police and they found about 15 pounds of Crystal Meth in the van. Furter investigation traced the van to an address in Michigan and a location where material to make Meth. had been sent to a location in Ogemaw County Michigan. This actually happened, but my version of it is, of course, fiction as are the persons in this story. Police reports and new-paper articles are on hand at locations to document this episode in the national fight to wipe out this destroyer of humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 24, 2007
• ISBN: 9781465328519

Albert Fales

I, the author was born on a farm in 1922, about 175 miles north of Detroit, Michigan. My family moved to Standish Michigan at the start of the 1929 crash of the U.S. economy. I enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942 and served as a radio operator on a B-24 bomber in the C.B.I. in both India and China. Came home in 1945 and was married for 62 years until my girl passed away.

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Copyright © 2007 by Albert Fales.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Evil Journey, The Story.

Endnotes

DEDICATION

Those to whom I wish to give thanks

for helping make it possible for me to write this book.

My wife, Betty.

My daughter-in-law, Susan.

Bill Reed and Kelly Mumford of Sky West Airlines.

Arenac County Abstract office.

PREFACE

According to the latest statistics, the use of crystal Methamphetamine, or Meth as it is called, is rising faster than any other drug that has been introduced into our society. It is so easy to make and distribute, that the labs making it have been found in the kitchens of trailer houses in trailer parks or even mobile homes that cook up a batch, and move on to another location, making it difficult to zero in on as a source. The United Nations Council states that Meth is a world wide craze, not known to be equaled by any another drug on a global basis.

Some time ago, factories were found in India, that were producing ephedrine by the tons, and tons were being imported into other countries by large drug labs and these labs were producing Meth by the millions of doses.

The way that Meth works, is that it reacts on the centers of the brain that releases the natural substance, Dopamine, producing an artificial physical reaction similar to what one experiences at the last few moments of a romantic encounter; however, the Meth reaction is more intense, lasts longer, and the aftermath so severe, that the addict needs another dose to counter the results. The demand for a recurrence leads one into being addicted and the physical and mental damage to the person leads to psychological episodes, tissue damage to the body, and eventually, criminal activity.

This story is fiction, but the inspiration for it was the actual episodes in Ohio, and Ogemaw County, Michigan, where drugs were found and a lab put out of business. I have included these episodes in a fictional way but they actually did occur and news-papers reported on the episode at the time it took place.

INTRODUCTION

This story, although fiction, was inspired by an actual occurrence here in mid-Michigan. A van on it’s way to an Ohio airport was stopped by Ohio State Police and they found about 15 pounds of Crystal Meth. in the van. Further investigation traced the van to an address in Michigan and a location where material to make Meth. had been sent to a location in Ogemaw County Michigan. This actually happened, but my version of it is, of course, fiction as are the persons in the story. Police reports and news-paper articles are on hand at locations to document this episode in the national fight to wipe out this destroyer of humanity.

Evil Journey, The Story.

It was a typical morning in the California city named after St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco, and even though there is twenty four hour activity there, it senses a quickening of life as the sun starts to glow over the jagged sky line. The long buses, jointed in the middle, are worming their way in and out of traffic, stopping only long enough to pick up passengers, and as the driver shouts, Hurry up, get on, and step to the back, the bus roars on to the next stop. The drivers have become adept at missing the oncoming traffic and the cars parked along the curb. It seems they spend half their time with a foot on the brake, and the other half with a toe pressing the accelerator.

Out in the harbor area, the mist is drifting away from the rigging of the old tall ships berthed at Hyde Street Pier. This fleet of historic ships draws visitors from all walks of life. It gives a little insight in to the maritime history of the area, a history that started with sailing ships coming from the Pacific, into San Francisco Bay, with their loads of goods, passengers, and any thing else a resident of this new land would need.

Until the completion of the Trans-continental Railway and the telegraph, the means of communication and transportation was by boat, except for the short period of time the Pony Express was running mail across the wilderness.

The Fisherman’s Wharf is starting to come to life as shop keepers slide open the grills that cover their doors and make ready for the multitude who will tread the planks of the water front-docks this new day. This wharf is a Mecca for tourists who wish to savor waterfront life and food in a convenient and most interesting way. There are over one hundred shops on Pier 39, and many of them are two story buildings. They definitely cater to the vast number of people who come to shop, look, meander, and photograph around the area. On another part of Fisherman’s Wharf, fires are being turned up under the huge kettles of water where sea food is freshly boiled as the customer waits. Bins of crabs and oysters await their fate under the canvas shades the proprietors have erected on the fronts of their open air shops. Steam from the kettles rises and wafts along the waterfront, carrying the scent of cooking seafood to the customers as they filter in from the vast and bustling complex that makes up the city. Visitors, new to the area, stand around taking in the scene that to them is so diverse and interesting, stopping first at one stand and then another. It appears that every other person has a camera slung over their shoulder, as they try to take a part of their trip home with them when they leave.

Meanwhile back in Palo Alto, a small city about thirty miles south of San Francisco, four young folks, free of classes for the day from Stanford University, are getting dressed for a trip into the City, to break the monotony of school and stress of dorm life, and the effort of trying to absorb the contents of the tomes handed them. They have planned a trip into San Francisco, one of the most interesting cities in the U.S. Leah and Vera room together and this is how Grant came into the picture; but I fear that I’m getting ahead of myself in this part of the story. I must go back a ways to bring this part of the adventure into sequence.

