Six Cop Cars

Posted on December 13, 2004 in Neighborhood

We have no idea what the lights and cop cars are about. They — the sheriff deputies — are still out there, on Ridgeline, the yellow lines atop their cruisers running left to right, left to right. A few people gather on the sidewalk. One of them — a woman I think — wears a faded red jacket. As we drive past, I check the pavement for skid marks or broken glass. It’s clean.

Lynn tells me that they’ve been there since before seven. “They had the road blocked off,” she tells me. “A great big truck had to turn around.”

A man carrying several wine bottles climbs to our street. Their labels stand out like emergency flashers. I check to see if we know him because if I do, I’ll ask Lynn to stop the car and I’ll ask him what is going on. He’s a stranger.

It reminds me of the evening when I heard the helicopter overhead. Strange doing that made it to the national news. I’m too timid to go out and ask what is happening. Big man like me coming up on a pack of cops in the dark could end up trussed up on the grass between the road and the sidewalk. I’ll wait until morning and then ask around.