{"id":12202,"date":"2023-07-11T04:08:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T04:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=12202"},"modified":"2023-07-12T21:36:49","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T21:36:49","slug":"crime-was-never-truer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=12202","title":{"rendered":"Crime Was Never Truer…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had the privilege of visiting my best friend in New York City recently.\u00a0A year younger, Cathy was my sisters’ classmate and came over to our house one day after school. We smoked pot, blasted tunes and danced. We clicked, and have engaged in a strong bond ever since. We were 15 and 16.<\/p>\n

That summer we decided to hit the road and spent two months hitchhiking all over BC. Got as far north as Prince Rupert, where the sun remained high in the sky until 10:30 at night. We were extremely resourceful.<\/p>\n

Is there any better way to survive in this world than to be oblivious? I swear that\u2019s how I got through myriad misadventures and a long, misspent youth. Child murderer? What drought? Night Stalker who? Crack epidemic, where?<\/p>\n

Screwed up I know but I was in my own world. And lived to tell the tale of my trials and tribulations, things like sexual assault, addiction and a toxic marriage though my poetry and novel, The Town Slut\u2019s Daughter.<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

FOUR THUMBS OUT<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Crime was never truer.<\/p>\n

Vaguely aware<\/p>\n

though thoroughly unconcerned,<\/p>\n

fresh meat risk takers<\/p>\n

roamed BC highways<\/p>\n

for two prolonged teenage months.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With haplessness and gall<\/p>\n

we made it all the way to Prince Rupert,<\/p>\n

partying enhanced by lingering dusks<\/p>\n

and belated sun downs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What saved us<\/p>\n

from casual misogyny<\/p>\n

and monstrous vanities?<\/p>\n

We had no protection.<\/p>\n

No knives or mace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were tall, clever, formidable.<\/p>\n

I was angry, seeking revenge,<\/p>\n

a raging Amazon bent on freedom,<\/p>\n

bent on compensation for years<\/p>\n

served in a prison of a childhood.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What saved us<\/p>\n

before crime was trendy?<\/p>\n

What saved us<\/p>\n

from the jealous girlfriend<\/p>\n

brandishing a switchblade?<\/p>\n

What saved us from the stalker\u2019s<\/p>\n

pursuit of the youthfully new?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By that summer I excelled<\/p>\n

at sensing danger,<\/p>\n

deciphering contorted twists of intent,<\/p>\n

trained eyes appraising drivers<\/p>\n

while combing the periphery.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the privilege of visiting my best friend in New York City recently.\u00a0A year younger, Cathy was my sisters’ classmate and came over to our house one day after school. We smoked pot, blasted tunes and danced. We clicked, and have engaged in a strong bond ever since. We were 15 and 16. That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12202"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12221,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202\/revisions\/12221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}