[BRINDLEKIN TALES – Book 3: Chapter 16]
Subject: Your Key Phrase
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: Anna-Lee Horsington
Date: April 1, 2021 8:57 AM
This particular phrase of yours is key:
“I do not experience the system as all bad.”
Because it just now hit me, that you worked with Medicaid clients in NEW MEXICO, which is one of the handful of states that has NEVER crippled the poor with an astronomical Share of Cost. (Though, as with the two other states I know of that likewise did not, there was STILL an egregious price to pay: NO real dental care.)
Thus, you were virtually SHELTERED from experiencing the draconic fees for Medicaid services that were typical for well over forty of our states, possibly as many as forty-seven. Seeing as I did not do research on this for every state. I only found, thus far, three states that did NOT charge a criminally-exorbitant SOC: New Mexico, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.
My point being, therefore:
You were not so hobbled in your mission to assist the poor, as you would’ve been in most every other state. Therefore, you cannot REALLY give me that inside view of Medicaid workers who had the misfortune of being employed in a high-SOC region. Which also means you cannot speak for the quality (or lack thereof) of Medicaid services across the board, that is: in a national context. It’s almost like you were working in a different country, where the poor were treated better.
– Zeke
Re: Some Sweet Lovin’
From: Zeke’s Mailing List
To: Chuck Kapinski
Date: April 1, 2021 1:13 PM
> Their adorable precious sincerity is unmatchable and priceless.
No truer words have been said! Thanks. But since that video, more sadness and tragedy has ensued. You can read about it in my last two Brindlekin chapters. That would be chapters 14 and 15 of book 3.
> I think I may have this goddamned bug.
VERY sorry to hear that, Charles.
> Two Sundays ago I began becoming insomniac with nightsweats, catching only maybe 3 or 4 hours alternating nights. I’ve been eating light, drinking plenty of fluids and juice, and just laying low.
Horrific, but I’m sure you’ll pull through. I hope those night sweats have abated by the time you get this email.
> I don’t DARE push the pussy panic button because a 67 year old on an SSA check ends up in the roach motel – where you check in, but you don’t check out. Lots of lying down.
America is a death cult, and the poor its greatest victims. So yeah, stay away.
> I still have to drive a couple miles every other day for groceries, dizzy as a zombie.
Drive slow, drive safe please.
> The thing lasts anywhere from two to six weeks depending upon your resistance. Maybe I’m half way through it. Hope so.
Most people survive it quite well…unless they have some serious medical complication already. You do not.
> I only make it out to Staples free wifi a couple times a week.
That’s a drag.
> How do you feel about shots? My jury’s out.
I would definitely get the shots ASAP. Unfortunately, here in San Franshitsco they have a shortage, and I can NOT get an appointment anywhere. The lucky ones with vehicles can simply drive to another county. I wasn’t even ELIGIBLE for the vaccination until a week ago! Despite my age, which is now 70. But what good is being eligible, if you can’t make an appointment? Looks like I won’t even GET my first shot for months from now.
Keep taking as good a care of yourself as is humanly possible…my prayers are with you.
– Zeke
Re: Louisiana took ALL his stimulus money!
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: Lisa Harwood
Date: April 1, 2021 6:05 PM
> Zeke: This video is so powerful; it sent chills up my back. . .I really believe your body of video work is going to be incredibly important some day.
Yes, it will be, but it must NOT be at the cost of two doggies’ lives, or that of a homeless person.
> And may even help in drawing attention to this tragic ‘Catch-22’ situation faced by impoverished fathers like Deek.
Definitely…I know EXACTLY what I am doing with my tales, and how they will impact the world.
> This is an intrusion of the State of Louisiana on an intended stimulus to the economy of San Francisco when it comes down to it.
Of course.
> So: start with calling your Supervisor. There may be a large number of homeless indigent fathers who have been similarly impacted.
