(Continued from Chapter 2)
*
The sun rose above eye level as I pointed the Pontiac east down the four-lane. I hadn't driven to the beach this way before, but it seemed straightest on the wrinkled map in the car, so I took it. It was Sunday, and there wasn't much eastbound traffic.
I looked over at Teri and noticed she had retrieved the bottle of gin and opened it. She tilted her head back and drank from the bottle, two or three long, deep swallows. She made a face and shook her head, then smiled and offered the bottle to me.
"Damn, little sis, it's 10 in the morning," I said to her. She laughed, capped the bottle, and laid it on the floorboard. She pulled out a Coke and the bag of M&Ms, took a handful of the candy, and offered me some. "Keep it," I said. "Give me a couple of those pretzels."
She popped the Coke, then began alternating sips of cola and gin from the bottle. Again she offered me the bottle, and this time I took it, having a long, deep swallow. And so it went on down the road, passing the gin bottle back and forth, singing and laughing. At some point, Teri pulled a marijuana number out of her cigarette pack. I took a couple of puffs off it, and Teri smoked the rest, getting giggly and goofy as she drank and smoked.
I was buzzing pretty nicely by the time we got into the swamps. We came up on one of those nowhere villages in the lowlands, where you're sailing along at 75 or so and all the sudden see a 35mph sign. And sure enough, right behind the "Reduce Speed" sign was the law. I braked down as quickly as I could, but it was too late. The blue lights came on, and we all pulled off in the parking lot of an abandoned garage.
The door opened on the cop car, and I could see the word "sheriff" on the door. The deputy got out slowly, took a look at the license plate, then walked up to me on the driver's side.
"You kids know why I pulled you over?" he said, squinting at me and looking at Teri. "Radar showed you going 76 in a 35 mile per hour zone. I'll knock it back to 55 so we don't have to go to court. You can pay the ticket up here at the gas station."
This wasn't the way this trip was supposed to begin. Paying the ticket likely would eat up about half the money we'd brought.
The deputy looked around the inside of the car. "You kids been drinking?" he said. "No," I answered. "I might have got drunk last night, but nothing today."
"I'd like to ask both of you to step out of the car. Hands on the car where I can see them." The deputy's partner strolled up to the Pontiac on Teri's side and held the door open for her. I gave her a look, indicating to her that she play cool, and we both got out.
I'm pretty good at these kinds of situations. Be respectful, but don't play dumb. Do what you're told to do. Besides, I can hold liquor pretty well, and the few swallows I'd had wouldn't affect me. "You got your license on you?" the deputy asked. I pulled the card out of my wallet and handed it to him. I saw the other patrolman taking Teri's license as well. My deputy handed my card to the other officer. "Go run em both," he said.
"We're just going to do a couple of tests," he said to me. "I you pass 'em, just pay the speeding ticket and you can go on down the road. Where you headed, the beach?" I nodded.
We did touch-the-nose. Check. Count the alphabet backward. Check. Stand on one leg. My knee buckled a little from fatigue and nerves, but overall check. The other patrolman came back with the licenses. "They come up clean," he reported. "I thought you two was married -- same last name and all -- but the computer came up with a different name for you, miss. You get married or something?
Teri nodded. "Well, you need to get down to the bureau and get that changed soon as you get home," he warned.
Last test. The deputy drew a straight line with his boot in the gravel, about the length of the car. He stood at one end of the line and motioned me to the other end. "Now walk right on that line, one foot in front of the other, in my direction," he ordered.
Well, I did it, or I thought I did. The deputy looked at the patrolman, who was getting a long eyeful of Teri, who still stood profile to him, her hands on top of the car "What do you think, Jimmy?"
Jimmy smiled and looked back. "It's your call, Melvin."
Melvin took a long look at Teri, a look I didn't like. "You think you can drive, honey?" he said. I didn't like that either.
"She ain't driving anywhere," Jimmy sneered. He reached to the floor of the car and came up with the gin bottle, which was almost empty. "I'd say both of these kids have been biting the neck off this one."Jimmy continued poking through the car, popping open the glove box. "Oh-ho, what we have here?" he shouted.
He came out with the .22 pistol, and I about kicked myself. I'd left the gun in the glove box last night as we drove home after dumping Ronnie. Jimmy handed the gun to Melvin across the roof of the car, brushing against Teri as he did. Melvin looked at the gun, snapping out the clip. "It's loaded," he said to himself, then turned to me. "You got a permit for this gun?"
"I do, but not with me," I said lamely. "It's at home."
Melvin leaned his elbows on the roof of the Pontiac and rubbed his eyes as if tired. "So let's see. We've got speeding, possible DUI, carrying a concealed weapon, possibly unregistered," he said. "This is beginning to look like a court date to me, son."
Melvin was the younger of the two men, I guessed. He wasn't particularly striking, but he looked fit, self-reliant, rugged, a man used to taking charge of tough situations. He unsnapped the handcuffs from his belt and told me to turn around. He fastened them onto my wrists while reciting me my rights. I didn't say a word.
Jimmy did the same with Teri, patting her down as he did, hands feeling around her waistband and around the cuffs of her shorts. Jimmy might have been 35, tall, wiry and thin, with a long face.