There was a overgrown abandoned lot near our house that we called the
jungle. It had a couple of circuits with jumps and bumps for bike
riders to use. The only really major drawback is that there were
older boys who would use the secluded parts of the jungle for
naughtiness and danger. We would often find a little nest of
purloined beer cans, cigarette butts and skin magazines not very
well protected behind a hand painted sign that said 'NO
Trespissing!'. We were terrified of the boys who were hardcore enough
to steal and drink beer so we left these little nests of sin alone.
The lure of the jungle paths was stronger than the fear of the boys
so we went there many sunny days to ride and pretend to jump. One day
when we were out there an older boy named J.T. or J.D. was playing
with some gas pouring it on the ground and then lighting it on fire.
Good clean fun in its own right but it seemed to us that J-whosit was
forgetting some of the basic safety rules of playing with
accelerants and we decided to head on out. You can probably judge by
the level of danger that we thought was acceptable based on our
previous escapades that this must have been some dangerous stuff
indeed. A few minutes after we got home we heard sirens and there was
an immense amount of smoke billowing out of the jungle. We went back
to the corner of the block where we could see what was happening and
the fire department was trying to keep the blaze contained to the
abandoned lot and the paramedics were taking J-something out in a
stretcher badly burned. We heard it through the neighborhood rumor
mill that he had either intentionally or accidentally poured gas onto
his leg, the fire had burned over him out of control and badly burned
his leg and chest. He had to get skin grafts and lay in bed for
months and months. The really sad part to me was that the jungle got
burned down and denuded it didn't really have the allure and charm of
its previously shadowy and obscuring undergrowth. I may have gone
back there to ride bike once or twice but the burn down was about the
end of the jungle and I's relationship. I didn't really ever come in
contact with J-fiddly ever again except to see him in passing now and
then but he didn't seem to have any visible scars from his little
personal conflagration.