I find that unlikely, just as I’ve found all my OTHER efforts through political and gov’t channels useless, including locally. Deek’s cooperation would be vital, and he would NEVER go along with it. But that’s not why I say “unlikely,” as it’s the system itself. Unless there were already an active support group to get the ball rolling, there is no point in wasting my time like this. I have even TRIED to get some major issues going by phone and email contacts, online forums, and so on. NOTHING went anywhere, in spite of my dedicated efforts.
> Call the local office of your Congressperson. Make the complaint. Ask them for assistance. They are in the best position to do that. Your own story of one poor person fortunate enough to have shelter trying to assist another who does not is compelling. And the shared pups also makes it a human interest tale.
Those are all nice ideas, but they will NOT mount to a hill of legumes. Believe me, I have tried that route MANY times. And that is PRECISELY why I am writing my Brindlekin Tales…a DIFFERENT route that I know in my heart will get the ball rolling in a MAJOR way. It WILL take off, and this year…I just don’t know the date of Day One.
> There must be a City Department or Non-profit who have the legal hutzpah you need. This is really a Class Action situation.
You can NOT pull off a class action lawsuit without a large number of people already on the bandwagon. I am not in a position, nor do I have the contacts needed, to achieve that goal.
> Deek had a day of feeling it was possible for him to live a “normal” life for awhile, one free if only temporarily of destitution.. . . . When he shows up again, as you know he will. Just let him blather for awhile—importantly: do not address his specific insults—and then use phrases like “Deek, I need your respect in order to help you”. . . “Deek, I can’t continue without your respect.”
Ha-ha, not gonna work…been there, done that. Soon as I suggested my contacting local gov’t officials, but I’d need his cooperation to speak for him, it all blew up in my face. You have NO idea how self-sabotaging he is!
> You have a remarkable mind, Zeke: you act on your intentions, and at least he realizes that about you.
Thank you…and I am USING my remarkable mind to achieve the desired results through my BOOK, rather than those political channels that ALWAYS lead me to a dead end. I know this through MUCH experience over many decades.
> Offering him something to eat might help stem the stream of insults as you explain what you willing to try on his behalf next. Which you will not pursue in the absence of his respect.
That’s NOT gonna work (offering him food), but thanks for your well-intentioned proposals. My book IS the answer, and nothing else. I think you need to realize that the creation of these tales is exactly BECAUSE the ideas you’ve suggested are ones I’ve already tried many times over, but got nowhere.
– Zeke
P.S.: The solution is therefore, to promote my tales and videos, because that IS the route I’m taking, after many years of not getting anywhere through gov’t channels. Yet I have NOT heard you say one word about sharing my works with others! Especially those you might know in gov’t, media or other venues of influence.
THE BOOK, THE BOOK, THE BOOK!
And the videos.
Since you are so MOVED by my tales, that’s an EXCELLENT sign that others will be, too. Right? So why try to get me to put my time and elbow grease into a strategy that is doomed for failure, instead of promoting my very MOVING stories and videos? You could easily tell friends/connections by email:
“Wow, this guy’s work is astounding…videos AND tales about very pressing matters, and are compellingly, breathlessly composed!”
Or do you not really believe I’m that good? To promote or not to promote: THAT is the question!
Subject: Little Miss Innocence Walks By
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 1, 2021 8:32 PM
Just a 29 second video. I step out of my hovel to encounter Dieter, and “Little Miss Innocence” Myrtle Haversak walks by. So tempting to strangle her; she has a petite skinny neck. But I’ll leave the Fates to sort things out, as I’m sure they have something especially ghastly in store for her and her punk son. And the building manager as well.
Re: Little Miss Innocence Walks By
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 1, 2021 9:28 PM
> Myrtle’s the skinny blonde wisp who darts by?
Of course. She’s the only person in the video besides Dieter. I can’t imagine what’s going on with those two, since things have been VERY quiet in their apartment lately. And I DON’T say hello to the building manager any more like I used to…I just walk right by him. Not that he’s ever said hello to me first, ever. Sick people.
