Heartbreaks, Prosecution, and Retribution

Chapter 9 : More Misfortune

I was having a long day at work. All I was looking forward to was a relaxing evening. It was another long day on the gates in the hot summer sun. After getting home, I just wanted to watch some television. First, I was going to take a hot shower.

I walk into the bathroom to warm up the water. Before I got into the shower, Jessica asked me, "What do you want for dinner?" Before I could answer, she insisted that we have take-out.

"That sounds fine, but first I have to check the bank account online to make sure we had a sufficient amount to order. OK, we are a go!" I said.

Jessica kissed me and said, "Goodbye I will be back soon."

I continued to check my email since I was online already. After checking my inbox to find out I had zero messages, I went back to doing what my main attention was which was taking a shower. With a good soak and scrub for about fifteen minutes or so, I felt refreshed.

Now, after being home for about an hour and a half, I figured I would put on some TV to see if there is anything good to watch. I was disappointed with what was on. All I was doing was surfing through the channels getting infomercials or traumatizing 'real-life' TV shows. Nothing was really on with interest to watch. I decided to put on one of the many movies we own; I have seen them many times before.

As time went on, nearly two hours since Jessica went to get food. She has been gone a while. I was getting hungry, so I decided to go ahead and find something to eat in the refrigerator.

I was becoming impatient, so I figured she had to stop by her friends' house or the store. It was her normal routine. I was thinking of calling her, but I then noticed that she left her cell phone on the kitchen counter. By now I am getting tired. It is close to 8:30 p.m. I will be getting ready for bed soon, then suddenly the phone rings.

I picked up with disgust in my voice. I said, "Hello!" In the belief that it was going to be Jessica, but it was a policeman. The officer asked, "Are you, James Davis?" I replied with amazement, "Yes, I am!"

He told me that my wife has been involved in a hit and run, and that she was the victim and that she wasn't hurt. She wasn't even in the car when the vehicle was struck.

"I am sorry for not calling sooner, Mr. Davis. Since your wife wasn't injured, I was trying to locate a suspect and interview anyone that was in the immediate area at that time," said the police officer.

I asked, "Why didn't my wife call?" The officer said, "She was having an anxiety attack, and I was trying to calm her down. At the same time, trying to conduct field interviews with anyone who may have seen or heard what happened."

"When did this happen?" I asked. He said "Close to one hour ago." I then asked, "Can I talk to my wife, please." Before I could even get a response, I heard her voice with the sounds of sobbing. She was trying to say, "Hi honey." "Are you ok?" I asked. "Yes", Jessica replied.

She began to explain what happens before I could go into any more questions as if I was the cop questioning her. "As soon as I left the house, I went to Amanda's house to see if she would like to get out of the house and to keep me company. Amanda wasn't doing anything anyway, except waiting for her husband to come home from running errands. I waited there for a few minutes for Amanda to get ready. As we began to leave the house, Amanda's husband pulled up in the driveway and needed her to do something important. So, I asked how long it would be, but it took some time, so I went ahead and left. I went to get gas for the car first, then to the restaurant for our food. Once I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, I backed the car in the last parking space on the corner. So, all I needed to do was to jump in and drive away when I was done, plus it was away from other vehicles."

"As I went in to place the order, I was sitting in an open booth waiting for our food order to be called. Once my number came up, I went to pick up the food. As I did, I overheard someone, say, "Did you see that!" It didn't quite occur to me, but I noticed people looking out the window. Soon I got to the door of the exit of the restaurant. I saw the entire right fender and bumper crushed, even the hood was buckled upwards," she continued.

"I panicked since we just got the car out of the shop not too long ago, and since we are going to be leaving soon. How could this happen? So, I went inside and called the police and waited for their arrival. It took about ten to fifteen minutes for them to get here. By then, the customers that were there left and if not, they didn't say what they saw once the police officer got here."

As Jessica had finished telling me what happened, I knew I could not leave this area without some form of stress and depression happening. I wasn't upset with her, just knowing that I had to go through the same steps I went through about a month ago. The damage to the car was nearly the same except on the opposite side.

My concerns, well, my stress levels were more from time restraints than anything. I had nearly two weeks left here in which I would be starting my clearing process. The car was stressful, but things like this happen. I had to get it back in the shop and repaired prior to my 'final-out' processing of my duty station.

Once again, I felt that I was going around in a vicious circle. I asked myself, "Can I get a break?"

At first, I was relaxed and calm, but something just hit me, like a bug hitting a windshield on a moving vehicle. It was Bad luck, and it just seemed to be following me. I began to feel enraged with anger about things just not going my way. After the anger extended out of my body, I was able to think sober mindedly.

Soon,my wife would be home, and then the evening would hopefully become more atease.