July 18, 1998: it was my 28th birthday.  My ex-girlfriend came to pick me up, and we went to a country-western bar in Charlotte, NC called Coyote Joe’s.  There was an open bar that night; in other words, I payed a $15.00 cover charge, and I could drink as much as my heart desired.  The night started out great; hanging out with friends was a great way to celebrate my birthday.

I started out drinking slow because I knew it would be a long night filled with alcohol; however, as my friends found out it was my birthday, they wanted to do shots with me, and who was I to say no.

Coyote Joe’s was my old stomping grounds; I used to go there all the time during my bull riding days.  I made a lot of friends there; including girls.  I would get out and mingle, and dance the two-step.  I even sang in contests there on Thursday nights and won a couple of times.  I had great memories at Coyote Joe’s, but this night on my birthday, would turn out to be the worst night of my life.

The beer and the shots were flowing more and more as the night progressed, and I became more and more intoxicated.  Although I had a strong buzz going and was feeling fine, these guys I did not know started coming up to me and commenting on my ex-girlfriend; that was when I realized she had been lying to me.

She had been coming to Coyote Joe’s during the week and talking and dancing with guys behind my back; she was going there with her girlfriends and neglected to tell me about it.  Once I figured this out, I could feel my disposition starting to change, and a crazy feeling came over me, and my ex-girlfriend could see it in my face.

I became angry, and with the alcohol flowing through my veins, I confronted her, and we started to argue.  It was close to closing time as we moved our argument outside.  We were standing not far from the entrance as she tried to explain herself, and I dismissed every explanation that came out of her mouth.  One guy stepped in and said, “Take it easy.”  I politely told him to mind his own business.

A minute later, a police officer came over and told us we needed to move on; after the officer told us that, I turned around and gave him the finger as he walked away; what I did not notice was his partner standing behind me out of sight.  The next thing I know the officers are putting me in handcuffs and stuffed me in the back of their police cruiser, as my ex-girlfriend watched in tears.  I could not believe what had transpired; what started out to be a great birthday had taken a turn for the very worst.

I remember sitting in the police cruiser with the arresting officer, and he said, “You are going back to prison,” and after he said that I had lost all hope; I instantly became depressed and I truly wanted to die at that moment.

After a couple of hours, I had passed out, and when I came to I realized we were still at Coyote Joe’s.  About that time I threw up on myself, but it was not projectile.  When the arresting officer had noticed I threw up, he opened the door and asked, “Did you just throw up in my car?”  Then he said, “Get out!”  He pulled me from the back seat of the cruiser, and then he spun me around and started to take off the handcuffs.  I said, “Wait, you are letting me go?”  He said, “Yes, get out of here!”  So, I took off toward the back of the building before he changed his mind.

I knew my ride was gone, so there I was stranded two hours from home with no ride, no cell phone, and not much hope.  The bad thing was my mental illness had kicked in, so I thought the cops were playing head games with me, but of course they were not.

I had started out wearing a straw cowboy hat, a wrangler shirt, wrangler jeans, and my cowboy boots; by early morning I had no hat, no shirt, and no boots or socks.  Yes, I had to walk shirtless and barefooted down I-85 in Charlotte to the next exit where there was a store; it was the longest and most humiliating walk of my life.  Once I made it to the store, I went inside to see if they had t-shirts for sale, but they did not.  I walked out to the phone booth and started calling my ex-girlfriend’s house.

All I could get was the answering machine in my desperate attempts.  Finally, I called my friend, Adam, and he drove two hours to come pick me up.  I thank God it was summer time otherwise I would have froze to death.  When Adam finally pulled up, he could not help but laugh at what he saw, and I did not even care; it was good to see his smiling face.

I will not go into what transpired between the time the officer let me go and the time I got out of the woods; all I will say is that I was scared and on the run, and I am lucky I was not arrested for trespassing, as I was walking anywhere but back to Coyote Joe’s.  I will also add this: do not ever flip-off a police officer even if he is not looking because it could land you in no mans land.  Well, there you have it: the worst day and birthday of my life.  Happy Birthday to me I guess!

You may be wondering why I flipped off a police officer; I mean why would someone in their right mind do such a thing?  The truth is I was not in my right mind at the time; the beer and liquor had taken over at that point.  The alcohol mixed with my anger and mental illness was a recipe for disaster.  I had already lost my independence after losing my driver license for four years, and the only time I could see my ex was when she came to pick me up.  So, there was a lot going on at that time, and I just thank Jesus for helping me come out alive instead of dying a young man.

Take care, and God bless!

Chris