I never phoned Deek back last night, nor today, nor has he shown up or called me at all. I’m totally disgusted with him. The dogs should not be with him…he’s a dangerous and scary fellow. This is The City of Ghouls. I need to get outta here, but not without the pups. I have no idea how to accomplish this.
Happy April Fool’s Day. There certainly are a lot of fools in San Franshitsco. And now Chuck, my friend from Philly, has come down with Covid-19…like we never saw this coming, eh?
– Zeke K-Holmes
Re: Little Miss Innocence Walks By
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 1, 2021 10:50 PM
> Christ. I agree. You gotta get out. And not without the pups.
Something will come through for me…I just don’t know what, or how. Or maybe Brindlekin Tales will be my legacy, containing clues as to who murdered me. Right up there on WordPress.
> Yeah, I saw that exchange. Scary as hell. Going to the hospital is like going to the morgue.
He’s an idiot. All his macho bragging how he refuses to wear a mask. I kept warning him to not be foolish, this is a serious pandemic. Now THIS happens, SO PREDICTABLE. How many others have come down with it, thanks to him, before he fell ill? His friendship is nothing more than a lingering memory. He’ll probably get dizzy and faint in his car while driving, and I’ll never know what happened.
I think today’s thoughts and scenarios were designed to send a shiver down my readers’ spines, wondering if I’m gonna go on a berserk murder spree. A trail of blood from Myrtle to Adisa to the building manager to Deek, and then to an Uber driver where I whisk the pooches away with me to some unknown destination. Maybe somewhere in Mendocino County, as the latest criminal refugee dodging the law by living out in the deep, dark woods. Maybe I’ll camp for awhile in a tent in your backyard. Erwyn’ll love the brindlekin!
Very pulpy plot. More likely a PARODY on pulpy plots. Let’s see what ensues. I am NOT inventing these tales, I’m LIVING them. This is what is so extraordinary, and is also wherein lies my liberation: a relic, a sliver of Saint Roch’s thigh bone where the hunting dog had licked and healed his bubonic wound. Discovered in the fountain spillage of my creative force. With Flaco & Lucky by my side, who led me there…my 2-headed Cerberus!
Jeez, my readers GOTTA go through all the chapters now, to understand ANYthing that’s going on at this point! I can’t believe I’ve written so many wonderful tales…though I haven’t really, except as one who pens events as they unfold. With my OWN flights of fancy scattershot across the pages. Like this email. Is it time to change your pseudonym again, or do you prefer to remain as Wattson? I rather like that!
– Zeke K-Holmes
Re: Little Miss Innocence Walks By
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 12:51 AM
> I like Wattson! Unless something better comes along!
You can never go wrong with a classic. You’re up late.
Subject: Here’s a video clip of your old neighbor, Dieter
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: Charles Kapinski
Date: April 2, 2021 9:23 AM
I always have my “spyglasses” turned on once I exit my room, due to the horrid accusations against me by neighbors in 208 (mother and son) and the building manager. I call the bitch “Myrtle” in my tales. She and her punk son made a false allegation to the manager that one of the pups bit him and drew blood. That NEVER happened, as I am always with the dogs…and their dubious claim came IMMEDIATELY AFTER they received a copy of my complaint to Ablahblah Realty, that her son’s teenage friends were loitering in the hallway RIGHT OUTSIDE MY DOOR, being a disturbance with their loud pranks and “niggah” tough talk ALONG WITH refusing to wear a mask. It’s even in writing (their phony charge), in a printed letter the building manager mailed me, WITH HIS SIGNATURE. Nothing has come of it, of course, because they have NO proof, and the timing of their accusation is highly suspicious. This will be an EASY case in my favor for any attorney, once I can finally find one that actually responds to my email (a form on their page that you fill out then click “send”). But so far, no lawyer recommended to me by the SF Tenants Union has bothered to get in touch with me, and it’s been several months since I’ve started trying to get the ball rolling.
