Mag Crew Memoirs
By : George V Bush
Rev 01.05.10
Copyright George V. Bush
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This text is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced.
Cover designed by George V. Bush
Table of Contents
1. Fun in the Sun
2. Brainwashed
3. Trapped, Lost, Stuck
4. Highway to the Cross
5. Aftermath
6. Dangers of Taking the Job
7. History of the Business
Ephesians 5:11-14; and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepiest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Chapter One
Fun in the Sun
Ephesians 6:12; For we do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the principalities, and the authorities of the darkness of this age.
Here’s my story:
It was like any other day in Pittsburgh PA; my brother Donnie and our friend Rick all set around listening to an ad on a radio station that was very popular back in 1991. We hardly paid attention to the station at all until an energetic voice came on offering a chance of a lifetime. The ad would later change our lives forever. I doubt I could ever forget what the ad said, “Wanted eighteen to twenty three year old guys and girls. Will travel to California to have fun in the sun and make lots of money! Participants must be energetic and outgoing. Call Ms. Crane for your interview today. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity; travel arrangement will be free…” The ad was very compelling and both Rick and my brother called the number and had their follow up interviews quickly as planned at the Hyatt, a real nice hotel here in Pittsburgh.
I found myself equally as compelled by the promise of money and ‘fun’ my young mind raced with the possibility of getting out of this back water town I had grown up in. Growing up had not been easy my mother died when I was ten she died right in front of me and my brother with her eyes open the last thing she said was “I love you”. I loved my mother and she loved me but she had her fair share of issues. She was in and out of mental hospitals they say she had eupepsy. On top of that she and my dad were both alcoholics and very physically abusive to me and my brother. My dad was a steel worker.
I can still remember how he would go to work and come back just to get drink and beat on my mother and us kids. It was terrible and the death of my mother just made things worse. After her death my dad shipped me out to my aunts and house in South Park. It was still hard for me all I could think about was my mother’s death. When I turned 15 a relative had almost killed me so my dad took me back. I stayed with him for almost a year. That was until my dad found out that I skipped 67 days of school. He beat me with a small T.V. he got me for Christmas, so I moved in with my brother and started drinking and getting high.
Now this ad offered another way out I had just turned eighteen and the offer looked like a perfect opportunity for me. Rick and Donnie came back all excited and told me they were both able to get the job. They were both more interested in the young woman who had hired them however; she was apparently a very beautiful woman. They said that they were leaving for California in three days and encouraged me to sign up as well. The thought of escape and starting anew was all too good for me and I quickly gave Ms. Crane a call. She told me to come down for an interview first thing in the morning. I was bustling with excitement the next day when I came down for the interview.
The hotel was huge and I quickly discovered that the interview was to take place in the penthouse, and to say I was excited before was an understatement, now I wanted to burst. As I walked down the hall I found four other people were already lined up for an interview before me. I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do with myself I wanted to get the job like my brother and Rick had. I only had to wait fifteen minutes but it felt more like an eternity before she finally called me in.
I walked into the room slowly and found Ms. Crane waiting for me. To say she was beautiful was an understatement. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that locked me in her gaze. She wore a very short skirt and half her chest seemed to come out of the front of it. She gave me a small knowing smile and I felt my cheeks burn just slightly. She told me to sit wherever I would like and the interview started. It was hard to concentrate during the interview and it was hard to take my eyes off the beautiful half naked beauty before me. Two times she even dropped here pencil during the interview which I have very little doubt was done on purpose.
Her job I would later find out was to subdue young men into the job and make it sound worthwhile which she did. The job would be relatively easy I would be selling cleaning products. She looked over my application and said I would be perfect for the job. To sum up the interview she showed me a photo album of beautiful young men and woman all having fun at the beach and at parks. I was hooked and told her I could start as soon as possible.
She said that she wanted me to call here in the next few days or so and she would tell me when to get on the bus to California. Naturally I said ok and went back home. My brother and Rick were already partying over there new job and when I told them I also got the job they quickly helped me celebrate it. I found out that they would both be leaving in the morning and I figured I would as well. But when I called Ms. Crane the next day she informed me that I would not be leaving for another two days. I was a little disappointed but I got on the bus two days later dropped off by my dad at the local greyhound station. My dad gave me forty bucks and wished me good luck. I was still a little scared I had never been out of Pittsburgh before but my excitement drove me on.
The ticket I had sad that I would be in Santa Ana California in three-in-a-half days. Unfortunately the trip took over five and I ran out of money the first two. And on the second day someone stole my last five dollars while I was asleep. The trip was already not going very well and after nearly a day without food I bummed some money off of someone on the bus I didn’t know. I felt more than a little awkward but after hours of not eating I felt I had no choice. Most of the people on the bus were crazy drinking and passing out drugs I had ever seen before. The bus stunk like urine and dirty feet and was the worst five days of my life up to that point if only I had the since to see that it was just the beginning of the worst moments of my life.
It was two thirty in the morning five days after we left when the eternal bus ride from hell finally ended as we pulled up into the bus station. We quickly filed off the bus and once again I felt a little awkward being the only white kid out of the fifty plus that was getting off of the bus. There were gang members and drug dealers everywhere and I was scared out of my wits. I reached the nearest phone I could find and called Ms. Crane with the number she had given me and to my horror there was no answer! I called the number five times and waited for almost two hours before I got fed up and called a cab. At least she gave me the name of the hotel I would be staying at. I had no money and had to barter with the cab driver with a camera I had for him to take me to the Radisson in Newport Beach.
I was furious that no one had come to pick me up but at least the ride only took fifteen minutes. If I had any brains in my I would have turned back but I was young. When I stepped out before the hotel I was stunned at how huge it was, it towered about twenty five stories over the streets below. My anger was quickly forgotten as I figured that if I was going to stay in a hotel that big then what I had to gripe about. I walked into the front desk area which was bigger than the house I grew up in. I walked up to the front desk and caught the attention of the man behind the counter.