Doug was finally done tripping his ass off. The effects of the combination of a high, prolonged dose of MDMA and LSD was finally over. He had the most beautiful/scariest experiences he'd ever seen. As he was telling me what happened, many of the assumptions Mike and I had were correct.
While Doug was on the plane he had dropped some acid he saved from a few weeks before, I remember the acid now because I too had a personal stash of it. It was some really fucking good LSD too, very clean without the dirty feeling. Even way back then that kind of LSD was hard to find, the tabs didn't even have any type of logo. Just plain white. I didn't ask Doug why he did something so stupid, I let him continue his story.
Everything Mike had previously told me was verified by Doug's account, from starting to trip on acid while at passport control to showing up at Mike's door. Everything in the middle was simply a blur, as if he were dreaming it because of how odd and improbable the events were. He spoke of unicorns and cosmic fabric that was ripped, I was afraid Doug may have ripped his brain but Doug reassured me that the thinking was over.
Doug agreed with the theory that Mike and I came up with, that the ecstasy pills were deployed in his stomach during the flight making Doug take the acid too. Doug wasn't stupid enough to do that, but now that he was better I couldn't help think how he was stupid. Stupid to swallow 150 ecstasy pills wrapped in condoms. At any rate I was happy that Doug was going to be ok.
About a week later Doug was able to get together enough money to leave New York, an uncle that I had met many years before had offered to let him stay with him in California. The sense of relief I had for Doug was great, he was after all one of my best friends. I did feel sad because I didn't think I would ever hear from Doug again.
My dreams of going to New York with a substantial quantity of ecstasy pills never subsided, despite the major fail that had just happened. I kept in close contact with Mike just in case he would still be down when I showed up in New York with a large amount of ecstasy pills.
Initially, I was hoping Doug would make it to New York and start making some money to reinvest back into the purchase of more pills. With the prices I was starting to find outside of our first wholesaler, I could buy at least a thousand or two more pills with enough money. Unfortunately I wasn't going to see anything back from Doug and I had to think.
My living situation was already arranged, on a daily basis I was hustling the train station in Amsterdam keeping my quota of beds full. That work didn't require a lot of time, 2 hours tops so I had to find other work to raise cash.
The plan of buying at least a thousand more pills was dead, raising that cash wasn't possible for the timeframe I was planning. However, I could just buy as many as I can and take them to New York. After looking at the money I had currently I concluded with myself I needed to find some additional fast work, I couldn't afford to buy a worthy amount of pills to smuggle across the US border.
Finding a legitimate job as an American in a European country is impossible, by impossible I mean one has to actually get married to a European or be a brain with skills the Europeans can't fill the job with their own. I was neither so I had to keep thinking.
In Amsterdam, the best way to get around was by bicycle. I had in my possession the eighth bike I owned since arriving, they were easy to buy for a few guilders from the street junkies that stole them. Unfortunately the downfall of cheap stolen property meant in return the item would be restolen, to be thrown back into the never ending cycle of Dutch stolen bicycle economics. Hence the reason it was my eighth bicycle I was riding at the time.
It was Summer at the time, the season had just begun so it wasn't that hot yet. The weather was sunny and perfect when I took my bike out for a ride around the city. I rode through Vondelpark taking in the sun when I noticed a bunch of tents being set up in the distance, not very well either. It was a bunch of Dutch teenagers of both genders in disorganized array, they obviously did not want to be there.
In Holland, I would guess at least over 80 percent of them speak perfect English. English is a popular class in Dutch schools because English is a part of their very own language. The Dutch language is a blend of three different languages, English, German and French. Look at a map of Europe and you'll understand why, the Dutch are smack dab in the middle of massive European conquests and defeats for centuries. They even had to build their own land out into the sea, with a whole shitload of moved dirt. Do your research and you'll see why a lot of Holland is below sea level.
When I saw what was happening with the tent I saw an opportunity for work, I approached the teens at the work site and with no surprise found that they all spoke English. When I asked who they were working for I discovered that they were volunteering for the Cirque du Soleil. This was the first time I've ever heard of the Cirque du Soleil (this was 1995) yet saw all the equipment they had. There was no way in hell these kids were motivated enough to get so much work done, I had to find a manager to make an employment inquiry.
Nearby I saw an office trailer in an open field of the park, that was obviously where any kind of command was taking place that day. I walked to it and knocked on the door, I was asked to enter in Dutch.
Cirque du Soleil was unheard of to me at that time, and they were currently touring through Europe. When I asked if they were hiring they enthusiastically told me yes and that I could start on the spot. They walked me back outside to where all the kids were working and without any direction simply asked me to help them, which at the time seemed too general. No money or work hours were ever discussed, but I jumped right into the job because I knew that was their mistake. I couldn't legally work for a company in Europe, and now I was. My foot was in the door no matter how they were going to end up paying me.
After about 10 minutes I could understand why they wanted me to help the kids, they were all volunteering for their school with no command or motivation… or paycheck. I starting wondering if I was considered a volunteer too.
At that time I was 25 years old and the Dutch students I was working with averaged about 16 years old. When I started working with them as this out-of-town American it never struck the kids to be strange, I guess since we were working for a traveling circus that would be plausible. It wasn't long before they were asking me what to do, I guess I had turned crew chief by default on account of my age.
Running the basics of a site of operation isn't that hard, in the Army we did it all the time. I ordered the kids to unpack everything as I figured we would have to anyway. It's was surprising how motivated the kids became when they had a leader instructing them, everything was unpacked within an hour.
The completed setup of the circus ground took only 2 days with the assistance of a construction company, the Dutch kids' work was done but I was hired to stay on as a custodian. Nothing fancy, I had to to empty the trash and sweep up. Luckily this work lasted a month and I was paid in cash in the end. This money, combined with the last of the money I had saved up was enough to get me 500 pills. I did the math in my head and was happy, I knew that despite it not being a thousand… it was enough to start.
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