Busted!

As I headed down the Interstate to Hartford with Jay, I had no idea that everything in my life was about to change forever. I thought I was going to enjoy a night out with some musician friends...I was relaxed and happy...I had just been paid some long overdue money which would be helpful in helping to pay for pressing costs for the album...which  was almost ready to be manufactured. I had no drug business set up for that evening...this was just me going out to hear a band that I knew well. My guard was down. I had survived being a prime suspect in two brutal homicide investigations, and had been using and dealing drugs with impunity for almost ten years without ever having been arrested or experiencing any legal consequences of any kind...and although I was usually very careful and alert...on this night...I didn't feel like I was doing anything that would put me at any risk. I had become so used to always carrying drugs around, and never having problems when I did...that I think I actually forgot for a little while that I was driving around in my "warehouse" full of illegal drugs. I knew I had the usual few grams of cocaine for my personal use on me...as well as the ten or so joints I always would roll in advance before going anywhere...but I guess I just didn't see that as an unusual event or a risk. I had become complacent...and complacency breeds carelessness...and as I neared the outskirts of Hartford with Jay...my thoughts were on the album, and the band I was about to see. Jay seemed relaxed, too...and the converstion was pleasant...and he did a great job of distracting me from my usually cautious attitude.

   The club we were going to was less than a block away from the Hartford Train Station, and that whole section of the city could have been considered the "entertainment district"in Hartford...because most of the city's live music clubs were all pretty much located within a couple of city blocks of there. There was usually a very casual and laid-back party atmosphere in that area...and as we approached the station, it was apparent that lots of people were out that night...because there wasn't a lot of available parking anywhere. I found a spot under an overpass that the trains travelled on, and as I pulled into the parking area,  I looked up and saw three of the guys in the band I was going to see...headed in my general direction. They hadn't seen me...but they obviously had just taken a break after playing their first set...and were going outside to get high. I pulled to a stop, and rolled down my window and called to them, and they all recognized me and came over to my car, and I invited them into the car with us. It was at that moment that Jay asked if he could borrow my lighter, and promptly lit a cigarette... something which would prove to be significant later on. As they opened the back doors, and got into my car...we exchanged greetings, and they immediately lit a couple of joints and started passing them around. Once the joints came around to me, I realized that this wasn't very good stuff...so I pulled out a couple of my joints and lit them up. As the joints got passed around, everyone in the car became engrossed in conversation...and I don't think anybody noticed that an old car was pulling up in front of mine, blocking me in. As I became aware of it...I watched  two guys jump out of the car and approach mine, until they were only a few feet away. As I saw them approach, I thought to myself "who are these guys?" I thought they were bikers, because that's what they looked like and were dressed like...they were disheveled and dirty...but as they walked steadily in the direction of the car, I thought to myself "what the hell do these guys think they're doing?" One of them walked directly up to the driver's door, and although the windows were up...I plainly heard him say..."Hartford Police...shut off the car!" Everyone in the car got very quiet, and I know at that moment I still didn't believe him. I thought he was joking, or that either I was about to be mugged, or that someone just wanted a few free tokes. But this guy wasn't very friendly at all...and without moving I replied with a little bit of attitude..."Yeah...right! Show me your badge." I couldn't believe my eyes when he reached under his shirt, and pulled a chain with a badge that read "Hartford Police Detective" out, stuck it in front of the window with one hand, and pulled out a semi-automatic pistol with the other...and aimed it at my head. As I slowly realized that this guy really was the Police...my door was pulled open, and he again yelled at me to shut off the car. I couldn't really comprehend what was actually happening I don't think...the whole thing happened very fast...and felt surreal...but I turned off the engine, and didn't move. I remember them being on each side of the car, and pulling open the back doors and telling everybody in back to get out....very slowly. As each guy from the band did, they were frisked for weapons and searched for drugs. That took a couple of minutes, but it felt like a lot longer than that to me. Then they told Jay to get out, and  went through the same routine with him. Finally, they told me to get out of the car, and as I did, one of the cops frisked me, while the other one went through the back seat. It only took a second before the one searching the car came up with a small amount of marijuana in a bag, and a couple of joints that were both obviously dropped on the floor of my car by my "friends." As the cop searching me got to my back pockets, he found the leather tobacco pouch I always carried, and when he opened it and found the large vial of coke...and all the joints that were still in there...his eyes lit up...and he smiled at me and sarcastically said..."I guess this must be the leader of the band." I knew I was screwed, but it still hadn't registered yet just how screwed...because I still hadn't remembered  about all the stuff that was still in the trunk of my car. I was actually thinking about the guys in that band...and how they had an audience waiting. I was really pissed that they had thought only of themselves when they had dropped their stuff on the floor of my car...but I understood why they did it. I'm sure it was almost a reflex. And since I knew that I was fucked either way...because everything had been found in my car...I looked at the cop who was obviously enjoying himself, and said... "these guys didn't do anything...and all this stuff is mine...so why don't you just give them a break and let them go...so they can finish their gig." He didn't say a word...but took my keys and opened the trunk. As he opened it up and I saw my leather bag sitting in there....my heart sank...because it was at that moment that I realized that this was going to be really bad. The cop opened up the bag...looked at his partner and said "Bingo!"...as he pulled out the six pounds of marijuana, and grabbed the thermos and opened it up. As he pulled out what was inside...over two ounces of cocaine packaged for sale in many different quantities...he just walked over to me and said "You're under arrest!" As I was being cuffed, and his partner was cuffing Jay, and I just looked at him and said "I'm sorry, man." The cop then looked at the guys in the band and said "go on...get the hell out of here!"...and as they quickly did...a few cruisers arrived on the scene, and Jay and I were put in the backseat of one of them and driven the twenty blocks or so to the Hartford Police Headquarters for booking.