About 21 years ago, a couple of my friends and I were out cruising in Marshall. My friend had a bright red Dodge Daytona, which was a really cool car 21 years ago, and my cousin/friend I call "Danielle" was with us. I was driving, which wasn't unusual really. If you do the math, I wasn't 16 and didn't actually have my driver's license yet, or at least one legal by the laws in Illinois. I had been driving for a couple of years. When you live on a farm that happens. You take your dad to a field, you pick him up and go somewhere else. You learn to drive tractors, which aren't a whole lot different than cars, etc. I was comfortable driving and I guess my friends were too.
We usually cruised in Casey, but this particular night we were in Marshall. I don't know why, maybe we were hot on the trail of some Marshall Lions...So we're going up and down the street and people start flashing us. We're thinking, Oh, wow, all these people are flashing us. Do they know it is us? Do they like us? Wonder if they want us to pull over and talk? We would soon find out...
Oh yeah, someone wanted to pull us over and talk (because we didn't have our headlights on apparently, oops). Unfortunately, it wasn't a cute fella in a Lions uniform, it was a couple grumpy old men in uniform...the bad kind of uniform. Well, as soon as I saw the red and blues come on, I was in panic mode. I did what any 15-yr-old driving without a license would do...I took off. I immediately turned onto a side street and then immediately turned onto another side street, and threw the car in Park. I then screamed for my friend to switch me places. Good plan.
Except that this was a little sports car with the seats low and the big console and gear shifter in the middle. Two girls trying to swap seats in a flurry equals two girls tangled up with parts in both seats. Bad idea. But it gets worse. So the cops, who are parked right behind us with their lights on, all 300 of them, yell for us to get out and put our hands on the hood of the car. Of course, they have no idea what they're dealing with so I can't blame them for that. We did as they commanded.
Some of the details are a little fuzzy, probably in part due to the fact that I was scared to death, but the mean older-looking one asked me what my name was...and I did what any scared-that-I'll-never-get-my-license teenager would do...I lied. I blurted out my friend's name...you know, the one that I constantly get confused for anyway. Yes, Officer, I am 16 and my name is "Susan ...." Of course, this sent my friend and cousin/friend "Danielle" into a frenzy. I heard my friend whisper "Sarah!"
Mr. older-looking police officer and I walked back to his squad car and I grabbed my purse because, of course, he wanted to see my license...which I didn't have. I came clean. I told him the truth and added that I did have my white slip or blue slip or whatever color it is. So he asks to see it. I dig and dig...oh, yes, here it is. He says "Is this your social security number?" Without hesitation I said, "Yes." He says, "Oh it is?" Well, I remembered at this point that our teacher had advised us to put 888-88-8888 on our cards, it was standard or something, and that is what mine said. I'm not sure if he knew that and was just playing with me or if he really was curious. I felt like this guy doesn't believe a thing I'm saying...and honestly, why would he?!
Little did I know that the younger-looking officer was standing outside with my two friends telling them that everything would be all right, he was just going to scare the dickens out of me, I wouldn't go to jail...but I didn't know that. The officer asks me about my address and my parents, etc. The funny thing was, ha, ha, my parents were out of town and my brother was in charge. Ha, ha. He didn't think that was too funny though. When all was said and done, he gave me a slip of paper with a phone number and told me I was to have my dad call him as soon as they got home tomorrow. Good trick. First of all, I was clueless as to what was actually going to happen to me legally, and second, I for sure had to tell my parents now...this guy knew what he was doing!
I remember going to McDonald's after this and seeing some other kids from our high school there. I was totally freaked out. "Danielle," that stinker, couldn't quit laughing. I think she was a tad shook up, but like almost everyone in our family, we use humor as a disguise sometimes, and she may have also just been cracked up because I thought I could get away with using someone else's name. It's not like we live in a secluded far-off land without technology or people that don't know who people are or anything. Dumb.
Funny thing, I can still remember that Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" was playing when I got home that night. I remember walking in thinking, great, my brother's going to kill me. The next day when I told my parents, I was thinking, great, my parents are going to kill me. I was grounded, of course, but I remember my dad saying he was grounding me for lying, not necessarily for the driving although it was illegal...because he had allowed me to drive so much. And when I eavesdropped on the conversation my dad had with the older-looking officer, I realized something, they knew each other, huh, and the officer wanted to know if my dad would be breeding any more Lab puppies. I was so mad...and relieved.
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