The Bust

It started with a phone call, Sue, the owner of our rehearsal space,
stated the cops had called because her ex husband (who lived next door)
had complained about the noise (us.) So we started the process
of looking for a new rehearsal space. Then she called and said
we could keep rehearsing, if we did some soundproofing .
She had "taken care of everything" with the heat and offered
to sign an agreement taking full legal responsibility.
It was the first of the month and she wanted the rent.
So we insulated and we rehearsed and…

May 21, 1981 
I remember the trip to rehearsal in Mick's van.
I felt something dark and foreboding come over me,
but dismissed it as weed paranoia. I should not have.
We start playing and suddenly the place is lousy with cops.
They lined us up. Steve tried to make a break for it .
They took us to the station, and because I had deep pockets,
I could not slide my stash into the back seat of the squad car.

  We got busted for disturbing the peace.
For me Class D controlled substance was added on.
We were bailed out and went back to the “scene of the crime.”
The cops left our weed paraphernalia all over the place.
They also failed to notice one of our cars (owner shall
remain nameless) had illegally attached plates,
was unregistered, uninsured, and had a pound
of reefer in the trunk. Stand tall Sudbury PD.

The court case was a sham and our little piece of paper from Sue
meant nothing. Our testimony did no good and we all got fined
(fucking Public Defender was good pals with the DA.)
My first taste of US justice.