You ever go cruising? Back in the day, that’s what we did. Got into the car and started driving, aided by some party favors along the way. Not all, but many times this “cruising” we did, took us to the north side. Yeah, look at us kids, going out of the neighborhood, exploring the north side of the city. Little did I know back then, that all these parts we explored, would become part of my daily routine; all these city streets we cruised down, would become part of my daily route to and from just about everywhere. This is where our journey down Western Avenue continues…
I was in high school; we were heading to see one of our friend’s play football. Traffic was backed up in the right lane just before North Avenue; let me change lanes and get moving. This was the day I truly found out the definition of “blind spot”. BAM! Smacked right into a car; holy shit. What now? Well, I guess let me get out of the car and make sure everybody is OK. It looked like everybody was fine; my friend and I were OK. The kid in the back seat of the card I crashed into was fine, just sitting there, playing a little handheld video game. The grandmother looked OK, but she was shaking pretty bad; I’m sure I was too. The mother, who was driving, yeah, she was perfectly fine. Fine enough to attract plenty of attention from guys passing by, whistling at her out of their windows, and fine enough to be screaming and yelling at me in the middle of Western Avenue; I must have looked like a deer in headlights. It was totally my fault. The cops showed up and gathered all the info. They also helped me take my bumper off, which was hanging by a thread, and put it in the back of my parent’s station wagon. Of course, as I dropped my friend off, and headed back home, I was scared. My mom was just happy I was OK; my dad was upset, but not anything like I had feared. He too was just happy nobody got hurt. I believe I was 16-17 years old and had just gotten my driver’s license.
The court date was set a few months later. I remember being worried about that too. This concern grew exponentially when the mother showed up to court with a neck brace and crutches… no joke… haha. I was shitting bricks. She was trying to get paid, at my expense. Yet, in this particular case, justice prevailed. The judge saw right through her act. He threw my ticket out of court and ended up giving HER a ticket, for not having her kid buckled up in the back seat. It was all a blur to me honestly. I was just happy it turned out the way it did. I just remember walking out of the court room to get my license back, which had fresh staple holes in it. I was free to get back on the roads… which of course I did… and this time, I would certainly be checking my blind spot…
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