American Invasion

In the summer of 1999 I was to travel to Phoenix, Arizona to meet up once more with my older cousin, Craig. The previous summer with him had been filled with endless activities, ranging from going across the border to Mexico to Skydiving. This time was to be different, two weeks of hanging out, having a few beers, or so I thought.

It was my first holiday where I was solely responsible for getting myself to my destination and that destination was a bloody long way away from home. So imagine, if you will, after a day of stress and tension the warm feeling of relief wash over me as I travelled slowly down the escalator, suitcase in hand and seeing a familiar face awaiting you at the bottom. Bliss.

However, together with this feeling of relief, there dwelled the nagging feeling that the familiar face was not the familiar face I was expecting. Instead of being greeted by a 6ft bloke called craig, there stood before me a 5ft something young lady called Ashley.

After a friendly introduction, Ashley began to bring me up to speed with the current situation. It was at this point that things began to get a little surreal. As it turned out, Ashley was picking me up because Craig was away on business that day. No problem I thought, when's he coming back?

"A couple of days before you return home."

Oh..Ok.

So that evening I was taken to have a meal with Craigs wife, my thoughts of a lads holiday quickly fading from my immediate future. It was at some point during the starter that I was informed that not only was Craig away for the majority of my visit, but he and his wife had recently parted and she was no longer living with him. So there I was, relatively alone in a city a barely knew, with a car, house and backyard swimming pool all to myself for the next week and a half. Yet as desperate as things may seem, wonderous things lay ahead...