God's Gilley Loo Bird (eBook)

Ray P. (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
202 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-1165-7 (ISBN)

After a series of shockingly narrow escapes from certain injury or death through more than a decade of chronic alcohol abuse, law student Ray P. found himself once again in a jail cell, hungover and unable to remember how he got there the night before. 'You can never do this again,' said a voice, clearly. It was God, and Ray listened. Slowly, but surely, Ray gave his life completely over to the Lord and, in doing so defeated the curse of alcoholism and drug addiction. In the lucid, engaging style of a seasoned jury trial attorney, Ray now shares his life story with you. Laced with realism and humor, Ray's tales will take you through Friday Night Lights and dance halls to a Tijuana boudoir, the fishing waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Texas hill country and multiple Texas courtrooms. They effectively demonstrate how Christ chose Ray, a self-described 'complete derelict dumpster fire of a human being,' to reveal God's glory through His transformation of him into a valued mentor to other alcoholics and addicts in Alcoholics Anonymous, a successful attorney, and a beloved brother in Christ to many. How can the Lord transform your life and help you overcome your addictions? Ray's hope and prayer is that in reading his story, you might find some of the answers you seek.

After a series of shockingly narrow escapes from certain injury or death through more than a decade of chronic alcohol abuse, law student Ray P. found himself once again in a jail cell, hungover and unable to remember how he got there the night before. "e;You can never do this again,"e; said a voice, clearly. It was God, and Ray listened. Slowly, but surely, Ray gave his life completely over to the Lord and, in doing so defeated the curse of alcoholism and drug addiction. In the lucid, engaging style of a seasoned jury trial attorney, Ray now shares his life story with you. Laced with realism and humor, Ray's tales will take you through Friday Night Lights and dance halls to a Tijuana boudoir, the fishing waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Texas hill country and multiple Texas courtrooms. They effectively demonstrate how Christ chose Ray, a self-described "e;complete derelict dumpster fire of a human being,"e; to reveal God's glory through His transformation of him into a valued mentor to other alcoholics and addicts in Alcoholics Anonymous, a successful attorney, and a beloved brother in Christ to many. How can the Lord transform your life and help you overcome your addictions? Ray's hope and prayer is that in reading his story, you might find some of the answers you seek.

CHAPTER 10

With law school behind me, it was now time to sit for the bar exam to become a licensed attorney. There was a preliminary step whereby one had to go before a three-judge panel and be certified of “good moral character.” We were given a preliminary questionnaire to submit a week before our actual face-to-face interview with the three judges. One of the inquiries dealt with whether or not you had ever been arrested or convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. The troublesome issue for me was that at the time and to the best of my recollection, I had been locked up for a night or two in six different jails in six different cities. I always paid whatever fine was assessed and got out. On every one of those occasions, I was highly intoxicated or completely blacked out when they arrested me. Half the time I was driving, and the other times I was in my car, pulled over to the side or in a ditch passed out. We all knew the judges were given the State of Texas criminal record on all the applicants. I knew I could never get by the panel with my history.

I somehow rationalized in my mind that I had never actually been convicted, despite the arrest part, because when I paid every fine the local law enforcement dismissed the charges. So, I answered “none” in response to that inquiry. When my turn for the interview arrived, I was literally sweating. I knew that, at the least, I was going to be terribly embarrassed and/or severely chastised. The judges never mentioned it and passed me with flying colors. I had my record pulled as soon as I got back to my office. I was amazed to see there were no records of my arrests listed. It was much later when I was told the small municipalities where I was incarcerated avoid filing DUI charges as they have to split the fine with the State. They had charged me with indecent exposure, drunk in auto, loitering, and something else I can’t remember. They kept all of the fine and did not, to my knowledge, ever advise the State. Whether that is the case or not, I do not know for sure, but what I do know is that none of those arrests were on my record. I was unanimously certified of good moral character. I was glad that guy at the Baptist university wasn’t on the panel.

What does a drunk do when he gets certified as being of good moral character? The same thing he does as if he hadn’t been certified. He gets drunk. My family was down in Rockport, Texas when I had my interview. I decided I would head right on down there and give them the good news. I made one stop on my way out of Houston and picked me up a fifth of Old Taylor bourbon. Like a moth to a flame, I headed for Victoria to say hello to all my old friends before going on down to Rockport. It was on the way. That trip to Victoria takes about two and a half hours. By the time I got there around 6PM I was extremely intoxicated. I called it “fighting intoxicated.” I wasn’t aware of how incredibly angry I was with my life situation and the alcohol only exacerbated it. I was looking for a fight. I didn’t know if I ever found one, as I didn’t remember anything the next morning. I came to in the Victoria County jail with knots all over my head and a splitting headache. The jailer was more than happy to tell me why I was in there.