One evening Leah and Brian, already a couple, were sitting in a booth in a small restaurant about a block north from the local up-scale hotel on the main thoroughfare in this small city of Palo Alto, California. While they were sitting there waiting for their orders to come, Leah leaned back and looked across at her date saying, Brian, sometimes I wish you were twins.

Why the heck would you want me to be twins. Isn’t one of me enough for you?

Oh you know better than that. If I had two of you, I wouldn’t get any studying done. I was just sitting here thinking about my roommate.

Okay baby doll, now about this roomie of yours and what is it she needs that makes you wish I were twins?

I think she’s missing out on a part of life that a girl of her age should be enjoying, Leah answered. She is a recent transfer; used to go to college in Spearfish, South Dakota, but her dad got a job out here at the San Francisco airport. The whole family moved out here and since this was so close to San Francisco, Vera had all her transcripts sent to Stanford.

The waitress brought the orders, placed them on the table, and after she left, Leah continued for a moment. She’s a good kid and I hate to see her sitting there alone while I’m out with you.

What does she look like, Brian asked"?

She’s about my size, Leah answered. I think she’s one of the prettiest girls I know; her hair is so black it seems to glow when light hits it. Her mother was from the Dakota nation that lived along the Missouri River. Her grandfather was an Air Force man that married her grandmother at Minot, so her mother is half native American.

She sounds as though she shouldn’t have any trouble getting a date, Brian mused. Well, I’m not twins so I can’t introduce her to my other half.

Leah didn’t continue the subject as they both became occupied with the ham on rye and fries that had just been set in front of them.

Leah Roth, the girl that sat across from Brian was very attractive. She had just turned twenty, and at about one hundred twenty pounds, she was very well proportioned, with light brown hair and a natural wave she had inherited from her mother who also was a very pretty lady. Her family lived in Sparks, Nevada, just across the border from California. She, however, did have one complaint that amused Brian.

I wish I had bigger boobs, she commented one evening. I’m the only one on the cheer leading squad that wears a padded bra’.

Brian had told her, If it doesn’t bother me why the heck should it bother you. It’s nobody else’s business. Leah had at first, considered going to U.N.L.V. but after much consideration, she and her parents thought the atmosphere and range of subjects at Stanford were more to their liking.

Brian Adams, was a member of the tennis team, not really one of the football hero types, but rather a well built nice guy sort of person. He was in his last year at Stanford, majoring in Marine Biology. He was concerned about the diverse pollutants along the California coast and the way they were affecting both, marine mammals and the sea bird life along the Pacific coast. Sea gulls and other fish eating birds were the prime target of his study. How-ever, the fish were absorbing the chemicals and passing along the devastating effect to those who ate them.

As I mentioned, Brian was not a football hero type, but he was a good athlete. His five-eleven frame supported his hundred seventy five pounds well and having been raised on a farm, his daily work schedule growing up helped to eliminate any excess poundage. Brian spent several hours a week on the tennis courts and this activity kept him trim and definitely removed from the couch potato crowd.

As they sat there, Brian was intrigued by this unpredictable young lady that sat across from him. He already knew the answer he would get but he thought he would bug her just a little.

So—you want me to take her out?

Oh, don’t be a damn fool; you do and I’ll kill you, she retorted. However she was smiling when she said this. What I meant was, that you may have a friend who could double with us, someone who is a decent guy, not a crumb like Jerry.

Brian sat back in the booth and thought for a moment, then he said, I guess I may have a couple friends in my section who aren’t involved seriously with some girl. There is one guy who is real nice looking, studious too, but I don’t think his boy friend would see the humor in it. Then he added, I’ll ask a couple guys and see what kind of vibes I get in response.

Three days later, Brian called Leah and told her, Meet me at the main door of the library tonight at seven-thirty. I may have a solution for your dilemma, so bring your roomie along.

Seven-thirty found Leah and Vera sitting on the front steps of the library and within five minutes, Brian came walking up with a man, very much the same size as he. The stranger had a head of curly hair, almost the color of sandstone as it reflected the light from the late evening sun. His broad smile seemed to come easily as he neared the steps.

The girls stood up as the men approached and Brian introduced his companion. Leah and Vera, may I present Grant Lindsey.

Leah smiled and said, I’m pleased to meet you Grant, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Vera Kelso.

Grant looked at Vera as though he was viewing a piece of art. It wasn’t but a moment before his usual characteristic came to the surface. Vera, I sure am glad to meet you. Brian said he had a date for me with a pretty girl but he didn’t say that it was with an angel.

Brian spoke up at this, Hey Grant, don’t spread it on too thick, you don’t want to smother the lady.

Okay my royal master, Grant responded. I shall conduct myself with courtesy and decorum. Come fair ladies, shall we be on our way? Following that exchange, the four headed to the bus stop to catch a ride into Palo Alto to see what was featured at the cinema.

After a stop at the diner where Leah and Brian often ate, the group ordered a ‘coke’ and a sandwich, then headed for the theater. It was easy to see that Vera and Grant were attracted to each other at the very first. This was the first of many foursomes but at increasing times in the future, Grant would make a call to Vera and they would go their own way, just the two of them.

To digress for a moment, for a period of time last year, there had been a series of absences from class for some of the students. Their illness did not have the symptoms of influenza or salmonella, and the usual weekend hangover was ruled out. What ever it was, it had an effect on those who were afflicted, as though they suffered an attack of dementia. The first thing that was noticed was the restlessness and insomnia affecting some of the students. There was one young man in particular who had been congenial and cooperative, well liked by his peers, who suddenly became irritable and combative. Even those