Good To Meet Ya!

David is having a nice picnicking afternoon in Northern Michigan with Katie his close friend he met back in the early ’70s in Miami Beach, and since then they’ve been off and on companions for many years. They’re on when they’re both off, and off when one of them’s on if you follow my drift. Well anyway, she’d been bugging him for the longest time to tell her how he met his tightknit friend TB, and on this beautiful spring day he finally decides to open up and let her in on one of his longtime well-kept secrets.
So here’s how their conversation went;

“I was in Acapulco with my brother in March of 1973, recuperating from that bad knee injury you knew about. I was messed up really bad with torn knee ligaments, stretched tendons, the meniscus deal, ripped cartilage damage, and a constant fluid build-up that needed draining way too often. I was a physical mess and in that exact same period of time my best friend Marty died and from it all I was just hurting like never before in my life because I was unable to let go of this deep-felt sadness and unrelenting mental pain. I was for the first time in my life depressed, confused and really lost and questioning the purpose of my life. . .I never did that before, I mean I never even thought about questioning our existence and reasons for being here. I just lived every day, maybe being too absorbed in myself and not really paying attention to any deep thoughts about the purpose of life.
I didn’t have any answers because I was feeling clueless, lost, and just a wreck, but after meeting TB in Acapulco and hitting it off so well, I began to feel alive and adventurous again, and so our new friendship was a major positive turning point in my life, and as it turned out, TB’s too. .
He wasn’t any kind of saint by any means, but somehow he became like this kick in the ass spirited lift and from then on TB gave me that spark I lost and so badly needed back. I felt his total presence and energy giving me a feeling of a new lease on life and putting me up and away on my mental comeback to really feeling alive and lucky again. . .I’m speaking truth to truth with you Katie, and there’s no other way to lay it out here.”

David got emotional and just stopped speaking for a long thinking pause. He knew what he was saying and it was hitting him hard going down into his memory lane. He gathered himself and continued.

“I was limping around pretty much the entire time when my brother and I first entered Mexico, and on this one fateful day I just hobbled my way into this little Mexican church I’d seen before and had a real curiosity about it. I came into that spiritual place after a long downhill walk from my hotel and I was in pain at that moment of entering into it.
I needed a place to sit and relax without any unfortunate down and out beggars walking up to me and practically knocking me accidentally down with their outstretched hands and arms, which almost happened fifteen minutes earlier on my slow painful walk. .
The church was down in the City Square and it was the first church I ever entered in my life, , I swear. . .So I went in and sat on a wooden pew and was looking eyes forward at all the lit candles and the wooden carved out pretty good size statue of Jesus on the cross.
The six to seven people sitting around me appeared at first to have this sad kind of look in their face, but I thought I also saw some kind of light in their eyes, and it wouldn’t be until months later when I had gotten to know these people’s culture better, that for me what I saw was The Lord’s spiritual light in them.
A few minutes went by and then a voice from directly behind me was speaking in English, asking me not to turn around and to please just listen carefully. It all happened suddenly but I wasn’t shocked or anything, so I just stayed calm and listened. I did notice though he had kind of a strange sort of English annunciation pattern like he didn’t quite finish off some words and then neatly melted another word right after into it, but I understood the lingo he was speaking to me, so we were fine.
He said he needed a big favor and asked me if I could help him and in the same breath, he asked if I would just stand up and walk out to the front of the church and see if there were any military police vehicles around, plus to see if there were any soldiers walking in the area also. He then asked me to go sit by the area where the people were feeding the pigeons and keep my eyes open for them for just five minutes. . After that, come back in and let him know what I see going on out there. . .So my mind was racing with all kinds of questions but then I quickly just decided to help this guy, so I leaned back into the pew, eyes forward and told him ‘Sure, I’ll do it’, and I remember thinking why not.”
“David, weren’t you scared or concerned about getting in the middle of something you shouldn’t take a chance with?”

After Katie’s question, there was a short pause, then,
“No not really, you see his voice was very calm and sincere with no panic in it and I just made up my mind I could check things out for him and I’d be fine.”

“Go on, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Katie softly apologizing.

“No-no, it’s okay, don’t worry. . .Anyway, so I followed his instructions as he asked me to do, and as I stood up I shot a split-second glance at him but he never looked at me so if someone was watching him, they couldn’t tell if he and I were communicating with words or our eyes. . .So I walked out and after about five minutes I came back in and strategically sat down behind him this time. I quietly told him I did everything he asked and nothing was happening out there other than a couple of young blue shirted regular police walking around, but they were too busy eyeing all the pretty young ladies. .
With that said he slowly got up and walked down to the end of the wooden pew he was at and paused a few seconds. Still, without making any eye contact because his eyes were focused directly on the front entrance of the church doors, he spoke to me without moving his lips and he did that pretty well actually.
He asked me to follow him after waiting for a three or four-minute span in my present position in the church, and then come sit about six feet from him on the park benches where he would be feeding the pigeons like many others were doing. .

