April 29, 1973, Sunday

A friend of Jerry’s came by today, Virgil. He said when you get on a ship the captain is the supreme ruler. He had a disciplinary problem. Here on base the punishment would be one week confinement; tops. The ship’s captain locked him in the brig for three months. He’s talking to a civilian lawyer. He wants to bring cruel and unusual punishment charges on the captain. He seems like a nice guy. I asked, “What did you do?

He said he over slept ten minutes. It doesn’t matter what you do. It matters how much the ship’s captain likes or dislikes you personally. They don’t think they have to follow laws when they are out to sea. Jerry said everybody knew that the captain hated Virgil. Hell that could be me some day. If I don’t watch out I said. Later.

Maria lives in La Jolla. It is a big house. When we pulled up no one was home. Maria went around to the back. She was inside opening the front door when a neighbor walked up to us. He asked us what we were doing. I told him that we found Maria alone on the beach, homeless. We brought her home. Maria told us to come inside. The neighbor said that Maria’s mother has been worried. This isn’t the first time Maria has run away. The mom was at work, she asked her neighbor to call her and the police if Maria came home. We said we understand, we found her this morning and don’t know her at all. We said good luck and got the hell out of there. Later.