3am and the phone won't stop ringing. Who could possibly be calling repeatedly at this ungodly hour? I finally am able to focus enough to answer and hear a voice I haven't heard in a long time.
"Hey, I need your help... you're the only one who can calm me down!" This is what he was trying to say, fortunately I was familar with 'drunkenese' & had no trouble decyphering the slurred jumble of words that tumbled out of the phone. It had been months since we last spoke - not due to a falling out, but simply a falling into a routine that no longer left time for regualr communication. Until tonight.
I was afraid to ask what was happening...there was a lot of yelling and sounds of violence in the background. I tried to get his attention, to no avail. I could tell there was some sort of fight - he and another person but I couldn't quite make out the full details. Suddenly the phone went silent. I called back numerous times, but it went straight to voicemail. I finally went back to sleep, deciding to call again in the morning after he'd had time to sleep it off. And keep my digits crossed he didn't end up in jail.
The next morning I still could not reach him. We lived hours apart, in different cities. I called mutual friends, but no one had seen him. By this time, I'm starting to panic - where was he?? I started receiving reports from our friends that his car was missing, he was missing and his apartment door had been kicked completely off it's hinges. The situation, at this point, was not looking favorable for our friend. Unfortunately, I had to get to work and begged to be kept in the information loop.
Four hours later, he was found at the ER. His car and phone had been abscounded by a hitchiker he had randomly picked up at a convenience store the night before. Apparently, some sort of skirmish had broke out and the hitchiker had been asked to leave - to which he responded hours later with kicking in the door, stealing the keys and phone from my friend, who at this point was passed out. To this day, no one is sure how or why he ended up in the ER. Our best guess is that upon waking, he was convinced he had been robbed and beaten (there were some scrapes and bruises on his person - obviously from the hitchiker - or a drunk tumble into a wall) and had enough sense to get himself to some sort of safe haven. His car & phone were later returned - and a lesson was learned from all of this nonsense....no matter how 'nice' someone may seem, hitchikers should be left on the corner.
**Loosely based on true events as told to me by my friend C.R.**
"Hey, I need your help... you're the only one who can calm me down!" This is what he was trying to say, fortunately I was familar with 'drunkenese' & had no trouble decyphering the slurred jumble of words that tumbled out of the phone. It had been months since we last spoke - not due to a falling out, but simply a falling into a routine that no longer left time for regualr communication. Until tonight.
I was afraid to ask what was happening...there was a lot of yelling and sounds of violence in the background. I tried to get his attention, to no avail. I could tell there was some sort of fight - he and another person but I couldn't quite make out the full details. Suddenly the phone went silent. I called back numerous times, but it went straight to voicemail. I finally went back to sleep, deciding to call again in the morning after he'd had time to sleep it off. And keep my digits crossed he didn't end up in jail.
The next morning I still could not reach him. We lived hours apart, in different cities. I called mutual friends, but no one had seen him. By this time, I'm starting to panic - where was he?? I started receiving reports from our friends that his car was missing, he was missing and his apartment door had been kicked completely off it's hinges. The situation, at this point, was not looking favorable for our friend. Unfortunately, I had to get to work and begged to be kept in the information loop.
Four hours later, he was found at the ER. His car and phone had been abscounded by a hitchiker he had randomly picked up at a convenience store the night before. Apparently, some sort of skirmish had broke out and the hitchiker had been asked to leave - to which he responded hours later with kicking in the door, stealing the keys and phone from my friend, who at this point was passed out. To this day, no one is sure how or why he ended up in the ER. Our best guess is that upon waking, he was convinced he had been robbed and beaten (there were some scrapes and bruises on his person - obviously from the hitchiker - or a drunk tumble into a wall) and had enough sense to get himself to some sort of safe haven. His car & phone were later returned - and a lesson was learned from all of this nonsense....no matter how 'nice' someone may seem, hitchikers should be left on the corner.
**Loosely based on true events as told to me by my friend C.R.**
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