I think that there are certain bodily parts that distinguish us from others.
Cyrano de Bergerac for example, had a great nose which delighted others, making fun out of this man who used to be said that his face was attached to such an enormous nose.
This was the case of my friend The Zoc, which by the means of his stories, became a kind of hero to us.
Zoc, as we used to call our friend, gathered us when we were little rascals, in small groups to tell us about his fantastic adventures.
He came from a large family of “Zocs”, meaning that for a strange reason, they use to nickname each other by this weird name.
And also, they used to address their friends by this strange nickname (up to this day, I don´t recall
knowing what the word Zoc means).
Returning to my story, each adventure of my friend «The Zoc» was greater than the previous one.
While telling a story, Zoc would gesticulate and move all his body according to his tale so if he made facial movements, we would mirror his gesticles.
Zoc, whose name was Paul, had one part of his body that distinguished him and that was his enormous thumb.
Yes, I really mean it: it was the biggest thumb I have ever seen.
It was not only big but also fat. His nail had a boomerang shape.
And by the means of his enormous thumb, Zoc traveled hitchhiking all along and across the country.
But he also went to places which I could only dream about.
One of such stories I most recall is about Zoc getting with his fat thumb, all the way to Alaska.
As the years went by, I lost track of Zoc and then, I got married. I think that by those years, I was expecting to have my first child.
One random day, I received a phone call.
At first, I didn’t recognize the voice on the other side. Somebody called out loud my name saying: “Hey David, it’s me, your friend, Zoc”
“What?”“Is that really you Zoc?” I answered back. The last time I heard of that guy, I thought he’d been eaten by a whale back in Alaska, I thought to myself.
“Not a chance, my friend,” he said. “I came back from the world of the dead and I really want to see you. I have plenty of stories to tell you about”.
Ja I though, Zoc telling great stories. That’s impossible. I laugh to myself.
“Right Zoc, you may come here to my apartment. I don’t have much space but you are always invited”.
I felt like I was going to be sorry for this decision. Inviting The Zoc was kind of hazardous but I really felt glad of hearing about the guy. After all, I spent a lot of hours hearing about his tremendous anecdotes.
My wife knew about this friend. I told her about his fantastic tales and that he was quite a character. Think it over, I was trying to prevent her.
She nodded her head not being quite convinced by accepting home The Zoc. Finally she accepted. Great, I thought.
Then, The Zoc came by. He really looked like the Crocodile Dondee character.
He had a great backpack where he could accommodate a complete body, enormous and very old boots that were put together with scotch tape, blue old jeans and a shirt with square patterns.
He had a certain kind of smell that was difficult to imagine where he caught it.
We received each other with a great hug and a greater smile.
I didn’t have a word from my pal for many years and suddenly (I think I already said that), he was here, materialized in my own home.
As soon as he made my living space his own, I installed him in our living room, where we had a couch that turned into a queen size bed.
My apartment was small but comfortable.
The Zoc took off his boots and the most horrible cheesy odor came out of his feet. The smell extended all around the place and even outdoors.
My wife was about to vomit but I could tell that Zoc was very comfortable and surely,he wasn’t aware of the terrible bouquet that came out of his tired feet.
His socks had more holes than a gruyere cheese.
And then came to me the next idea: “Zoc”, I said, “tell me about your life”.
This was music to his ears.
Well Zoc, he replied, when I was about sixteen or eighteen years old, my mother began to scold me very often. Then, she invited me to leave her home. She couldn’t stand me anymore as she said.
She thought I was a useless lazy guy.
So I followed her advice and took off.
I puted my thumb on the nearest road and asked for a ride. .
At first, nobody gave me one, but then a guy came in a truck and got me up to Monterrey (not Monterrey Bay but Monterrey Mexico).
There, I arrived with about two hundred or three hundred dollars.
A small amount of money by the way, I said.
The trucker left me on a square where there was a small crowd of immigrants trying to reach the USA.
O my gosh Zoc, so you went all the way to that city with little money. You are crazy.
Yes, I couldn’t eat much because I needed to get to Alaska.
Alaska my Zoc? That was your goal?
Well, I heard a long time ago that there are fish canneries that pay very well for canning fish.
