The Only Time Someone Pulled a Knife on Me

Back in the late 1990s, I was hitchhiking through Cloudcroft, New Mexico and this pickup pulled over to give me a ride. There were two men in the front seat and they told me to hop in the back of the pickup. I noticed the eyes of the passenger: they looked crazy--like he was on drugs or something.

So I hopped in the back and they drove me to the next town to a trailer park. I hopped out of the pickup and began talking with the driver. He was a nice guy and we had a friendly chat.

Then I noticed that the passenger walked around to my right and began walking towards me. He then whipped out this knife (or a tool with a blade on it) and he lunged at me.

I quickly jumped back and said, "All right, are you guys trying to rob me or what?"

The driver of the pickup exclaimed, "No! This guy is an idiot! Throw down that knife, you idiot!"

The passenger threw down his knife.

The driver felt bad that his friend had pulled a knife on me and asked, "Hey, can I make you some lunch." He pointed towards his trailer home.

"I think I better mosey on down the road," I replied. I thought maybe they might be leading me into a bigger ambush.

"Come on inside and let me introduce you to my two daughters," he said, as he walked to the trailer.

So I followed him inside and met his two daughters; they were around eleven and twelve years old. He asked me again if he could make me some lunch. I declined the offer.

Then he noticed my baseball cap which had "Harold Pike Construction Company" written on it. "Hey, can I have your cap?" he asked.

"No problem," I answered. We exchanged caps. His cap had "Indiana University" written on it.

He asked again if he could make me some lunch. I said, no, that I better hit the road. He gave me a few bucks. He told me that his name was Apache; he also gave me a Gideon's New Testament. As I walked out the door of the trailer, the guy who pulled the knife on me gave me a dollar bill and I shook his hand.

"No weapon formed against thee shall prosper."

Psalm 146: 9: "The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and the widows: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down."

[Originally published by Digihitch.com]

Kai the Hero Hitchhiker