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Did that really happen?

Monday night of this week, we heard a crash, and then our power cut off. No flickers, no storm, just the noise as if a transformer had exploded or something. We wait a few minutes to see if it will return. It didn't. Bobby checked to see if anyone on our street had lights (school side did, but not anyone on our grid's side) and did briefly see some lights down the road. We waited, and the generator kicked in. After a few more minutes, I call the power company, and am told that 12 people in our area are without power and a crew has been dispatched to find and resolve the problem.  About ten minutes later there's a knock on the door. I tell Bobby to answer it, fully expecting it to be a crewman wanting to know how we have power when no one else on our grid does. (That's actually happened before.) It was a young man who said he had swerved to miss a deer and landed in the woods. His cell phone battery went dead as he tried to make a call, and he was wondering if he could use our phone to call someone. I give him my cell phone, and could hear his side of the conversation. I was a bit shocked. Usually when someone wrecks on our road, people want to know if they're okay, if they've called the police, how fast where they speeding, if they're in a safe location and is it okay if they stay at our place until family/police can get there. There was none of that. They asked if he could go to Chik-fil-A (a ten minute drive away, and it's about 45 degrees outside). He told them the air bag had deployed and the car was stuck in the woods. He didn't mention that he'd hit a light pole and not a tree. I don't remember all the details of what was said, but I got the impression he was left without help. When I went back to get the phone, I realized his nose was bleeding. I don't know if his chin was or if his nose had just been dripping down his face. I got him a warm wash cloth, asked if his family was coming. He said they only had one working car, which he had just crashed, and wanted to know if we could help him or knew someone who could get his car out. We didn't, so I asked him if we could take him anywhere. Since I had heard them mention Chik-fil-A I thought we might take him there to meet his family. He had mentioned earlier he had a relative down the road (where he had left from) and his home was about 25-30 minutes from us. Bobby looked shocked and gave me one of those looks. So they get in the van and off they go. About the time they should be arriving at the boy's house, I get call from the person he had tried to reach. They had no idea where our road was located, and were mostly concerned about the car and getting it. When I told them Bobby was taking him home and they should be there, they said they'd go back home. Fifteen  minutes later I get a text wanting to know where they are and asking if I could call and find out. Since Bobby can't use his phone while driving, I couldn't. I did try to call him, though, as well as start googling the number the boy had called to see what I could find out. I quit answering my phone's rings at that point as I had no answers for anyone. Bobby then called and informed me they were at the police station and he'd update me when he got home.

The young man went to sleep once he got in the van, and Bobby couldn't get him to wake up enough to give directions to his house. So he drove him to the police station, where they eventually searched him, arrested him, and then took him to the hospital. He had 10g of cocaine in his pocket, and I'm not sure what all else. I texted the person to let them know the police had taken him to the hospital. They wanted to know which one, but I had no other information to give them. I didn't mention the arrest or the drugs. We were both wondering the next day if he was okay, and if the injuries were sustained from the wreck or something else. He had to be going fast (which a lot of people do since our road is paved) to have landed that far off the road and taken out the power.

The police were kind of shocked and laughing about a handicapped person delivering a dealer to them. They asked him if he wanted a number. Bobby wants to know if I was trying to get him killed. I simply want to treat people the same way I want to be treated. Had I been hurt and alone after a wreck, I would have welcomed assistance. I hope the boy is okay physically, and I hope this is the wake-up call he needs. My prayer for him now is that someone will introduce him to Jesus, and that he can recover from the bad choices he's made so far in his life. It all still seems like a weird dream.

Comments

Anonymous said…
you and Marilou need to write a book!!

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