| David Jay Jordan's About the Author Our Wild Ride Testimony Because some people just don't understand that the system or the world just isn't a nice place run by nice people and that the justice system is run by mere mortals who aren't always moral, so allow me to write down my experiences with the San ****** and Los ******** Police Departments. But it isn't on any official records, nevertheless it is true so help me God. It was 1974, and a young black brother in the Lord and myself took a faith trip to San ****** to pass out tracts and witness. We hitchhiked there from our home in, *******, California and arrived there in the evening. We started passing out Christian tracts about the Lord and our work right on the main street It was a busy Saturday night and there was huge crowds walking the sidewalks. But we had only been doing this an hour or so before an undercover policeman took me into the alley of a side street. He told me to put my hands against the wall, as he frisked me and then handcuffed my hands behind my back. He leaned me against the wall, and started interrogating me about why I asked for donations when, a rough looking character wandered by and asked the undercover policeman if he wanted any heroin. The policeman, courteously said, "No man" and then continued harassing me as the drug dealer walked non-chalantly up the sidewalk, asking others if they wanted his merchandise. The Sergeant’s car then pulled up, but even combing their heads together, they couldn't find a law against what I was doing. So without a code violation number they were forced to let me go, by saying they would throw the whole book at me if I didn't get out of their city. They released my handcuffs. And shaken a bit and confused as to why my crime was so dastardly and why the drug pushers was so harmless, I found my Christian buddy, and stopped witnessing. We spent the night at a friends and in the morning we went to the on ramp to the freeway back home. Soon a stationwagon pulled over with a Latino type driver and a white Caucasian passenger. They said they were going our way. So we figured, it would be an easy relaxing ride all the way home. But then the driver started telling us his past experiences as a Green Beret in Viet Nam and how he was now working for the **** P.D. Whoa, I'm thinking this is getting too heavy again. So he says, he is on assignment to bring back Joe sitting to his right from jail back to Los ****** But the catch is, they don't exactly want Joe back there. so Enrico, could waste him on the way back. "Huh? What?" I'm thinking, is this guy nuts? And No Joe, lifts up one hand and he has an unlocked pair of cuffs on, dangling on one of his wrists. And then Joe starts to tell us his story. "Oh MY LORD, what next" as me and the little black brother are a captive audience to Joe's life experiences now. Joe it turns out, had been shot in the back by a policeman by mistake when younger and had sued the police because he was paralyzed from the waist down. With the money, he said, he bought a fast car, boat and plane and started smuggling drugs across the Mexican-American border. The only problem is he killed someone with his good left hand and the police caught him. "Oh great" says I, in my thoughts, we had been picked up by too crazy guys. Then almost as I was thinking this, Enrico barks back to us. "You do believe us don't you?" as he tells us there's a shotgun under our seats. I bend over a bit and sure enough there is. But then Enrico adds, 'But I don't like guns, in Viet Nam I used to like this' as he pulled out a long switchblade that opened as he was driving along. "Gulp" thinks us two in the back. "Very nice Enrico" we compliment him on his choice of weapons. "But you know" says Enrico, " me and Joe here have come to an agreement, I'm tired of this shit, of killing people. Joe's got money, he's going to give me 40 G's and I'm going to let him go. I'll tell'em at headquarters I killed him, and dumped his body, and they'll be happy. Why should I kill Joe anyway, he's cool......You guys won't tell anyone will you?" Me and the black brother both shake our heads as he scans our reaction in the rear view mirror. O.K. says I, just stay calm and don't do anything out of the ordinary. Right, what's ordinary about this?! Then Enrico starts to swerve a little as he's driving because he hasn't gotten much sleep.He asks if I know how to drive and I say 'Yea' O.K. you drive, so who am I to argue as he gets in the back with me now driving. But I said, what about Joe and his handcuffs that are still tangling off his one hand. "Never you mind, just drive" And so about fifteen minutes later, we're heading into a police roadblock right across the whole interstate. I'm freaking out and tell Enrico. As usual he says with his Latino accent "Be cool, just drive, man, be cool" With sweaty palms I approach the policeman that has stopped all traffic, and he asks if we have any fruit or vegetables from Mexico. I stutter out something that sounds like "No" and keep driving. Wondering how the policeman never saw Joe next to me trying to hide his handcuffs. I think to myself, ‘Oh yea, they were looking for fruits and vegetables, not guns, and convicts, and pysho's, and switch blades…… Oh Lord get us out of this one !!’ Enrico's goes back to sleep and we drive uneventfully towards our place as if we needed any more thrills and adventures in our dull existence and faith trip. So just outside of our city, Enrico's starts driving again and pulls into a small mall for some beer. He walks off into the store, leaving us alone with Joe for a while. So Joe says to us non-chalantly. "You know I kind of like Enrico, he's alright. I don't think I'll kill him. I could use this gun here and blow his head off as he comes out of the store, but he's O.K. Besides we got a deal. I always keep my word. You don't tell him this. O.K." Oh dam, I'm thinking another promise to keep quiet, "Oh Yea, Joe, we ain't a going to tell him nothing". Enrico comes back with his beer and starts chattering away about his future life in Mexico. He consumes a half dozen in about a mile it seemed and I say this is a good place to drop us off, Enrico, even though it was miles away from our destination. "O.K". says Enrico, "Its been good to meet you guys, all the best in your missionary work." Thanks Enrico … see ya, …Joe, Thanks for the ride" And we part company barely able to keep ourselves together in one piece. And then fall to the ground when they are out of sight. "Oh well, we were still alive and we had kept our mouths shut and we did survive our nice Christian faith trip. We may not have saved any souls that week-end but the Lord definitely saved us. It’s been about 25 years since it happened, so maybe now we can tell our true life adventure and how the Lord delivered us. Honest Enrico and Joe, we kept quiet all these years. Besides I changed your names to protect you from any character defamation. Right? In the Lord’s Exciting Service Jay |