When he got to the outside benches, he sat down with a good view of the roads leading into the entire area and after waiting inside as he asked me to do, I then walked out of the church. When I came near him, his eyes and a double head and neck smooth flickering motion did the directing and talking, suggesting I sit down in the corner little spot where we didn’t look like we were together but still could freely talk. We were in sync without saying a word, and we both recognized that. So now that was my first moment of ever reading his entire body language and I felt no danger even though I had a better view of his ever-present large physical stature, which I kind of caught inside the church too.
Seconds later, I put my attention to what I first came out to do for him which was looking for any signs of those people he asked me to check for, but the coast was clear and there was no other visible outside threat from the surrounding area as well. . .I made it a point to tell him all of that because all my own instincts and radars were kicking in and I wanted to make sure he felt he had an extra pair of eyes he could trust at that very moment. .
Then in a really strong way in a split second of time, right then and there we had some sort of mental telepathy that happened for us the second after our first real eye contact. .
I can’t explain it, but I know he felt that energy, that real-life unexplainable connection. . After less than twenty seconds of sitting about six feet apart, he moved within a handshake to me and that’s what his intention was. He put out this huge paw and introduced himself. He said his name was T*^#*r B*!#n but to please always just call him TB. I introduced myself as David Stone but months later he gave me two nicknames, Stealth and Stoney, but I can always tell when he’s very serious about something because he usually calls me by my real name, which is David. .

He didn’t keep his eyes on me very much because he was still patrolling for these military vehicles he spoke about. In a strange way, I was doing the same thing but I really sensed no danger for him. I said to him that I knew a safe place where we could go and that maybe he would feel better, and without hesitation, he said sure, then thanked me in the sincerest verbal tone but first asked me to wait right there at the benches while he went back into the church. He returned in two minutes with a small backpack, and then we went to the El Mirador Hotel where the famous cliff divers did their thing and that’s where I was staying with my brother.
We started making our way up the steep inclined bumpy uneven road that I originally came hobbling down on. At that time in my life, I was still using a cane to help me with my balance and he noticed some trouble I was having trying to make it up the rocky pitted road. He put his big hand on my shoulder and we stopped walking, and he then looked squarely in my eyes and said ‘Is there anything I can do for you’, then he paused, looked all around and then said ‘Let me go run down to the main street and get you a cab’.
It was very thoughtful and kind of him but we only had another seven hundred or so paces more to go, but truth be told, I actually could have really used that cab ride at that very moment, but I was embarrassed. . .Katie, I, , I just felt that way standing there with him and can’t explain it any better. . .

The seed was sown right then and there with his words and sincere act of kindness. This was a total stranger with this good-hearted act that I could feel deep down was thoughtful and really concerned about me. . .So well, I mean he didn’t look or act like a bad guy and definitely wasn’t drugged up or drunk, but again most importantly for me was his voice, for it had a ring of true caring, offering his support to genuinely help me.
Believe me my dear, I was no match for his physical presence and if he wanted to hurt or rob me at any time, he easily could have. Instinctively I knew sitting and having our short chat he needed and wanted a trusting new friend, and down deep inside of myself I was feeling the exact same way in my life. And truth be told, I felt I had nothing to fear other than perhaps losing a possible new good friendship with a dude I was connecting with on a guy to guy natural level, albeit we were total strangers to each other who just met in a church. And that was the beauty of it Katie, we met in this little down to earth no frills humble Mexican Church. .
We eventually made it up to the top of my hotel and sat beside the pool sitting under two large shading umbrellas. The hotel was built right out of the mountainside and this gave him a great high-top viewing position of all the roads that led in and out of the hotel, which lay in eye-shot below us. . .When I told him to sit in the lounge chair with the view of the roads and city, he could tell I was flowing with his thoughts.”

“Wow, you guys were hitting it off fast, don’t you think?”

“Yes, you could say that, because it just all felt right. . .I asked him what he wanted to drink and he said he’d like an Ice Tea and then thanked me, so I ordered two of them. He said he was feeling much better and I actually remember him leaning back comfortably into the lounge pool chair and just letting go of his obvious built-up stress. I could see everything about his physical being becoming more at ease, and sitting here telling you all this, it’s like I remember that and our conversations like it happened yesterday. . .”

Right there David took a breather to recharge his lungs after being on a long-winded run, and Katie sat back thinking she was enjoying learning about her man’s long-time mysterious close friend. We’ll take you now to how the boys poolside back and forth conversation years ago basically went down;

“I want to thank you again for all your help and this surveillance position you put us at. Where did you learn this kind of thinkin’, in Viet Nam or some military school? It really feels safe up here and all the views besides the lookout are so peaceful.” TB speaking.

