Car Chasing

My friend Davell loves his car so much. He saved for it for months. And in December last year I asked him how much exactly he needed for it. For Christmas I gave him that amount via a check, and I mailed it to him because I was in the army at the time. I got out of the army March 11th and about a week afterwards I was hanging out with a bunch of buddies in two separate cars, Davell and his girlfriend in one car and the rest of us in the other car.1

We were just driving around and he stopped at a stop sign and we stopped behind him. And without missing a beat a guy went right up to his window and stuck his arm in the window. His girlfriend shot out of the car and into ours and told us "he's getting car jacked" an awkward silence came over everyone. A gun shot came from his car to the ground; it was a warning for him to get out of the car. He did, and the other guy got in. I got one good look at Davell though it be a dark area, I could still see his despair, his anger and his defeat.2

I did not accept that for him or for me, he put so much time into that car, earning it and restoring it, I even felt like it was partly my car as well because I had given him over $300.00 to pay for it. I got out of the car I was the rear driver side passenger wearing all black. So they didn't notice I left the car, not even when I passed Davell. After that I saw the engine of the car lift a little bit which means its accelerating, so I sprinted after it.3

I caught the car and hung onto the open window with my left hand and ran with the car reaching inside it to get the keys out with my right hand. I had no plan other than that, and I did not know what was going to happen after. It scared him half to death and he floored the pedal. Still hanging on I ran with the car feeling the wind through my still army bald scalp, being weightless between my steps and the G-forces like an airplane taking off with time I use my knees for another step causing much pain.4

Davell had jumped into the car where I was. They thought it was me who jumped back in Brian; the driver of the following car said “fuck he’s running after his car” Davell said nothing knowing he was in the car, not chasing his car. No one knew who was missing, they failed to look around and do a head count. And they followed as close as they could. Staying focused on noting but not losing the car.5

In the mean time I was having trouble keeping up so I realized, I have to get on the car. It was hurting my knees far too much too keep up. So I put my knees on the car slowly struggling and allowed my right foot to find the door handle and pressed my foot on it. I used it to push off and get most of my body in the car. My head ended up right next to the speedometer, it read 70 miles per hour and it was increasing still. I grabbed the keys and turned off the car then pulled the keys out all in one smooth motion. I got my top half of my body out of the car still hanging on. I tossed the keys up in the air and waited for the sound of metal hitting the ground. 6

Then I realized, how am I going to get down or off safely? Minute seconds pass my mind is on hyper drive thinking of a solution as I began to lose grip. And I finally got it; I could run along side the car until it stops on its own. Both arms extended and on the side of the open window I lowered my left leg and prepared my right foot to meet the ground rapidly afterwards with the very fast and painful sprinting.7

The force of initially having my foot on the ground forced my body to go flat horizontal like I was back on the car but I lost grip this time, I watched as the ground got closer and closer in slow motion and I saw a bright light tunneling around me as I got closer until I was surrounded. When I was finally surrounded by the light it suddenly turned to dark and I just saw myself suspended in this dark abbyss, naked in the fetal position. That's when I'm assuming I made contact. The guy in Davell’s car had pulled on the emergency break after I let go, when he realized he lost control of the car. 8

I hit my head on the ground and rolled for a good three cars length and there I stayed until everyone else caught up. I was out for about ten minutes; the driver was the first one to see me. He sprinted to me making sure that he was the first one to me, crying at the realness of the situation when my friends showed up. I woke up in a daze and my head pounding surrounded by all my friends and the driver. Davell and the driver directly over me the driver announced “He’s alive! He’s awake! Help me get him to his feet and he’s bleeding from his head that’s the best way for us to elevate his head”. The driver took charge and got me to my feet single handily. 9

The first thing I did was go to the nearest car, kept pulling on the rear door handle "open the door, we need to get out of here before the cops get here". Davell's Girlfriend says "get away from that car it’s not ours." I heard "drive away its yours." I got in the open driver's door and sat in the driver's seat like I owned it and tried to stick my house key in the ignition. It took Erick, Greg and David to get me out of the now bloody leather seat. While struggling to get me out disoriented I said with a drunken slur "Not. Not, now, I'm busy", that is now my friends' favorite quote of mine. The other driver laughed really hard at that. Then more disorientation from new sounds and lights in the form of emergency vehicles, I had no idea what was going on.10

