The other shoe has dropped. 

       Where do I begin? Well, let's begin Saturday morning. I was sleeping late as we played the last show at Out of the Blue in Cambridge, MA. Sad, as we only just discovered it and it was our second time playing it. We might've actually been the last note of music played as we went on last. They went nuts, we pulled out stops etc. Any-who, I got up late in the day, 11ish.

          In the shower. Out, brushing my teeth. Putting that slight bit of product in my hair. I want to say gel, but product sounds so much more...sophisticated. Yea. I'm there, riding blind still as the mirror's still de-fogging. My mother calls my name. I ignore it. I admit it. Hey, I take issue when people are floors away, and they casually call you in their regular talking volume as if you can hear them through walls, floors, and doors. No. Put some damn effort into it! So yes, in this case, I'm the dick, I admit it. I did hear her, but seriously, barely. She yells it. 

    "PATRICK! GET DOWN HERE." I stop and wash my hands off and step out. thank god i'm clothed. At this point I'm annoyed. "Why the fuck are you yelling?" I walk down the stairs, barefoot. "Someone's here for you." "What???" I'm generally perplexed. Who the fuck could be here...for me? A litany of thoughts cross my head. Actually, only one. My ex, her and...well, they and their person (am i even allowed to say person or is that too, considered domestic violence?)* are on a rampage of stalking, damaging, and ruining people's lives, mostly their own. They've been known to show up to people's houses before, so perhaps it's them. 

             No such luck. It was a kind gentleman with a tow truck. To repossess my car. Excellent. I'm now outside, barefoot, t shirt. 

 (I'm now drinking a shifty, the first in weeks to get through this story)

           He's there to tow the car. I tell him I thought I had until early December. He's understanding, tells me he's cool to let me call the bank, work it out. I do, they ask if the tow guy's there already. I say yes, and they say, they can't do anything for me and i'm legally obligated to let him tow it. Fine. I get it. I'm not going to beg. 

         BUT. At the same time. Him being super cool, tells me there's really no point because one of the tires is missing. See, I had ripped it apart weeks ago to fix it. Long story short, I was making a u-turn and hit a curb. But instead of rolling over it, I bounced off it, and it broke my CV Axle, and Control arm. There are pictures here somewhere from a few weeks ago. Good stuff. No insurance, no cash to fix. So I got it towed to the house. To fix. But no money for parts until recently. I was in the middle of it that weekend. 

          I tell him the bank said that I'd have to call the collections place monday when they open. He gives me a break. He can't really tow it now as it sits (the tire and axle missing) so work it out with them monday, and he won't be back! Fair. He also sides and says "I know how it is man, work dries up, things get tight etc." I said yea. I also told him I wasn't making excuses. Because I wasn't. I was telling the truth. If he had to take it, I would've let him. It's my responsibility, and I fucked up. Totally fair. It is what it is. 

          So, my mother, having no idea it was this bad, was pretty upset. We went out, had a long talk. She agreed to help me out. Cool. Things calm down, and as I was already borrowing a car of theirs, I went out to a show I promised I'd go to. I left around 3 in the morning. On my way back, Through town, a cop decides to tail me. Great. For my broken tail light. Yes, I knew about it. I was notified by a friend and I never got it fixed because... surprise surprise, I'm fucking lazy. Sure, only $5 and 10 minutes of my time it'd be taken care of. But no. So this a-hole decides to tail me through town, at a stop light, through more town, around a rotary, THEN pull me over. I was peeved but figured hey, I can play ignorant. Plus, they're looking for any excuse at that hour to pull anyone over as they assume everyone's intoxicated. Which I wasn't. Thank Jeebus Cribbs our lord and savior I happened to have zero alcohol in my system. He walks up. Notifies me of the brake light, asks me where I'm going. I tell him my mother's because at this point, I've gotten the "You need to change your damn address." talk to simply fib at this stage. He tells me he just wanted to let me know (about the light) and he's gonna run my reg and license. Fine. Also, I was borrowing my mom's car at the time as mine was in pieces in the driveway.

            Fine. He walks away. I wait. and wait. and wait. And then another cop pulls up. "Jesus, nothing better to do?" But I keep waiting. Now it's past 10 minutes and I'm worried. Flashing lights AND the spotlight are blaring in my mirrors so I cannot see a thing. The second cop, which I had never seen or met before, pops up out of nowhere and scares the SHIT out of me. Doesn't introduce himself, and begins with, "Is there anyone who can drive the car home?" "Uhh, no. why?" "Your license is suspended." My mind went blank and in a spiral. "Are you sure? Mine? That can't be." I was being serious. How the fuck would it have been? "Probably missed court or ticket you didn't pay. You miss court?" "No." 

             Oh shit. Back in September I ran a red light in Derry. Back roads, similar time, 1 am or so. And to my defense, (is there one though?) It was TURNING FUCKING RED when I was heading through it. I argued with that cop about it  for a hot minute before I knew it was a lost cause with a "I saw you." Yea? did you? Did you see it turn from yellow to red as I was going through it too? Because that's not illegal, also, you're camping, also I'm going to fight this. None of which came out of my mouth other than the above in quotes. But at the time I was so adamant I was good i was going to fight the ticket. Surely. But I forgot about it. Nor did I have the money. Perhaps more of a, "I know it exists, but i'll get to it eventually" situation. So yea, if you don't pay those after 30 days, your license gets suspended!

         I had to wake my poor mother up at 4 am to come and get me. Not only wake her, but she had to drive down, get out and into the car I was in, drive it to a lot nearby, walk back to her car, and took me home. My mother also knew I could've gotten the car impounded and I could've been arrested. At the time I thought she was exaggerating, but a friend told me not only the same, but even better, I should've been arrested. Yea. So before my mother got there, which I thought she was walking at one point because it took her 15 minutes to come half a mile down the road, the cop lectures me about paying tickets and seeing how this all snowballed. 

        In the end I got ANOTHER ticket ($310) for driving suspended, the original ticket with late fees added, and now a suspended license which costs $25 or so to reinstate. Awesome. All for a $5 light. Which yea is a no-brainer trade. But I also would still be driving suspended without knowing, so there's that. Even worse is doing the math, I was totally driving people around for Lyft suspended and had NO idea. Jeeeezus. Yea. Fun times. 

            In a 24 hour period I nearly got my car repo'd, pulled over, technically nearly got 2 cars towed, about $500 worth of fines, nearly got arrested, and a whole lot of guilt. But thank god.

         Because the cop informed me he wasn't going to fine me for the brake light. Gee, Thanks.