JB ELEGY!!!

Hi, I’m Jason Bennett, when I was seven my family relocated to Bradenton Florida from a suburb of Boston Massachusetts called Burlington. I believe the sudden move had to do with Big Jake attempting to distance himself from the long arm of the law. Apparently paying child support was not his “thing” for his first six children. That is not a typo Big Jake has ten kids he claims. Five boys and Five girls. This is of course just speculation on my part. As well as a great keeper of secrets (read liar) my mom might have been a bank robber for all I know. I see you sis!!! 

Moving along, Big Jake had a job lined up as a construction foreman for a site company, so to Bradenton we headed in his F150. Cheryl and Jake in the front the four kids in the back on a blanket under the truck topper to protect us from the elements. We arrived in Bradenton and our new home. An apartment complex called Willow Run in West Bradenton. West Bradenton is also known to Bradentuckians as where the spoiled rich fucks live aka Manatee High Grads!!! Fuck Manatee High btw. I digress…

Big Jake right away was given bad news upon our arrival. Apparently his new job was no longer available. The owner had died suddenly sometime during our trek to Florida so there was no job awaiting him as planned. He ended up finding two jobs to make up for the money he would have made at the one. He worked days for a paving and striping company that did mostly tennis courts. At nights he was a bouncer at the Crown Lounge. Which helped with extra money and also made it easier for him to continue drinking. Needless to say, we did not see him much. Before I move on I will throw in, Big Jake had/has lots of faults, but providing for our family was not one. I recall my mom telling him many a night that she didn’t have enough money to pay the bills and also get food for the kids. His reply was always, fuck the bills feed the kids. Somehow he and my mom made that shit work. Probably the thing I respect him the most for. 

But when you’re seven and it’s summer in West Bradenton you don’t need no stinking father around. You need the outdoors to run around with all the other young delinquents in our apartment complex. Playing in the nearby ditches, trying to kill each other on the playground and discovering what the hell the liquid is in a Stretch Arm Strong that makes it stretch. And boy did I get tan!!! Maybe too tan. As the school year started I immediately learned about racism. I was known at my school as the new N word kid. Which was something I was unaware of until this point. Over the past forty six years I’ve lightened up to only be mistaken for Mexican, Hawaiian, and Samoan. I am now just starting trust and like you white people again. 

Oh well, eventually Big Jake made enough money to a buy the family a house in East Bradenton. He found a shady developer that was selling houses dirt cheap in a neighborhood called Gateway East. The development was in its final phase of building and the fairly new house we moved into seemed alright. The garage was converted to a master bed room which made the house a 3 bed 2 bath. I’ll never forget my mom’s face when she opened the cabinet under the sink and found the previous owners 2 dead hamsters. The perfect home for the Bennett’s. 

Big Jake found a better job. So when he wasn’t working, drinking or gambling he was a bit more present. Sundays he always cooked breakfast listening to a Patsy Cline 8 track. He also sung little pun songs while he fried the eggs. “Mary my darling, Mary my duck, come in the garden and I’ll give you a Flower!!!” You know the usual dad shit. Sunday’s were also always spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, which we all attended. Along with close friends and in later years boyfriends and girlfriends. Back then we always had at least nightly dinner together, which I admittedly miss. 

Our East Bradenton life was definitely more Bennettesque. My friends seemed more like me. No not black, you racists, just average to lower class peeps. We spent all day in the woods around house shooting BBs at each other, building forts or burning the woods down. I’m not going to lie, there were several occasions we had to throw in the towel and let the professional fire fighters put our blazes out. We were California before it was cool, but way less celebrity’s. (Probably too soon)

Big Jake did have us do some unconventional things in the hood though. Maybe it was him being born on a farm or the outrageous cost, but we burned all of our trash in our backyard in a 55 gallon drum. That’s right, you heard me, in our planned housing community while others rolled their cans out for garbage collection we were burning our shit in the back yard. And what did we do with the ashes? Buried it in the back yard. Which was a cause concern for me since this was my chore. Burning and burying on our less than quarter acre lot you’re eventually going to run out of room. Big Jake’s solution, just dump it over the fence. Presto!!! Problem solved!!!

The other thing we did a bit different than our neighbors. We had 4 chickens, 2 roosters and 2 hogs in that same freaking back yard. That did raise a few eyebrows, especially when the time to make the pets into dinner came along. But, Big Jake didn’t seem to mind. He was/is a fuck what others feel or think kind of guy. We all in some way should have more of that trait. Or maybe not, what the fuck do I know?  Maybe what would be better if we all cared less about what others are thinking, saying or doing and care more about ourselves and those we truly care about. With exception of that drunk Hooter waitress. What the fuck was she thinking right??? 

As you can see, Big Jake being an on the run convict got the Bennett’s to where we are now. Mainly Bradenton and presently Nokomis. You're welcome readers. Without his eagerness to avoid 6 children, an alleged cheating first wife, paying child support and jail time has landed us here with all of you. Could you imagine a world without me? I know Alisa can’t?  Admit it babe, you’re in too deep. 

Peace and love.