Mel Trotter Van

Sunday was kind of interesting. Mom and dad joined Melissa and I for Sunday morning church. Afterwards they drove Melissa to Grandpa and Grandma's for noon dinner. I would join them later because I had to drive the Mel Trotter guys back to the mission. To do this we use two vans, one is pretty nice and owned by our church while the other is a piece of junk owned by Mel Trotter Ministries. This week it was my turn to drive the church van while another volunteer drove the Mel Trotter van. On the final trip he needed to leave the Mel Trotter van at the mission because they use it during the week.
I got to the mission first and waited for him so I could drive him back to church after he dropped off the van. When he didn't arrive for about 10 minutes I thought, 'something must have happened to that piece of junk van.' I retraced the route from Mel Trotter to church to see if I could find him. Church is located near Madison and Hall, which is in the 'hood, and Mel Trotter is located near Commerce and Division which is even more in the 'hood. Going between the two involves a trip down Division between Wealthy and Hall. I've had to walk this route before when the other driver forgot to bring me back to church. Even on a Sunday morning it's an interesting walk for a suburban, Christian School, white boy like me.
As I drove down Division Avenue my suspicion was confirmed. Straddling the right driving lane and parallel parking lane was the beast of a Mel Trotter van with it's hazard lights on. As I approached the vehicle the hazards stopped blinking. We believe the vehicle ran out of gas, but we don't know for sure since the gas gauge does not work. Then the hazards caused the battery to die. A dead battery is especially treacherous on this vehicle because it has a door like a school bus. The door opens automatically with a switch, but without power the door locks up. There is a lever that disconnects the door from it's electric motor so it can be opened without resistance in a power failure. The Mel Trotter guys must not have been aware of this lever because when I arrived they were pounding on the windows and yelling for help.
Finally one of the guys smashed the door open and they all came out. They loaded into my van, and I drove them back to Mel Trotter. My van-driving partner called Mel Trotter on his cell phone and told them their van was sitting on south-end Division with no gas, a dead battery, and a broken door. I drove him back to church, and that's how we left the situation.