"If they'd let you, would you fight?"
He looked down at me, incredulous. "Of course," he said.
Harry and his wife had opened a store. Right here. He pointed back behind him, where I expected to find something in the tattoo or piercing line. Instead I saw Ladybugs and Inchworms, a fine kid's clothing store where one can purchase leopard-print diaper carriers, sequined slippers and silk pajamas. I told him about the black Jetta with BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK that we were looking for.
"No, I haven't seen that," said the former Navy Seabee with that same pained look I'd seen on Tom. "Hmmm. I want us to be united now. Why do you want to go out and raise hate right now? This is a time to come together. You've got to be more diplomatic than that."
The woman at the carts agreed. Her merchandise was all positive stuff, including the Stars and Stripes magic wands made by Anka of Orange, with proceeds going to different victims' groups.
"No, I don't carry any of that kind of stuff," she said, referring to the black Jetta with BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK on it. "I do get some people asking for that kind of stuff. But it's a certain group of people, you know? The kind of people who . . . "
"OH, MY GOD!" Anthony interrupted in an overwrought kind of way.
I turned to look at him and found him with mouth open and hand pointing.
"There he is!"
I turned to see a black Jetta with BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK painted on its bumper pulling into a parking space across the street not 10 yards from where I stood.
"Ohhhh," said the cart woman gravely as we raced away from her, never bothering to get her name or say goodbye.
The guy who emerged from the black Jetta was just as Dan had described him: regular guy, regular build, surf trunks. Though he was tall. We told him we'd been looking for him, that we'd heard about his car. He seemed pleased but not surprised. He said his first name was Tim and he'd appreciate it if we didn't use his last name. He said he had decided to do something to his car a few days after the terrorist attacks. He just started painting, first the flag, then USA RULES! and finally, when he got to the bumper, well, it just came to him.
"Some of my neighbors and friends thought it was harsh, but what happened back East was way more harsh," he said. "There has not been one bad reaction."
Instead, Tim said he's gotten a lot of cheers and thumbs up as he's passed people. In fact, he believes BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK has gotten him out of at least one speeding ticket.
"I was speeding down this street, and all of a sudden, I passed this cop on a motorcycle holding a radar gun," he said. "And as I went by, I saw him put down the gun and put his hands on the handlebars to come after me. Then he saw the back of my car, and he took his hands off and grabbed the radar gun again."
We asked him again how he'd come up with the design. It turned out that Tim is owner/designer of Ultimate Concepts, which manufactures screened T-shirts. He had a bunch of flag shirts in the black Jetta. During the Gulf War, he produced the very popular "Fuck Iraq! Bring Our Boys Back!" and said there were plans for an "Osama, Yo Mama!" model.
We asked him if he had considered putting that on the back of his car instead of BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK.
"No," he said. "When I did it, I was really angry, I think everyone was. You know, I was concerned about the kids. That's why I used 'cock.' I mean, 'cock' is 'cock,' but to kids, 'cock' means 'rooster.'"
Tim said he'd keep BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK on his car "until I'm told to take it off," but he didn't think that request would come any time soon, since BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK "serves to fill a void."
And with that, he politely explained he had to run, which is what he did, leaving Anthony and me standing there by BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK, our mouths agape at what had transpired. Walking back to my car, Anthony marveled at the odds of meeting up with the one black Jetta in all of Huntington Beach that had BIN LADEN SUCKS COCK on it.
"I mean, if we hadn't stopped to talk to that guy in the monster truck, we would have finished talking to the cart lady too soon to see the Jetta," he said.
"And what if I hadn't cut over to Main like you said? We would have missed everything," I said.
Anthony said nothing; he just shook his head, overcome by the chance of it all.
The world will do that to you.