Ok, I get it ZOC.
So my goal was to get there, work a few months and get enough money to do something else.
Great Zoc, then what happened?
I was getting around when a dark skinned man, not too tall, came by. He was tattooed all over his body and used a lot of chains, especially by his neck.
Wow, sounds like a terrifying individual. And then? I asked.
He began to gather some guys because he needed a job to be done.
Right and then? I continued to ask him impatiently.
He picked us up in a great dark pick up and took us to a nice camp. There he cultivated a nice green herb and he told us he needed hands to pack it and send it to the USA.
At this point, I have to say that The Zoc was a very innocent man. It is said that when he was born, he developed a mental condition due to the fact that he lacked enough air to reach his child’s brain.
Zoc used to remind me of the character played by Tom Hank in the movie Forrest Gump.
Right Zoc, but what was that nice herb? I asked
I think the man was saying that it was weed or marihuana or something like that.
I didn’t ask much and started raising it up and packing it.
Ok Zoc ¡so you started packing up some kind of herb and that’s it! You must be crazy, I said astonished.
Well Yes, he said. I did that for a few days and received a lot of dollars. I really was excited.
Suddenly, he said, some army guys came by and began to grab all the workers and got them into an army truck. Apparently this herb was illegal.
And then ZOC? I was still surprised.
I ran as fast as I could and I escaped from that place getting into some woods..
I reached a road, got to the nearest town and I took a bus getting to the border of the USA.
My gosh Zoc you really were very fortunate. I said.
I really was. There, I forgot that I didn’t bring in my passport and I met some guys who I made a deal with to cross the border by a river, paying them a few hundred dollars.
Wow Zoc. you went all the way to the USA and you forgot your passport? Are you nuts?
Well Yeah he answered. Remember that my mother ran me out of her home and then, I usually forget the small details..
Zoc you really are crazy. But then what happened. I was insistent on knowing more.
Well these guys gathered us in small groups and told us they had a plan.
For about a few thousand dollars as I said, they were going to cross us by the river. They were going to rope our bodies because in case somebody could drown, that way we could carry the body to the other side.
Ok, that doesn’t sound nice I said.
Anyway, we took off at midnight. They considered me to be a strong man so I went first.
The river was fierce. It was flooded because of the rainy season. So it was really hard to cross.
Fortunately, we did cross and nobody drowned.¡For the time being!
Do they usually drown Zoc?
Of course. Daily.
Wow. I was impressed.
As soon as we crossed, the border patrol discovered us.
How Come Zoc? What happened next?
I got to run for my life as fast as I could. I hid myself in every bush I could find.
Then I found a small cave and hid myself.
Apparently, the patrolmen went completely the opposite way, where they found the largest group of men and caught them.
I stayed there for hours, without water or food. I was about to die.
But I got forces from somewhere. And then, I took off running as if the same devil was after me.
I previously had received instructions from the people traffickers to get to a certain road where there was going to be a big van. There I met “El Pepe”.
“El Pepe” I replied?
Yes, it was the guy who was going to take me all the way to Phoenix Arizona.
Phoenix Arizona? what for? I asked.
Yer. El Pepe was of course another Mexican guy with darker skin than the other guys. He was always under the sun.
From there, I was expecting my mother to send me my passport and get all the way to Alaska.
And what happened next Zoc?
Everything went smoothly.
I was still curious and asked him what happened next.
Well Zoc (he used to nickname everybody “Zoc” as well), he replied, I had no more money.
The traffickers took all my cash with them, so I went to a central plaza to look for a shelter.
What kind of shelter I asked?
These are shelters where governments provide food and a place to rest for the homeless people.
But you have to get there before eight o’clock noon, stay on a large line and get a place. If you are lucky enough, you get a bed. Otherwise, you get a space on the floor to rest.
In the early morning, they wake you up, give you breakfast and off you go. You can’t stay there for the day.
And then what happened to Zoc?
When I got to the central square, I found out where the shelter was.
This was by the means of some friendly guys who were selling some nice colorful pills. I believed they were candies, and a white powder. It looked like flour to me.
Was it drug Zoc?
