Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Road Less Traveled...

I don't know why I am compelled to write about this particular memory, as it is not the best memory to have.. I especially don't know why I am writing about this just a couple hours before I find myself flying high in the sky for a weeks' worth of business meetings, workshops, training and such.

'It is what it is...'

Twenty-five years ago....I was sixteen.
I lived at home with my parents and I had my drivers license.
On a Sunday night, a friend and I ventured out to get some ice cream.
Baskin Robbins was closed...so we decided to go to a Dairy Queen a little bit further away.
We went through the drive through & got ourselves some wonderful delectables.
Pulling out the rear entrance, as opposed to the front where we had come in at, I found myself forced to take a right.
This one turn ended up throwing for a loop & ultimately throwing me into territory I had not chartered before.
I came upon a four-way stop and strained to see the names of the streets, hoping to orient myself as to which way to go.
Suddenly, two young men who had been standing at the intersection popped open the rear doors of my vehicle.
I turned around 'What the hell?!' and threw my purse to the floorboard.
Before you know it, I found myself in the position of being, what is known today as 'carjacked.'
These guys were armed with a variety of tools and weapons, none of which scared me as much as their callous, detached and self-spirited demeanor's.... as they held a razor to the side of my neck and barked orders at me.
They had me drive them around, here and there... I didn't know where I was anymore.
At one point, one fellow got out of the car and retrieved something from someone he obviously knew.
My friend recognized one of the young men as being the brother of a fellow who had just been arrested for killing their father.
He was called on it and really, didn't seem to give two hoots.... about his brother or his father. They told me to give them my purse. I told them to hold on, it was under my seat. I slid my license and one of my two fives into my sock and I gave them my purse.
They were talking about splitting us up...me and my friend.
My friend was actually trying to negotiate our way out this...entertaining the notion of him getting out and leaving on foot with one of the young men...trying to get them to agree to leave me alone.
I started cussing like a lunatic...nope, no effing way, we were not going to be separated, all for one and one for all...
I had awful visions of my friend being stabbed in the woods and of lord knows what happening to me, should I be left alone with one of these idiots.
I could see the road before me ending into another street with houses on it.
I saw a cinder block house just beyond the stop sign, right in the middle of the paved T-bone.
I remembered my brother accidentally spinning this vehicle in a 180 by slamming on the brakes.
I remembered the Bazaar brothers.
Profanities raced from my mouth and my parents little station wagon began to race even faster.
I thought I could do it.
I thought I could pull a one eighty.
I thought I could slam the back end into the cinder block porch.
I thought about the people inside.
Sleeping or gone, their house was one of the few with no lights on & no folks on the porch.
I thought I could stop this train wreck with injury only to us.
I thought it sounded better than the possible alternatives.
I thought about my friend.
My foot stayed pressed to the floor.
Everyone in the car was now screaming.
I crouched closer to the steering wheel.
My head was being pulled backwards by my hair.
The interior car light came on.
Porch lights flickered out in my peripheral.
A back door was open....then, two.
I slammed on the brakes.
The two guys jumped.
I sat there, shaking....looking...
As the last of the porch lights went out...

We made it home safely enough, minus a pocketbook, some sanity, some peace and some naivete. The next day, I got a perm to disguise the area of my head where I had my cut to an inch or two of my scalp. I never told my parents....and now, I always lock my car doors.

I still don't really know if what I did was right or wrong.

But at least, I'm still here to talk about it.

21 comments:

Dee said...

oh, my dear, lucky friend...a wrong turn followed by all the right moves. thank god, you were not paralyzed by fear and in your rage, employed evasive action ~ good for you, girl

Maithri said...

Wow!!... if that aint a story and a half I dont know what is...

What courage,
What strength and clarity in the midst of chaos...

You're a special person my friend,

Peace, love and safe travels,
M

kj said...

holy **** skinny! what a move you made. i've always been impressed with your grit, but now you are at the top of my grit pedestal.

holy ****!

Anonymous said...

I would say you did exactly the right thing for the situation... nobody got hurt, including you. That's all you can hope for. I'm so glad you're o.k. and maybe those jerks thought twice before trying that with someone else.

Shimmerrings said...

Wow! The old adrenaline kicks in just in time to save the day! Amazing stuff! Good for you, lady, you weren't gonna just sit there and do nothing. I'm sorry, but i have to ask... did the car do a 180? Were the guys in the car or outside the car when the brakes hit? Somewhere, in the story, I lost the trail.

Lola Starr said...

Wow, you seriously have some spitfire, girl! I think you did the right thing, absolutely. You guys got away. One good thing my mum passed along to me was always lock your doors. I'm obsessive about it.

Me said...

Oh, wow! That was intense. I was sucked right into that, seriously.