I saw the paramedics go to my pool of blood and saw that there was drag marks coming out of it which came from getting me to my feet. They immediately went to a police officer and said “we need a form that makes this into a serious crime the body has been moved”. I came up behind the paramedics and said without knowing it was me they were talking about being missing “or the guy got up and walked away, is that a crime sir?” without looking at me they said “We know it was a crime! The guy hit the ground at over 70mph as we can tell from skin burnt into the asphalt and how far his skid marks are until the pool of blood. Whoever it was waited for him to die. There is no way he survived that, even with adrenaline a person can only survive hitting the ground with their head first at up to 40mph. But he would only survive the initial hit, not them waiting for him to die, especially if they helped him die. Now get out of our business go get drilled for questioning like the rest of the punk kids here.” The cop intervened the rant right there when he passed a glace through then at me and told them “Excuse me, you don’t need that form, you just told your theory to the guy that it happened to, now excuse me I have some questions to ask him”. The paramedics looked at each other then their jaws dropped as they saw me turn away and I walked with the cop and said “This didn’t happen to me, I would be in a lot of pain if this happened to me, I’m not even bleeding, Sir”. I felt the right side of my face with my left hand. And showed it to him, he was on my left side. Then he took my right hand and opened my hand in the shape of a slap and guided my hand from top left corner of my head which was sticky like drying glue all the way down to my eye area and cheek bone area where it got warm with the consistency of hair mouse rubbed on a mirror then hit when I got to the chin it was hot and drippy liquid. To prove to me further that it was blood he got a flashlight out and put the light on my hand at an angle it was a dark red nearly black. I go “that belongs to the guy it happened to, not me, sir” still not realizing I had a state of being. He chuckled a bit. And said to the paramedics, “he’s got a pretty bad concussion and has a hole in his head from a glass bottle from his head hitting the ground and find out if he wants to go to the hospital and if not treat him for what you can.”11

I was taken up on the ambulance and one asked me “how did this happen?” as the other started getting glass out of my head.12

“I don’t know I just woke up outside, with all my clothes on surrounded by friends, I’m just confused now sir”13

“Do you know your name?”14

“Private Daniel Jose Carrasquillo sir” I forgot I was no longer a soldier.15

“Where are you?”16

“I’m in a street behind Golf Mil Shopping center; I don’t know what suburb I’m in sir”17

“Do you want to go to the hospital?”18

“What do I keep saying to everybody, I did not get injured, I am not hurt, and there is no need to take me to the hospital, sir”19

The paramedic that was questioning me left to get the cop, the other one started seeing how badly I was damaged, touching my face, shining a bright light in my eye and kept asking if I felt pain. I did not feel pain "I feel nothing at all, not even back when the cop used my own hand to show me where blood was". And eventually the cop came inside the ambulance and asked me “Do you want to press charges?” 20

I said as calmly as I could, being insulted “no sir”21

“Ok, I need you to come out and find me when they’re done taking glass out of you, if you can’t feel that, then it’s a surprise to me, when they’re done wrapping up your head. After you sign that you refused hospital treatment. And cause I was informed that you are not going to the hospital tonight. But that you will be released into the custody of your friend Davell." 22

“Yes Ris” I accidently said the word backwards with the last piece of glass that they pulled out. And he began to wrap my head and he put a cooling pack in the wrapping as well, I was top heavy. I waddled over to that cop and he had the guy in cuffs in the back of the cop car and I asked the cop “Is he the reason I’m over here, sir?”23

The cop looks at him crying and says to me “he had stopped for a while”24

The guy exploded from his seat that was an open patrol car door nearly knocking me over wailing “I’m so sorry man! Please don’t send me to jail!” He tried to catch his breathe and said to the officer sniveling “Is he pressing charges against me?”25

The cop looked at me with two papers laying parallel next to each other he said to me “are you pressing charges against him?” and motioned for the guy to sit down in the car.26

I said “I already answered this! I said no sir.”27

He said talking down to me, “calm down, I just wanted him to hear this for himself.”28

The cop then said to the guy “you won’t be charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon from this gentleman, that takes over 10 years off the minimum and 15 years off your maximum sentence unfortunately, the guy whose car you stole is pressing charges.”29

The guy said “Can I thank this guy for not pressing charges by giving him all my money in my wallet?”30

The cop goes “Wasn’t drug money I found the receipt from your job so I don’t see why not”31

The cop counts out in front of the guy the $346.00 then hands it to me. I was just like “whoa, I wish I could get money for doing nothing more often” The guy looks at me with a look of insult and confusion. And the cop says to the guy “He hit his head harder than total collision power I’ve seen many car crashes give him a break it was like his head was between 2 cars during a crash”.32

Davell finds me and says “Officer is he ready to go?”33

He looks at him and says “he has to sign one paper, don’t let him go to sleep until the concussion is gone, when he knows who he is, when he understands that this really happened. Then you can let him go home. I don’t care if you need to call his mom, your mom, whatever, he is to stay awake until those things are complete.”34

Davell hugs me and exclaims “Man you nearly died, you are so stupid, thank you for risking your life for me, my car! I won’t soon forget this!” I get dizzy and say “I don’t feel right, can I go lie down?” And I lay on the ground. The cop gives Davell many smelling salt packets and says “If he sleeps he may die” I say this while sitting then sprawling out on the road. The cop shows Davell how to use one. And I get woken up by a huge amount of pain from a bad taste like eating rotting dirt and indescribable burning, like how I imagine spraying mace up my nose would feel. I yell as I get to my feet quickly and sway in a circle “I’m awake now stop that".