Well Zoc, he replied, at that moment I didn’t think so. But these guys were nice to me and they even invited me to sell some of that nice stuff.
They even gave me some bucks. They said that they liked Mexicans like myself.
Well Zoc, that is cool and very polite of them I answered.
So I took off to the shelter, he said, and came early at about five o’clock. I knew that the queue was going to be long.
That night, he continued, I got a nice bed. For the first time in days, I really got a nice rest.
Next morning, I left that place early, after having a decent breakfast. The first good meal I have eaten in days. I felt glad and happy with my belly loaded.
So I went to the square and met my new friends and began to help them sell the nice candies.
Strange people came by to shop.
They seemed to be quite weird fellas. They were dizzy and on the other hand, not very nice looking men and women came to buy the candies and especially the flour.
Zoc, it seems to me that you were selling drugs.
Well, as I say. At that moment, I was still thinking that there were candies. However, my new fellas paid extremely well.
I returned to the shelter and I bought a lot of sandwiches for my new folks and gave them away. I really made a lot of new friends amongst the beggars and the homeless that stayed at the shelter.
What happened next Zoc?
I was at work and suddenly the cops came by. A guy I used to call “The boss” shouted at us: run, for your lives, they are going to take us.
I began to ask who was going to take us and where? A guy replied “The cops you idiot, they are taking us to prison”.,
Again, I ran for my life.
Somebody screamed: do not return to the shelter. Get out of the city or else they are going to deport you.
I had all my stuff with me. You see, the shelter is not a hotel so each day you have to take your stuff with you.
Seriously Zoc?
Of course he said. You have to carry your stuff with you always.
Wow, I replied, what a nuisance.
And then Zoc?
Well, I went to the nearest road and again, I used the power of my thumb to get to another place.
And what place was that?
San Francisco city.
Los Angeles Zoc? Why?
Because, I’ve always wanted to visit this city and get to the Golden Gate bridge.
I used to have a poster in my room where I used to admire such a construction.
I see, you wanted to be a tourist. Did you bring in your passport?
Unfortunately no. My mother by those days was calling the authorities in an attempt to try to reach me. She alerted the authorities that I was on the move and I think they saw me as a threat to their national security.
She explained to the pertinent authorities that a minor had escaped from home and was attempting to get to Alaska.
By the means of my thumb, I got a series of rides by nice truckers and got to my destiny safely.
I see Zoc. An then?
I got myself a nice shelter and I asked for work, They gave me one as the cook assistant and then I suddenly began to cook you see.
Zoc, how come? I remember you used to over roast the meat!
Yes you are right, but I began to make Mexican burritos and some Mexican food and they loved it. You should recall that my mother used to bake great cakes and make nice meals.
I do remember Zoc. Your mother is the best cook that I know.
After a while in San Francisco, I began to feel very comfortable. I didn’t have much money but I had plenty of food and shelter.
But my call was to get to Alaska.
And I heard that my mother was still insisting with the American embassy trying to get them to search me and deport me to Mexico so again, I took off with my great finger.
Incredible Zoc.
How did you cross the border from Canada to Alaska?
Wait till I get to that part of the story. Meanwhile, I´ll tell you that I went by autostop all along the west coast of the USA and up to Seattle.
In that city, I made a lot of friends amongst the homeless people and I stayed in midtown where there were lots of these people.
I still don’t understand how Zoc made it all the way to Alaska.
The point here is that he not only worked on a cannery business but he also went to work on a fishing boat catching the crab.
Zoc described working on that boat as a terrific and dangerous experience.
The Zoc had a lot of adventures back in Alaska and he also got married to a neurotic woman who was about to stab him.
By the time he came back to Mexico, he told me that his goal was to reach Alaska and his beloved “Misty” (that’s the name of the crazy old woman about twenty or more years older than him), because he had fallen in love with her.
Amazing I though. Love is blind after all. It doesn’t matter if it kills you falling in love with crazy people.
It’s been a year again since I heard about my friend Zoc and his incredible stories. At this moment, nobody knows about him.
I suppose he lives happily ever after aside from Mitsy.
God bless you Zoc. You delighted my life with your crazy tales and your enormous thumb.