Furthermore, the ONLY reason they were loitering, is because Adisa’s mother, Myrtle, didn’t want them all to be in a small studio unit because of this highly contagious virus..so her answer was to risk exposure for EVERYONE ELSE in the building, by having them linger in the hallway WITHOUT WEARING MASKS! And, of course, I was more vulnerable to exposure, than ANYONE ELSE in the building!
These loiterers kept this up over several months, on and off, but averaged once a week. And was in ARRANGEMENT with the building manager. Whom I confronted several times about stopping this, but he just shrugged his shoulders: “They’re teenagers, what do you expect?” Right, as if it were perfectly fine to have strangers loitering in your hallway an hour or more, on a regular basis, and your own privacy is compromised, plus they expose everyone in the building to potentially catching the coronavirus…and I’M the most vulnerable, because they are almost RIGHT ON TOP OF ME!
Anyway, this was all covered in great detail in my Brindlekin Tales, particularly in THIS piece (chapter 4, book 2).
You can READ my letter to Ablahblah Realty at the top of that page. Perhaps you’ve already seen that chapter, but I have a hunch you haven’t…thus my explanation above. Who’s to say that the neighbor who recently died (in Maxie’s old room, isn’t that a hoot) did not contract the virus because of these loiterers? As well as one or more OTHER residents having come down with it, too.
Because of this horrific violation and harassment towards me, a longterm resident, I decided to purchase from Amazon, a pair of eyeglasses with a built-in camera. Which, happily, also gave me many excellent videos of the pups and outdoor scenes, particularly of their homeless “owner” who has no idea I’ve been video recording him, and uploading to Youtube.
So as it turned out recently, I stepped out and there was Dieter, slowly ascending the stairs with turtle-like speed. So I thought to share with you this 29-second recording, even though the more important point of this video is to have captured an image of “Myrtle” for future reference, if needed. I already have a recording of her stupid son hanging outside the building with two of his friends…all of them NOT wearing a mask! So here’s Dieter.
I will try to get a more interesting video featuring him, to send you.
Subject: I refuse anything BUT a happy ending!
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 10:12 AM
I have only two chapters to go (working on the next-to-last one now, which includes this email). This is based on my low-level OCD that wants Book 3 to contain 17 chapters, since Book 1 contains 19, and Book 2, 18. Yet it doesn’t look at all like a happy ending is forthcoming any time soon, good physician. If such be the case by the time I’ve completed the 16th chapter, that last chapter will simply contain one sentence:
“Waiting for that happy ending.”
Or perhaps I’ll add a SECOND sentence:
“Why not check out my Gay Bible website while YOU’RE waiting, too?”
IOW, it will be an open-ended conclusion, just as was my previous book, “Free Me From This Bond.” Though, once the fortuitous outcome DOES occur, I will replace that sentence with a full reckoning.
I could, of course, break my self-imposed chapter-limit rule, and continue on, possibly giving birth to yet a FOURTH book. Or continue my Brindlekin Tales outSIDE of the trilogy. We’ll just have to wait and see, as these stories depend entirely on what actually occurs in real life. And who knows?
Maybe a sudden turnaround will occur at the last moment, and chapter 17 will indeed be a happy ending withOUT delay!
No word from Deek, and I’m not gonna bother to phone him. Until, that is, when Sunday comes around, to remind him to pick up his weekly $60 allowance. I’m sure he’ll spit and fume and deny me camaraderie with the pooches. I heard him holler somewhere on Noe Street (in the direction of 7/11), “Flaco! Flaco!” late last night. Voices carry easily in the wee hours, and in the cold. I poked my head out the window a few times, to see if he were heading towards my hovel, but no, that did NOT happen.
Those wonderful, sweet little doggies, may God protect them!
Subject: More on St. Roch
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 10:56 AM
“Saint Roch or Rocco (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327) is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked against the plague…He is a patron saint of dogs, invalids, of falsely accused people, bachelors, and several other things… he would have perished had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them.”
