The story of Hillbilly and Peeve as told by Brother Leo.
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I think this was ANW 2001…

Lots was going on in the world, and ANW was no exception. We had more people for that year than ever before, and certainly more than we’ve had since. In fact, it was after this trip that it was decided that 6 was enough. That rule sticks to this day. I mean, the right guy, baring the right gifts, can pop in for a night or two. However, we stick pretty hard to the 6-man rule..

But, I digress…

So this particular year, it happened that my Step Father-in-law, Papa Joe showed up for an overnight. And because he never liked to travel alone, he brought his long-time buddy- A guy that everybody aptly called “Hillbilly”. Now Papa joe is a mountain of a man. At the time, he was 6’2″ and about 350 Lbs. He’s got a typically Sicilian look and air about him. All in all a good man to have on your side in any situation. Hillbilly, on the other hand stands about 5’4. Maybe, if he’s carrying rocks in his pockets, he weighs 150 Lbs. You also need to picture a hairline similar to the 1980’s version of Gallagher, only dirty blonde and straight. He speaks with an accent that sounds straight out of West Virginia, even though he grew up in Madison Heights, Michigan. To call this man a character is to give characters a rather dubious reputation.

Aaaanyway…

We were sitting around the fire-pit. It was late, so obviously no one was feeling much pain. Slowly, as the night wore on, people started excusing themselves for the night. As each guy made his exit, Hillbilly, who was sitting on a log next to Peeve, would kind of lean across the fire toward Papa Joe and make some comment about their legs being too skinny or their belly being too small. Not anything over the top… Just strange little comments that really had no context. Papa Joe would make a comment back, and maybe make some kind of hand gesture that everyone would ignore…Except for Peeve.

Now, mind you, Peeve stands about 6’4″ and at the time he weighed in at about 275. So here is Peeve, listening to, and laughing at Hillbilly’s critiques as each guy walks away. Pretty soon, it was just Peeve, Hillbilly, Papa Joe and myself at the fire. We shot some shit back and forth for a while, laughed at the short-comings that Hillbilly had pointed out about the other ANW brothers and consumed another beer or three. Then it was Peeves turn to call it a night. As he stood up from the log to say goodnight, Hillbilly kind of leaned in his direction and, touching Peeve’s leg said:

“So… Where are you bunkin’ tonight, big fella?”.

Well, I’m not sure I had ever seen Big Peeve truly frightened before. But at that moment, he was absolutely petrified. He was frozen. He had no ability to speak and it must have taken him at least 30 seconds to regain the use of his legs. When he finally did, he didn’t say a word. He just tuned and half walked/half ran into the cabin. Papa Joe and Hillbilly laughed uproariously and then revealed to me that the whole thing had been staged. Hillbilly had bet Papa Joe that he could, by the end of the night, scare the big guy. They certainly succeeded…

The next morning, Peeve pulled me aside from the group. Obviously still shaken, He wanted to know what the deal was with Hillbilly. I tried to maintain my composure as the conversation progressed. But I must say I lost it when Peeve described how he spent the rest of his night. I’ll just quote Brother Peeve to close this story…
“Dude… I’ve never been so scared. I had to sleep on the zipper of my sleeping bag!”

Hillbilly 1, ANW boys 0
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Additional commentary by Peeve
…And still today, that was the most scared I’ve ever been. The part of the story that you didn’t detail was when Vin walked away and into the cabin and Hill Billy say… “Man, he has one nice ass. I’d like to tap that tonight”

It was at that point that the night turned.