The Disappointing Life of Tiny Bobby

Tiny Bobby, the one that tells me that he's gonna get his life back together, visits me before his daily, parole required AA meeting. Tiny Bobby wears his hand-me-down Catholic charity suits, and they puddle around his ankles. He says everyone is invited to the multi-cultural festival, there'll be plenty to eat. Father John wants him to tell everyone, because Bobby is in charge of inviting people and supervising the hay-ride. He might even be on the tv, the news is usually there. He makes a mess at the coffee stand, flapping his hands while he talks.


Tiny Bobby says he needs to buy a wedding ring, nothing fancy, for his dying wife. She's the mother of his son, and he's gonna do right by her, gonna make her an honest woman before she dies. And he's gonna talk to her momma and daddy, cause it ain't right that they won't let him see his boy. Everybody in town saw him on tv, they recognized his suits. Pretty soon, Tiny Bobby is gonna buy himself a guitar, start a country and western band, write a hit record and travel the world. Gonna be clean and sober, stay on the righteous path. He'll be getting that ring soon, it's real important to get it on her finger 'fore she passes.


Bobby's momma is so proud of him for living right and carrying the Jesus fire in his eyes. Everyone else is gonna be so proud of him when he wears the wire like the police want and walks up to people on the streets, asks if they like to party. He's gonna get them to tell all about it, then they'll get arrested and everyone will be so happy that Tiny Bobby took another dope user off the streets. He says that his fiancé has some video tapes she'd like to sell, they're gonna use the money to go to dinner. He thinks it's important to take your lady out to dinner every once and awhile. He borrows the phone and asks Brother John if he could get a few more suits, one for dinner tonight, one for his wedding. He’d like it if his pawn shop family would come stand up for him at his ceremony. Cheryl says, “Hon, we ain’t your family. You need your family there, not some strangers you know to say hi to and get free coffee.”


Tiny Bobby sits on the bench in the rain, trying to light the damp cigarette butts he scavenged from the A.A. ashtray, tries to make eye contact with anyone that passes. He bums a ride from a biker pawning tools, and Cheryl tells Tiny Bobby not to come back, to stop harassing our customers. The biker says he knows Bobby, it's his cousin, and he's a pain in the gawd-damned ass. Best thing to do is just run him off the place, never let him come back. He hollers "Get yer ass in the truck" and Bobby follows like a whipped dog.


Biker cousin comes in to pick up his wrenches, says Bobby got mad and punched his A.I.D.S. infected wife. Said she was already two steps away from death's door, and the shock of it caused her to have a massive heart attack. She was livin' on borrowed time up at the hospital, and Bobby was going back to the pen. Some folks can't handle their disappointing life.