True life story, yet again!!!

The Broken Margarita Glass
“Where are you two? You are supposed to be at the race track, yet I see you at the Sugar Creek. Get your asses moving!” My mother ranted over the phone at me.
“Good bye, mom. You can quit following us anytime now.” I answered sourly. I could see her and the Ford Explorer across the street at the Shurfine. I hung up the phone and out it into my purse. Stephanie looked at me funny for a second before finishing her cigarette. I put my cigarette out, and watched as my mom drove back to the house.
“When is PJ meeting up with us?” Stephanie asked. I looked at my watch to see what time it was. It was about 4:30; he wouldn’t be getting into Dundee for another five minutes.
“He'll be here shortly. Keep your pants on, for both of our sakes!” I said, laughing after I said it. Stephanie knew I was joking. “Besides, I think I hear his truck right now. Yup, that’s definitely him.” I heard his truck from half a mile off, blaring “Save a horse, Ride a cowboy” by Big and Rich. Little did any of us know, this night would change us all.
When PJ pulled up to the curb, he rolled his window down. “Yes. Can I help you?” he said. He always had a good sense of humor.
“You know what we want, open the door.” I said pushily.
My mom calling me to yell had rattled me a little bit, so I was anxious to get to the races. The races in Dundee were a big thing. The race track, Blackrock Speedway, has been in Dundee so long, it’s a landmark. During august, it was an even bigger deal. This particular weekend, August 12th, the NASCAR races were occurring in Watkins Glen, which is just a stone throw from Dundee. Some of the NASCAR drivers, like Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, make it their goal in life to come to Dundee. They come for the “publicity”, but it still is cool. They would come in and race with Blackrock’s “finest” drivers.
“What? I can’t hear over this damn radio!” PJ said, jokingly. He knew how I felt about his “precious” radio.
“Well, maybe if you weren’t blaring the speakers, you could hear me!” I yelled.
“You know you like it loud! Don’t lie either, I know better. Last weekend you were raising hell with my coworkers, and the stories they told!” PJ looked at me weird after he said this. It was awkward to have a conversation with my cousin about my personal life. We usually didn’t mix my life and his life.
“Let’s just get to the races. I need the sound of a loud car to make me feel better.” I said, embarrassed slightly from the incident. Stephanie and I got into the truck; PJ went speeding off in the direction of our race track.
The races had already started when we got to the pits. The "pits" is the area where the cars are set between races. It’s more expensive to sit on that side of the track, but it is more fun, and it is an interesting experience to watch all the racers working on their cars.
Stephanie, PJ, and I all sat over by the part of the fence that was next to the driveway to the pits. It’s the best seat in the house, if you like loud noises. We have always sat over there. We had been waiting for my boyfriend Joey to show up. While we were waiting, a friend of ours named Paul stopped over. He had dealt marijuana around Dundee for most of his adult life, and I could tell by looking at him that he had been smoking it.
“Hey, what up girl!” Paul said to me. I do not usually associate with him, and it surprised me that he said something to me
“Hi Paul. Got any good stuff? I need some for a friend of mine.” I had been saying this to him for almost a year now, and I often wondered if he knew that it was not for a friend. I smoked it myself, but I did not think it was anyone else’s business except for mine and Stephanie’s.
“Yea, I got what you need for your friend.” Paul said, as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a dimebag, and held it out. Taking it, I looked at PJ to see if he had noticed. He had, but he didn’t look like he truly cared.
Joey met up with us at six o clock. He was a little upset about having to pay so much to come into the races, but it was not a big deal. Joey’s dad would always give me money if I paid for something of Joey’s.
We sat around, raising pure hell for the rest of the night. When it got time to leave, Stephanie and I had already been pole dancing and flashing the drivers as they went by at least 10 times. We had gotten bored and wanted to go get drunk. We did not expect PJ to invite us down to Kelly and Dale Everett’s house to drink with him. He was house sitting for the weekend.
