My dad told me his bullet wounds were belly buttons I thought everyone had 4 belly buttons My dad was a very artful liar Him & my mother got into it & he shot her & Her boyfriend shot him & they both died I became a ward of the state In California they call it a 601 They can't lock you in juvenile hall So they would put me in foster homes & I would run away Then I got in trouble and became a 602—a juvenile delinquent They were going to send me back To the foster home circuit in Mendocino County But I said "fuck that" and started traveling I was almost 15 & I had my first hitchhike SF to Wichita County Kansas A lot of corn