Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?

So I get this letter in the mail today from a district court. Its a "Notice of Impending Warrrant of Arrest." This is not typically the kind of letter that will put a smile on your face or give you a warm fuzzy feeling. In fact, it scared the BeJeezzuss (sp?) out of me. I immediately closed my back window curtains, got dressed, all the while trying to peek out the front windows to see if they had come for me yet. Visions of calling my 19-year-old daughter raced through my head. I'd be in big trouble because she's a night owl; goes to bed around 7 a.m. and gets up around 5 p.m. So she wouldn't be answering the phone when Mom calls from jail to get bailed out.

I visualized myself on an episode of Cops. They'd come to my house and I'd be hiding in the bathtub. The door would be kicked in, my cats would run for cover, and all the neighbors would be standing outside. The Bad Boys theme would be playing as I ran to the bathroom.

"I can't believe it. She's such a nice girl. Doesn't she go shopping and do cleaning for some of the elderly people in this apartment complex?"

"Oh my, what did she do?"

The men in blue would pull me out of the bathtub, cuff me, kneeing me in the back while I protested my innocence.

"It's not my fault!" I'd scream.

"Its that BLEEP son of a BLEEP ex-boyfriend of mine. That BLEEP made me write out the check for his BLEEP cigarettes!"

"You have the right to remain silent...."

I've always been proud that I haven't screwed up at least a few things in my life: I've never been arrested, don't have any kind of police record, and I have a clean driving record. Well, now I have a mark against me. The bounced check is a conviction of a summary offense. So, if I try to get a job and they do a background check, that will come up. There's a process I have to look into to get in expunged from my record. Right now I'm just paying on the damned thing.

The original check was for $50. With fees and fines, I have to pay back $206. I really can't afford this right now.

Anyway, I raced up to the courthouse, cursing my ex-boyfriend again. They were closed because it was Flag Day. Another waste of time and gas.

Over a year ago, we had no money, little food, and my ex had no cigarettes. Cigarettes came first in our household. It was like oxygen for him. I had no money in my checking account and he swore to me if I wrote a check at the supermarket, he'd get the money in by the time they cashed it. In the past, he'd gone into supermarkets and stolen cigarettes when we had no money. Nice guy.

Well, he was not only a thief but a liar. He never got the money into the bank, the check bounced, and they took me to court for it. I admit my wrongdoing in this by not responding to their demand for the money before they took me to court; but I honestly didn't have it. I also know I'm not supposed to write checks with no money in the account, but this had become a way of life for us.

My ex didn't care. His name wasn't on the account. He'd been prosectued back in New York for writing bad checks. But, as usual, he got off with probation. He would buy appliances with a check, sell them for the cash, and of course, his check would bounce.

This guy brought me to new lows. There was the time I had back surgery and was in the hospital and he took $500 out of my account and gambled it away. Another time we went to his nephews wedding, gave them a check for $300 and he later called them and told them not to deposit the check, making up some excuse that it was from the wrong checking account. He would constantly borrow money from my then 16-year-old daughter when she was working , even driving her to the bank on payday to make sure he got some of her money.

It has now been almost nine months that I'm away from this loser. I do hope I make it through without an appearance on Cops.

Bad boys, bad boys...