I said good bye to Joey; Stephanie, PJ, and I left the race track. We had been so hyper that PJ was a little worried; he checked to make sure we had not already smoked the marijuana. We kept driving down to Severn Point, which is on Seneca Lake. When we finally got there, PJ told us that he had to let the horses out. We helped him out, then when all the horses were set, we went into the house.
PJ went to the basement, leaving Stephanie and I behind to wonder what he was bringing up. We hadn’t expected anything too much, seeing as we still had to go home. He brought up a liter of Bacardi Limon, and Stephanie and I went through the roof! We were so surprised.
PJ got two margarita glasses out, which is when I asked him why only two. It turns out he would be the designated driver.
We spent from midnight until five in the morning drinking, and the result was an empty bottle and a broken margarita glass. The glass was broken at the stem when I spun a full bottle of beer on the table. We left shortly after five.
We came into town, near my house, and my cousin said to Stephanie and I, “Do not mention my name!” He dropped us off at the front yard of my house and sped off. The lawn that night had so many bumps, it was a wonder that Stephanie and I did not break our ankles. Come to find out later, the bumps were not really there; we had been so messed up that we imagined the bumps.
We continued to stumble towards the house, losing our balance more and more with every step we took. By the time we had reached the door, Stephanie needed to be supported by me. When I finally picked Stephanie up for the last time that night, my mom had come out the door.
“John, the girls are home, and they are fucking wasted.” My mom yelled back into the house. I could tell from the look in her eyes that we were in big trouble. In that instant, I sobered right up, and knew I had to take responsibility and tell mom everything that happened. I just hoped she had not called the police.
“Get inside right now!” Mom said to Stephanie and me. We reluctantly walked up the steps into the house. When we got into the house, my grandma, my aunt Dawn, my dad, Stephanie’s mom and little brother Anthony were all waiting for us. Stephanie had a sudden urge to be violently sick and ran for the bathroom. I just walked over to the bench in the kitchen and passed out.
“We called the cops. They’re out looking for you two in three different counties. Kathleen?! Are you even listening? I know Stephanie can’t even hear me. Dawn, wake Stephanie up.” Mom rambled on.
I woke up out of a sleep; looking around, I noticed my mother starring at the door. Just at that time, a state trooper walked through our front door.
“Are these the little ass wads?” The state trooper asked.
Normally, a trooper wouldn’t say that, but this guy was different. I looked at his name tag; I remembered exactly who he was. His name was Lee Wigmore, and he was good friends with my cousin Reita.
“By the way Kathleen, we called the police back while you were sleeping. Now would you like to tell us what exactly happened? Or would you like to be arrested?” My mom was glaring at me, then looked over at Stephanie; she had fallen asleep in the chair. The state trooper walked up to her, and very rudely clapped his hands in front of her face more then once.
I told my mom everything that had happened that night, and how PJ had dropped us off. Stephanie didn’t want to say anything, so she tried to lie about it. I saw no reason to lie about it. I had finally learned that night there was no point in lying anymore.
Mom grabbed the phone and started dialing Reita’s home phone number. She is PJ’s step mother. I went to sleep and when I woke up, PJ and Reita were standing in my kitchen.
“What happened?” Reita asked Stephanie and I. I started to tell her, then Stephanie started yelling at me about lying through my teeth and wanting PJ to get into trouble because I was jealous of her and PJ. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I continued my story. No one believed us, but when they turned to PJ, who was the only sober one of us, he was the final straw. He held the choice of lying and saying that Stephanie and I had gotten into the alcohol ourselves, or telling the truth.
He looked at me, then at Stephanie. “I’m sorry Stephanie. Reita, everybody, I’ll tell you the truth. I got the booze out for these two. We were all looking for a good time, and I thought that they could handle themselves. Obviously, I was wrong. I’ll take full responsibility for this.” PJ broke down and cried. This was the first and last time I saw him cry. It finally struck me that he would be arrested for this. He was legally an adult, and he would be charged with two counts of reckless endangerment of minors.
