Stranded, Penniless...and kidnapped?

So Saturday night seemed like it would be like any other fun night. Little did I know it would be anything but normal.

The night started out pretty low key. A bunch of us headed down to the Yardhouse for some beer, then Darren, Brooke, and I split and went over to a club called Belo. In case you couldn't tell by the name, it's underground which means cell phones only work only 25% of the time.

So anyways, Brooke decideds to leave early which leaves just Darren and I. We separate each meeting different girls. So I am in one room dancing my little hiney off and I have no idea where Darren is.

1:45 rolls around and I take a look at my phone and I have 3 missed calls from Aaron (who was downtown but not at Belo). I also notice Darren texted me an hour ago saying he was ready to leave. I figure he'll wait until after 2:00 (he drove us) when the club closes and they kick people out, then we'll meet up.

So I'm hangin out with this girl waiting for the lights to come on and the bouncers to herd us towards the exit. I'm not paying attention to the time because I figure the lights turning on will be my cue.

Well the next time I look at my watch, its 2:35! Apparently they now only stop serving alcohol at 2:00 but the DJ keeps spinning until 4:00. So I whip out my phone to "number close" and then call Darren.

Dead. Doesn't turn on...nothing. Great. I look around the half empty club. No Darren. I go outside. No Darren.

I have a feeling Darren thinks I left with someone because my phone is off and he hasn't seen me for hours. I run over the parking structure...car's gone. Just great. I'm stranded downtown, it's freezing cold, I have NO cash whatsoever, and my cell phone is dead. Wonderful.

I wander the streets looking for an atm to get a cab. I'm pissed because I know the bastard, crooked cab drivers in San Diego will charge me like fourty or fifty bucks to take me home.

I finally find an atm and there's a mexican guy, late 30's in front of me. He sees me struggling with my phone, and after some conversation offers, "hey homie, I can give you a ride. I gotta go in that direction sorta."

At this point I'm debating whether riding with this sketchy guy is a good idea. I half heartedly agree when I see he is with another girl and we walk like 10 blocks in the cold to wherever the hell he parked his car. The whole walk I'm analyzing everything he's saying trying to get a read on if this guy is legit or not. Everytime he glances away, I checking his belt for knives or guns or anything. So far, he seems safe enough.

As we leave downtown, he starts telling me about an after-party he's going to thats not even close to my house, and he thinks I should go. I politely decline but wonder how my house is "on the way" to this party across the county. To make matters sketchier, he starts taking all the back streets to "avoid cops." Avoid cops? Why the hell do we need to avoid cops!?!

Now I'm thinking "what the hell have I gotten myself into!" and start eyeing him down for any bulges in his jacket. I then think, "well if I make it outa this, it will be good blog material!" After sometime he finally decides its safe to get on the freeway, only he wants to take one that goes nowhere near my house! I'm not having any of it. After sometime I finally convince him to take a decent route.

Maybe we should have stuck to the back roads. He starts driving 110mph on the freeway at 3:30 am!!! I'm clutching the "oh shit" bar watching at least two separate pulled over vehicles on the shoulder wiz by, and praying that I make it out of this alive.

I had heard stories about people in mexico getting kidnapped and forced to withdraw money from atms. Thats all that was running through my mind. This man is going to take me on a tour of San Diego and take all of my money. Then we're probably gonna end up in some high speed hot persuit that ends in me being held hostage or something.

I convince him to drop me off at a friends house because A) Its right off the freeway and B) I don't particularly want him to know where I live.

To my relief we finally arrive near my friends house and tell him I can walk the rest. I tried to pay him the twenty bucks I took from the atm, but he refuses! "Nah essay! I'm not like that yo! Besides, friendship is more important!" Wow. This guy goes on to talk about how we should go hang out and pickup "tha biiitches" and stuff.

So I made it back, and though at one point I thought I might have been kidnapped, the guy turned out to be pretty damn decent (as well as a little crazy). SO what's the lesson? Trust your instinct when a random sketchy guy offers you a ride home...you just might save a couple bucks!