My good feelings about the night would prove to be short-lived when after about thirty minutes I noticed two coppers coming in, followed by the guy that I had just claimed my winnings from. I knew I had done nothing wrong but talking to the police was not an option because it would have exposed my fugitive status. My anxiety peaked when I noticed two more cops outside waiting and realized there was no way out. I wondered what he could have told them to get four of them here? It certainly could not have been the truth but I could not worry about that now as I had to find a way out and fast. Since I had worked there previously, I was friends with the staff including the DJ and he was my only chance. I snaked my way over to the DJ booth and sat down inside, out of sight from the rest of the club. As quickly as possible I explained the situation to him, at first he said to just tell the cops the same story but when I told him that I had no I.D. he realized that would be trouble for not only me but maybe the bar as well because Washington law was very clear that anyone in a bar must have an I.D. on them. He then casually led me over to the emergency exit behind the dance floor and turned off the alarm attached to it. A second later the door closed and I was out, I paused for a moment as thoughts raced through my head. Did they see me leave? Would they continue to pursue this? And more importantly, did they know where I was living? The panic was rising but I had to move, the bar backed up to a major supermarket and I walked rapidly through their parking lot and across the street to a Denny’s that lucky for me was open. I ordered a soda and headed to the pay-phone to get a taxi out of there. While waiting for the cab, I sat down at a booth and monitored the situation outside. I relaxed a bit as I saw no signs of police activity on the street, I must have made a clean getaway, at least for now. Fifteen minutes later I was in the cab and heading back across the river to my digs in Burlington, the anxiety was rising again as we neared my place, would they be waiting? As we turned onto my street, I felt a huge sigh of relief escape me when I saw no sign of the cops. I payed the cabbie off and headed in.
As I laid in bed wide-eyed and thinking about the dilemma I was now in, I came to the conclusion that I could not risk the cops finding me here and I had to get out in the morning. I spent the night packing up my gear and at sunrise I was on the phone searching for a solution. I knew my disc-golf buddy Greg had a big place over in Mount Vernon he stayed at with his girlfriend and her 2 kids. We had become good friends over the past year and I figured he would be my best chance. His girlfriend Carol answered and my heart sunk when she told me that he had left for a fishing trip in Alaska and would not return for a month. Not feeling that I had any other options, I explained the situation to her and without hesitation she told me I could stay there and even offered to come pick me up. I then called my friend Packer Mike ( who lived a block away from me ) to see if I might be able to store a few things in his back shed. he said no problem so I took my bike and my stereo over to his place for storage. I didn’t think I would ever see them again but if there was a chance, then I knew I could trust him to still have them for me. An hour later, Carol was waiting outside with her car and off we headed to her place.
I held out hopes that I would only have to stay there a couple of days until things calmed down and then I would be able to go back but those hopes were crushed later that day when I called over to my place and my landlord Carrie told me that the cops had been there and were not going to stop until they found me. They told her They wanted to talk to me about the theft of 2500 dollars from a guy. I now knew why there where four of them the night before, he had lied to them to get action. if he would have told them the truth then they may have told him to just deal with it but 2500 was grand theft and they had to act. Any hope I had about staying in Washington just evaporated, I would be leaving one way or another. I lied to Carrie and told her it was only a simple misunderstanding and that I would clear it up and be home in a couple of days with the rent I owed her. I could not chance her turning on me and telling the cops where I might be so I told her that if they come around again, get a name and number for me to contact and she agreed. While I felt safe for the moment, I knew that I would have to get out of Washington but was not sure on where I could go. I remembered my friend Bec, who now lived in South Carolina, telling me that if I ever needed a place, to call her. Lucky for me I still had her number tucked away in my wallet so I gave her a call and explained the situation. She didn’t hesitate a bit and told me I could come anytime. Nice, in less than 24 hours my world had been turned upside-down but at least I now had a new destination that wasn’t jail.
For the next few days I worked on a plan to get out but I found myself trying to figure out a way to stay. For some reason, I felt very attached to this place and did not want to leave. I didn’t have a job or a permanent place to stay and the cops were looking for me but here I was trying to find a way to stay. I called Carrie to see if there were any new developments on that end. She told me a detective had been by to see me and left a name and number. After writing it down I once again assured her that it was all a mistake and I would be back soon. When New Year’s Eve rolled around and I had not been out of Carol’s house in a week, I was going stir crazy and wanted to party. A former colleague was having a party at his house over in Burlington and I felt it was safe enough to try. The party was awesome and the memory of Prince’s song 1999 playing through the night will always be a fond one. Shortly after midnight the beer ran out and it was decided that everyone would go into Mount Vernon and hit a dance club ( no, not Cascade Pizza but just down the road ) and since I had to go that way, I joined in. That too was a blast and the night was truly one for the ages, I rolled into Carol’s place around 6 in the morning and slept the day away.
With the success of New Year’s Eve, I felt confident that I could risk the Saturday night tourney over in Burlington at Hooligan’s. I had no official attachment to the place and it was over in Mount Vernon that I had the trouble and how could I refuse a free night of drinking on a Saturday night? After taking the free bus across the river, I was soon amongst my pool playing brothers with a tall mug of beer in my hands. It was a busy night and we had a full tourney of 32, all of the local hot shots were there and unfortunately, I lost to one of them in the first round. Not such a problem as it was double elimination and I had often cashed out after losing a match. The tourney was running great when about two hours in I look up to notice two cops standing in the doorway and scanning the pool area. My heart sank as I instantly knew they were there for me, waves of regret started to roll through me and I thought that this was definitely it. Had I made the biggest most crucial error in my journey?
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run