The Snake

      I was a Fort Worth Police officer in 1988. I worked in the foot patrol unit walking downtown doing mostly public relation work. I worked with a partner, and we were close friends. The department would give us a patrol car at times and tell us to answer calls because they didn’t have enough officers. This is a true story, but it has a Twilight Zone type of twist. When I think about the whole scenario it still makes me wonder about universal things. It began one morning when we were told to get in the patrol car.

      The dispatcher called, “Paul three fifteen (designated P-315) and Paul three eighteen (designated P-318) copy call. Meet city code inspectors at 804 E. 29th Street. They are evicting a man from his home, and he is violent. They are going to bulldoze it in the next few hours, and he won’t leave.”

      I was driving and my partner acknowledged the call. We arrived on the scene and two women were standing out front of house the city was going to tear down. The place was a mess. The house was falling apart, the yard hadn’t been taken care of in ages, and there were ten old rusty cars in the side and back yard. It was an eye sore but also a health hazard. A bulldozer was there waiting for the go signal from the code inspectors to start the demolition.

      We approached the ladies. One was a tall statuesque woman with a pleasant smile. The other woman was shorter but also had a pleasant smile. The taller woman said, “Thank you for coming. This guy has been notified for almost a year of what was going to happen if he didn’t clean this place up. He’s been given numerous citations and notices and still refuses to clean it up. He has threatened city code officers, and we need to get him out of there so they can clean this place out.”

      About that time the front door of the house opened and an older guy with a gut and a wife beater T-shirt stepped on the porch and yelled at the group on his front yard, “Get the hell out of here or you’ll all be sorry!”

      I looked at my partner, “Let’s go have a talk with the man.”

      We walked up to the porch, and I said, “Hey buddy, you got thirty minutes to clear out of here or we throw your fat ass on the ground, handcuff you, and take you to jail. Then we’ll plow this whole place down. You got that.”

      He got a funny look on his face, and then turned around and went back inside. We went back to the ladies and told them we gave him thirty minutes. The guy was apparently gathering things up in his house as he started stacking them in the front yard. He went back and forth trying to get ready. As he was getting things in order the ladies, myself, and my partner talked. There was small talk at first then the tall lady started telling us about what happened to her earlier in the morning. She said, “You know my daughter came in for breakfast this morning and started to tell me she didn’t want me to go to work today. I asked her why and she said you are in danger. I asked her what she was talking about, and she said, ‘I had a dream last night. There’s going to be a man who will do you harm.’ I told her not to worry. She then said there will be a snake that bites the man and saves you. I just don’t want you to go to work.”

      I said, “That sounds like quite a dream. She must have a great imagination.”

      We all laughed about the story and continued talking for another fifteen minutes or so. Time was running out as the guy continued to angrily stack possessions in the yard. At one point he came out of the house and stared at us. I yelled, “Keep going, or are you ready to go to jail now.”

      The situation was suddenly tense. My partner and I became concerned that he might try something stupid. We didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so we monitored his movements a little closer.

      He came out the front door with a look of scorn at us. We were definitely on his enemies list. He stormed off towards the backyard full of cars. The grass had grown up to waist high. He waded into the middle of the cars and began working on one of them. Suddenly he jumped up and began screaming. My partner and I ran back to see what happened. We got there and saw a snake slither off. The fat guy started yelling, “That damn snake bit me!”

      We dragged him back out into the open grass and called an ambulance. We stood there looking at each other in amazement. We walked back to the ladies with one of those science fiction faces when things are unexplainable. They asked what happened. My partner said, “A snake bit the guy. We’ve got an ambulance coming.”

      Everyone stood there looking at each other for a few seconds not knowing what to say. All four of us had the bug eyes in disbelief. I finally said, “Your daughter has some kind of special talent. You need to keep an eye on her.”

      The ambulance arrived and they determined the guy was bitten by a copperhead snake. It was touch and go but he pulled through. I'm guessing the snake probably died after biting that scumbag guy. As the ambulance drove off with him in the back the bulldozer cranked it up and tore down his house. The ladies were safe, and I’ve always wondered what became of the tall lady’s daughter. She probably became lottery a winner.