Dream: Hard to Stop

A woman visits my family.  She's either a relative or friend.  She's a school bus driver, but she has the day off.  She offers to drive us to an event, like a wedding reception.

We're on the bus.  I'm sitting in the front seat, right behind the driver's seat, which, in fact, is empty.  The woman who is driving is sitting several seats behind me.  And she is driving, somehow.

At first I'm watching the road ahead passively, as if watching TV.  But as the streets get more crowded and narrower and confusing, I start to get anxious.  I lean forward to grasp the steering wheel to ensure we get properly centered in the lane at a traffic light.

Then, after we get moving again, I see that we're approaching another intersection in which people are crossing.  Now I'm sitting in the driver's seat, and I press the brake pedal hard, but it barely slows the bus down.  I press harder and harder to stop for a family that's crossing street, including a baby with huge bald head.  The bus finally stops abruptly just couple of yards from the baby who falls from the fright of our approach.  I watch the baby carefully, overwhelmed with concern, hoping it's alright.

The baby gets up and walks some more, but now it's so close to the bus I can no longer see it.  I keep my foot pressing hard on the brake pedal.  I dare not allow the bus to move at all.

Meanwhile, a woman with reddish hair boards the bus.  She is a figure of authority, like the Commissioner of Buses.  She reaches over and removes the key from the ignition.  Now I'm really nervous.  I have a driver's license, but I don't have the special license needed to drive a bus.  I'm concerned for my future.  What if I get thrown in jail?

...

I'm in a small shop in a seedy neighborhood.  I'd like to buy a pack of gum that costs $1.10.  I have only $2, plus credit cards, so I hand over the two dollar bills and get the gum and a handful of change.

I'm in my car with the engine idling. I'm aware that an idling car is suspicious to police,  so I decide to drive around.  The streets are slick with rain, and it's nighttime.   I'm driving downhill gaining speed as I approach a T-intersection.  The light is red, but I can't stop.  Fortunately the street's are empty and I go through.  I try to make a left turn because a right turn would be sharper.  There's no way I can make the turn going this fast.  I'm concerned for my future.  I only half-heartedly turn the wheel not wanting to spin out.

I expect that the car will end up on the sidewalk and maybe even sideswipe a store front. By some miracle I make the turn.

I'm back inside that same seedy store that I bought the gum at.  I'd like to buy a pack of gum again.  But now I have no cash except for the change from the first time.  And it's silly to buy a $1.10 pack of gum with a credit card.  So I look around the store for something else to buy that would justify the use of  the credit card.  I see bottles of cologne and other senseless toiletries, some of which are locked inside a glass cabinet.

There's a black guy there that I go to technical school with.  He wants to go somewhere but he doesn't have a car.  So I decide to drive him.