Running, Finale
“You won’t believe what happened to me,” I told Summer at the checkout. “It’s just…unreal how bad it could get.”
“It’s fine,” she said, “stop freaking out.”
Summer was a girl I used to work with at Food Lion, a grocery store in my hometown. I quit months and months ago. She was almost up to management status. I told her the sad tale of two tickets from the same state trooper, how my bank account was weeping, how there was no way I could get my tint removed in time. I was worried that court would be…difficult.
She had a ticket of her own, with the same court date. Small world.
“I’ll see you there,” I said, hiding my dread.
“Good luck,” she tells me.
The day of, I go high-tailing it to a window detailing place. I pull up and ask them to remove my tint. The look on the guy’s face as he looks over the old, blackened, bubbled stuff is telling enough.
“Um, well, that would take quite awhile.” My wallet screams from my back pocket. I smile sheepishly.
Finally he asks, “Why you removing it?”
“Cop pulled me over for dark tint,” I tell him. “I’ve got a court date in about, um, an hour. Can you do it by then?”
He laughs. “No.” Could’ve guessed that one.
“I guess I’ll just leave it here and call my dad or something…” I say, trying to come up with a solution.
“They wrote you up for this?” The guy pulls out his driver’s license, opens my car door, then looks at the license through my tint. “No way this is illegal.”
“Can you write that down? Would that be good enough for a judge?”
“Yeah, should be,” he says. “We see this a lot.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, but normally it’s legitimate. You really pissed that cop off, didn’t you?”
“Ran from him.”
“Oh.” He nods solemnly. “Let me write you something up.” He gives me a sheet of paper exonerating my ugly tint.
An hour later and I’m in the courtroom, waiting for my turn, sitting next to Summer. She takes her turn, asks for driving school, gets it, and leaves.
It’s around then I see the State Trooper himself walk in. He’s a short man, about 5’5”, thinning blonde hair and a dark tan. Without his hat he’s a little less intimidating, but that doesn’t stop me from making eye contact. He looks at me for a second, then moves on to someone else. In other words, he doesn’t recognize me. Again.
“Erwin,” the court reporter calls out. I stand up and make my way to the front.
It’s then that the cop realizes who I am.
“Ha ha!” He says, “Gotcha twice didn’t I?”
I grin uncomfortably. “Yeah, you did.” He seems pleased with himself. I only feel relieved.
The judge reads off the charges. I provide the sheet of paper from the window place and proof that I updated my license plates. He waits a moment before letting me off on the tint charge, then I tell him I want to go to driving school.
“Have you been in the last 3 years?” He asks.
“No,” I say, then immediately remember I have. Crap.
“You can sign up at the clerk’s desk. Pay your fines there as well. Next!”
From behind me, the Trooper speaks.
“Stay out of trouble.”
I turn back and grin. “Sure thing.”
He turns to leave, then I add “Thanks Officer.” He smiles. Maybe he won’t forget me next time.
But I doubt it.
Thanks for reading. See you guys Monday.
5 Comments:
Good story been waiting for the finale. I've never run before but I have gotten out of a few by complete luck. Years back I was rushing to an airport and was weaving in an out of traffic doing roughly 85 in a 55 zone. Look in my rearview mirror and a cop is just following me. When I slow to 70 he turns on the lights. He was pretty upset when I had an out of state license and their system was down and for some odd reason this meant he couldn't give me more than a 20 minute lecture. Total luck. Didn't slow me down though, I got a ticket 6 months later for rushing to a another airport at 4am on a deserted highway.
Ok, no offense.. oh hell, you can be offended, I don't care.. what the hell is wrong with you?
You're obviously not stupid, you at least have enough brains to have learned about computers. Your IT related posts that I've read are pretty good, but this running story.. what the hell?
It's bad enough that you were driving like a maniac, but you ran from the cops... 3 times!?! Worse yet, one within a week of getting another ticket? I mean, we've all been late a few times in our lives and sped, but 75 in a 35 and windy roads to boot? Wow. I think it's the running from the cops, on mulitple occasions that just stuns me. And don't bother with "it was a deserted road with noone on it" type excuses.. the conditions were bad enough for you to not see a cop coming in time to slow down, so it's just as possible that you could slam into someone going around a corner or going over a hill.
The excuses are weak too.. "having to get up earlier.." Boo friggin' hoo. I went for several years (late college and early new job) where I was lucky to get 4 hours a night during the week, made up for as best I could on weekends. It didn't make me drive like a maniac.
oh and alvin... did you hit your brakes to slow down to 70? Never hit your brakes if you see a cop behind you and you're speeding... it's like an admission of guilt, and you really stand out.
oops.. forgot to add..
I hope that was remembering youthful foolishness and that you've long since grown out of that. Especially since you're a father now.
So nyah. :P
miguelitosd: Would it have helped if he'd prefixed the story with "When I was a boy..."?
I think the story was great, and I naturally just assumed he's grown out of it, just like I eventually did after $1,000 in fines over a 2 year period for speeding alone.
Great story. What's next? :)
No I didn't hit the brakes I coasted down to 70, but it didn't matter he had been following me for at least a mile and said so when he pulled me over.
I was 20-21 at the time. Even 18 years later I still drive fast when I'm alone on a country road and occasionally pay for it. I've never run from the cops myself but many of my friends have. I'm not going to preach weather it is right or wrong.
On second thought perhaps I have run, once I was pulled over with 4 others on the outskirts of Dallas. After the cop got out of his car I pulled away and so did 2 of the people behind me. Cop looked pissed too.
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