The Prelude to the 2010 A.H.A. Gala

On September 17, 2010, there was a night of outstanding and touching advocacy and awareness for infertility and adoption as it affects the African American community.  A gathering of patients, supporters and doctors, all came together to celebrate and cultivate the amazing community built by The Broken Brown Egg.  A year of planning, a generous sponsorship, oh and a night of almost going to jail…led to this unforgettable evening.  Finally, I’m recapping the Awareness.Hope.Activism gala!

So, I know you’re like, “Wait, almost going to jail?”

YES.  Almost going to jail.  Well, almost being involved in a robbery, and THEN almost ending up in jail.

Picture it, Chicago, around 2am the morning of September 17.  I had been at my aunt’s on the south side, finishing up the programs and centerpieces for the gala all Thursday evening.  I knew that I should have gone and gotten gas while it was still a reasonable time of day,but nooooo, I was determined to finish the beading of the centerpieces and packing the cars for things to be transported to the Loft the next day. So needless to say, when I left that night, alone, I had to stop for gasoline.  There are four gas stations near the expressway ramp leading from my aunt’s house to mine, and though I hate stopping there, I knew that it was either that, or wind up on the side of the road.  So,…I stopped, prepared to have such a fast fill-er-up that pit crews would envy me.

As I pulled into the gas station, I noticed only one car, and it was parked alongside the actual door of the station.  I thought it seemed a bit suspect, but I also didn’t pay too much attention to that, because I planned to pay with my card, so I pulled up to a pump anyhow.  Now, here’s where things started to go really fast, so try and keep up.  As I looked down into my wallet to find my debit card, two Chicago Police SUV’s pulled up from the wrong way of the one-way street that is alongside the freeway ramp.  Before I knew what was happening, two cops hopped out from either side of the trucks and almost instinctively, I looked down at their hands and realized that YEA, those were GUNS..ALREADY UN-HOLSTERED GUNS.  Immediately, I realized that the car I’d seen at the door seemed suspicious because it WAS suspicious.  They were robbing the place!  And these cops were about to have a shootout at the BP corral.

Now…When I tell yall that I pulled out of that gas station like a Nascar driver…I’m not exaggerating.   The gas station is on 99th street, in less than a minute, my Honda and I were at 79th street, DO YOU HEAR ME!  I got the H-E-double-hockey sticks out of dodge.  My heart was beating a hundred times a second, and my brain was thumping because not only was I terrified, but I was quite sure that I still needed gasoline.  While I was contemplating that…I realized that there was a car speeding up towards me a bit faster than the other cars…and then I realized what had happened just as the police lights flashed blue.  My speeding off from the gas station made the cops chase ME!

Yall can’t see me but I’m shaking my head just remembering.

I pull over and then, just to add insult to injury, I realized how I and my poor car looked.  Yeah, let me fill you in on that part.  See, along with finishing up the gala decorations, I’d also had my locs tightened (my hair), and so there were 50 or so silver clips in my hair as it set.  Oh, and why were the clips necessary?  Because to tighten my hair, my sister had to wet it.  Which meant that my hair was dripping onto my shirt and hanging heavily like baby garden snakes.  Also, on the passenger seat, was my mother’s 2001 HP printer, so that I could go home and finish printing out programs, along with the four reams of paper I’d stood in line at Office Depot for 35 minutes for earlier that evening.  Hanging from the back window, was my gown.  Along the back seats were boxes that contained the finished centerpiece setups and the four boxes of auction items and door prizes.

So adding all that up, I looked like a frightened and soggy castaway from an episode of Hoarders.

But they couldn’t see that.  All they saw was a car fleeing the scene of a crime.  So there I was, on the side of the expressway, with detectives surrounding my car, hands on holsters! At a quarter to 3am…quickly running out of gas.

Now, you’d think, with all of that drama, fate would allow me to at least encounter an officer who had some better dialogue.  But no, what does this fella say when I opened my window?

“Why’d you speed off?”

I thought to myself, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MAN?!”

but I said, “I saw guns pulled out, all I wanted was to get some gas.  I had no intention of being involved in whatever you guys were about to do” and laughed nervously.

Looking frustrated that I wasn’t the Bonnie to his Clyde, the detective goes, “well, you got a license?”

Again I thought, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MAN?!”

but I said, “Sure do,” and handed it to him.  Meanwhile stealing a glance at my quickly dropping gas levels.

Again, he looked at me and my hoarder-esque car, and made a face of utter disappointment that I was not a raving criminal, and handed me my license back.

“Well…slow down.”  He said, and just like that, they were gone.  Leaving me to torn about whether to be glad that I didn’t get a ticket for doing 100 down the Dan Ryan expressway, or if I should call them back to see if they could give me a ride to another gas station.

By this point, it’s 3am, and my Dude wakes up and realizes that I’m not back home.  He calls…I tell him that I’m terrified.  He talks me through getting gas at a station near downtown.  Whew. So, I know what you’re thinking, “Well, Regina, that was a lot…guess you went to sleep then.”

Are you new?  Do you know things are NEVER that easy round here?  Of COURSE, I ain’t go to sleep. LOL  Why?  Because I still had to drop all the things off with Tasha, my assistant and event planner.

Calming down a bit, Tasha and I ended up on her porch for another hour.

At 4:30 am…I finally made it to my apartment.  And I know what you’re thinking, “Now, I know you went to sleep, Regina.”

You’re a slow learner.

NO. I spent the next thirty minutes printing out programs, burning the tribute video (which didn’t even work on the venue screen at the gala), and painting my toenails because the only shoes I could find to match my gown were open-toed.

At around 6am…I believe I passed out.

But those programs and centerpieces were Sharp…if I say so myself.

(Part II coming up next week!)