Five Minutes

I yawned, put my car in 1st gear, checked the rear view mirror, and waited for the light to change. I was totally exhausted, stressed out, and not eager to go to my math class at St Pete Junior College. I’d been up all night, catching a cheap flight back to Florida after being a bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding. Going home was a nightmare- “So, you still smoke cigarettes. You’ve put weight on again, that dress really doesn’t flatter you, and so what are you going to do with your life?” Then I came back to a bathtub full of dirty dishes and an apologetic but non dish washing boyfriend. “Hey, I missed you.” “Yeah, you did, but not enough to have our place as clean as when I left, huh.”

The light turned green and I started to go on my way. Suddenly a motorcycle with 2 gay guys on it whipped between the car to my right and my car. I nearly hit them- would have if I’d had slower reflexes. Lucky for them, as sleep deprived as I was, I’d had some strong coffee and I was paying attention. This pissed me off royally- bike riders like them give motorcycle riders a bad name. Really there were 4 lanes of traffic, all going the same direction- they could’ve passed in a few seconds. I leaned on the horn, angry at being frightened by almost having an accident and just pissed off by their stupid, dangerous driving. So naturally the honking at them got them so upset as I was apparently when traffic started to really move, they dropped back and drove up beside me. The passenger kicked the driver’s side of my car, running the toes of his boot down the side, leaving a streak in the dust. This startled me, scared me, and made me so mad I was seeing red, and there was no traffic light in sight. I decided to get there tag number so I could report it. They refused to go around me, stayed right on my rear bumper like a leech. This went on for a few blocks. Finally, I thought – I’ll pull over and they’ll have to pass me, so I slowed down. They slowed down too. The hell with them, I just lost it. I slammed on the breaks and they rear ended me and fell off the bike and into the street.

I was so mad I was shaking- adrenaline coursed through my veins. What the hell? What was I doing?

Later, much later, it hit me, what if someone had been killed, or seriously injured? Paralyzed? Was it wort it?

(Out of time)

- B. Kallfelz