Rockport is about 60 miles from Victoria. A small hamlet named Tivoli, Texas is about halfway there. The jailer informed me that at about 3AM I was traveling at a very high rate of speed and literally ran a highway patrolman off the highway. He managed to get his patrol car out of the ditch and turned around to give chase. Somehow I had the presence of mind to pull over and stop. The patrolman radioed for backup and a wrecker to come pick up my Company car. He ordered me out of the car, and I took offense. I asked him, “Do you know who I am?” He didn’t, but I told him I was almost a lawyer, and I knew my rights. I demanded they give me a blood alcohol test. He promised me they would. He immediately radioed his sergeant in Victoria to come to the station to administer the test.

He cuffed me and put me in the backseat of his patrol car and off we went on the 30-mile ride back to Victoria. It was early May, and it was already hot in South Texas. I asked for some air, and the patrolman rolled the back window down a little. I, like the proverbial dog with his head hanging out the window of a car, mimicked the exercise. By the time we got to Victoria, I had sobered up enough to realize the last thing I wanted was a blood alcohol test. He took me inside before the sergeant and advised the boss that I had requested the blood alcohol test. I told the sergeant that the patrolman was mistaken. I only thought I wanted the test but now I have changed my mind. I advised them to remember who they were dealing with. The almost lawyer, who only hours earlier, was certified of good moral character to sit for the state bar exam. The patrolman was livid as he had gotten his boss out of bed in the wee hours of the morning. He advised all standing there that I was going to damn well take the test. His boss calmed him down and advised him they couldn’t make me take the test and ordered him to put me in a cell.

The jail cells in Victoria County at that time were all upstairs on the second floor. The patrolman and three deputies began ushering me up the steps. They were about two steps behind me. The patrolman had a menacing nightstick in his right hand. He decided, apparently, that I was not going fast enough. He jabbed me right in the middle of my back. It really hurt, even though I was still highly intoxicated. I really couldn’t make out much of the guys as my vision was pretty blurry. What I could see was that the guy who jabbed me was wearing a big pistol and an impressive badge. I suggested to him that if he took off that gun and badge, I would open a can of whoop ass he wouldn’t soon forget. He immediately dropped the gun belt, and while he was trying to unpin his badge, I jumped off of my higher step with fist extended and hit him right in the nose. He went falling back taking two of the three of the deputies with him back down the stairs. The next thing I remember was coming to with all the knots on my head. I was ruined.

I was able to borrow enough money to hire, I was told, a reasonably good criminal lawyer. The first thing he told me was to forget becoming a lawyer. They would try to get me the lightest sentence possible. Four years of night school, a hearing-impaired child, and a wife would be of no consequence to this prosecutor. He was out for blood. No one punches one of our highway patrolmen in the nose. They charged you, my lawyer said, with felonious aggravated assault on an officer as well as DWI and I think a couple of other things. The lawyer did his thing and came back to me with their offer. They would reduce the charges to misdemeanors, and I would serve two years in the county jail and pay a large fine. He said if I didn’t accept the deal, a jury would probably put me away in the penitentiary for a lot longer than that.

I contemplated my options and came to the conclusion that my only hope was to see if the patrolman would agree not to testify against me. I wasn’t sure what I could offer him in return, but I had nothing to lose. I found out his name and where he lived and struck out one more time for Victoria. I arrived at the home address of the officer and found a neat, small one-story frame house. It had a screen door. This was in 1970 and, as earlier stated, South Texas is hot in May.

I had already made a solemn oath that I would never ever drink anything containing alcohol as long as I lived. I knocked on the door and a bear of a man appeared behind that screen door. He was somewhere between 6'5" and 6'6". He, in a not-so-welcoming tone, wanted to know who I was and what did I want. He didn’t recognize me. I told him I was the fellow he got in a little scuffle with down at the county jail two weeks ago. He stepped back into his living room and once again inquired what did I want. I told him I needed just 30 minutes of his time to see if there was any way he would be able to help me retrieve the life I had just thrown away. I went into the four years of law school at night, my hearing-impaired toddler, and my poor wife. I told him I was so sorry I sucker-punched him, but I was a coward by nature. I suggested that in a fair fight he would probably kill me. If it would help, I would go out in his backyard right now and have a fair fight. He mentioned several times how hard I had hit him. Later I found out he had a nickname down at the jail. They called him the “meat grinder,” as he was known not to take any guff off the criminals. I don’t know, since he was trying to remove his badge at the time, if he realized that I jumped off two steps above him to land that punch as hard as I had. My plea to him was if he would just give me a second chance, I would never drink another drink of alcohol again. I did mean that with every fiber of my being. I still wasn’t aware I could not defeat this malady by any amount of willpower or self-reliance.

When I left his house, he had his arm around me walking me to my car. He said he would advise the DA that he would not testify against me. They could not make their case without a complainant. I ended up paying a $1,500 fine, I believe, for a parking violation. The other charges were all dismissed. I had yet another new lease on life. Notice prayer was never utilized in this predicament as I was a spiritual corpse. Today I suspect my God sent his angels ahead of me to prepare the officer’s otherwise inexplicably lenient heart.

While all this was happening, the bar exam was fast approaching. A definite problem for someone who learned nothing in law...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	14.7.2023
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
ISBN-13	979-8-3509-1165-7 / 9798350911657

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