Big hugs and many kisses.

Glad you made it out of that episode!

The CEO said...

It's clear that what you did was correct simply because it worked for both of you. Conventional wisdom might have said that you should have just played along and not made trouble. You'll never know if things would have worked out as well.

Personally, I'm glad things worked out the way they did!
p&l
monty

Anne said...

urk! That "anonymous" message was from me, Anne. :)

i beati said...

The things we young uns do !!!

John-Michael said...

Consider your Self embraced in respectfully caring arms of loving compassion. This is the response of my inner Being to your Spirit's reliving of this affront to your sacred Personhood. You have become Dear to me ... and a treasured element of my world.

singleton said...

sweetskinnysis...this story still gives me chills, porcupine quills, makes my blood curdle, and my hair stand up....
The butterfly defect....
and saved by your tumultuous spirit and spit and ultimately...
the butterfly effect. ILYSVVM and we are the sisterhood, in so many more ways than one. Miss you.

eric1313 said...

and it was the right thing to do, you know that, I know that, your friend knew it, and even the assailants knew that, because they ran for the hills when confronted with somebody a little more desperate than themselves.

I was robbed in Detroit before, so I know what it's like. I've had guns drawn on me and I've had to find my way out of the sitch. And luckily, I did.

Wrong place, wrong time...

But you know what? I still love the world. And I think, er, I know you still love it too.

Take care, SLB.

And good luck on your journeys, where ever they take you.

Yep, I'm back home and happy about it, I think it's story time again.

Mel said...

I got angry, I got scared......

I act angry when I feel scared.
And I react without much forethought--there's an intuitive knowing that comes from within......unconventional, unpresidented--it surfaces just long enough to turn the tide and get me to the other side of the moment.

Tenacity?
Survival?

It's what comes from other places to keep me moving towards where I'm designed to be.

Obviously G-d had better plans for you, too.


(((((((((((( SLB )))))))))))))))

skinnylittleblonde said...

Back in town folks....sorry to have left with such a dank post up! I will reply later tonight as today I have laundry, firewood, bills and grocery shopping to do...
peace & love to all of you

skinnylittleblonde said...

dee...lol, looking back at moments like these reminds me of the lyrics from an old Pantera song, where he whispered in the background 'anger is a gift.'

Maithri... my most recent travels were safe indeed, Thank You! Wrong turns or not...it has brought me to where I am today... p&l

anon anne... ;) I believe those thugs did NOT learn anything from this experience, except perhaps how to carjack someone more efficiently. Sad to say, I believe they have been in and out of jail their entire lives (I do not know this, it is just my opinion...based upon what my friend knew about the one guy)

skinnylittleblonde said...

Shimmerings...no, the car did not do a one eighty. I was gunning it and cussing like a lunatic when the back doors opened up.When I realized they were gonna jump, I slammed on the brakes without yanking the wheel. They jumped out before I had fully stopped.

Orhan...lol, usually I only suck you right in when I am writing fiction! I met some people from Down Under last week in training & they gave me the proper pronunciation of your name ;) I wasn't far off.

CEO ...Yes in LP training this week, they went over how we are supposed to do what-ever a bad guy says to escape...sigh, odds they said. Actually, I know LP was right on many levels, however I believe we sometimes may find ourselves in the position of choosing between fight or flight, as opposed to playing possum.

skinnylittleblonde said...

i beati...Yep! Living & learning... it ain't always easy & it ain't always pretty.

John Michael...your words are always so soothing, so loving, so accepting & understanding. Thank you so very much ... may the circle remain unbroken.

skinnylittleblonde said...

Sister Sing... the butterfly effect turned an after dark ice cream into afternoon hair appointment (lol) I know things like this happen for a reason even though we may never, ever know that reason. A few years later, I found myself lost in downtown Atlanta with my boyfriend passed out cold (drunk) in the passenger seat. As I went down one little road after another trying to find the highway, I remember people tapping on the car as I rolled by and people coming out from the fences and sidewalks and coming upon a four way crowded with late night folks, I slowly rolled on through.... scared, but aware... and with all the doors locked.

Eric1313...You nailed it, my fine sir! 'Desperate' I had not thought of it in such a basic, simplistic way but honestly, that one word sums it up quite accurately.... desperate times call for desperate measures. P&L Good Friend! I, like you, still love...

(((Mel))) You are always so profound and thoughtful. It's funny how when you experience something never quite experienced before, you think, feel, do, say things that you have never done before as well. Living, learning ... loving ...

skinnylittleblonde said...

When we stop asking why and start asking how ... we know things are gonna change...
peace & love folks.

Mel said...

k......now THAT--is profound....

(((((((((( SLB )))))))))))))

or is that SLS?

;-)