Jerome part 2

So, I picked Ty up from school and headed off to Cottonwood (about 40 minutes away...you drive through Jerome to get there) to run some errands. Ty was particularly patient...you know when your kids are just stellar? It was one of those days. I told him we would stop in Jerome on our way back and have dinner and then I would take him to the park and let him play until dark. The downtown Jerome Park is not much, some swings a scary looking climbing thing and a slide...that's it...but they are all metal (like when we were kids) the slide and swings are really tall (like when we were kids) and he loves it there.

We're done with the park, its dark, and we hop in the truck to go home. The truck won't start, all the electrical stuff is really faint, I'm guessing battery. I don't know if I mentioned this in the last blog, but Jerome has a population of 500. There is no gas station, super market, 7-11, nothing. The town closes down. We walk to the Jerome Police Station which is a block away, it is closed, there are two squad cars in front, but no policemen. We walk to a shop where we see a woman doing paperwork and knock, she tells us that the only place to get help is the "Spirit Room", the neighborhood biker bar...the policeman is probably there anyway.

I explain my problem to a very nice, very hairy "biker-type" fellow outside the "Spirit Room" and he takes action, withing thirty seconds, there are four other patrons pushing my truck into position to be jumped. Ty is very aware that this is an out of the ordinary experience, just being outside past 7:00pm is pretty unusual for Ty, he is not sure I have control here. We establish it is not the battery, the truck is too "complicated" for these guys to start messing with and "Matt" is in Sedona tonight (?) Eric (Biker Guy #1) tells me, "As I see it you have three options: I can give you a ride up to the Hotel Jerome, you can call someone to get you, or you can crash on my couch." I call Ike...I tell him my three options...he says, and I quote "So, what do you want to do?" He agrees to come get us.

Eric suggests we come in the bar and wait it out, they are having a "Cinco de Mayo" potluck (they being the residents of Jerome). I point out that I have Ty, who is six and minus ID, Eric doesn't think it will be a problem...after all, the cop is already in there. We go in and everything is in full swing. There is a great big tablecloth over the pool table covered with food (including 3 crockpots and the best mole sauce I have ever tasted...probably has liquor in it?), there is a band, two guitars and a banjo, one guy belting out 60's and 70's standards. Ty and I jump up in a booth in the corner, our strategy was to blend in. We fail miserably. Ty is, after all, a six year old in a bar, and I am not wearing the proper attire to pass as either a biker or his girlfriend, so we give up and mingle. They were all too friendly anyway. Ty ate taco salad, fudge and root beer...he danced to the band...he had a great time...in a bar...on Cinco de Mayo...I don't know what this will mean for his future. I, grasping for the appropriate thing to do, offer to buy my five mechanics a "round". I actually said, "Thanks so much for helping me out, can I buy you guys a round?" A round is when everybody gets a drink and then one person pays for it, you will not find it in the "Mormon to English" Dictionary, but in case you are ever in the same predicament, I hope this is educational. I was immediately told this was not necessary. I said, "I am a 36 year old Mormon mother, this is a one shot deal for both of us." It was $2 beer night, I got off easy.

Ike showed up. The next days we took care of the truck, no big deal, something loose in the starter.