The Car Accident that Crushed the Crown, the Confidence, and the Dream.

“Drive safe, Katherine.”

Those were the last words spoken as I left the Miss Mohawk Valley 2013 rehearsal, the night before the show. The outgoing queen, who I had grown close to over the years, was always looking out for the other contestants. I was feeling good about the pageant. My sister (my personal biggest competition) was studying abroad in South Korea, I had been working hard on my talent, received mock interview practice, and revised my paperwork. I felt confident that I could finally make Top 5.

I mumbled “thank you” or “I will”, and stepped over the tangle of cords from the sound equipment to make my way out of the side door of Vernon-Verona-Central-School. A 45 minute drive from my house, I was too stubborn to get a hotel room and would be driving home that evening, and returning in the morning.

That day had been my first day at the new job- I was now a front desk agent at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino. The irony being that the Turning Stone was visually in sight from the school, and I would be making the 45 minute drive each morning until I found an apartment in the area. Unfortunately, because I had been up since an ungodly hour, and works a solid 8 hour shift before the pageant rehearsal, I had not brought any of my dresses or pageant supplies to leave in the dressing room. I would have to pack them in the morning.

Despite being an internal map, I am a terrible night driver. The lights with the darkness throw off my perception in familiar areas and I get confused, so being in a new area made it incredibly difficult to grasp where I was, where I came from, or where I was going.

I spoke to myself about the location of the Turning Stone Tower, where the Thruway is in regards to the casino, and how I should pull out of the parking lot to get back on the main highway. I had turned down a road and taken a quick left into the school parking lot. As I took a left out of the parking lot, I knew it was wrong. I turned around on the shoulder and headed back towards the school.

I considered using my phone to GPS it. My pride is one thing, but my fatigue was another. I wanted to get home, so I could wake up early and make the trip back.

I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. I could gps it at the top sign.

Wait, the stop sign was right after the parking lot, right? I slammed on my brakes as the parking lot passed me on the right.

I came to a complete stop. But unfortunately I “popped up out of nowhere”, which is true- I had stopped suddenly. A car coming from the left, also speeding and not paying attention, instantly scraped along the side the front bumper of my car.

Except it wasn’t my car.

My sister was studying in South Korea. My car had some maintenance issues, and my father was working on them. He had given me her car for the day. I had used the ride to work to figure out how long it took for the brakes to come to a stop, and how smooth the turns were. But it wasn’t my car. I wasn’t comfortable driving it. And now someone had just hit my sister’s car. I wasn’t on her insurance, she wasn’t even in the country, and now I had to sort things out with this other driver.

I glanced around. The car had stopped a bit up the road in the intersection. I turned on my directional, turned the corner, and planned to park behind him. Mid turn, the man was banging on my car window. I rolled it down, and told him I was parking my car. He began to yell, and tried opening my door. Confused, I rolled forward, and parked my car behind his anyway.

Still hollering, he came to my window again, mentioning the police. I supposed paying for any of his damage off the books was not an option. I was hoping not to get insurance involved. So I pulled out my insurance card and registration, laid them on the seat, and decided to check my damage.

I got out of the car and walked to the front. The man reached in my open window, and took my keys from the ignition.

Not only did he treat me like a child, as a twenty-something year old adult, but the cops did as well. Despite the fact that I had a headlight out, and minimal frame damage that did not affect the car’s ability to drive, the officer insisted on calling a tow truck. My mother had to drive out to pick me up, and return the following day to get my car. She tried to get the car from the lot that evening, but the garage refused to release it that night.

And the best part. I wasn’t able to compete in the Miss Mohawk Valley 2013 pageant, because it would be disrespectful to my sister. There, in that two feet too much past the stop sign, went every ounce of confidence I had.