Fatal Drunk Driving

“Are you sure I can drive your car?” I asked with enthusiasm.

Robert nodded then asked, “You got your license, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.” I began to fumble through my purse to show him proof.

“I believe you Nova.”

I smiled as I got in the driver’s seat and adjusted the seat, so I felt comfortable.

“Here’s the key and here’s some money. I need you to go to the store for me a get me a six pack of bush ice tall boys and a pack of L&M’s red shorts and you can buy whatever with the change.” Robert handed me a hundred-dollar bill. I hugged him and kissed him.

I was thrilled to get away and be on my own. Robert was a good-looking man, but he was twice my age. Robert had a good paying job at EPB in Chattanooga, TN. The money was one reason I decided to get with him, plus I knew if my younger cousin Emily had a chance then I could. It worked in my favor since she didn’t get to drive the new car like I did.

Well at that time they were together Robert’s brother and wife were the ones paying payment on the car and Robert was the co-signer. Then when we started hanging out his brother was leaving town, so Robert decided to take the payment’s over. It was a 2020 Honda Civic dark blue in color it was a gorgeous car.

I felt so privileged to be able to drive it I felt like a hot shot. Robert had other trucks that ran so he couldn’t drive them all. Mainly he had me run and do beer runs for him which I didn’t mind at all because I was able to keep the change out of every one-hundred-dollar bill.

We lived on the mountain, so I had to drive out the mountain into town most of the time which was cool. I felt so cool blasting the radio. My little brother Austen tagged along with me most of the time which didn’t bother me. I loved my little brothers all three of them.

Since my mother left us five kids with our mean crippled father I had to step up in her shoes and take care of then and the burden of my drunken father. It made me very protective over the kids I always called them my kids. I texted my mother that one day mad, she didn’t argue with me.

My father was a mean evil drunk after mom left. Mom was heartless toward him when she finally left us for the mayor of Graysville, TN. All of us kids were at school one day when mom came to get her stuff. Dad tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrist to get mom to stay. Mom didn’t care she continued getting what she could then left him for dead.

My father almost bled out to death if it wasn’t for my Uncle Keith who lived in a trailer behind us. Immediately Keith called the ambulance and dad was rushed to the hospital. When us kids got home his wrist was bandaged up, dad lied said he cut his self-working on the four-wheeler.

I am the oldest found out the truth not long after. My mom leaving broke my heart for dad. Dad was disabled was told he would never be able to walk his entire life. Yet he somehow managed to walk. His kneecaps don’t bend like a normal person so he swings his leg out as wide as he can and moves that way.

Father became a drunken mean man that blamed me for momma leaving. Dad wouldn’t come home till late at night on his four-wheeler I knew he would be drunk and couldn’t help himself inside. AT night

waited up to hear his four-wheeler for what seemed like a mile away. At the age of twelve I went outside, and he would be drunk.

“Help me get off this four-wheeler.” He said slurring his words.

In his condition he was like dead weight trying to help him was a challenge. I had to swing on of his legs over first. The help him step by step make it to the door. It seemed like every time he’d fall. Dad would be laughing the entire process of getting him inside.

Sometimes I would have to run around back and get my Uncle Keith’s help since I was just a little girl, and he was dead weight and couldn’t help himself at all. Once we got him to his bed, I had to swing his legs on the bed. Take off his shoes and he would still be all happy drunk. He covers his head with his blanket like he always done.

The once I got into bed and laid down, closed my eyes then he turned evil. Dad would say the meanest things to me blaming me for momma leaving. He called me every name under the sun. I wanted to go in there and smother him to death with his pillow. He should have never said those things to a kid. Which I had no choice to look over it but still to this day I can never forget all the horrid things he would say about me.

At the age of twelve I wanted to die I wished I could have held my breathe long enough to kill myself. If you could only image the horror I had to go through. To be so young and wanted to die. My childhood was awful I’m sure others have had it worse, but so was mine.

Being suicidal at twelve had stuck with me my entire life. I guess that’s why when I went to the liquor store in Robert’s Honda Civic the demons were right with me. I drove up to luminary to see my best friend at the time Lacey. By then I done killed a bottle of peach vodka and was already buzzing.

The last thing I remember was quickly grabbing the cars keys after killing half the other bottle of peach vodka. I got in the Honda and here’s a perfect example of why drinking and driving is highly dangerous. I was drunk driving all the way home 12 miles to go. I accidently side swiped someone, and I remember hearing glass shatter.

In my mind I had to get out of there fast before they call the police that was the last thing I remember.  The car’s front axle caved in. I wasn’t supposed to be driving the car anyways cause three days before that Robert plowed into a ditch. They were chain hoisted the front end back straight, Robert told me not to be driving the car. I didn’t listen and ended up flipping the car numerous times,

The car seatbelt didn’t work so it through me out of the car and the car landed on me. I don’t remember much. Other than when I came to laying on the ground.

The first thing I asked was, “Did I hit anybody?”

A woman’s voice said,” No.”

I asked her again,” No.”

Then I remember thinking how in the hell did I wrecked and not hit anyone or anything the car pretty much wrecked itself. Because of the ty rod where he wrecked it three days before caved the wheel inward.

I had to be life forced. They said if I wasn’t so young and intoxicated, I would have died. I had a huge knot the size of my head on my forehead where it tried slinging me out of the windshield first. The slung me out of the window and landed on my breaking multiple bones in my foot and broke my leg I was unable to walk for six months after.  I almost died.