Awakening
Being awoken by the commotion after the 2am bar closing is not an uncommon thing for us Thursday, sometimes Wednesday, through Saturday and neither are screams of “HELP” from drunks who think calling wolf is the peak of comic genius. So when I initially was startled out of unconsciousness by someone yelling “STOP, HELP!!” I simply turned over and pulled the covers tighter about my shoulders. Not until the words “I am backing away now just let me go” did I realized that someone might truly be in need of help, so I grabbed my phone and went to the window. From my vantage point all that could be seen was a cab with the driver door ajar, at which point I dialed 911. This scene gave two options as to what was going on since I could still not see the people involved but only hear the grunts of a struggle, either the cabdriver was getting robbed or some tool was trying to run out on his bill and the cabbie was not having it. Just as I hung up the phone I finally got to see the people involved as one guy bolted for the cab, got in and locked the doors while the other guy chased after him. He was too slow and once he realized that he was shut out he booked for the corner and took off running north. In an odd turn of events it appeared that it was the passenger, from now on to be referred to as The Tool, that had locked himself into the cab for protection, he was wearing a sport coat and jeans plus he sounded drunk when we could hear him speak later. So it was the cabbie who took off leaving his car behind which led us to believe it was not his medallion and/or he had no green card.
Either way he was long gone and missed all the excitement as one of Chicago’s finest came barreling down out street the wrong way with lights flashing and two other unmarked cars blocked the other end of the street. At this point The Tool got out of the car and started jogging towards the cops while yelling incoherently at which point the cops grabbed him, threw him onto the hood and cuffed his hands behind his back. I admire this approach cuff everyone, figure what is going on later. So The Tool starts screaming over and over “he bit my f*&king finger off man!! My f*&king finger” and so the cop grabs his hands, still cuffed behind The Tools back, twisting them into view and counts his digits. With all ten there and no blood to justify his rantings I think everyone, except the The Tool, was a little disappointed. In an attempt to get a better view I walked into the bedroom but by the time I got there all the cars including the cab where being driven away. Needless to say I was completely shocked and how quickly the scene had dissipated.
While staring at the now empty street I watched in amusement as a steady stream of cabs came driving by, stopping at the end of our block, getting out, looking around in confusion and then driving away.
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