The Road To Nowhere, Part 3

Toward the end of February, a letter arrives, addressed to The Departed, from the State Department of Licensing. I get a funny feeling –  this envelope seems different than the usual “time to renew your tabs” things that usually come from the DOL.

Also, he hasn’t lived in at this address for 18 months, and though I suppose one could argue that since the house was technically half his for 14 of those months, the fact remains that he has had no legal claim to this address for the last four months. He signed it away, and was paid for his share.

I’d say that’s a little over the ten day requirement for notifying the DOL of an address change.

I hold up the envelope to the light. I can’t make out much – they’re good, these government employees – but I can make out a few words in large type quite clearly.

NOTICE OF DRIVER’S LICENSE SUSPENSION.

That would certainly explain why he was walking home with a laptop around dinnertime one evening.

I do a little bit of research, with the help of a lawyer friend, and discover that something happened at the beginning of January, right around the time he was posting caveman song lyrics on Facebook. We can’t see what happened, but it resulted in a court record.

Possibly a speeding ticket. Possibly a DUI. Possibly any number of things, but my lawyer friend says, those are the two likeliest things that would result in a suspended license: If he got a DUI, or neglected to pay a ticket.

I note that The Departed was seen walking home nearly three weeks before his license was suspended.

I also note that The Departed is not aware that his license is suspended, because the suspension came to me. What do I do?

Send it to his lawyer’s office, my friend tells me, and get a delivery receipt. Cover yourself.

I note that this plan will also result in another legal bill for The Departed, and decide that this is an excellent plan.

I only wish, as I forward the letter to The Departed’s attorney, that I knew why it had been sent to him in the first place.