-
XVI. If It Was Time for the Musicians to Call, It Was Time to Go Home and Fix It
- University of North Texas Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
81 XVI IfItWasTimeforthe MusicianstoCall,ItWas TimetoGoHomeandFixIt The fellow who ran into me with a Ford LTD was fined $600 for ending my life. In one split second he threw my chosen career to the dogs. He put me into an uncertain loop of treatment after treatment for many years to come. “A day or two after the accident I had gone to the police station to talk to an investigator about the kid who had been driving the car,” Shary remembers. “I asked what they were going to do to this dude— what kind of charges were they going to file? What was going to happen to this guy who’s screwed my brother up so badly? The investigator said, ‘Well, we can’t charge him with anything now.’ I just about came unglued. “They were still waiting to see if Vince lived or died. If they filed a lesser charge immediately and then Vince died, they wouldn’t be able to re-file new charges. There was also a lot of confusion about exactly what had happened. The car was registered to someone who hadn’t been in the car. The driver was the owner’s nephew or son. 82 � One Man’s Music: The Life and Times of Texas Songwriter Vince Bell And they had a hard time determining the driver’s nationality; he wasn’t a U.S. citizen. “The four or five people in the other car were taken to the hospital, too—treatedandreleasedforminorcutsandbruises.Itwasjustacarload ofyoungpeopleoutdrivingdrunk.Theofficersaidthatfromallthedamagetothecar ,andfromwhattheydidknowabouttheaccident,thatthey weretravelingabout 70 milesan hour when theybroadsidedVince.” Sharygrimaces.“Isawthecar.TherewasanimprintofVince’shead above the top of the door jamb, and this was a ’64 Ford Fairlane—a steel tank. You could see why Vince was damaged so badly, because in the process of flying out of the car he smacked his head and got a four-inch-long indention in the side of his skull. “The police finally did file charges, but they didn’t even charge him with drunk driving. I was told that the police at the scene felt sorry for him and waited before they gave him a breathalyzer. In the end, he was fined $600. I was so mad when the cop told me that. Back then you didn’t have to have citizenship to be able to get a driver’s license in the state of Texas. You could be illegal as hell, but you could go down to get a driver’s license, no problem. “So, they fined him $600, and that was it.” “My advice for those who die,” like the line from the Beatles song says, was to pick my challenges deftly. I hadn’t time for indignation, anger, or ill will. No grudges would help. I could tell that even this early on, from the strange and unfamiliar depths from which I was gloomily peering. It would take the best of my thoughts, the bravest of my intentions, plus tedious years of toil just to relearn how to do the simple things. The path of malice and animosity had always pointed straight downhill. That would only take precious time from me—time I didn’t have. I would find that time and patience were now my biggest allies. [3.144.189.177] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 09:19 GMT) If It Was Time for the Musicians to Call, It Was Time to Go Home and Fix It � 83 My father said that the fellow who destroyed me and that powderblue Ford Fairlane was from a chronically poor east Austin family. Suing him for my pains would be unrealistic and, practically speaking, pointless. Dad closed his conversation with me by saying, “You feel like stabbing a man when he’s down, Vince?” I said somewhat resignedly, “No, sir.” Knowing how awkward I felt, Dad added, “You need to learn how to turn around, walk, and whistle. Starting today wouldn’t be too soon.” Ifollowedhimascloselyastheskincrawlingupmynerve-damaged arms. From then on, I would try to envision that I had run into a tree in my car. It wasn’t easy to do, but with the years of pain and the relearning , I didn’t need the resentment that blaming someone else for my troubles would entail. This was a struggle from the outset. It didn’t hurt that I couldn’t remember anything at all for a while. It took a lot to leave my room at first. If I didn’t understand a thing about my life, I at least knew...