I finished my M&M Friend-Z at Friendly’s as I waited for my brother to pay the check. I was full of ice cream and smiling from the good time with my church friends, but I was ready to go home. It had been a long, stressful day, even though I appreciated the evening ending well. 

     Caleb thanked the cashier, then we said our goodbyes and walked out the door. 

     “Brrrr!” I shivered. I looked up, thankful Caleb had already started the Ford for us. It was going to be a chilly night for sure.

     We waved some goodbyes to other friends outside then pulled out of the Friendly’s parking lot. Everything was normal; nothing seemed out of place. I quickly buzzed through two green lights and pulled on to the interstate ramp to begin the 15 minute drive home.

     “Can I plug my iPod in?” Caleb asked. “I did buy your ice cream, after all,” he said with a coy grin.

     I laughed. “I guess so.”

     I signaled left to pull onto the interstate, then picked up speed, setting my cruise control at approximately 63 mph. We began laughing about some guy that Caleb had talked to at the restaurant who had apparently said something hilarious. I hadn’t heard the joke, but it sounded funny as my brother retold it. I flicked my bright lights on, with hopes to see the road better as we continued with the conversation. 

     A couple minutes later, I watched as a headlights behind me got closer and closer to my bumper. I didn’t say anything because I noticed the vehicle finally pulling into the passing lane. Whatever. People were stupid drivers sometimes. This was nothing new.

     Then they pulled back in behind me. 

    I paused, “What are they doing? They were gonna pass me but now…” 

     I hadn’t even finished my sentence when suddenly red and white lights flashed. 

     “What the heck?” I quickly checked my speed. Still 63 mph and we were driving in a 65 mph zone. We were both buckled up. Neither of us were on a cell phone. 

     I set my foot on the brakes slowly and pulled off the road, then glanced at Caleb in confusion. “What did I do? I wasn’t speeding unless our speedometer is broken.”

     He was just as confused as me. “I don’t know. He’s pulling a spotlight out now.” 

     I watched in my rear view mirror as he just sat and sat. “Dude, is he even gonna get out of the car?” I laughed nervously. 

     Sure enough, he hopped out of his cop car with a flashlight. I put my window down as he approached the driver’s side. 

     He stood there hovering over me with a flashlight. “License and registration,” he said gruffly.

     “Uh, yeah, ok.” I didn’t really know what to do, since I’d never been pulled over before. And I still didn’t know what I’d done. I grabbed my purse and looked back up at him. “Uh, what did I do wrong?” I asked.

     “What?” he looked at me blankly. 

     “What’s wrong?” I asked again. This guy seriously needed to come down off his high horse. 

     “Uh,” now he was the one fumbling. “Your license plate is covered up. I need to make sure everything checks out.”

    ”Oh, oops.” I was taken aback. Seriously?? This guy cares about my license plate at 11 o’clock at night?? 

     Caleb pulled the registration out of the dash and I fished for my license. Fortunately we found both. “Here,” I said, handing them to the cop. 

     “Ok, why don’t one of you clean off the license plate while I check these.” Then he walked back to the car. 

     By instinct I reached to unbuckle. “No, it’s ok, I’ll do it,” Caleb said. He probably felt somewhat responsible for not checking it before we left home. 

      A few minutes later, Caleb was back in the car and the cop walked by to my window. I put the glass down with the automatic button and waited for the verdict. 

     “Have a good night.”

     I looked at him funny. “Thanks.” That was it?

     This would never happen down south.