Dies to Removal

This past weekend was a roller coaster in Baltimore, both emotionally and in the tournament itself. The weekend began after Kali got off work at 6 p.m. on Friday, and we got on the road after a quick dinner. It was just the two of us on the drive up which was refreshing. Long car rides listening to old, bad music, talking about anything and everything; it was relaxing and fun. I get to spend a lot of time with my wife, but we rarely get to go on these trips together since she has mostly stopped playing Magic in favor of running the events or judging.

It wasn't a long trip compared to most Magic events I go to. The drive to Baltimore is only four hours or so and primarily interstate, so we were able to get into Baltimore just before midnight. But upon entering the city, we got turned around somewhere due to the excess of one-way streets but eventually, we
got within striking distance of our hotel. One block away, we were stopped at a red light where we were promptly rear-ended by an SUV.

Not badly, mind you. It was a gentle nudge as far as most of these things go, but Kali put the car in park, got incredibly flustered, and I told her I would handle it. I got out of the car, and the driver of the SUV was...not even paying attention to me or what had happened. He was, for all I could tell, looking straight ahead blankly. He didn't even notice me when I stepped out of the car nor did he seem to know that he had actually hit us.

"Hey man, what are you doing!?"

He looked at me when I started calling to him. A look of disdain and fear swept across his face. In his altered state, he then realized what had happened and put his car in reverse. By this time, Kali had gotten out of the car, but I knew something was wrong. I told her to get back in the car because the other driver did not seem coherent. I told her to call the cops.

At that
moment, after backing up an odd four feet or so, the other driver put his car into drive and tried to drive off, but instead smashed into the back of our car again. Since we were in park, he began to push our car into the adjacent lane, towards Kali. At this point, she's screaming, and I just froze. I had no idea what to do. What could I do?

As his SUV turned our car, it was let free to an extent. He curved around our car towards the driver's side and attempted to speed off. A hit and run. But I am cowering in fear that he's going to run my wife over. Kali. The only person on earth I could never live without. And here I am, unable to move, or speak, or breathe.

As he pulls his SUV into the next lane, he narrowly misses Kali by just a few feet, and all of the cars and bystanders near us are just in shock. What just happened?

To tell you the truth, I don't even know what happened. Someone who was drunk or high just hit our car twice and almost ran my wife over on the street. It was a
lovely welcome back to Baltimore, and one that I won't forget for a long time to come.

We waited for about five minutes for the cops to show up. Luckily, Kali was level-headed enough to get the license plate of the offender, though she was shaking all the while. I tried my best to comfort her, but I was just as scared as she was. How are you supposed to be the strong one in this situation? Everything I know and love was nearly snuffed out right in front of me, all because some guy didn't want to get a traffic violation, or possibly a DUI. I was in shock.

We told the police exactly what had happened, gave them the license plate of the SUV, and made our way to the hotel. I'm not sure if they ever caught the guy, but they apparently have cameras at most intersections in the city, so I am hopeful. He deserves to go to jail after that stunt. We eventually calmed down and got to bed around 2 a.m., ready for work.