The Accused

Amelia

It was filthy. Her hair, I mean. But I've seen worse. I hummed to myself as I worked. Thankfully she didn't seem to mind. Not that I would've cared if she did. My eyes flicker to the shelf to my right and I grab the hair dryer.
"No, don't do it like that."
I ignore her. Kathy would kill me if she knew of my bold skill of blocking out the whinings of customers and I might lose my job too, but that's a bit far fetched. It's been a long day. A bad one too. "You know I should tell the manager how rude you are. Horrible service."
Oh no she didn't. She won't say a word to Kathy. I'll make sure of it. I put on my sweetest customer service smile and apologized saying I've been distracted by how beautiful her hair is. That should do it.
"Well of course, it is rather lovely, yes."
God, I can't take it anymore.
"Julie!"
"What?"
"Mind taking over this lady with the beautiful hair for me?"
"If I must. It is your shift you know."
Yes, I'm aware Julie.
"Thanks I really needed some air."
I walk out the main stations into the make shift lobby. Just a bunch of cardboard boxes scattered around here and there. Walls with paint coming off in the corners. Same old, same old. I was reaching out to open the glass sliding doors, already anticipating the cool air on my face when it happened. A woman. She slammed into the glass. Blood smeared everywhere. I heard a wild scream. Later I'd realise that that was me. Julie came rushing. Our lady with the beautiful hair had fallen asleep.
"Oh my God."
I didn't answer. Julie looked at me. Concerned. Like I was about to faint or something. I don't blame her though.
The only thing I could register at that point was the blood. There was just so much of it. I steeled myself. Not that I ever had any problem with blood. What was running through my head though was not who the woman was or what happened. It was if the cops would somehow rope me into this somehow. You grow up visualizing cops as some heroes. Who help you, who save you. Then you're forced to grow up. You realize that they love to point fingers. Either way my selfish thoughts were pointless. I knew we had to call the cops whether I liked it or not. I'm a narcissist by nature, but for once I forced myself to not make it about me. Whoever this woman was, she very obviously needed help. Professional help. I was about to ask Julie to dial 911 but it turned out she was two steps ahead of me. The cops would be here any minute, she told me. Thank God. Atleast that would prevent me from deliberating it for too long. Although in the end it won't matter. We'd reach this bridge anyhow. As I waited for the police I resolved I would not get involved. I won't allow it. I'm finally happy. Well as happy as you can get. Yet try as I might, I couldn't take my eyes of the woman's face. I guess that's the side effect of people crashing into the place you work at. I wanted to get out of this place. This whole situation unnerved me. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Scared. Claustrophobic. Trapped. But I'm not going to let it happen. Not after all I've been through. Not after all I did to finally have this freedom and independence. I swore I would leave my past in the past.
"Amy! Amy!"
It took me a while to realize that Julie has been proding my arm for a while and pointing somewhere.
"Amy."
There it is again.
"What?"
"The man", Julie says with a slight hint of a stutter.
"What man Julie? Are you okay?" My, my the tables had turned. Now I'm the one looking at her like she'll fall over any minute. Her eyes remain fixed on a certain spot outside the cracked glass, however. Like she had completely blocked me and my concerns and simply couldn't look away from whatever she was seeing. I shook her maybe a little too harshly after she didn't respond to what must be the fifth time I called her.
She woke from her trance with a little shake of the head. I can't do this right now. I'll deal with Julie later. I broke away from my fervent train of thoughts the blue and red lights were outside and the sirens were deafening. They were here.