Silver Bracelets

You never want to look back upon your day while sitting handcuffed in the back of a squad car and wonder how it could have gone to hell so quickly.

That is the kind of story that someone else should tell. It is the kind of thing that you never want to remember because it never happened to you, but sometimes lightning strikes and things happen.

It was a day that had started out with much promise. My girlfriend decided to wake me up in a most memorable way and had it stayed that way it would have been a very good day indeed.

I remember staring at the ceiling with a big grin plastered across my face. If she had asked me to marry her at that moment in spite of my young age I most assuredly would have.

Heck I would have said yes to almost anything she asked but then the universe in its esteemed wisdom decided that I had used up all of the pleasure I was entitled to that day.

Our moment was interrupted by a loud bang and many tears. Decorum won’t allow me to describe exactly what happened when she was startled but suffice it to say that my own tears were almost shed then too.

You see the interruption was created by the entrance of my girlfriend’s best friend and roommate. Her name was Sally Jo but at that particular moment I might have called her $#Q%$@T%.

Her fiancée had just dumped her and that little kerfuffle was the reason why she felt entitled to come flying into the room.

I know this might sound selfish, but I was less than pleased to see her and not just because I was hurt in the process. However I was smart enough not to ask her to step outside and wait.

“Baby, I am really sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you. I promise I’ll make it up to you tonight, but she needs me now.”

“No problem. I’ll shower at my place. Call me when you finish your chem lab and we’ll get dinner.”

She didn’t wait for an answer and as I walked out the door she headed over to the other bedroom.
Moments later the day continued its unexpected assault upon my smile. A $50 parking ticket graced my windshield.

In between curses I thanked my hormones for leading me to this blessed place of blue balls, parking tickets and whatever else was to come.

The night before we had been too frantic to get upstairs to worry about street cleaning. My focus had been on getting busy and not reading parking signs.

That lack of focus was about to bite me in the ass again.

It was Tuesday morning and my group was supposed make a presentation in Professor Markowitz’s marketing class…in ten minutes.

Markowitz was a stickler for time and for appearance. He lectured us on what life would be like in the business world and said that people didn’t respect the unshaven, baseball cap wearing slobs who couldn’t be bothered to show up for work on time.

Our group was slated to go first and there was no way to go home and get to class in time.

As expected Markowitz made a point to mark me down for my attire. “Be thankful that you aren’t my employee because I wouldn’t tolerate this sort of insubordination from you.”

The points he took off were the difference between an ‘A’ and a ‘B.’

I was in a very bad mood when I left class so I went straight to the gym. Halfway through my workout I ran into several of my girlfriend’s and her roommates sorority sisters.

Maybe it was my own paranoia but I know girls talk about everything and I could have sworn they were pointing and laughing at me.

I might have gotten stuck trying to figure that out but my buddy Doug distracted me.

“Dude, my roommates and I have a case of Heineken left over from our last party. Want to swing by and help me make some space in the refrigerator.”

I smiled again. “I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t help you out in your time of need, now would I.”

Two hours and a six pack later my attitude is much improved and I have forgotten the craziness of the morning.

“Excuse me, got to drain the old weasel.”

Doug gives me a glassy eyed smile and a thumbs up and I make my way to a bathroom that would have made my mother shriek in horror.

“Doug, you obviously never have girls here because this kind of crap would never fly with them.”

The guy in the mirror nods his head at me and laughs when I tell him he looks like he might be drunk.

Suddenly there is a loud crash and I hear Doug screaming for help. I don’t know what happened but it doesn’t matter. I am 205 pounds of semi inebriated college student.

Doug’s almost like a fraternity brother so I have to look out for him so when I see him getting smacked around by some guy I don’t wonder about who he is or why he is there.

He never sees me coming and I land a shot on him that knocks him right on his ass. He surprises me by getting right back up and coming at me.

Nor will I stop to question why a guy in a black uniform is pulling me off of this guy. I wish that I had because then I might have been smart enough not to hit him or his partner.

My only excuse is that they grabbed me from behind so I didn’t know who they were.

Later on I’ll stare at the ceiling only this time I am lying in a small room with a steel toilet and some drunk guy.

Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.