a strange night

I think I made a mistake last week, last Wednesday night.  I think I got a little too desperate for money. 
A mixture of pity and greed made my decision making a little suspect. 

I was trying to drive into the street where my condo is.  The car ahead stopped and then went ahead.  A 20something woman came up.  She was desperate.  She needed a ride 10 miles north.  I was going to get $25 if I gave her a ride.  Then she motioned to me that her boyfriend would be coming too. 

I drove into the Church that is adjacent to our condo's property to talk to him and "think" about the situation.   I said that I would go to my condo 1st before I take them to Chicago.  I took my leather jacket off and put a much cheaper jacket on. I put away my wallet and carried just my driver's license, ATM card and AAA card.  I knew there was a risk taking a stranger 10 miles.  I wasn't naive.

I'm too old to be that. 

I operated on 2 considerations.  I consider the odds.  The odds were LOW that I was going to deal w/ strangers with guns.  She said that she would give me money, over $20 and I needed the money bigtime BAD.  It's been that way since the fuckin summer !

So, I began the car ride w/ 2 perfect strangers by telling them that I didn't have enough gas in my car to get them to Chicago.  They were required to put about $10 of gas into the car. We pulled into the gas station, & I think I saw the 20something woman, Meegan go up to people getting gas to ask for money !!!! (ugh!).  Then, I saw her go into the station and go up to the cashier.  She paid the cashier $6, not $10. That was enough.  She told me when she came back she only had $6. 

The talking that was going on w/ John/Jr. (he goes by 2 names) and Megan was making me uneasy.  This young couple, only a few years out of high school, were uneducated and only living "on their wits".   They talked about begging money from one person to pay off the person they begged money from last week!!! The girl gave me $6 in gas money. Then they had to speak w/ "Nick".  Something wasn't right and John/Jr.  was told by NICK that he would help them not at all!  John/Jr. walked away, and I decided, since something was going wrong, to talk to Nick alone. 

I walked up to Nick, and John/JR. wanted to know what I would ask him but I waved him off and made sure he kept his distance from my conversation with Nick.  

"Nick?"  I asked, "are things going to be safe???"

"Oh YEAH! Of course, it will."
I walked into the car w/ my 2 strangers already in the car (yes, I was carrying the keys, and didn't leave them in the car, I'm NOT STOOOOO-PID!)
  They said they needed my help to talk to the guy giving them money.  Well, if I wanted my $20, I had to agree.  I pulled it off.  The money was split.  So, the last thing I had to do is take them to McDonalds in a not-so great part of Chicago. 

I dropped them off and no sooner did I drop them off, but there were flashing blue/red lights of the police on my tail !

Then something very bizaar happened.  I was so relieved to get my $20; I was so intent on just getting them to the fuckin Golden Arches of McDonalds and then...........I get stopped by the cops???????????
The cops did the new thing of taking a ton of time of having me sit there before they even talked to me. & when they did, they acted very strange.  I only had one cop encounter even comparable to this one (a female cop stopped me for speeding and acted like she wanted to get laid.  At 5'5" and 200 lbs. she apparently wasn't getting a lot of action.  But I sweet talked my way out of doing that without any ticket or illicit sex going on.  I was happily married so I wasn't going to lose my morals to please a cop). 

So, 2 African American cops came up to me with smiles on their face. 
Police: "What you doing out here?"
I replied :  "I dropped a young couple off at this McDonalds, b/c they needed a ride".
"Really?  From where?"
"Oak Forest"
"DAMN.  That's a long way.  You went through a red light."
"Really"  I didn't even see the damn light!  Were they kidding?  I know I was nervous where I drove, but could I have been so pre-occupied that I was so blind not to see a light?  No, I don't think so.  What the hell were they doing pulling me over???

The comedy continued.

"Are you doing drugs tonight?"

"No, sir" I replied.

"Do you have any dead bodies in the car?"

"No, would you like to check?

"Naaaaaaaah,...(he paused).... that's ok"
"Would you like to see my proof of insurance?"
"No, but you DO have insurance?"
"Yes, sir, am I going to be here awhile?  Should I turn the engine off?"
"Naaah, that's all man.  Be careful, ok?"
"Yes, sir you all have a good evening"
"Gee thanks"  & they drove off.
I talked to Ted afterwards since he has opted not to live w/ his Mom but rather stay at the condo w/ me.  I said, I messed up.  I didn't use good judgment even though I came away w/ $26. I was too desperate for a few bucks.  I said that sometimes parents don't set good examples, and this was one of those times.  He agreed that he wouldn't do something like that in a similar situation. 

What made it worse is that John/Jr. and Meegan said they lived next to me in an apt.  What if they are desperate again?  What if they see my car parked in front of my condo?
I'm keeping my damn car locked from now on. Sigh