Close Call

December 1, 2010 2:25 am Sir Haxington Stories

He was over at Chris’ house, in his bedroom. Things were orderly. Neat. Clean. There was a large desk against the wall. A house of cards glued together rested on the desk surface. A base guitar on a stand was propped up in the corner. A mattress was lying on the floor. The way Chris liked it.

Typically, when they would hang out, they would get bored. While Brian’s house would get destroyed, Chris’ house was relatively safe from their carnage. They had to take their boredom elsewhere. They needed to get a change of pace. A change of scenery. Get the lead out.

“Let’s go for a drive. Freddies! Go look for toy Hummers or something. I need to buy a CD anyway.”

“Sounds good. Let me get the keys.”

Chris opened the door to his bedroom and peered down the hallway. It was a Saturday afternoon and his parents were home. He needed to do this quickly.

Chris motioned to him. They both crept out of the bedroom and down the hall. They snuck to the left, to the entryway where the keys were hanging on the wall.

Chris quickly grabbed the keys and opened the door. He yelled back through the half-closed door.

“Mooooooom! I’m taking the Blazer! We’re going to the store, we’ll be back in an hour!”

“Okay, be sure to…”

The screen door slammed shut behind them. They had half a verbal confirmation and a 4×4. All they needed. Maybe they’d even go off-roading. Scout out some new trails.

They hopped into the brand new vehicle. The Blazer was a glossy medium green. Round. Sleek. Leather. New. Nice. Comfortable. They felt like kings. They had their fair share of adventures in this beauty.

Chris backed out of the driveway and set the station to 104.7. KDUK. Top 40 hits!

Chris Casually drove down 11th a few blocks then took a right onto Pine. He California-rolled though each stop sign while headed down Pine. Finally they hit Ocean Boulevard, a four lane road that was huge, open, and often empty.

They didn’t say much to each other. Nirvana was playing. Chris waited for a few cars to pass then took a left onto Ocean. They headed toward Freddies.

He looked out of the passenger window. K-Mart. He thought about the times they had been in there causing trouble. Henry’s mother worked at the restaurant inside the K-Mart, in the back. They had been off-roading just over to the right there. Lots of sand. Construction. That’s where he jumped his truck. Over on the left there was the parking lot he learned to drive stick.

The song changed. The DJ was talking now.

He brought he attention forward. Chris was playing with the radio. Looking down. His eyes were not on the road.

He immediately looked up through the windshield at what Chris didn’t see. The Blazer was accelerating towards another large 4×4 truck. The truck was stopped at the one and only light on Ocean at this end of town.

“OooohHH SHIIIIII”

Chris’ attention snapped to the road. Instinctively, he jerked the wheel to the left. Into oncoming traffic.

The situation went from deadly to extremely deadly. Not a good upgrade. A mini-van in the oncoming lane was now two seconds away from smashing head-on into their Blazer. Two seconds away from at least four deaths.

In a miraculous series of driving instincts, Chris didn’t hit the brakes. It would have made their vehicle skid. It would have made their vehicle roll. It would have meant the van coming directly at them would have smashed into their Blazer a fraction of a second later at a combined speed of over 80 MPH. None of these options made the situation any better.

Instead, Chris punched the gas.

The V6 roared to life. Chris managed to just pass the truck he nearly rear-ended earlier, before jerking the wheel back to the right. The mini-van screamed by a moment later. The Blazer shuddered from the air displacement caused by the van blowing past them.

He remembers the look on the woman driver’s face in the van to this day. There was a child sitting in the passenger seat.

The memory is painful to think about but to good to remember.