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memoir of what I experienced 10 years ago

My friend borrowed my car one day, said she was going to the store. I said fine, just be back on time so I can pick up my daughter, who was still in school about an hour away. She was not back on time. She was not back, at all. And so much time had passed that there was no way I could get my kid on time, and what's worse, there was no long distance on the phone, so I had no way to get in touch with my ex to ask him to leave work and pick her up.

I began to panic, then the phone rang. It was my friend's dad, saying that she was in jail. Turns out, she didn't go to the store, she went to see her husband in jail, and while there, they ran a check on her, found the warrant, arrested her, threw her in. My car was also in jail. Car jail.

I was furious.

I walked across the street and down the road a little way, to another trailer. Had no idea who lived there. But I had to do it, had to use a phone. Some old guy answered the door and let me in, and as I talked on the phone to my ex, I felt all these eyes on me. I looked around the room and sure enough, there were at least 6 eyeballs on me. That's 3 men in a trailer, one old, 2 young, all of them scary and I just wanted to get out of there. My dog was waiting for me outside the place, I had her come with me.

Somehow my kid was picked up, somehow I got to her that evening, somehow I got my car. When my friend was bailed out, I told her she needed to leave, but seeing as how it wasn't my place, that didn't work.

So I told her she couldn't use my car, that I would take her wherever she needed to go. Like a parent. It sucked. But she also tried to hide her stash in my car, come to find out. And she lied to me, all the time. I wanted her gone.

Somewhere along the way, she disappeared, went somewhere else. I did not miss her. Our friendship goes way back to junior high, so I do care about her, but I just don't trust her. When she lived there, it was too much, her presence only intensified all the fighting that was already going on there. We could hear her and the friend, screaming and cussing at each other in the middle of the night. We heard the sounds of people being pushed around and crashing into walls. We heard crying and all kinds of stuff. The worst thing is we heard their romps. They were loud. On purpose.


To be fair, she did bring one good thing to the trailer: a friend for my daughter. She was a friend to her. They would talk and laugh and watch movies together. My friend sort of filled in a void, filled in for me in some ways, gave my daughter things that I wasn't able to give at the time.

So she more than made up for the chaos and stress that she brought to the place, that's for sure. I guess I should be thankful. I am.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I understand the chapter. Those small problems can expand to big problems. Picking up your child is very important. I take my grand boys to school. The car is a major part of our life. I like the way she told her friend. The car is off limit. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote