The day had been a bad one for John. He had seen an accident where a young woman and child had died. The last few days had not been very good either. There were lots of groups hanging around everywhere he and Ponch stopped. He was getting sick and tired of being called a pig.
The notice had been up on the bulletin board and this was the last day that he could apply for this test. It was a test for a promotion. The promotion was to the rank of Sargent. The test was tough and he knew that he was going to have to study hard. But he filled out the paperwork and his Captain signed off on his recommendation.
John wasn't sure how his partner was going to react to his taking the test. As he had approached his partner on the subject he was surprised to see that he supported him and his attempt at the promotion.
The next few weeks were full of study and work and when John had finished the test he felt confident that he had done well on it. His friend and partner Ponch was eager to hear how his friend had done but the results were not going to be received for another two weeks. In the meantime nothing was going to change and Ponch and John hit the road together again.
The weather had finally cleared and the ride was a good one. The day was clear and warm and people seemed to be in a better mood. As the two police officers rode down the road there was a call on the radio reporting a car that was swerving in and out of traffic and nearly caused an accident. John and Ponch were just a short distance away so they turned on their lights and headed quickly toward where the car had been seen.
They had not gone far when they spotted an older chevy driving in and out of traffic just a short way away. They turned on their sirens and signaled for the man to pull over. As they pulled to the side of the car they yelled at him to pull over. But the man said he couldn't the car would not stop, the gas pedal stuck.
John yelled at the man to throw the car into neutral. The panicked man looked as it 'dah why didn't I think of that?' and they then watched the man pull over and slow down, they pulled over to talk to him.
"I don't know what happened officer. I was driving down the road not going very fast when the car started to go faster and faster. I tried to stop but the car started to skid. If you hadn't come along and told me what to do, I just don't know what would have happened. He had shut off the car at this point and the three men took a look under the hood. There pressing against the link that controlled the gas pedal was a piece of plastic. The piece had fallen off of one of the wires and wedged itself on the gas pedal link. The man started the car and the car was back to normal.
John and Ponch tipped their hands and told him "I would have someone check your car out, but I am sure that you are all right." John told him.
"Don't worry I will. You want to know something? You guys are all right. Thank you."
John got on his motorcycle and smiled. That man had said the first kind words to him that day as an officer that he had heard in days. It was the citizen like that man that had kept him feeling good about his job. Ponch looked over at his partner wondering what was going on in his mind.
The morning had been uneventful except for the man with the stuck gas pedal and Ponch and John were on their way back to the station when another call came in on the radio. There was an accident on the freeway just a mile from their location. As John and Ponch looked up they could see the smoke from the accident. Once again they put their lights and siren on and they headed to the site of the accident.
There were three cars involved in the accident . One was on it's side while one had been rolled. They could see a young man trapped inside the car that had rolled and they ran over to check him out. He said that he was fine, and as they turned around the paramedics arrived on the scene.
The next car had a young lady in it and she was already walking around complaining about the damage to her car. She was yelling at the guy in the car that had been rolled "You wrecked my brand new beautiful car.. You're going to pay for it."
John calmed her down and pulled her away form the man in the car. He took her over to the fire truck that was sitting there and told her to take a seat.
Ponch had gone over to the other car and found a man unconscious. He was trapped inside the car and he could smell gas. He called to the fire department who came right over to the car and started to get the man out with the jaws of life. Now that the paramedics were there and the man was being taken out of the overturned car Ponch and John began to direct traffic around the accident. When all was done all three accident victims were going to be all right. John and Ponch headed back to the station.
As John arrived at the station he was greeted by the officer on duty. He told him "Congratulations". John with shaking hands took the envelope and opened the test results. He had scored a 96. He was definitely in contention for a promotion.