Heartbreaks, Prosecution, and Retribution

Chapter 8 : Vehicle Trouble

Now we were by our lonesome selves again, since her son was with her aunt and grandparents. It was good and bad all at the same time. Usually, Jessica wouldn't stay at home while I was at work. She would just try to stay busy instead of dying from depression and boredom. Most of the time, she would drive me to work since we only had one vehicle. Over time, she would just constantly drive, putting mileage on it for no reason and wasting gas instead of visiting friends or doing something constructive. Just over one night, there would be close to eighty miles or so, not to include my trip to work. Nothing around us was really too far to go to. So, I don't know where she would go except just to cruise. In this day of age, the gas prices were expensive, and I needed to be conservative on gas especially for a broke person like me.

There were a few times that Jessica had left me stranded at work. I would end up having to ask for a ride from any of my co-workers that would so kindly give me a ride since my wife would be too busy or too exhausted to come and get me. I lived a good fifteen miles or so away; so, not everyone I worked with was willing to drive in the direction I lived in. If I didn't get a ride from anyone that lived near me, I would end up getting a ride from someone in the barracks. I felt obligated to give those who gave me a ride some money for gas since they would have to drive out of their way to take me to my home. I felt kind of pathetic.

While I was at work, working on the gates (I checked the ID's of those people entering the installation), I received a call from my wife. I had to step into the guard shack to answer the phone, and before I could really say "Hello," Jessica came across in a scared voice, "Something terrible has happened!" I asked, "Are you alright?" Jessica said she was okay and that she wasn't hurt.

Well, since no one was dying or physically harmed, I didn't really know what else there was to worry about. Until she told me, "You will need to find a ride home this evening." Then it hit me, it had to be the car. I asked her, "Did you get into a car accident?" In a nervous way, she stated, "No! I didn't get into a wreck." She didn't tell me what all had happened, even the parts I inquired about it. "Ok, then what's wrong," I asked. She said, "I will tell you when you come home."

I was just patiently waiting for work to get over with and agitated towards not knowing. I got a ride from my shift supervisor who lived near me. After work, he dropped me off over at Jessica's friend's house, which was where Jessica and the car were. We drove up to the house; my car was in the driveway. It looked fine or at least until I got a look at the driver's side of the car. I was walking up the sidewalk to the door of the house. The entire front left fender was nearly missing. It appeared to be ripped off the car. It must have struck something and peeled the fender back because the left wheel was slanting inward, making it nearly impossible to drive. The left headlight was busted out, and the hood was all buckled up to the point where it could not open it. This is my, well, it was my only means of transportation. I have to say I haven't been this pissed off in a while.

As I walked into the house, I didn't even knock to make my presence known. I went into the kitchen where Jessica, Amanda and another person named Eric were all sitting. They all shared a funeral countenance. I was like death coming for their grieved ones. In a low aggravated voice, I asked, "What the hell happened?" Some stuttering and murmuring started amongst the three as if they were trying to get their story all on the same page. It wasn't like they were together before I came home, not knowing I would find out.

Jessica then began to tell me that someone stole the vehicle. That, of course, didn't quite make much sense to me. If it was stolen, then how did they get it home? Or how did they find it? Hmm, I thought I went over these questions in my head.

I decided to call the Military Police on Ft. Belvoir and file a report of a stolen vehicle. After much discussion, I finally found that the person who took my car for a joy ride was Eric. Come to find out, he wasn't even affiliated with the military and didn't have a license. He was a kid of around the age of 17. He also had a warrant out for his arrest in the next county over. I was unaware of it all. All I knew was that he was wanted by the local county. This all came about once the MP's showed up and started running everyone's names.

I asked Jessica and Amanda why they were hanging out with such a young kid. Amanda was about to cry when the police took the kid away. I didn't know their relationship, nor did I care. I knew I wasn't going to pay for this damage to my car that I didn't do. More of the story came out later that evening. We all were talking, and I found that Eric asked my wife to borrow the car to drive the nearest convenient store right outside the gate. So, she let him go ahead and do so.

The story they told me was that when Eric was about to come back onto the installation, he got scared because he didn't have the proper ID or anyone to give him access to post and made a U-turn, lost control and hit the Stop sign. He left the scene of the accident and called Amanda and Jessica from a nearby phone to tell them what had happened. After the phone call, Jessica and Amanda went and picked up the car and brought it to Amanda's house.

I was now even more pissed off, not just because of the car, but people lying to me. Knowing they got a kid taken away due to their own stupidity. Nothing really against the kid, if only my wife would have said "No" in the beginning, none of this would have happened. Better yet, if they weren't hanging out with an adolescent, none of this would have happened. Of course, his warrants are his own affair, but the stupidity involved from everyone seemed to fall on me.

I had to file the police report in order for my insurance to cover the expense of what happened. After the report, I had to go find a car garage that could fix my car. "Thank Goodness!" My insurance covered rentals. I was surely in need of one.

I was looking around trying to find out where to go. My insurance company gave me a few places to look at. I finally found a place that seemed well managed. After taking the car to the garage, the employees of the shop referred me to a rental place; they even gave me a courtesy ride there.

After getting the rental, Jessica wanted to drive it first. Like a little kid wanting a toy in a store. "No, you have done enough. I can't afford another vehicle to be fixed, especially one that isn't mine," I told her. Even though the insurance is covering the car, that was not the point. She replied with a sarcastic sound, "I didn't wreck the vehicle. I am a good driver." We began to get into a verbal dispute. I told her, "I know you didn't cause the accident, but it was your choice in the matter. Allowing some kid, you don't really know to drive. You know I don't let anyone drive our car except you or me."

This was a debate, I wasn't going to win, so I gave in and allowed her to drive the damn car. This was a means of shutting her up.

"Just because I let you drive doesn't mean I will let you take the car when I go to work. You just have to wait until I come home or walk wherever," I stated. Eventually, I put the joyriding to an end because she wasn't going to tear up this one. It was fairly nice, and I wasn't going to pay for a vehicle to get messed up again, especially if it wasn't mine.

Three weeks have passed by, and I finally got my car back from the car garage. It looked as if it never was involved a wreck and sounded even quieter than before. I was very pleased with the repair work from this shop. Even though I had to pay the $500 deductible, it was worth it. I wasn't really happy paying for something I didn't cause.

Around this time was when I received orders for PCS. I was going to be heading to Korea for a one-year tour. This was a hardship tour; I couldn't bring my family, and I could only bring limited personal belongings.

My car was fixed, but I had a strong feeling of anxiety filling me. I was nervous about leaving a place that I felt that I had grown to. I'm also worried about anything else that could possibly go wrong before my departure from this area. I mainly didn't want to be leaving my family to go to a foreign country that I really knew nothing about.

I thought this was a bit ironic because when I was in my early teenage years, I had a fetish for Asian culture. I studied martial arts when I was younger and always found Asian women to be attractive, but now this wasn't. Plus, I had my own family and life.

Astime was drawing near with nearly less than two months left, there is much thatis needed to get done. Jessica and I figured she would move back home and staywith her family while I was gone, and we would have our furniture shipped to mydad's house.