Close Call

Last Friday night, my roommate Dylan and I left around 6pm to drive south 20 miles to St. Francis where our buddies live for band practice. On our way we stopped by the Gus Stop to pick up some pizzas to share with our band-mates and started the routine journey west out of Mission and south through Rosebud to get to St. Francis.

During the car ride in my brand new Escape, Dylan listened to the radio and highlighted our week of teaching at the Middle School. As I drove further south I started approaching the tiny town of Rosebud, which is the "capitol" of Rosebud Reservation. Here, the speed limit dips from 65 to 40 mph. As always, I ease my car down to 40 as I approach the outskirts of town and drive past the small communities of trailers and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) housing. As I past BIA- 9 road on my right, I notice a pair of headlights in front of me in my lane.
"That's weird", I thought to myself, since there is no merge ahead or a turn lane for BIA-9 for opposite traffic yet. "Maybe the driver is anticipating a turn", I thought, though very very perplexed as the large, decade old pickup continues towards me.

Uh... he's not moving into another lane. "THAT GUY IS IN MY LANE!" I yelled.

So I moved more towards the right as we are barreling at each other going 40 miles and hour. AND HE MIMICKS MY MOVE. So I move quickly to the left. AND HE FOLLOWS THAT MOVE. Here I am, playing vehicle chicken with a pickup truck. And even though I like to finish what I start, this is one game I am willing to quit.

"Woah! WOah! WOAH!"

The last woah came as I made the last second decision to cut hard to the right and go into the ditch. I slowly move back onto the highway and look in my rear view mirror and notice the driver must have come back to reality as he headed back into his designated lane.

"You alright?" I asked Dylan.

"Yeah, you?" he reciprocated.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I answered. And then we stayed silent for a few moments letting those terrifying seconds sink in.

"Is the pizza, OK?" Yeah, that's me. With that situation behind me, time to think about the future... or atleast my stomach.