Tonight

I was driving home tonight and I was stopped at an intersection waiting for a red light to turn green. I saw an African-American woman walk behind my truck. She came around near the passenger side, and when I looked at her, she started saying something to me through the window. I was wondering if I knew this woman and just couldn't place her - maybe she was a mother of one of the kids that I had worked with before. I don't remember if I put down the window first or opened the passenger door, but the next thing I know she is getting into my truck and saying "Hello, my name is Christie." I think that's what her name was. The odor of alcohol and marijuana,I believe, filled my truck. She had a large beer bottle in a small paper sack. At first she told me she needed to go to the grocery store down the street. As we were headed in that direction, she asked me if I knew where the alternative school was. I said I did. So then she said she needed to go over there to that neighborhood. It was at that point that I think I started getting pretty anxious.

Winding my way through some pretty rough neighborhoods - I've only been in that part of town during the day - I kept trying to make small talk in an effort to be nice. I do remember that at one point I said, "Yeah, you shouldn't have to walk this far to get to your house." When we finally got to the destination, she told me to back up a little bit because the people who lived in the house that I was parked in front of wouldn't like it if I was there - I really had no clue what that meant, but I was scared at this point. She then said, "I hate to ask, but do you have a couple of dollars?"

I said I would have to look and was thinking that she was going to rob me when my wallet came out of my book bag. I had exactly two dollars that I gave to her. She asked if I had any more. I literally showed her my wallet so that she could see that I didn't. She got out of my truck and that's when I noticed an African-American man walking toward my door. My heart was pounding. My window was down because it was a pretty mild night. He asked, "Hey, can I ask you something?" as he approached my truck.

I said, "Yes sir."

"Do you have a dollar?"

I said, "I'm sorry, I just gave all of my money to her. Y'all have a good night."

And I drove off.

Did I do the right thing by allowing her to get into my truck? Would I have been as scared if she had been a white woman? I'm pretty sure she was drunk and was high too - should that make a difference in me wanting to help her? Just random thoughts as I thank God for taking care of me tonight.

Thanks for reading.