Today started out nicely, at least.
I was still pissed of at Dirk for what happened last night when he called up, so I was rather short with him on the phone. He called Louie, who called me. Louie had a ride for practice, alright, but he wanted to know if they could follow my car there, just to make certain they didn't get lost. I was fine with that, although I was a bit leery of having someone new at practice who could potentially throw us off kilter when we've just started getting used to each other.
But everything went smoothly, except for Charlie. His kids' babysitter had a hangover, so he had to stay home with them. To tell the truth, I find the feedback from his guitar more than a little irritating. Sometimes I can't hear what we're playing, it's so bad.
But practice was fun. At one point, Aaron, Dirk, and Louie started jamming while I was smoking, playing Ramones songs. When I got tired of waiting for them to finish, I stood in front of the window in the studio door and pretended to start taking off my shirt. At one point, Dirk stopped playing completely and just glared at me through the glass.
Then, at about 5:30, Dirk suggested that I go get us some soda, as the Air Conditioning wasn't working and the water from the fountain was lukewarm. Louie volunteered to go with me. We got to 7-11, where I spent my last five bucks in the name of the band. On the way back, the day got a whole hell of a lot worse.
We were on Lee Highway, waiting to turn left onto our road. There were three cars waiting to turn left from the oncoming side. They managed to create a rather spectacular blind spot. I made my turn....and got broadsided by a red car. They didn't even slow down. Just plowed right into the passenger door.
There was a second of complete shock, as Louie's soda spilled all over the car. Then Louie started shouting "I'm gonna kill that motherfucker!" He tried to open the door, but found it wouldn't open. The confusion in his voice when he discovered this is almost funny in retrospect. Almost. Not to be swayed from his path of retribution, Louie wriggled between the front seats into the back seat, then hopped out of the rear driver's side door and started running towards the red car. The red car was pulling into a parking lot, so I decided to do the same.
Louie gave up on the idea of revenge, and came over to look at the damage. The passenger side door was completely smashed...it had a dent a foot deep in it, that practically folded it in half. It's a wonder the window didn't break. The rear passenger door was also dented, and wouldn't close completely anymore. Apparently, the impact had driven my car into a third car, because there was another, much smaller, dent in the front driver's side door.
The police came, Louie ran to get Dirk and Aaron (the rehearsal space was only about fifty feet away). I called my parents, they said they were coming right over. I was glad no-one was hurt, but honestly, I was scared. My insurance was going to go sky-high, and knowing my parents, I could probably forget about ever driving again.
Since there were no skid marks (no shit, they didn't even try to stop) there was no proof the red car was speeding. So, I was found at fault. I'm sure the decision had something to do with the fact that I'm only 19, whereas the driver of the other car was about 27-28. If you don't think the police are prejudiced against teenagers, drop back into reality with the rest of us. I spent the time between talking to the police and waiting for my parents to arrive alternately crying and being hugged by the rest of the band. It was funny, Aaron and Louie were so careful not to look suspicious while they were hugging me, since they know I'm dating Dirk. I got patted on the head a lot.
Then my parents showed up, and the first thing out of my mother's mouth was, "So, what did you do to my car?" God, that woman is a bitch. Never even asked if I was alright. We got the gear loaded up into my dad's truck, ascertained that my car could still be driven, and piled all the rest of the band except Aaron into my car.
My parents refused to let me go out, but Dirk stayed over until midnight, and they let me take our other car to drop him off at Charlie's.
I'm glad Louie didn't get hurt. Honestly, that's got to be one of the scariest things for a passenger, seeing this car coming straight at you and knowing that the only thing between you and that car is a little metal, plastic and upholstery. I managed to escape with nothing more serious than a bruise on my arm, where the impact slammed Louie into me.
Now, we have to go through the insurance BS, and see if the car's totaled. If the body frame is dented, the insurance company will declare it totaled and pay it off.