I waited on the steps outside the school, the sweat on my forehead from basketball practice chilling in the cold air. Everyone else had already been picked up or started walking home or to the small convenience shop on the corner of the street to socialize.
I was waiting, annoyed, for Mom to pick me up. She was usually never on time, but this was late, even for her. I sat, waiting, for around twenty minutes, trying to warm my fingers, and occasionally checking the time on my phone.
I finally figured that she probably forgot or was held up in traffic. I sent her a text saying that I’d just walk home, then started towards my house.
We didn’t have much food at the house, so I decided to take a detour to before going home. I knew the exact place I wanted to go; the diner that Dad used to take me for his burgers and my milkshakes.
I took a seat at the bar and ordered a chocolate milkshake and a burger. I honestly didn’t care if I threw up from it; I was craving the past.
The waitress, an old, shaky lady named Carol, according to her nametag, wrote my order down on a small notepad, then ripped out the paper and handed it to the chef through a window.
As I waited, I looked out the windows to the street. Cars were zooming past on the busy street, and moms were pushing their strollers and trying to corral their toddlers down the sidewalks. Everyone was dressed in big, puffy jackets that made them look bigger and more comical than normal. I unwrapped my scarf from my neck as I warmed up, and I unzipped my coat.
Suddenly, out the window, I saw an ambulance zoom past, dodging the traffic. Its sirens were panickedly blaring. Another one followed shortly after it.
I didn’t think twice about it, because there were often ambulances around here because all the old people are always having heart attacks, or sometimes there are false alarms. Except today people on the sidewalk were yelling, and running towards the direction in which the ambulance was going.
Strange. I thought, as I slid off of the tall seat. I zipped up my coat, forgetting about my abandoned food order. I pushed open the door and was greeted by a cold wind, and an even colder sight. Two dismantled and crushed cars lay ahead, smoking out exhaust, down at the end of the street. A crowd of people had formed around the accident. Curious, I jogged up to the crowd. The people were loud; talking, mumbling, and even some shrieks. I couldn’t see the cars very clearly through the wall of people.
I pushed through, and I was surprised to see Isaac at the front. I tapped his shoulder, and he turned around, a horrified look on his face.
Before I could say anything to him, he grabbed my shoulders tight.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You didn’t see?” He said cautiously, just loud enough to be heard over the crowd. “Look.” He said, a pained look on his face.
Slowly, I turned my head to the accident scene. I saw the cars, crashed into each other. I also saw blood mixed in between shards of glass from the windshield. Who’s blood? I thought. I glanced quickly back to Isaac, then back the bloody scene. I spotted a body being lifted onto a stretcher. I could barely make out the face; it was disfigured by glass shards. But I could definitely recognize that face in any conditions. Once the realization hit me, everything went quiet except for a dull beeping in my ears. The dead body being lifted away was my mother.
I felt Isaac shaking me, hard. I must’ve been screaming, because my throat felt raw. I couldn’t hear anything but the long, dull beep. The next thing I knew, I was banging on the ambulance door. Then I was being held back by Isaac and a cop.