At six o clock, they separated all three of us. Trooper Wigmore talked to us all separately. It is a police officer tactic; question the suspects separately, to see whose stories are more alike. Stephanie had left with her mother and brother; her dad had shown up shortly after Trooper Wigmore talked to Stephanie. He finally got to me at about 6:30.
“Well young lady. How about telling me what really happened tonight?” Trooper Wigmore said. I looked at him in horror. Had PJ changed his mind and told the cops that it was my fault? Was PJ still on my side? I felt so terrible; either way, PJ would end up going to jail.
I told Trooper Wigmore the entire story for the third or fourth time that night. I did not stutter over the words this time; I had learned them by heart. When I was finished, Trooper Wigmore looked very severe. He looked like maybe he was holding his breathe for a very long time; his face was very red. I thought he was about to explode.
“Let me tell you a simple story. It involves the owner’s of that house, and why they aren’t there right now. Dale, he’s a state trooper buddy of mine. He is up in Phelps, helping them to track down Bucky Phillips. You know who Bucky Phillips is, right?”
“Yes, sir. I know who Bucky Phillips is. You don’t have to talk to me like I’m a little kid!” I blurted out. Why was I not thinking, I will never remember.
“Don’t get cocky with me. Dale could easily become the next casualty of Bucky. Which brings me to Kelly; she is currently in Paris, France. She is a flight attendant. I bet you also didn’t know they have two young daughters. They’re with their grandma.” He was really pissed off at this point.
“You know what else is so damn important for you to get through your think skull? You aren’t the best thing since sliced bread. You could have been considerate to your family members and said something to them. But you were thinking only of yourself, not even bothering to take into consideration what you were doing is illegal. You’re lucky if PJ doesn’t go to jail for this. He’s holding to the story you told us, telling us that he is responsible for your actions. You are so damn lucky he is trying to cover your ass!”
“I’m sorry.” I hung my head in embarrassment. Trooper Wigmore finally struck a cord. I had been paying attention to what I wanted out of life, and not caring how many people I had to step on to get it. When I looked up, I saw the disappointment in my mother’s eyes turn into something else. She almost looked a little happy, if only for a brief second. She knew I had finally learned my lesson.
“Sorry isn’t quite good enough. It will do for now. Once we talk to Kelly and Dale, then we’ll see how far sorry goes.” Trooper Wigmore collected his things and walked out of our door. I looked at mom as if to ask ‘What next?’
“Go to bed, it’s seven in the morning, and you have work at four. You need to get some sleep.” Mom actually looked very concerned, so I went straight to bed.
Since that awful night, I had become a different person. Kelly and Dale had a sit down chat with PJ, Stephanie, and I shortly after the incident. They were not going to press charges; they should have pressed charges. Instead of having us arrested, we had to do a form of community service. We were “hired” to clean stalls at the farm Kelly and Dale own. It was not the worse punishment I have ever seen, but it was severe enough after all we had been through. I have become good friends with Kelly and Dale, even though they are a little awkward around me and alcohol at family functions. My mother never truly trusted me after that “episode” as she calls it. She had me grounded from the phone, internet, and television for a month. I also had to write a letter to everyone that was involved in this situation and apologize for my lack of consideration. I had to write at least twenty letters that weekend. She allowed me to be on the cheerleading team at school, but she informed the athletic director of what had happened the Saturday before the first practice. My dad, who had walked out of the room, “chalked this one up” as a lesson learned. He did not think it was a smart move, but he still loved me the same, and he was not ashamed of me. My aunt Dawn, was truly an “innocent bystander.” As well, my grandmother did not get involved. Reita did not “disown” me as a cousin, but she was very upset for a long time. PJ and I were awkward around each other for quite a while, but I finally broke the ice. As for my reputation around Dundee, New York, I shot it in the foot. All of the police officers know me by name and face. This way, I can never screw up and get away with it. This is the reason why I have straightened up the most. I think about everyone else before myself now. I finally realize how selfish I was to everyone. It just took a shake up by a state trooper for me to realize it. This experience has also taught me to take responsibility for my actions.