Shortly afterward, at about 2 a.m., I climbed behind the wheel of my 2000 Camaro. But at the bar, Jenn had seen a guy she liked, so she decided to leave with him instead of me. When the bars closed, a bunch of us decided to meet up at our friend Danny's house.
I've had to rely on other people's memories to patch together the next few hours. At McKay's, Jenn says I ordered another Long Island iced tea. I was feeling a little bit tipsy but not drunk. A few hours later, we all walked down the street to McKay's Bar and Grill. I don't remember ordering more drinks, but Jenn says I downed a vodka and 7 Up and a shot of Jagermeister. We spotted people we knew, yelled out, "Hey, how you doing?" and enjoyed the music blasting. I shared my second drink with Jenn, a Long Island iced tea - which is a strong cocktail - and talked to Kyle, who I had a really easygoing friendship with. But the bar didn't card me that night - you know, when pretty girls walk in, some bars don't check too closely. I was 20 and underage, so I had a fake ID.
When she arrived at 11 p.m., I drove her, my best friend, Kyle - he lived around the corner from me, and we hung out practically every day - and another pal to a local bar, the Livermore Saloon. Then a bunch of us went to a friend's house to wait until Jenn got off work. Friday's, where Jennifer, a girl I knew from beauty school, waitressed. Good TimesĪround 7 p.m., I kicked off the night with a vodka tonic at T.G.I. I had dinner at home and then put on the new white cashmere sweater, khakis, and boots I'd bought to wear that night. So that day, my friend Melissa and I went shopping and to a baby shower for my older sister. A week earlier, I'd started a new job at a hair salon in my hometown of Livermore, California - I loved styling hair - and I wanted to celebrate my first big career step. 23, 2002, was the last normal day of my life. This article was originally published as "I Drove Drunk and Killed Three People" in the January 2005 issue of Cosmopolitan.