Clean Getaway

It wasn’t the warmest day. Grey skies precluded the sun and it rained off and on. I felt happy heading toward church.
Traveling at the posted speed of 45 on Spring Street, no one behind me, I see less than half a block away a red flat bed truck with a trailer pulling up from a construction drive on the left side of the street. As I neared him, he did the expected but unwise thing: He pulled out in front of me without even stopping and dawdle along at 25. The street is such that there are three lanes, a central turn lane even when there is no place to turn. I have used this lane to pass slowpoke cars, to their surprise it always seems.
This truck was no different.

I started around him. As I neared the cab of the truck he seemed irritated that I was passing him. ( In my opinion, proof that he was driving like a jerk to irritate me.) Since he couldn’t go any faster, he attempted to run me into oncoming traffic. There wasn’t any to speak of.
I pressed the pedal to the metal and more determined to go around him. He began tailgating and Gordo pulled the emergency break enough to put the lights on, and the truck backed off a little, and only momentarily. Then he was back, seemingly angrier than before. Gordo urged me to turn off and let him go. I felt the need to turn off into a neighborhood and just let him go by, since he was turning out to be more of a nut than I wanted to deal with.

I missed the first opportunity, and decided upon the second right hand turn. As I turned onto the street, I was surprised when the truck followed me there barely slowing down for the turn. Lucky for me, a grassy divide split entry from exit in this particular subdivision. In my little car the hairpin turn was easy to navigate and as soon as I entered, I turned 180 in my tiny car to make an exit. The truck wasn’t able to negotiate such a sharp turn even without the trailer. In this residential area, people parked on both sides of the street. Unless he found another street exit, he’d have to turn around. That was guaranteed to take awhile. By then, I would be long gone.
I love my little getaway car…