Scrzbill
Verified Member
Reading that appraisal of Doc's dress when he was hustling reminds me of a few times when I dressed to get action. Now, I don't even show in Incadona's shadow, but when I moved from Kentucky to Fast Eddy's in Santa Cruz I played pretty sporting. My best is matching up. I picked up my nickname "Kentucky" at Fast Eddys because I kept my name close. They knew where I went to school and that's about all. I was action, you could see the cash in my pocket and occasionally pulled out a roll to buy a drink. For a small joint, Fast Eddys had some players to mix it up. Bus drivers, carpenters, cops, teachers would all be lurking for a huckleberry like me. Lettuce, The Brothers Crenshaw who married beautiful twins. Rich, A counterfitter who tried to pass off a couple of his own. Hustlers, my breed. Now I been told that I played with a hayseed in my mouth but I don't remember it. For the first three or four weeks I was in town, Eddys opened at 11AM. They closed 2ish. I had a collection of long striped shirts and two pair of hip hugger checked pants which I rotated. 11:05 I stop in for breakfast and get to know the lunch crowd. Then off to the beach for a few hours to work on my California look. Back to Eddys, just a few blocks from the hookers and the beach. Afternoon free lunch, happy hour crowd. Of course I played a little pool by myself, drinking, being anti-social. Which is hard to imagine. Done with practice, more beers. Evening crowd at Eddys was a mad capp. They had lines of people out the door. There I was half hick, half unknown. It took a couple of days to find where and who I could lose too and gain show action. Like I said, I am not a world beater, but I like to play. For the dough. In my red striped, black stripped shirt. Checked blue, black, white. hip hugger pants. Tennis shoes and most of the time, occasionally, a hat. Hustlers dress in ways to bring around the bees, to drink the nectar. I gave up the stripes and checked and went with a more California shine dress after going to work. The Rennaisance Faire. I ended up in a job as one of their front men. There is a saying in hustling, A,B,C. Always be closing. If you expect to make a life of living off the land, then you have to have a mantra to live by. So I used my nefarious hustling abilities for Coat and tie meetings with the Golden Gate, Hiway Patrol, Railroads people. And then to the pool room, to the pool room. Always and foremost, the pool room where your true love waits. For about ten years, I played at Eddys as often as I could. The hustlers mentality is inside and outside. I didn't know crap about any of the things I was doing, but it wasn't much different than a new pool room. Keep em guessing.