"Where the hell do you think you're going! Come back if you've got the guts!"
They tore after me in their car, high beams blasting into my mirrors so bright I could barely keep my eyes open.
I weaved through traffic, desperate, and didn't let myself breathe until I reached the police station.
Tears I couldn't stop hit the backs of my gloves.
The duty officer saw me and was at my side in seconds.
After I told them everything, both officers' faces went dark. You could hear the fury when they spoke:
"Unbelievable. Assaulting a woman right out in the open like that."
"We're going to deal with this. Hard. They're not getting away with it."
They sat me down and took my statement right there.
Ran the plate, pulled all three men's information, and got on the phone to summon them in.
Three hours I sat in that reception area, waiting.
A little past two in the morning, the officers brought all three of them in. Most of the alcohol had worn off, and every trace of swagger had drained from their faces.
When they saw me, their eyes darted everywhere but mine.
In the interrogation room, with the full dashcam footage playing, none of them could deny a thing.
The officer told them their conduct constituted a public-order offense serious enough for administrative detention.
That was all it took. The color left their faces at the same time. They hit their knees right there in front of me, crying, begging me to let it go.
Ervin knocked his forehead against the floor:
"Please—I was wrong, I was so wrong! I was drunk out of my mind, I wasn't even human! Just this once, I'm begging you, just let us off this once, okay?"
"I'm a sales director—I've got elderly parents, a six-year-old son, one point two million still on my mortgage! If I get detained I lose everything! My whole family goes under, you understand? We can't survive that!"
Rodney started crying too:
"My daughter's only three, and my wife just got pregnant with our second. If I get a record, my kids' futures are ruined—school admissions, civil service exams, everything. I'll pay you, whatever you want, I'll give you whatever amount you say!"
Roger joined in:
"My twin boys are only four. I'm a technical director. Company policy says administrative detention means automatic termination! Without that job, my whole family starves! I know I was wrong. Just let me off this once, please!"