NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 47

Instead of an angel, Hazel's God sends a screaming child. The only problem is that he sends a speeding car too. Both are nearing the angle of death. I push Hazel aside and bang for the driver to open the door. But he's too preoccupied by his problems to heed my calls. So I climb into his seat and exit the way he did. This shakes him awake long enough to get out as much protest as is left in his body. I propel my own body to its grandest limit and rob the child of her wild abandon. The car zooms by. She's startled out of her moment. Her mouth slowly goes from glee to a well-trained frown. Soon she breaks into a cry. Real tears roll down her face. Her screams turn from delightful to fearful. Who is this stranger who interrupted her one true moment of bliss?

The beret woman grabs hold of those emotions and almost shakes them back into place with her bulky arms. I don't even know how she got outside so quickly. But her next words lump clarity upon the melodrama.

"Child, where did I leave you last night?" she shouts then looks back at us embarrassed. "Who gave you permission to come outside and roam the streets like a wild boar?"

"Sorry, aunty." The tears instantly freeze up. "Uncle Paul left so I took the chance."

"Listen! I don't care who leaves." She shakes the girl again. "Your place is where I left you."

Cry still on pause, she says, "Sorry, aunty. I won't do it again."

"Now stand aside and wait."

The girl does as she's told, the way we all did as children who broke some cardinal rule. I turn to see heads and arms hanging out of the bus windows. Dark grey faces – some rough like mine, others smooth – are splattered with relief, all of them watching me like I'm Hazel's angel.