Hey, man! Can I bum a ride? or Smooth Criminal

This month at Blockbuster, they are having free movie rentals for the "middle section" of the store (i.e. not new releases).  Last night, around 11:00, I decided to go for one more movie before the month ended.

So, I'm heading down 25th, and right before I hit the Borders on West End, I see blue flashing lights in my rearview.  I pull into the empty Borders parking lot and I am greeted by a very nice Vanderbilt police officer.  He asks me for my license, registration, and proof of insurance (I mean, really?  Proof of insurance?  Take me back to Georgia, please.).  I scramble to find my registration, but after about 30 seconds, I find it.  But, I'm not able to find my insurance card.  Whatever. 

He asks if I knew why he stopped me, I say no and he says it's because I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign a few blocks back.  He says I just kind of slowed down.  Whatever.

So, another cop comes to my passenger-side window and shines her light through my window into my glovebox as I'm looking for my proof of insurance.  I roll down the window and say, "Thanks, it's hard to see in here," and she just smiles.  

Three minutes later, I still can't find my insurance card.  She kind of shines the light in my face and says, "Have you gotten a speeding ticket in Nashville before?"

"Uh, yeah, a few months ago."  I reply.

"Did you pay for it?"  she asks.

"Uh, yeah.  I think my mom took care of it as an early birthday present," I reply, as I feel my heart slowly creep into my throat, thinking, "OH shit, did she pay it?"

The lady cop half-smiles and says, "I'm afraid not, sir."

So, I talk with her for a few minutes, she says she'll be right back.  Another cop car drives up next to the other car (because, two cops aren't enough for this really crazy, not-coming-to-a-full-stop-at-stop-sign situation).  The lady comes back to me about 10 minutes later and says that my last speeding ticket in March was not paid for and I was driving on a suspended license.  I ask if I'm going to go to jail.  She said, "We're not sure yet, we're still checking your background."  

I'm not going to lie.  My chin started to quiver and I got scared I was going to be handcuffed, put into the Vandy police car and taken downtown.  The girl cop told me it was going to be okay and not to panic.  Whatever.

Finally, after what seems like another 10 minutes, the guy cop comes up to me and tells me they're not taking me to jail, but that I need to step out of the car, get fingerprints and answer a few more questions.

I give him a fingerprint of my right index finger, answer a few questions, and then give my friend Gary a call to come and pick me up.  Gary arrives about 10 minutes later, takes me home, and I don't sleep the entire night.

I wake up this morning, praying my car hasn't been towed and is still at Borders.  Gary picks me up at 8:45, we drive to Borders, and there she is, my car with a neon-green sticker on the driver's side window saying that if I don't move my car within X-amount of hours, it will be towed.  Phew.

Technically, I'm not supposed to drive because my license is suspended, but I didn't want to leave my car there.  Plus, I'm a criminal now and I'm feeling a little bit tough.  And, I didn't want my car to get towed.

So, this is what I have to do:

1) Pay the $129.50 ticket from back in March my parents never paid for (check!);

2) Get receipt tomorrow morning from the City saying I paid the ticket;

3) Write a letter and sign it saying my mother can reinstate my license in my absence;

4) Next-day my letter and proof of payment to Georgia ($16.50);

5) Mom goes to the DMV to get my license reinstated ($45 + something else);

6) Pay the ticket I got last night from running the 4-way sop ($92.50)

7) Appear in court October 13th and plead guilty (hopefully with reinstated license and both tickets paid);

8) Judge then tells me my sentence and how much I have to pay for my misdemeanor (driving with a suspended license).

That's so much stuff!  And so much money!  Luckily, I'm really, really wealthy so this will all be a breeze to take care of.  Sike.

Hopefully my license will be reinstated by Thursday. If not, then... uh... bummer for me.

I remember, at exactly this time last year, my world fell apart.  This has been, by far, the hardest year of my entire life.  I hope, after the court date on the 13th, things will finally start to get better.  

Plus, I mean, stress causes pimples.  I already have BIG ones on my forehead just from last night.  Isn't that insane that, overnight, I can get a bunch of pimples?  The body is weird, man.