Wrongful Dismissal

Chapter 8

He felt very sleepy as he drove down the country road. Fortunately for him, Gigi lived in St. Thomas. She was such an asset to him. He could truly relax in her company and pour his heart out with no fear of judgement or recriminations, no matter what he told her. She was a good listener. Listening is an art that most people have trouble achieving in their life time.

Jamaicans especially want to jump to a conclusion. They give the feeling that they are in a hurry to get to the end of the story or show you that they have the wherewithal to figure out what you are going to say. To fill in the blanks, even when there are none. Figure out quickly what someone is going to say and say it before they have a chance to say what they wanted to. That's just an insecure person that has something to prove.

It drove Mason crazy. Gigi was not like that. Mason was so grateful to have her as friend.

Whatever the rhyme or reason he loved her for who she was to him and she was the most important person in his life. He solved all his crimes because she was his 'sounding board'. He could test the validity of what he surmised, deduced and concluded, on her.

His eyelids were heavy; he had to fight to stay awake. He saw a bright light. Was he dreaming? Out in the middle of nowhere. On a pitch black mountain road. It was shining in his eyes, blinding him.

The headlights of the vehicle were in his rearview mirror. The vehicle was high and the lights hit him right in the mirror through the back window lighting up the interior of his car. He adjusted the mirror so that the light didn't blind him. The vehicle behind him was driving dangerously close to his car.

"Country man, pass me if you must." Mason shouted to the inside of the car.

Just then the vehicle in the rear bumped Mason's vehicle hard. It propelled his car ahead involuntarily. Throwing him forward. He grabbed onto the steering wheel harder to steady himself and to keep control of his vehicle.

"What the heck?!" He shouted at no one. "What kind of a drunk idiot are you?"

Again, the vehicle slammed into the back of Mason's car. His heart then jumped up and hit his tonsils. The first one could have been a mistake but the second one was on purpose. He was in trouble. The driver was not drunk and this was no accident. His cell phone had fallen to the floor by the push that the car received. He bent over only slightly, putting his life in peril as the roads were full of pot holes along with hairpin turns, he needed to see and concentrate on his driving. He felt his way around but his cell had slid under the front seat too far to reach. He sped up. The mountain road was extremely treacherous. His back wheel almost slipped off the road several times kicking up stones and dirt. There were no soft curves in the road but hairpin turns. He didn't slow down in the hairpin turns which made it that much more dangerous. Mountain side on one side and a sheer drop to plummet off of on the other side.

The SUV managed to speed past him and turned it's wheels sharply cutting Mason off. The SUV grazed the front of Mason's car, then bounced off a tree. Mason had two choices come to a skidding halt or careen off the side of the mountain.

Before the dust from the two skidding vehicles settled, two men with masks jumped from the SUV and ran to Mason's car ripping the door open shouting in unison, "Get out!" Mason was not easily intimidated but they were both pointing guns at his head. No choice he figured. He raised his hands slowly to show them that he had no weapon and he was not going to be a problem to them. What else could he do? He hated himself for getting into this mess. He should have been more vigilant. They must have been watching him since going to Gigi's house and leaving. He should have slept there on the sofa instead of risking it.