we might have a chance. Until we crashed.
We hit something so hard, I went into a daze. Lewis and T.J. took off on foot, but I just laid there on that mattress trying to recover. Since I was lying down, the cops didn’t see me. They took off after T.J. and Lewis. They just left me there in the back of the truck. When I realized I was all alone, I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh shit, really?” I climbed out of the truck and started calmly walking away. That’s when I heard, “Hey, you! Stop!” I ran. The Highway Patrol started chasing me on foot. I was able to run around the corner and there was a three-foot-high wall in front of me. I jumped over it and fell into some hedges. I heard the police run toward me, and then stop. They couldn’t figure out where I went. I heard them call in on theirradios. They reported that they were on foot chasing a Little black male, dressed in all red. I waited until they had run off, then I climbed out from the hedges. I started walking calmly across the street. Here comes the sheriff. They flashed a light in my eyes. “Hey you, what are you doing?” I said, “I’m on my way home.” They looked me over. I was dressed in all red and I was a Little Person, but I was white, not black. They let me go.
I went into a Mexican restaurant. The helicopters were circling, and I’ll never forget the lady there at the register. She took one look at me and saw something was wrong. She was so kind. “You okay?” she spoke in broken English. I said, “Yeah, I just need to rest.” She pointed to the video game room, so I gave her five dollars, and she gave me a whole bunch of quarters. I hid in the back room of that restaurant, playing video games. Cops were running everywhere, looking for me. Finally, everything cooled down, and the cops left the area. I thanked the lady and left the restaurant. There was a bus coming, so I jumped on. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew I was in a shitload of trouble.
I rode the bus downtown, then transferred to another bus that took me to Dante’s house. I needed to think, to find out if anyone knew anything. I was too afraid to go back to Mama Myrt’s. I thought the cops might be looking for me there. Dante hadn’t made it home. Everyone got caught but me. Dante called from jail. His sister told him I was there, and he told her to put me on the phone. He said, “Shorty, you gotta do something. They’re talking about giving us the death chamber.” Apparently, three guys had been hit during ourshootout, and one of them was the innocent bystander Dante had robbed. He was in the hospital, in critical condition, and the cops were saying all kinds of shit to scare the crap out of Dante. I got off the phone and Dante’s sick mom let me spend the night in his room. After I left the next day, she had a heart attack.
I called Mama Myrt and she told me to come home. She said, “We’ll take you up to Uncle D.’s house in Atascadero. You need to get outta town until we find out what’s happening.” I walked out of Dante’s house and got about a block from the school on the corner. The kids were on recess, spilling out onto the sidewalks, when all of a sudden, five or six cop cars came out of nowhere. Screeching wheels, sirens, guns drawn, screaming into a megaphone. Kids running. Cops everywhere. It was chaos. They treated me like I was the biggest, baddest motherfucker. Like I was six-foot-nine and carrying an arsenal of weapons. They slammed me into the ground. I yelled, “I’m not armed!” It didn’t help. Officer Martinez—I can still see his face—cuffed me and threw me in the back of his squad car. He smirked. “Enjoy your last breath of fresh air, you little piece of shit.”
They took me to the Southgate substation. When I walked in, all the cops were laughing at the guys who’d been part of the chase the night before. “You let this little fuck get away from you?” It embarrassed them so badly they got pissed off.
We hit something so hard, I went into a daze. Lewis and T.J. took off on foot, but I just laid there on that mattress trying to recover. Since I was lying down, the cops didn’t see me. They took off after T.J. and Lewis. They just left me there in the back of the truck. When I realized I was all alone, I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh shit, really?” I climbed out of the truck and started calmly walking away. That’s when I heard, “Hey, you! Stop!” I ran. The Highway Patrol started chasing me on foot. I was able to run around the corner and there was a three-foot-high wall in front of me. I jumped over it and fell into some hedges. I heard the police run toward me, and then stop. They couldn’t figure out where I went. I heard them call in on theirradios. They reported that they were on foot chasing a Little black male, dressed in all red. I waited until they had run off, then I climbed out from the hedges. I started walking calmly across the street. Here comes the sheriff. They flashed a light in my eyes. “Hey you, what are you doing?” I said, “I’m on my way home.” They looked me over. I was dressed in all red and I was a Little Person, but I was white, not black. They let me go.
I went into a Mexican restaurant. The helicopters were circling, and I’ll never forget the lady there at the register. She took one look at me and saw something was wrong. She was so kind. “You okay?” she spoke in broken English. I said, “Yeah, I just need to rest.” She pointed to the video game room, so I gave her five dollars, and she gave me a whole bunch of quarters. I hid in the back room of that restaurant, playing video games. Cops were running everywhere, looking for me. Finally, everything cooled down, and the cops left the area. I thanked the lady and left the restaurant. There was a bus coming, so I jumped on. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew I was in a shitload of trouble.
I rode the bus downtown, then transferred to another bus that took me to Dante’s house. I needed to think, to find out if anyone knew anything. I was too afraid to go back to Mama Myrt’s. I thought the cops might be looking for me there. Dante hadn’t made it home. Everyone got caught but me. Dante called from jail. His sister told him I was there, and he told her to put me on the phone. He said, “Shorty, you gotta do something. They’re talking about giving us the death chamber.” Apparently, three guys had been hit during ourshootout, and one of them was the innocent bystander Dante had robbed. He was in the hospital, in critical condition, and the cops were saying all kinds of shit to scare the crap out of Dante. I got off the phone and Dante’s sick mom let me spend the night in his room. After I left the next day, she had a heart attack.
I called Mama Myrt and she told me to come home. She said, “We’ll take you up to Uncle D.’s house in Atascadero. You need to get outta town until we find out what’s happening.” I walked out of Dante’s house and got about a block from the school on the corner. The kids were on recess, spilling out onto the sidewalks, when all of a sudden, five or six cop cars came out of nowhere. Screeching wheels, sirens, guns drawn, screaming into a megaphone. Kids running. Cops everywhere. It was chaos. They treated me like I was the biggest, baddest motherfucker. Like I was six-foot-nine and carrying an arsenal of weapons. They slammed me into the ground. I yelled, “I’m not armed!” It didn’t help. Officer Martinez—I can still see his face—cuffed me and threw me in the back of his squad car. He smirked. “Enjoy your last breath of fresh air, you little piece of shit.”
They took me to the Southgate substation. When I walked in, all the cops were laughing at the guys who’d been part of the chase the night before. “You let this little fuck get away from you?” It embarrassed them so badly they got pissed off.
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