Andrei and I left the Echota Grounds early, as you all know. What you may not know is that we were pulled over by a Tahlequah cruiser really close to campus, but not on campus property. Travis Wolfe drove us back to the dorms in his large gold Chevy truck. Those vehicles can make some wide turns and that’s exactly what the officer pulled us over for, so he said.
We were taking the back way back to the Seminary Suites and Travis pointed out a Domino’s Pizza business set off in the back of a shopping center saying how nothing can stay in business there. He said it was sad that for such a large occupied space there was no dine-in option at that Domino’s. The rest of the place looked empty. Anyway, as we continued he showed us Sequoyah City Park and we eventually made it to Muskogee Ave. As we crossed the street closest to Sam and Ella’s we came to a stop sign. I didn’t even see a police car. Travis turned right at that stop sign and then adjusted the truck to continue around the bend in the road. That’s when the lights flashed on.
We all sat there wondering why? Nothing was wrong, no one had been drinking, Travis’s tags were up to date and I couldn’t justify any reason for him to be pulled over. I then realized that when the cop asked, ‘Have you been drinking this evening?” and Travis said, “No, not a bit sir,” that we were probably pulled over because Travis’ UKB plates. It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s reality around these parts. The Natives are still approached to this day differently and seen in a different light. Travis even expressed as much himself.
Andrei mentioned how another time they (Travis and Andrei) were driving and they were pulled over. Travis said that when the cops see the green numbers on the UKB tags that they just pull you over for questioning to see if they can get someone in trouble. I felt bad for Travis, but he seemed pretty well adjusted to the fact that his reality was being unjustifiably accused of drinking just because he’s Native. At any rate the cops let us go after barely looking at the license and saying, “Y’all have a good night.” There were two cops actually. The other one was flashing lights in at Andrei and me while the other was getting Travis’s license. I was holding my keys in my hands and in particularly I remember the cop flashing his light directly at my hands.
As we drove off Travis said, “Did you see that other cop on the right side of us?”
Andrei said, “No, I didn’t.” He was surprised that he didn’t even know there was another cop right by his window.
Travis continued to describe that the cop had his club in one hand and his handgun in the other. Now, I don’t remember seeing that because I distinctly remember seeing a flashlight, but then again I didn’t look hard enough. I was still just trying to figure out why we were pulled over because having UKB plates wasn’t a justifiable reason.
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