Marnie Sykes then &now...............

[85 Day Jerk]

I last saw Marnie at an outside 7 step rap held at the old Morgan Yacht Building.  It was the first week of January 1980.  I had been 'stepped' since August of the previous summer.  It was so weird that while we were finally equals, we would never quite be on the same level.  I saw this in her and sensed that she somehow was lost inside herself and incomplete as a person.  I pretty much felt that I knew who I was and what I wanted out of life.  I had put the program behind me and pretty much lived in the now.

I had made a moneyclip out of nickel silver in a jewelry class in highschool the previous year and had meant to give it to Marnie then, but the program being the way it was pretty much prevented it from happening.  So here was my chance.  I had even gotten a fancy jewelry box from a store at Tyrone Mall to put it in.  I walked across the cold parking lot and the wind picked up a little, as if to help get her attention, and held the box out to her.  She took it from me and opened it and kind of let out a gasp.  The moneyclip shined like a mirror, and was a miniature football helmet of the Dallas Cowboys.  I had put alot of work into it, even got an A-plus and it was obvious to anyone paying attention that she really appreciated it as a late Christmas gift.  Most of us went on to Sambo's for a bite to eat, and then to the movies at Tyrone.  I can't remember what movie it was that we all saw, but I think it was "The Rose" with Bett Midler.  I never saw Marnie after that.

October 2005-

I finally got a day off, the weather was right, my nerves were fine, got enough sleep and everything and had finally located a copy of Replicant Night by K.R. Jeter the day before.  It was now or never.  I stopped and got a liter bottle of Mountain Dew and then drove to the Skyway bridge.  I paid my toll and rolled on through to my destination.  I was listening to Pink Floyd, Animals on CD and really enjoying the ride.  I was coming unannounced, yet since I had brought along three rare novels that make the Bladerunner Trilogy, and a box of chocolates.  It was about time.  Our mutual silence had gone on for long enough.  
    I was so nervous, that I actually drove past where she works.  I turned around and went back.  Walking in the place was really weird.  I quickly looked around for Marnie, yet only saw an old guy with a beard, and a lady with slightly greying hair who looked like a librarian.  Shit!, maybe she did'nt even work here anymore.  The old guy asked me if he could help me and I stammered out that I was there to see Marnie Sykes.  The lady at the computer turned and looked at me with eyes that were so  enlarged by the lenses of the glasses she wore that she resembled an owl.  Holy Jesus, so this was Marnie.  It was a cool visit.

[Anonymous]

Did you two fuck?  Just kidding.

Holy shit, Sambo's? Saint Pete has a Sambo's!?!? Cartoon of a tiger on the sign and all? Man, we had a Sambo's down when I was a kid I swear to freakin Christ. God dammit, God dammit I absolutely loved ordering grilled cheese sandwiches when I went in, and chocolate fucking milk; large if my mum could afford it. It closed down, and

alot has changed since then. Sambo's. Who would have known? It's a small corporate world we breathe in.

[GregFL]

Marnie's older brother, "scooter" and I were buddies before we both got slam dunked in the Seed.  We were never friends again after that.

Scooter (ken) is dead now, RIP my friend.

Marnie also had an older sister, and another brother, all program vets.

[GregFL]

St pete used to have two "samboes", modeled after the old "little black sambo" childrens books.

Never, never never would a place with a name like that and a mural of  the tiger chasing little black sambo on the wall, exist in this country today.

[Anonymous]

i remember going to sambo's!i went to one of the two mentioned when i was on my phases....they were the southern version of denny's....there was one in northern virginia too.it later around '85,got the name changed to {like this was different}"Po'Folks"!not being prejuduce,i never put the name in a negetive light.i didn't even know what a sambo was until they annouced that it was....it was a cool name to me and i SAW plenty of black ppl in them....they didn't seem to mind either....personally,i think after the 60's and 70's,the civil rights movement went way overboard,
looking for anything they could to stay in the lime light,snuffing out anything that they deemed "prejuduce"....as far as the original posters story,do you still see her? or is she married etc etc and so are you and the circumstances both are in prevented anything cool from happening?....just wondering.there was one staff female i thought was the shit....her name was Kim Hyde......after she was banished from straight,i saw her at A/A meetings....i was the only 7 stepper she would talk to after her ordeal.
miller really put the screws to her lifes plans...
she was supposed to get married to his son Mark,but Miller refused to let it happen...i know alot about this because one day on my "day off" from group,just before i 7 stepped,Kim was at my house talking to my mother....i heard the whole story....i felt bad for her and had to promise not to tell anyone she had been there or talked about the whole ordeal in front of me....2 days later,i watched her fall to pieces on the rap stool....the girl "relating" stopped talking about what she was talking about and looked at kim and said"Kim,what's wrong?why are you crying?"
Kim said she couldn't talk about it,but we all knew she was heart broken.....then she got up,had someone replace her and walked right out the door.......we never saw her again! it would be 6 months to a year before i would run into her at a
meeting in annandale, virginia.i found out that Miller had ruined her life as much as possible AFTER Mark had left......!black balled her from the 7 step society,straight,everything! Other than me,she was very spooked by anyone from the "'gram".... the funny thing is ,THAT same kind of thing would HAPPEN to me a few yrs later......up in boston.

[Anonymous]

Kim is better of with out Mark.  He was, is and always will be a chilp off Miller's block.

