“FREEZE!!
GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!”
It was 21 years ago Monday.
Surprisingly, I remember it quite well.
I was 18.
A senior in high school.
It was a Tuesday night.
I told my parents I was going to watch the girls basketball game.
At halftime, a friend and I left the game.
To meet another high school “friend” at a carpool lot.
But first, some context…
The weekend prior, I had met a guy in a neighboring town.
He flashed this wad of cash.
$900 to be exact.
From selling weed.
I was intrigued.
Although not interested…initially.
He was convincing.
And I am an easy sale, so I bought a bag.
That Monday I went to school and let some friends know I had weed, if they needed any.
Perfect timing at it seemed my school was in a bit of a “dry spell”.
I sold some to a few of my friends after school (I didn’t bring it to school, I wasn’t THAT dumb).
The very next day, I had an appointment with a friend.
We were to meet at a carpool lot at 8:30 pm.
Another friend rode with me.
We arrived a bit early, about 8:15.
I had a weird feeling about the situation.
Our mutual friend pulled up right at 8:30.
I told him I was nervous, as something didn’t seem right.
He assured me I was just paranoid.
I tossed him the bag of weed.
He handed me a fist full of cash.
I went to put the car in reverse.
Cops stormed by car!
They were coming out of parked vehicles, and running from the nearby wooded area.
I was absolutely terrified.
It didn’t seem real.
I was thrown to the ground.
Cuffs slapped on.
I remember the female cop digging her knee in my crotch while she was putting me in the back of the squad car.
The “friend” had set me up.
He did it to reduce his sentence from a prior conviction.
I had a lot of hate towards him for a long time.
I let that shit go a long time ago.
Short story long;
I was arrested, put on probation for two years and spent 15 days in the Livingston County jail.
I completed probation without any incidents, and it was wiped off my record completely.
Fortunately, I had two kick ass parents who were insanely supportive.
It was a wake up call.
And a defining moment in my life.
My drug selling “career” lasted a titch over 36 hours.
I made roughly $275 (all seized by the cops)
Which was Elon Musk type money for an 18 year old who was washing cars for $7.25/hour.
A family member gave me the nickname “Dimebag Dukes”
I quickly learned that my Mom & Dad were not the only ones who made the rules.
I was now a grown up.
There were these things called “laws”.
Looking back, I’m glad it happened.
That was some of the easiest money I ever done made.
If it weren’t for that incident, I would have likely got much deeper.
And who knows what would have happened.
Every situation, circumstance, setback, failure, etc has a silver lining.
It might not be apparent right away.
It might take weeks, months or even years to uncover.
However, there is always a silver lining.
If you look for it.