So, besides the dog issue, I HAVE been falsely accused, and I AM a bachelor. Also the patron St. of plagues (think COVID-19), he certainly is the one for me to pray to for intercession!
– Zeke K-Holmes
Re: More on St. Roch
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 12:13 PM
> Now, there’s a saint even I might pray to!
I know, right! It was never my intent to impose so much Catholic flow to my tales…yet that is where my muses took me. Some day we will understand better why this is so. For now, it is my conjecture that it is not so much an affirmation of Christianity, but an expression of Jungian archetypes most appropriate for a Christianized society. I certainly HOPE that any reader of these books will not hold any expectation of the maudlin trope that I will “discover Jesus” by the end of my tales.
I was awaiting your next missive, that I may add a further revelation to my previous email. So now, here it is:
Of course, after all I’ve been through since late October, and the incredible lessons and insights I’ve gained as a result: it makes PERFECT sense that a joyous outcome will occur right at the last moment, under the wire, a sudden twist in the final plot. But until then:
The box that Flaco loves to shelter in from time to time remains on the floor, and the two little harnesses still hang from the edge of my loft. They shall ALWAYS be a part of my hovel’s decor, so long as the pups remain asunder from my world. ‘Tis a horrible thought to imagine myself growing older with these dear items forever in place, till the day comes when I finally perish. But so it must be, if such a sad fate comes to pass. For I will never stop loving them.
– Zeke K-Holmes
P.S.: Did you see my latest Deek video yet? Less than 7 minutes. Very important to have documented…but a terrible heartbreak, so much so I can’t bring myself to watch it. I just uploaded it to Youtube and was done with it.
Re: More on St. Roch
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 2:37 PM
> Fuck, no.
Discover Jebus? Not on your life! Discover Artemis? I bet my whole Social Security payments and all my creative gifts on that!
> I know how you feel, and I’m not just mouthing platitudes. I really do know.
Much appreciated, Wattson. ‘Cause no one around here gives a flying fuck whether or not I exist…while a handful certainly WISH I were dead. They don’t know WHO they’re messing with, though. I shall still be here, long after THEY’RE dead and gone. It’s happened before, and it will happen again. If I can’t find any way to move the hell outta this evil burg, my own SPIRIT will repel the goons, and THEY’LL be catapulted away! And it has NOTHING to do with some silly plot to cease using underarm deodorant.
The dogs are fine, so is Deek…who is just playing his bodhisattva role to make me into a hero. But I HAVE to go through certain trials ANYway, in order to bring this about. For if I knew TOO WELL or TOO SOON, that little secret, then my mettle would have never been able to be tested! IOW:
I’m good.
> I did watch it. So, so sad to see the doggies looking back over their shoulders at you as he makes them run behind his garbage can.
Their sweet way of letting me know their love is always there for me, no matter what. INCREDIBLY caring creatures! But they also realize they have a duty to be there for Deek, in spite of a less-than-ideal situation. So: BRAVE, too!
– Zeke
Re: Did you see my latest Deek video yet?
From: Zeke Krahlin
To: My Dear Wattson
Date: April 2, 2021 7:49 PM
> I hated hearing him insult you.
He does that a lot, like every third visit. Unless he makes a big change in his attitude, it’s gonna be even worse, now that he thinks I fucked him over by getting him to apply for the stimulus after promising the gov’t won’t garnish it this time around. It was Lisa Harwood who swore to me up and down, that wouldn’t happen any more, so I took her word for it. Though I believe I DID check it out myself, and found a site that said, no, they won’t garnish it this time around.
