My Ex-Bestfriend

The Backstory of Michael

I remember the day I met Michael:

****12 YEARS EARLIER

I was 6 years old when my mom was driving us home from ballet practice. 

I hated ballet. 

I lumped it into all things girly which I despised. My mom wanted a girl, prayed for a girl, but what she actually desired but didn't specify was a girly girl. Unfortunately that part got lost in translation, instead she got me.  A girl by anatomy alone. Despite my constant protests to fit into her girly mold she never gave up. 

Hence.......Ballet. 

The tights made me itch.

By their very name they were tight so I hated them.

The color pink made me want to barf. 

Lastly, I didn't have a rhythmic bone in my body.

This particular day my mom had told me to grab my matching pink sequined sweater. I told her I didn't want one. I did want a sweater just not the pink one. I knew I would be cold but I would rather suffer than be head to toe pink. 

I was and still am fiercely independent which often leads to learning things the hard way. When class was over an ominous thunderstorm raged outside as the cold windy rain whipped through me. I was freezing as goose flesh emerged over my arms. I regretted my sweater decision but since I was 6 I chose to voice it by incessant whining. 

Mom was frustrated with me for not listening as I complained relentlessly about being cold. She began to lecture me through the rear view mirror on natural consequences. The rain pounded our car as streaks of lightning flashed ahead. My nightmares still bring me back to this frightful moment. It's as if God was warning her of his wrath but she just kept yelling over the thunder as lightning ricocheted around us. The wind shield wipers whipped rapidly but it wasn't making a difference from the torrential downpour occurring outside. Mom seemed unfazed by the wrath of God that raged outside our window as her eyes glowed yellow from the light striking around us.

Suddenly there was a bolt of lightning that hit right in front of our vehicle causing my mom to jerk the vehicle right. The slippery conditions caused our vehicle to veer off the road. The metal guard rail was useless as we took it with us down the long descent off the mountain side.  

At first we were flying. I remember it was so surreal. A stillness in the air like we were in slow motion. Then there was a sudden jerk and a jolting as we hit trees, rocks, and all other mountain inhabitants. The vehicle was cloaked in darkness as most of the lights busted on impact. Steam billowed out from the vehicle as the forest sound competed with mechanical engine noises. All the windows had shattered allowing rain to drizzle in under the canopy of the forest trees . My tiny leotard saturated as I shivered but I don't remember feeling cold, my body was numb.

I was brought out of my daze by a moan with what I would later learn was the last of her strength she called me to the front seat. No one could explain how she did it. How she survived long enough to expend her last seconds selflessly on me. The autopsy would show she had broken both her legs, most of her ribs, her sternum, her back, she had internal bleeding, a  subdural hematoma and wounds that littered her whole exposed flesh.

I unlatched my seatbelt and skimpered over the console, as shards of glass stabbed my feet. I didn't care, I wanted my mommy. Even with the extent of the damages she had miraculously managed to take off her jacket and wrap my body in it. She took off her warm beanie and placed it over my head.

I remember that even with blood dripping down from her cut eye her skin was flawless as  her porcelain skin glowed in the moonlight. She was a beautiful angel. An angel she soon would become. Her brown eyes usually sparkled with honey flecks. It's something I always noticed about her. Her eyes were always bright like they were a window into her soul. Tonight as I looked up into them they were darker than I have ever seen. That was the first thing that sent shivers down my back.  She schooled her expression with  a stillness that instead of causing anxiety in our circumstance calmed my pattering heart.