When It Rains, It Pours...

Ronnie ended up walking a good part of the way back to Martin. Sara drove along beside him for all but the last few miles calling him all kinds of names and demanding he get his sorry ass back in the car. Ronnie refused, insisting he'd kill her if he did. Steve and I believed him. It was a long night.

By the time we got to Sara's trailer the sun was coming up. Anxious to exit before Ronnie got home, we jumped in Trauma Car and headed to Steve's house to get some sleep. The coat hangar and whatever else was keeping the exhaust system attached gave it up within sight of Steve's house. We were too tired to care.

Woke up knowing the drive back to Lexington was impossible without a new exhaust system. Had to wait until Monday to find a mechanic, and another day or two until the car was fixed. Maybe by then I'd figure out how to pay for it.

In the meantime I had to let somebody at the Hilton know I was going to miss a few shifts from my job waiting tables at Todd's. Took a while to reach anyone. Finally, Dave answered--the bar-back who came in early to set up for the evening.

I asked Dave to let the boss know I was stuck in Martin and couldn't get back for my next shift. He said he would and asked if I was having a good time. I said it had been a crazy weekend and mentioned spending a night in jail.

Since I was stuck in the area anyway, Steve's Mom took me to see the judge in Salyersville about my night in jail. We went to his house. I was terrified. She just barged in, explained it was all just a horrible mistake and asked if he could just make it all go away. He said sure. Those mountain people sure are nice!

I was scheduled off Monday. When I called to let the Hilton know I'd miss Tuesday, too, I found out they had fired me. That simplified things dramatically. Got the car back and decided to stay one more night. We picked up a couple of bottles of Asti Spumanti because we thought it was classy and headed out.

To be continued...