THE ACCIDENT

In our home in Atlanta one evening I looked out the front upstairs window and saw blinking police car lights where our residential street intersected with the main road. My husband was playing poker with our pastor and several other parishioners at the priest’s house, so I mentioned to my youngest that it looked like an accident had happened. She knew I was prone to be an ambulance chaser and was joking with me as we started walking up our street.  The police car left as did a tow truck so my daughter said she was going home but I continued on.  As I kept on walking in the dark someone came toward me.  A voice said “Mom?” I said “Chuck?” Then I asked if it was my car being towed and sure enough it was. It was a used car that had been purchased only two weeks before.

We walked home where I called the parish house and broke the news to my husband. A fellow poker player who was an insurance agent said for our son not to admit guilt even though I said he was definitely in the wrong. He had pulled out onto the main road and into traffic figuring he could beat the oncoming car.  It’s a good thing the other driver wasn’t going fast because Chuck could have been killed.

The next day Chuck and I went to the towing garage and met with the insurance agent who said the car was totaled. Fortunately our insurance would cover the loss. As we left, Chuck thanked me for not being angry with him. I vividly remember telling him I could always get another car but I couldn’t get another son. That day he learned he wasn’t invincible.

The insurance company gave us a check for only $100 less than we had paid. The accident was kind-of a blessing in disguise. We discovered we had bought a lemon and it was burning an enormous amount of oil.

Chuck had to go to traffic court.  The judge said “How do you plead?”  Chuck said “Not guilty” at which point the judge berated him and said “How could you plead not guilty when you definitely are?”  It’s possible he told the judge that his Mother told him to say that, but I’m not sure.  Anyway, I’ve always been glad I handled everything else the way I did.