PEPE TIME #67

I have a friend named Pepe. He's pretty funny and I like to keep a log of all the funny things he says and does. Enjoy

THE EPIC SAGA OF THE TAILLIGHT 

This Pepe Time is a little longer than usual, but hope you got a few minutes to go along for this epic ride.

Sometime in the late 90's, Bobber Bob had given me a couple of warbird taillights all the way from Los Angeles to Hawaii. I thought they were really neat. I stashed it away and kinda forgot about it for a while, not fitting any projects I had at the time.

A couple of years later, after moving to Southern CA, I had a job building motorcycles. It was at this shop where I got to know Pepe a little more. He was a nice guy that showed me around and introduced to many of my best friends I have today.

So, he had his rigid shovel at my place of work. Pepe and I disassembled this cool chopper, had the engine rebuilt by my boss, and we put it back together in stellar form. He had this old junky Chevy taillight that I couldn't bare to see used again, so I dug up this warbird taillight and gave it to him as a gift on one condition...

...the promise was that Pepe could never sell, trade, or ever part with the taillight. If it was going anywhere, it was coming back to me. I didn't think this was a problem because personally, I rarely ever sell anything. I buy or accept stuff to keep - not a hoarder by any means, but I just like to have the stuff I like. Pepe's the complete opposite. He sells everything. "I'm keeping this bike forever" means he'll sell it in the near future.

Pepe was really, really excited to have this taillight on his bike though. You wouldn't believe how much attention he drew to it whenever a friend or a passerby stopped to look at his bike, "you see this taillight, dude? psssht. RARE, so fucking RARE. You know how much these things are worth? pssht, you don't even know, dude!"

This went on for several years as Pepe actually kept this rigid shovel in his possession, which was a little unusual. Then he also had taken the bike apart yet again but this taillight haunted all of us... especially me, because by this time had Pepe discovered how to expertly navigate eBay and saw the rising value of this flying warbird. 

Pepe: dude, you know how much these things are fucking worth?!

Me: yup

Pepe: let's fucking sell it, dude! 

Me: nope, just give it back to me. I don't want to sell it even for a thousand dollars. Bob Bobber gave it to me like 10 years ago or some shit. 

Pepe: lets just put it on eBay to see what happens, dude!!!

Me: .........

This went on for a couple more years. It was probably confusing for Pepe. This amazing taillight was in his possession but he couldn't sell it - this did not compute in his brain.

What made Pepe's brain truly go into overdrive was the day Bill Dodge and Jesse James contacted him to buy the taillight for a customer of theirs at the now defunct West Coast Choppers.

Pepe: duuuuuude, you are not going to believe this Nelly! 

Me: what? 

Pepe: you know who called me today, dude? that fucker Bill Dodge wants to buy the taillight!

Me: fuck that, give it back to me

Pepe: what? I'm not gonna sell it! 

Me: .......

[then a day or so later]

Pepe: now Jesse's all over my shit wanting the taillight - let's split the fucking profit!

Me: profit? I don't want money for it.

Pepe: the fuck is wrong with you? 

Me: the fuck is wrong with me? you're going to sell a gift I gave you?

Pepe: no, dude, I'm just saying, pssssht, whatever dude. 

I was surprised that he didn't sell the taillight but he did literally tell everyone in the Long Beach/South Bay area about his amazing treasure by this point. Funny thing is, no one really knew that I gave it to him as a gift on the condition he never sell it.

Nator: you gave him that fucking taillight?! he never told me that!

Me: yup, I'm sick of hearing about it now though. I want him to sell it so I never have to talk about it ever again. 

And so, about 10 years later, that taillight was finally gone. There was so many other stories I had heard about Pepe and his taillight during those years he had it. I think Pepe ended up trading it to one of our Sinners Sweden brothers for a set of short Flanders risers.

Pepe: dude, you can have the risers.

Me: really?

Pepe: you were looking for these long before any of us even heard of them.

Me: right on, man, thanks... you know how much that taillight was worth? we should've sold it and split the profit.

Pepe: what?! fuck you, dude. 

The End