kay. my dad and i were on our way to enterprise to get our rental car--which the old motherfucker who wrecked my car's insurance is paying for. nice. on our way down seventh street, we see cop cars.
and kids on scooters.
one of them being my brother, logan.
we slow down and roll one of the windows down, and logan yells "it's fine!" and waves us off. we continue to enterprise, because they close in half an hour.
we get to enterprise--they don't have a car for us today. probably 10 or 11am tomorrow. i have to fill out some paperwork since i'll be the primary driver of the rental. rad. my dad bullshits with the guy for a few minutes about how i wrecked the cruiser--how pathetic it is that i totaled the thing at 22 miles per hour and all that, and about how the BMW is a fucking tank because it totaled that blind old motherfucker's buick lesabre while hardly taking any damage at all. well, the front driver side wheel is fucked. it'll probably be totaled anyway because parts for the BMW are astronomically priced and at almost 14 years old, the car itself isn't worth that much. anyway.
on our way back, my dad decides to pull off into the cul-de-sac my brother and his friends have been taken into.
to talk to the cops.
oh fuck.
my dad is historically bad at talking to police officers. the night my brother almost got arrested--the day before his birthday--my dad nearly got arrested himself. just for being a dick.
as soon as my dad rolls down the window, i start mouthing apologies to God(s) and to the tall, bald police officer my dad is talking at. the cop repeatedly tells my dad that there is no problem.
what happened is this: apparently, there's been a string of break-ins on a certain street in that area. earlier today, somebody saw a group of kids on scooters driving very slowly through that area, pointing at houses. so they called the cops. obviously my brother and his friends fit this description, being that they are a group of kids on scooters.
fair enough. the cops are writing down their names and the VINs of their scooters. this is called "field something-or-other." just in case there's another burglary, you know?

my dad is not a smart man.
he takes this to mean that they are accusing the kids of having stolen their scooters from somewhere and immediately begins repeating, over and over, that logan's scooter is legally his, that he bought it and rode it home and blah blah blah. over and over and over. after about ten minutes of this, the cop gets pissed off and there's a van behind us waiting to get through. "sir, please pull your car over there, park, and come and talk to me."
"what?"
"sir, just do it. let this lady through."
he does so. i stay in the car. i turn the radio to the punk station. i call my mom. "hello?" "you've married an idiot."
"what'd he do now?"
"i think he's getting himself arrested."
"oh, god. where are you?"
"on seventh street, not too far down from the bank..."
"i'm about to leave, i'll be there in a few minutes."
she hangs up. the conversation--which i miss entirely--between my dad and the cop goes on for about ten more minutes and i sit there, happily listening to punk music.
my dad, suddenly, turns and begins walking to the car. one of the cops immediately starts struggling to remove his handcuffs from his belt. i see this, say, "oh, goddamn it, dad," and get out of the car.
the tall, bald cop yells, "sir, please come back." my dad keeps walking towards the car. the cops, together, hurry across the street. somehow they make it to the car all at once.
"sir, you're under arrest for disorderly conduct," says the tall, bald cop.
"wait, what did he do, exactly?" i ask.
"he called me a 'fucking asshole,'" the tall, bald cop says. "that's illegal. i won't have anyone talking to me like that in public."
i nod and say, "all right, then."
alicia drives by. i wave at her. she calls me, and i explain briefly what's going on, promising that i'll blog about it and telling her to read it, damn it. it'll be good. i'm okay. i have the focus. i'm fine.
my dad is utterly silent as the shorter, less bald cop walks him to his car.
so, yeah. my dad just got himself arrested.

- Vinic <- 5:14:59 pm, wednesday, february 20th, 2008 pst
- Azul Rojo <- 10:43:18 pm, monday, may 5th, 2008 pdt