Now, she’s advising me to contact politicians and the media, get the word out, blah blah blah. It’s all in my last two chapters, and the one I’m working on now. Anything BUT say: “Great, important writing, I’ll share it with others!” Which is what I REALLY need done…and I explained to her going though gov’t channels has NEVER worked for me, only backfired. And is the very REASON I’m creating these Brindlekin Tales…as they WILL have the desired impact, with MUCH quicker results. What is it with some people who say they love my writing, but never bother to let others know? It’s not like I’m composing some silly, romantic fluff novel, or a Reader’s-Digest-style doggy tale. This is POTENT stuff I’m broadcasting! I’ve bcc’d to you, two or three of my replies to Lisa, but I know you’re too busy to get around to EVERYthing I send you.
But whatever. I am totally CONFIDENT of my forthcoming success, so it’s more like I’m offering people like Ms. Harwood a wonderful opportunity to be a PART of nurturing this success. Anyway, back to Deek:
Besides him calling me a pervert for letting Flaco lick me on the face, he also said they stink, and weren’t like that when he dropped them off. Not true, I told him they DID smell a bit when you brought them here, and it’s your body odor from sleeping with them. Of course he denied that, accused me of lying. You saw how he feigned innocence, as if all he said was he didn’t want them licking me…unlike a few nights back when he cussed me out over that.
His hostility boils down to just one thing: jealousy over how much the pups love me. He even gets angry at me now and then, for not having him step inside any more…says everyone else has friends over, he sees them come and go from my building all the time. He doesn’t give a flying fuck if I catch the virus, doesn’t even realize the RISK I already take, by caring for the doggies! When the pandemic restrictions first took off, I told Deek no more visits, no more pups coming over, sorry. I was even afraid to touch them! But love won out: I just didn’t have the HEART to “ex” Flaco & Lucky out of my life for god knows HOW long this plague would last. It would be CRUEL to Deek, as well…who didn’t even believe the novel coronavirus was actually a thing. He now wears a mask slung below his chin, which is so he can enter stores. But he STILL refuses to place it over his nose and mouth otherwise, not even in my presence. As he departed that night, he said OLD people like me come down with it, not younger people. As if it’s perfectly alright for him to spread the virus wherever he pleases. Talk about pressing my buttons!
I can NOT reason with him in any way…he’ll shout me down unless I REALLY holler back to silence him. Which, sadly, then upsets the pooches: they lower their heads in a forlorn manner. I’m sure he’ll claim I OWE him a full $1,400 for putting him through that.
Did you SEE that huge speaker he’s lugging around on a dolly? Ridiculous. He could’ve spent HALF as much for a decent speaker, so he could put some of that wasted money into the pups.
Okay, I’m done venting. Now for a refresher on my Bohisattva Premise:
That was March 31st, the last day of the month when I got whammied with Deek’s anger over child support’s taking his stimulus payment. The WORST thing that could’ve happened, DID happen. And he’ll milk it for all it’s worth, possibly, haranguing me with his every breath…trying to guilt-trip me as much as possible, to coughing up even MORE moolah. Which will NOT work. It never HAS worked.
Though as I said, signs point to a sudden alteration in my favor, some time in April…hopefully starting on day 1. Based on my prescient epiphany that it will occur before Flaco’s next estrus cycle. And that (remember) Deek is simply an actor, playing an antagonist’s role, that I answer his many horrific challenges to become the hero in these tales. Which are all SCRIPTED.
And since the last day of March, I haven’t been in contact with Deek…nor do I think I need bother. He is free to ring me up, whenever. I will therefore go by the assumption that the BS is over, and April will be that magic month, where Deek and all OTHER bodhisattva players will drop their masks of evil to show me their true aspects as angels. (This includes, then, my building manager and Myrtle and son, among others of less recent vintage.) TRUSTING that the pooches will be perfectly fine no matter what. WORRY is, after all, one of the demons I should NEVER allow to ruin my day. They’re expert at projecting all sorts of monstrous scenarios into one’s mind! Assuming I’m correct in my premise:
April will go down in history as “The Month of Miracles.”
– Zeke
P.S.: Also based on my premise, I believe I may very well be the MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON THIS PLANET at this time. Everything, everyone else, is trivial by comparison. Do I have a fat ego, or what?
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