The Night My Friend Got Me Arrested

Mark and I were hanging out outside of work. It had been another long night in the kitchen. We sat there smoking and complaining about the servers and managers and all the stupid things they did.

This is the life for us, not because we love it, but it’s better than working an office job. All we had left to do was clean up and the rest of the night was ours. Mark told me about a party at his friend’s house, we were going to pick up some beer after work and head over.

“Do you have any weed?” I asked “You know it, I got a few other things too.”

Mark was more of a druggie than me but I like to get down and party from time to time.

“We just have to get out of here without that dumbass Greg giving me any shit. If he makes me clean under the grill again tonight I’m walking out.”

Mark talked a big game but never followed through with his threats. Like most people in the kitchen he thought he was more of a gangster than he was.

Luckily we got out quickly and it was off to the gas station to pick up the beer. We took my car because Mark’s license is still suspended, he’s had more than a few run-ins with the law.

He’s a good guy, but his pride and stupidity get in the way.

We put our money together and I went in to buy the beer while Mark stayed in the car and started to roll a blunt for us to smoke on the ride. I grabbed a couple of cases of beer and made my way to the register.

While I paid for the beer I noticed a cop car pull up in the parking lot.

Mark, forever impatient, had already lit the blunt and started smoking in the parking lot, unaware of the cops. With the music blaring and clouds of smoke pouring from the windows he got the attention of the cops who had just pulled up.

By the time I got back to the car, they were already there asking Mark to turn down the music and step out of the car. I approached slowly, unsure what to do.

One of the officers noticed me and asked if it was my vehicle.

I’ve never been in trouble in my life. I got sent to the principles office one time in school and literally cried for twenty minutes.

I hesitated for a minute and nodded my head, too scared to speak.

They told me to put the beer down and stay where I was. Mark got out of the car and they began their search. One officer kept an eye on Mark and me while the other searched my car.

I didn’t have anything to hide but cops scare me. My heart was racing and I started to sweat. Mark seemed more annoyed than scared.

First, they pulled out a bag of weed, definitely not mine, it must have been Mark’s. He gave us both a confident condescending look, he knew he had us.

The cop then dug in-between the seat and the center console and found a bag of white powder, cocaine. Now I was in a full-blown panic attack, my knees got weak and I thought I was going to pass out.

My mind started to race, what was happening? Was I going to get arrested? He went back in and came out with a bag of pills.

I had never seen any of those things before, I honestly had no idea how they got there. I looked over at Mark, he refused to look at me. He had clearly hid them in my car in the hopes they wouldn’t find them.

After the cops searched both of us they asked who the drugs belonged to.

We both said we didn’t know, which they obviously didn’t believe. At this point, they turned to me.

“This is your vehicle, correct?” I froze for a second and nodded my head again.

“They must be your drugs.” “I swear they’re not, I’ve never seen those before.” The officer looked back at me with a cold stern look on his face. He had heard all these excuses before.

“If this is your vehicle you are responsible for all of its contents. Are you saying they belong to your friend?”

I looked at mark again, he was looking at the ground. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t want to admit to anything, I was so confused and scared I was speechless.

“There’s no reason to hide now, you’re going to jail no matter what. The only question is, will your friend be coming with you.”

I looked at Mark for a second, “Can we talk about this?” “No” they replied.

I looked back at Mark, he finally looked at me with a scared pitiful look on his face. His usual strength and confidence were gone. He put his hands together in a praying motion and gave me a sad look, hoping I would take the fall.

Mark had been arrested before and knew if he went back to jail he wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon. He sold me out to save himself.

I stood there, completely alone, all the blame and a heavy jail sentence weighing on me. I tried to think, what could I do? How could I get out of this?

My chest got tight and it was hard to breathe, my head was hot and my hands were sweaty. Fear had completely gripped me, I finally realized there was no hope.

“No, he doesn’t know anything about it, they’re my drugs,” I said pathetically.

“Alright, put your hands behind your back.”

The officer walked over and put me in handcuffs and lead me over to their car. After they loaded me in the back Mark was free to go, they even let him take the beer.

As the first officer started the paperwork the other asked if they were anyone who could pick up my car.

“Not at this time of night.” “In that case, we’ll have to get it towed, you can get it out of impound after you post bail.”

This was it, I was being arrested and taken to jail, it seemed unreal.

I couldn’t believe it was happening. While I sat there in the back seat with my hands behind my back two other cops showed up for backup.

Once I saw the other cars it sank in, even more, I started to worry what others would think. What would my parents say? Would I get fired from my job?

The processing took forever, why can’t we just go to jail already I thought, too scared to actually speak.

After a few minutes, one of the cops got back in his car and pulled up next to the car we were in.

“I leave my post for five minutes and the damn Circle K gets robbed.” He said before speeding off with his lights flashing and sirens blaring.

Go figure, I thought, while they’re busy hassling me there are real criminals out there committing actual crimes.

We finally started going to jail, I didn’t know where we were going, I’d never been to this part of town.

Thanks for reading, this is the first story in a series I’m writing. Follow me for the next part, or check out one of the other stories I wrote on Medium.