Until last night this guy, Bukowski, was an unknown to me. I saw a documentary on TV about him. When I saw his mug I thought of Dummy Giles, as he was called in my small Oklahoma hometown, a deaf mute that did odd jobs around town.
I returned to my hometown in the early 70s and bought a little cafe; serving breakfast & lunch only. Dummy was a fixture downtown and he became a regular costumer . I was naive, being 21 yrs. old and in business for myself. I trusted nearly everyone. Dummy started to ask (in the form of note) for a loan of 2 dollars, that he would gladly repay me when he got his check on the 1st of the month. This went on for some months; borrowing and repaying, borrowing and repaying. Until finally, after missing a few payments Dummy owned me well over $20, and he no longer came in for coffee. I started keeping an eye out for him and found him one day in the pool hall next door and confronted him about the money. He wrote me a note telling me that someone who owed him money had died, so he could not pay me just yet, but could he have $2 until the 1st. I gave him the money. Later that day I was walking down an alley behind the cafe and there was Dummy staggering along dunker than Cooder Brown and it all came clear to me. I had been had. I just laughed it off and cut him off. He died later that year and still owed me the $20.
As far as this Buk guy goes, I think I will go on a mission of discovery; any suggestions where to start?
I returned to my hometown in the early 70s and bought a little cafe; serving breakfast & lunch only. Dummy was a fixture downtown and he became a regular costumer . I was naive, being 21 yrs. old and in business for myself. I trusted nearly everyone. Dummy started to ask (in the form of note) for a loan of 2 dollars, that he would gladly repay me when he got his check on the 1st of the month. This went on for some months; borrowing and repaying, borrowing and repaying. Until finally, after missing a few payments Dummy owned me well over $20, and he no longer came in for coffee. I started keeping an eye out for him and found him one day in the pool hall next door and confronted him about the money. He wrote me a note telling me that someone who owed him money had died, so he could not pay me just yet, but could he have $2 until the 1st. I gave him the money. Later that day I was walking down an alley behind the cafe and there was Dummy staggering along dunker than Cooder Brown and it all came clear to me. I had been had. I just laughed it off and cut him off. He died later that year and still owed me the $20.
As far as this Buk guy goes, I think I will go on a mission of discovery; any suggestions where to start?
