By the time I was twenty years old a number of things had occured in my life to more or less mess me up in the head and I had a string of years that were rather self-destructive. This is an example of one of my less-than-stellar moments.
I had been twenty-one for a couple months and was doing my part to keep the profits up at the Jack Daniels distillery. My favorite drink was the JD Long Island Iced Tea and I had no problem putting them away. I'd spent this particular hot summer night at a bar along the Sacramento River and that meant there were a lot of boats coming and going at the bar.
I like boats.
Around ten o'clock this charming man who reminded me of a particular older actor came along and bought me a drink and struck up a conversation with me. That went on until just after eleven when he asked me if I'd like to go someplace quieter, like his boat. Oh, yeah, I wanted to see the boat and thought at the time that leaving the bar whilst shitfaced and alone with a man I'd just met to go see his boat was a FANTASTIC idea!
We literally walked out the door of the bar and then down the pier to his boat and he introduced me to a very beautiful cabin cruiser. I don't recall how I got on the boat but I imagine it was a sight to behold. He cast off and we headed up the river some ways (maybe thirty minutes upriver) to a very dark and relatively quiet spot where he dropped anchor.