Bittersweet Night Essay, Research Paper

There was not a drop of precipitation on the road, and the stars were shining brightly. Due to the perfect night, two friends and I decided to take my dad’s new car out for a drive. The alpine white four door M3 was the car of my dreams. We decided to take it out to highway T, a road with no traffic and plenty of hairpin turns. The maximum speed that the vehicle could negotiate the turns was about thirty miles per hour. Even at thirty miles per hour, we could smell the low profile 17-inch wheels cook. The car moved like a dream. After every turn my friend, Phil, would look over and smile. We decided to head back home after about half an hour. We thought the excitement for the night was over, but it had really just begun.

On the way home, we decided to pull over in a neighboring subdivision, Town and Country Acres, to have a cigarette. “Pull in here,” Phil suggested, and I did. We pulled over in front of a conservative looking white brick house at the end of a cul de sac. While the three of us were standing on the street, a maroon Cadillac pulled into the driveway. At this moment I thought to myself, “This is trouble.” Then the driver of the car asked, “What are you guys doing?” “Standing on the street,” I replied, and he said, “I live here.” So I followed it up with, “Too bad you don’t own the street.” He then gave me an evil look and vanished behind the driveway. After the conflict ended I thought no more of the whole situation. My friend finished his cigarette and we went on our way. I pulled onto the access road, north outer forty, and got the hell out of there. At that moment I noticed a police officer speeding in the opposite lane, about 200 yards and gaining. So I reduced my speed from 55 down to 45, but kept going. I held my breath until he passed and I thought I was in the clear. Instantly, his lights went into full motion and I thought to myself, “I cannot afford another 60 dollar and 100 dollar lawyer to pay for this ticket.”

I proceeded to pull over, and he followed my actions. Outside of the monetary problems, I really did not pay much attention to the police officer. I figured he had somehow clocked me and did not really care since I had been only traveling about ten over the speed limit. Then, all of a sudden I heard him scream, “Put your hands on the wheel,” “This is new,” Phil responded. Phil had more encounters with the police then any other person I have ever known. The cop proceeded to the left of the car with his weapon fully drawn. The only thing that came to my mind was “Oh *censored*.” He then screamed, “Put your hands out the window.” Then he started talking to someone on his CB. The woman on other side responded to his cop lingo with more cop lingo. He then yelled, “Get out of the car.” I got out of the car and he asked, “What were you doing in front of that house?” “Smoking,” I told him. So I asked him, “I thought it was a public street?” He said it was, but the lady that resided at the house called the police station and reported, “Three males in a white BMW were harassing me.” I told him that no such thing happened. She claimed her husband asked us what we were doing and I responded with, “Mind you own *censored*ing business old man.” This blew me away. I just thought to myself, “Why would someone fabricate something like that?” The officer then asked me, “Where did you get the car”, so I replied, “I bought it.” So he gave me a look and ran a check on the vehicle identification number and it came up clean. So the cop then asked for my friends and my drivers licenses. He had no right to ask for the passengers’ licenses, but we gave it to him anyway. He took our licenses to his car and made sure we were not serial killers. At that moment I realized my drivers license could get me arrested. About three months ago a friend of mine told me that he knew someone that could chalk Ids real well. So I gave it to him and got it back chalked. The problem was that I had to drive home the next day, so I attempted to unchalk my drivers license. All I accomplished to do was put a huge hole right over my birth date. I knew I could be charged for tampering with a government document. I was definitely scared. The officer spent about fifteen minutes running a check on our licenses. In those fifteen minutes, all I could think about was how Georgetown University would not accept me. I knew I was overreacting, but it was panic none the less. The officer then exited his car and slowly proceeded towards me and spoke. He handed all three drivers licenses to me and gave me a weak apology. A feeling of euphoria overwhelmed me after I realized I was in the clear. He then told me, “This is how I have to respond to this type of situation.” I pretended to understand, got in my car, and took off. My friends and I have been laughing about that night ever since. It was definitely a bittersweet night.