“No, just logic and some common sense. You needed a view of the coming and going traffic and I wanted to help you, so here we are.”

“Well man, I’ll say you got the logistics and strategical layout for surveillance down pat and I really appreciate your concern for me.”

“At this point Katie we both were kind of easily but with purpose gazing at each other as if to thoroughly be checking each other out mentally and physically.”

David pauses right there and tells Katie he’s having a very visual mental flashback to that time. Their conversation continued on;

“I have the feelin’ we’re both thinkin’ the same thing right bout’ now.”

“Oh, what’s that?” David asks TB.

“I notice you seem to be studyin’ me and I have to admit I’ve been wonderin’ bout’ you too. . I mean you handled yourself very calmly and didn’t hesitate to get involved with me down at the little church, and again, I really appreciate that.”

“It’s fine, and thanks.”

“I guess I owe you an explanation bout’ what’s goin’ on.”

“No, you don’t have to but I am the curious type.”

“No-no, you really helped me out and bein’ straight with ya is definitely the right thing now for me to do.”

“So Katie, with that he began to tell me about the events of the last eight hours but first he wanted to explain to me his bad speaking habits. He told me he short ended at times words ending in ‘ING’, and just about most of the time couldn’t spit out the word ‘ABOUT’ or ‘BECAUSE’ and ‘THEM’ correctly. He said he wasn’t proud of butchering the English language, but since he was a child it became ingrained into his way of regularly talking. I told him not to give it a second thought and just be your regular self with me.”
After that explanation about his new friend’s way with words, David’s mind seemed to go into total recall that gave him a clear vision of the events of that day and the history of TB’s personal life, that is, as much as he wanted to let Katie know. She waits for him to gather his thoughts, and then she sees he’s ready.

“We were both twenty-four but TB had lived a much harder and more incredibly dangerous and horror-filled life. He started out in the Air Force but quickly showed skills that caught the attention of higher-ups. By the time he was shipped over to Viet Nam, he was a one-man complex and very capable and willing wrecking crew. His skills were honed in many areas before he even joined the service, he told me. He was a natural fighter, the obvious looking tough-guy type all his youth. He could track down on any nature seeking outdoor outings any kind of animal he wanted, but he wasn’t into killing any creatures, but all those skills came into play for him on many occasions that put him in the jungles of Vietnam.”

Right there David took a quick needed lung breather, then went on.

“One of his crazy quirks whenever he had downtime over there, was practice with force throwing a very lethal knife at an exact tight target area, with the purpose of causing death. They trained him in bomb-making and booby trap setups along with infiltration tactics and counterintelligence. My friend is like a living ghost, and I say that because he learned the art of how to disappear as efficiently as humanly possible, and he used that skill whenever he went on his requested and assigned missions. .
Back in his very early teens, he could tear apart any car engine or any type of farm equipment and afterward put all the things back together. With those important skills plus already in his early teens having hours of training time flying helicopters, he was ready for Viet Nam. One thing he always did was work side by side with a few select trusted mechanics to do needed tuning and repairs for his upcoming missions because he told me he really respected but flew the hell out of his personal birds. .
He went on the most dangerous assignments he could get involved in, which included extracting wounded soldiers from over enemy lines, to flying solo missions for special operations that involved independent counterintelligence and surveillance work that was done in secrecy for some special part of the military, but in those conversations he didn’t elaborate to me much about any kind of details. .
He admitted that the war made him sometimes feel like a bloodthirsty animal, but what bothered him the most was that even now which is twenty-five years later after we met in Acapulco, he still has that bloodthirsty desire, but only towards the evildoers and greedy bloodsuckers of today’s world. .
In TB’s mind, it’s like a good-versus-evil thing and I get it, and truthfully, I feel the same way in life. . .I believe him when he tells me his deep down dark mental crazy feeling secrets because I have learned his moods and seen his true actions up close and personal and he, , um, , well he’s seen mine.”

“David, I caught that.”

“Caught what?”

“That hesitation about seeing each other’s actions up close and personal.”
Right there David caught what Katie said but he realized he had to think quick on his feet to spit something out so as not to go too deep with her, for personal reasons.

“Yes, well you know we’re tight, and so,”

“Alright, but it was like you were going to say something much deeper and then you caught yourself and stopped.”

“Katie, he and I have grown to be so much alike, with good things and maybe other not so good actions rubbing off on each other, but that’s who we are,”

“Yes, I, , I guess I understand.”

“You know me sweetheart and we’re always straight with each other and today I’m opening up to you about TB and doing this at your request.”

“You’re right, I’m being unfair questioning you, , sorry. Please go on.”

David pauses again, shuffles around on the picnic blanket and sweeps with his eyes left and right, gazing over the beautiful lake, then does a pretty good body stretch and some deep breathing routine exercises. Katie’s seen him do that forever so she’s totally accustomed to that, and now he’s feeling refreshed and ready to go on.

