Papers
My name is Jimmy Lee Jenkins
Everyone calls me Boo
I play fiddle in a country and western band
We sing songs about our families and the land
We’re out there playing three hundred nights a year
Wherever there’s bright lights, wherever there’s beer
One night in Tulsa right after the show
I’m walking toward the bus
When up comes a fan with a pen and a piece of paper in his hand
Autographs? Man, I’m so tired but it’s part of the job
I sign it “JLJ” and hand it back to the man
“You’ve been served!” he yells
Turns out my wife wants a divorce
She’s sure that I’m cheatin’
We got no kids and she feels incomplete ‘n’
I guess I don’t blame her
But why didn’t she call?
A hundred nights later
We’re playing three shows in Iowa, a club in Sioux City
Half the crowd is Mexican
And everyone’s sportin’ cowboy boots and buckles
It’s one of those magic nights
The crowd loves the music and there ain’t no fights
In the bar later, I’m washin’ the road from my soul
This woman walks right up to me
She’s a little thick where my wife was thin
She’s wearing the same style cowboy hat as me
She’s as pretty as my fiddle solo on the encore
Says her name’s Maria
That our music reminds her of her daddy’s band back in Mexico
I’ve been drinking a while so it just comes out:
“So are you a groupie or what?”
She laughs, touches my arm and says:
“What’s the difference between a groupie and love at first sight?”
My turn to laugh
“I guess we’re about to find out”
Second night’s show I keep missing cues
Looking through the bright lights for Maria’s smile
But all I see is memories
We get no encores and our manager lets me hear about it
I’m not listening
“Easy come, easy go” I try to convince myself
Next night I play better but I’m feelin’ ‘bout the same
Comin’ out the restroom I hear a voice call out my name
“Jimmy Lee!”
Maria’s there, she grabs me from behind
Face to face, she sees my questions on the way
So she puts a finger cross my lips
“Raids,” she say
“Raids last night
I got no papers so I stay out of sight”
Now it’s a year later
Maria and I are at the Tijuana airport
The man says my papers aren’t in order
“You’ll have to come with me”
They keep me in a little room
I wonder if they want a bribe
Turns out there’s a typo on my passport
Cleared that up with a little “extra fee”
Just barely made the flight
Got to Guadalajara and spent the night
In the morning we rent a car
And drive up to the edge of the mountains
To the village where Maria was born
Reminds me of my hometown in Tennessee
There’s food out in every house we visit
And of course we drink for free
There’s an all night party in the square
Sometime after midnight I take her dad up on a dare
And grab his brother’s fiddle to sit in with the band
I tell him I don’t know this kind of music
He pokes me friendly in the stomach
I think he said “Just play what’s in your soul”
So off we go
Playin’ songs about our families and the land
When we wake up the next afternoon
We write a song together
We’re gonna record it next visit
In the studio he’s building
With money Maria and her brothers send home
Years later Maria and I are sitting in a banker’s office in Nashville
We’re sure we’re gonna get that home loan
“Everything seems to be in order” the man in the suit announces
And I think I see a smile
“There’s just one thing
I don’t see your marriage license here anywhere”
“Don’t have one,” Maria says nice and easy cause we just don’t care
“Ma’am,” he answers, “We’re a Christian bank and the business that we’re in…
Well, I don’t mean to offend
But we’re not in the business of putting a roof over sin”
I can’t believe this guy but gettin’ mad won’t help
So I just look over to where our kids are sitting
Brown, white, and beautiful
They’re sittin’ there like angels
Doin’ just like they were told
Even though they’re only two, three, and four years old
“Excuse me sir,” I say with a sweep of my hand
“But do you see the work of Satan here?”
My name is Jimmy Lee Jenkins
Everyone calls me Boo