Daryl's Court Date

A lot of you commented on my post, 'Thank You' back on September 14th. Some of you knew what was going on, and a lot of you didn't, and you still lent me your support through your comments - thank you so much for that. I will blog about this tonight, because this week was the conclusion to our nightmare. In July of this year, D got a ticket from a DOT officer. (He's a truck driver.) He gave the ticket to his boss, as it was equipment violations, and not having the proper paperwork in the truck. His boss said, "I'll take care of it." And that, D thought, was the end of it. Not so much. On September 11th, some lady hit D's truck at a job site, so D called the police to report the accident, per company policy. The police said there would be no citation, as it wasn't D's fault. But - D had a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in court. They arrested him. He called me, but I was in a meeting and didn't answer. He called his work, and the manager said, "We'll bail you out today." Unbeknownst to me! Well, about a 1/2 hour later, I have two messages on my phone from the receptionist at D's work. She didn't leave any details in the message. I have been married to two truck drivers, and the only reason they call the wife is if there's been an accident. I immediately went into panic-mode! When I called back, she tells me, "No, he's not in the hospital, he's in jail." I asked her if she had the right wife! D? In jail? WTF? So she tells me that in order to bail him out I need $780. Yeah, I'll just pull that right out of my ass! No prob! Now I didn't know what this was all about. I had NO details. D couldn't call me from jail, because we don't have a land line...only cell phones. So, the 1st 24 hours, I did a lot of brainstorming, etc., and did the dance around Vicki telling her Daddy was on an out-of-state run, and his truck broke down. I couldn't exactly tell her that her hero was in jail - jail is for bad guys! The next morning (Wednesday), I went to a bail bondsman and told him my sob story. I needed collateral equal to the bail amount. The only thing I had was my wedding & engagement rings. I took them off and started crying. It was an awful experience. So Jerry, the bondsman, went down to bail D out. He said D would call me when he was released - probably within 4 hours. That was at 10:30 a.m. 24 hours after his arrest. At 3:00, I called the automated number to see when D would be released, and found out they moved him to a different jail (Durango). I called Jerry, and he said, "Go visit him." So I did. What a catastrophe! I got there just as they were getting a bunch of inmates off the bus together. I saw D in his black & white jail stripes, with pink flip-flops, handcuffed to another prisoner (pink handcuffs, too). I'm so glad he didn't see me at that moment. So there I am, waiting to see him. My number will be called soon. A voice comes over the loudspeaker telling everyone that the jail is now on lockdown - go home - visiting hours are over. WTF? So, I go home for another sleepless night. Me & Rascal in the recliner again. The next morning, I called the automated number and it said he was released at 5:00 a.m. Um, ok...it's 7:00! Why hasn't he called? Oh, yeah, and they moved him to yet another jail (Lower Buckeye)! So I truck on down to that facility and very calmly ask where my hubby is. They told me that it could take 10-12 hours from that release time before he's actually released! Well, snapped. I started screaming like a crazy woman about 48 hours in jail for a f'ing failure to appear in court...and quite a few other choice words. All of a sudden, there was a hand on my shoulder, and I heard these words, "Ma'am, if you don't leave immediately, I'm going to take you into custody." Um, ok, I'll be going now. So I sat in the parking lot and cried. Then I went to work. D was released at 10:30 a.m. that day, exactly 48 hours after his arrest. What we didn't realize is that his company wouldn't back him up. And that there were criminal charges filed against him. So his court date was yesterday, and he pleaded to 1 of the lesser non-criminal charges, and all others were dropped, and the bond released. I got my wedding rings back today. The only time I was happier to see them was the very first time! It had been 83 days without them on, and one of those days was our anniversary. So again, thanks everyone for your support. I would especially like to thank Aaron, Veronnica, Ted, Julie, Mark, Ingrid and Kramer. I really couldn't have gone through this without your support!