“My friend’s eyes have three windows letting you inside of him to see. One look is very normal, pleasant but guarded, another look is sort of neutral which can be the look that is sizing up a situation and the third look is he’s very protective or angry and you could be in a very grave dangerous situation if he felt it was at all personally necessary.”
He suddenly paused, half smiled, then went on.

“His eyes will never lie to me or anyone else.”

“David, doesn’t he in a way scare you and make you fear him?”

Right there David easily smiles and half chuckles, then in a soft voice,

“No my dear, not at all! TB and I are more alike in our total ways of thinking than I could ever begin to explain. Remember though, I told you he seeks me out.”

“Well what is he seeking?”

“Amongst many things we talk about, he generally is seeking some spiritual guidance and we talk about The Lord and right and wrong done by man against man, and how all that really frustrates him, and me too. . .”

David paused because he was having some deep inner thoughts, but then went on.

“It was the Mexican church chance meeting that brought all this life and spiritual connection for both of us. In our first hour together up at the hotel mountainside pool, I opened up to him about my faith in God and talked about Jesus. He said most people feared and turned away to talk to him and especially about religion and the Bible and he’s always admitted he never reached out to anyone to learn. . .I’m no saint but he knows me well enough after all these years and trusts me better than anyone. I know this because he and I have had these ongoing conversations over the years about our unique friendship and camaraderie and proven it by trusting each other with our own lives in each other’s hands, literally starting with day one and never stopping since.”
David pauses right there and Katie could see her friend was in deep thought again, then,

“So to answer your question, I have no questions, concerns or fear of my friend at all and I have and will continue to trust him with my life.”

David takes a quick pause again, eyes gazing out far and wide, deep in thought but then easily continues on.

“His time in Viet Nam made him, unfortunately, an admitted very confused young person. He entered the war early on in 1968, and by the end of 1969 he was deeply rooted in all the illegal activity one could possibly get involved in over there.
Towards the end of his tour of duty, he headed up and safely arranged two separate smuggling trips of one-half ton then a ton of Tai Stickweed going back to the states. He coordinated this wild money maker with three tight buddies of his he came to know and trust in his Viet Nam days.
He told me they all worked well together fighting the enemy, and then he had full faith and trust even more, to bring them in on this wild Tai Stick adventure.
After succeeding with that heavy bat shit crazy action, he had some rather big money in his pocket, so that new world caused him to trust practically no one, but when he was at ease he could be engaging and a regular kind of guy for the most part.
But the truth back then and now, is he spends his life living in an underground state of mind with a keen eye on always practicing an on-guard mental and physical behavioral mode. . .So Katie, that’s my friend TB in a nutshell.”

“I like hearing about your close friend, but how did you guys ever start getting so curious about the idea you always gravitate to talk about, that ‘We are not alone in the Universe’?”

“It all started when we experienced Comet Kahoutek in Acapulco and then we just started talking about UFO’s. Over many years TB told me about guys who swore they saw UFO’s while flying, and the truth is thousands of pilots have had that experience, and believe it or not, I’m sure billions of people around the world have the same curiosities as us.”

“I believe it, I really do, and maybe the truth about UFO’s one day really will happen and if the truth came out that there really are UFO’s, then I sense the world would at first be beyond curious to know more, but over time the masses would handle the idea of it all.”

“Well said baby, right on, but Katie, governments around the world are holding tight onto the truth, but for TB and myself, we think it’s time they all let go. . .So who knows, maybe we’ll uncover what’s really going on someday, but for now we’ll keep connecting the dots and searching as best we can, but most importantly we’re sticking to our mantra and guns that, ‘We are not alone in the Universe’.”

“You’ve told me you would love to have an actual UFO up close and real encounter, right?”

“That’s a fact, and like you’ve told me before, you’re curious but afraid of having an encounter, but sweetheart, I say just open your mind and prepare for it if it ever happens.”

“You’re so funny David, but I know you’re not joking, and your memory is accurate about what I’ve told you my concerns are if they really exist all around us and out there.”

“I’ve said it to you before and I’ll repeat myself, have no fear because that’s the only way you should think. . .I want to tell you that TB and I talk and dream about hoping one day we have the good fortune of together or separate, having a real UFO experience. . .
Yeah-no really, seriously, we do.”

Now David pauses to breathe easy and carefully thinks about this last subject matter of what he just spoke about, and in one part of his mind he wants to open up more but for the moment he shuts himself down from going any further about UFO’s.

He knows down deep he hasn’t really scratched the surface of opening up to Katie about his very close friend and their deep ongoing secret research being done from unwound hidden DARPA files about UFO’s, but he has beyond serious good reasons not to. He knows and trusts her totally but there comes a point where less is best, and for now, that’s just the case. Yeah, that’s just the case!