[Anonymous]

no arguement there.....he abandoned her up in virginia.....kim never told me anything more than what i heard at my house and i never asked her what or why it happened.i just didn't feel at liberty to ask her.she created a new life for herself and i left it at that.i remember one night in paticular,i was at an A/A meeting and kim
was being asked by a bunch of girl 7 steppers as to what happened....she gave them a brief answer and walked away.....later,after the meeting,we all went to a dance{a/a} and i saw kim....she walked up to me and thanked me for never asking about it.....a little later,i made the huge mistake of going up to boston and fell into my little hell pit....i never saw her again....after boston,i never really went to a/a etc....program shit was just bullshit to me.....hippie

[Anonymous]

I ran into Kim in Tallahassee in the mid to late 80's.  She had a sister correct?

[Anonymous]

Marnie only pretends to be gay. I fucked all of them recently. They stop over and tell me I am god and why did I have to gradutate? I flirt with them and say I'm still in the program.

 ::fuckoff::

[Anonymous]

i'm not sure if she did.i really didn't know kim on her phases....she was a 5th phaser when i came in and became a trainee.....by the time i finally made 2nd phase,she was already 7 stepped.she had a good heart and when she bitched at the group,i didn't take it personally,like anyone normally would....she was no shawna arnow or jim sailor.if she had a sister in the "'gram" it was before my time......somehow i don't think she did.she would've talked about it at some point in my "'gram" and i have a good memorey.....

you know,since we on this post are from the original"'grams",i was wondering about some ppl i've always wondered about....does anyone know Todd Racheal? what happened to him after he was escorted out of straight by Miller?Miller said he had to go to arcadia mental institute....just wondering if its true.....i'd love to see how he's doing and hear his story.....


does anyone know and know what happened to April Deshung{?}Deshong{?}......she and i cliqued in group when i first went in....she escaped and was never brought back....according to Miller,she died in a car wreck.....don't know if its true or not....i'd love to say hi to her....shit,if it hadn't been for her,i would've had an even harder time in there in the begining!


does anyone here know ALDO and BRIDGETTE Bollinger? they were brother and sister in the "'gram".he was my last host brother before i was started over on 5th phase....i was supposed to live at his house after i seven stepped the "'gram",only i got started over.....i only saw him once after i was started over and as hard as i try,i can't find him anywhere....that family was real good to me..i've never forgot them because of that.....oh yeah,they were from another country,switzerland i bekieve,not to sure.
"mom" bollinger spoke with a thick accent,so did his dad.i've been looking for them for years....

AL KUMIC was very cool too....DAVE & LISA BURKE were my first host brother and oldcomer{luckily
i wasn't moved around on my first program}
JOHN HOLGRAM{?......if it hadn't been for him,i would've just said "fuck it all" to my start over
and i can't say i would've made it out of there in one piece or at least in a couple of pieces instead of a billion.if my memorey serves me right,JOHN could've SUED straight way way before FRED COLLINS did!he split from straight and somehow MILLER AND HIS WIFE were involved in getting him back into the "'gram"!although he wasn't allowed to talk about it,{he was my oldcomer on my second "'gram"}i asked him what happened only once,and he winked at me and said if his parents weren't involved in the whole thing,things would've been different....the reason this stands out in my head,is because when he came back,instead of getting the usual crapola,MILLER AND RUTH ANN,wouldn't even ALLOW anyone to confront him!all he got was "hi john,love you john.....".....anyone that was there in the early days,well,the newton days,knows this wasn't standard operating procedure!....i'd love to hear his tale,for real,
for the first time! you know what the funniest part of all that is with john? he was my oldcomer after i got started over....either 2 days before i got started over or 2 days after i got started over,FRED COLLINS was newcomers with me!the irony of this is , john could've sued them and his newcomer FRED did sue them......!

seriously,if anybody reading this out there knows any of these ppl,please tell them I'm looking for them.....they can P.M. me anytime.....just thinking about the past.....hippie

[teachback]

does anyone know and know what happened to April Deshung{?}Deshong{?}......she and i cliqued in group when i first went in....she escaped and was never brought back....according to Miller,she died in a car wreck.....don't know if its true or not....

Sounds kinda like Teddy Kennedy's story, y'know?  :rofl:

[Antigen]

Crazy Mac had a bumper sticker on his LP burning 2nd hand Mafia staff car. It said "Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my gun."

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

If there's a worse idea going than locking people up for drug use, it's probably locking them up in close proximity to some tyranical altruist who wants to 'help' them with a problem that probably doesn't exist
-- Ginger Warbis
having had about all the help I can stand!

[85 Day Jerk]

Part Two-

I had to get off the computer so I was severely cut short on all I had to say.  Library rules.  Anyway, I had come on a pretty busy day and they were trying to wrap up things and prioritize them to cut down on any unneccessary weekend work.  Marnie stepped out for a cigarette break and that is what gave us some time to converse.  She is a real asset where she works and is a seasoned veteran of the advertising world.  I wish she would have had more time to show me around the shop and all, but as I said, I had come unnannounced.  She was blown away by the novels, because she never dreamed that anyone had taken the Bladerunner story any further.  She told me that she still logged onto Fornits from time to time, but found most of the posts were too negative to bother with.  She did however say that she was very happy to find that M. Bell and Woof-a-Doof had found the forum.  She asked me if my yahoo address was still the same, and then promised to keep in touch more in the future.  I check my e-mails about twice a week and she always amazes me with stuff she sends.  One of the last ones was this series of pictures that show a small car fall off a dock, then the tow truck come, get it halfway out of the water, then it too falls into the water.  A second and even bigger truck comes for the first truck and oh shit! it goes in too!  This stuff was'nt made up, she just finds it and is a part of a network of over 200 businesses througout Florida.  Talking to her was a trip, yet I was so surprised at how all the wind was blown out of sails so to speak once we were standing face to face.
It reminded me of an old Aerosmith song.....

....Sick as a dog, what's your story?
Sick as a dog, hhmmm cat got your tounge?
Sick as a dog, you'll be sorry,
Sick as a dog, because you really aint that young.