Driving without Conscience

   Joe couldn’t tell if it was still dark outside when he came to. It was as if he was asleep, but couldn’t remember at what time that he initially fell asleep. His head was in a disarray as he sat on the cold, hard bench, his mouth dry while he tried to figue out where he was. The brick walls surrounding him were barren of any decorations or funishings. In fact, their were no windows except a small casement window with bars on the outside.

   He looked around the room. There was a concrete bench that he sat on that doubled as a bed, a sink, a nightstand and a 28” television. Light streamed in through the small rectangular glazing in the otherwise opaque steel door. The disheveled man walked over to the door and looked through the small opening. All he could see was a row of doors.

   He was in jail. Joe didn’t know why but somehow he ended up in a holding cell. Joe’s body felt numb all around him except for his headache. He put his hand to his head and felt bruises on his forehead. Where on earth did this come from?

   He scratched his chin. The last thing he remembered was meeting up with his friends Jon and Ed at the bar to celebrate Joe’s promotion to supervisor at a logistics company called Xpress Supplies. His first week had gone exceptionally well with the addition of new policies to expedite services and cut transportation costs. He seemed to be better at managing workflow than he was at boxing and shipping products. The company he worked at shipped mainly office supplies to various companies throughout the city.

   He needed to get out of this scrape he was in, but the key to that was figuring out what happened last night. Joe couldn’t recall the name of the bar, but he did remember that whenever he went drinking with his friends, they would always go to Jasper’s. Something must have happened after he left. 

   Light began to seep through the crack in the hard wall as night finally turned to day. His head began to clear away the pain. Footsteps could be heard approaching, with a jingling of keys. A dark-haired man with a set of keys by his waist opened the door to Joe’s cell. “Joe Rossi?”

   “Yes.” Joe answered, a little nervous and bewildered.

   “You are free to go. You will need to stop by reception to pick up your stuff. Go down this hall,” the jailer pointed to the left, “and make the first right. They will tell you what to do.”

   Joe ran his hand through his slick, black hair. “Ok, thanks.”

   When he got to the front reception area, he was met by a woman in a police officer’s uniform and a cap. “Hello, you just be Joe.” She stated, with lack of expression on her face.

   “Yes.” He replied, nodding his head. At that point, he had so many questions to ask, but didn’t know where to start. He just wished that he knew why he ended up here.

   The woman walked over to the back. She took a key out from her pocket and opened one of the boxes on the wall. Inside was his belongings. She walked over to the counter and put down a leather brown wallet, a rolex watch and keys. “Here you are. You will be receiving a court summons shortly in the mail. You will be given an attorney to speak for you .”

   Joe’s mouth hung open. “What do you mean, court? What happened?”

   “That is what we are trying to figure out right now.” The police officer who was sitting near the security guard stood up and was walking over. The tall man looked menacing in his sharp uniform.

   Joe looked at the man apprehensively. “Where am I? Where is my car?”

   “You don’t remember anything, do you?”

   “No.”

   The officer sighed. “Well, you will be surprised to know that last night you were arrested. You were in a car crash. You were caught driving intoxicated. When you finally got out of the car, you were simply unable to walk. There were opened bottles littered over the back seat.”

   “How did my car fare?” Joe asked, not seeming to care about the other people in the crash.

   “Your car has been totaled. It was a side-impact accident. The hood and grill of the car were damaged, and the front bumper has been completely separated from the body. The crash was severe, and the other car was also severely damaged. Thankfully, it was only one man in the other car. He was transported to a hospital and is in critical condition.”

   Joe couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This must be a bad dream, this can’t be real. Joe looked directly into the police officer’s eyes, and could see the terror that he had caused the policeman the night before. “Where is he?” Joe asked.

   “He was admitted to Hilltop Memorial hospital. His name is Tom Mendolson.”

   Why did that name sound so familiar? Joe thought. Then he remembered a certain employee who shared that last name. Just when things couldn’t get any worse.

   Joe took a bus up to the hospital. A man of that name had been admitted last night, but he died recently due to direct trauma to the lungs and heart from the accident.

   The next morning, Joe had a wake-up call to how severe the accident was when he drove to work. He was met with a dismissal letter at his new office, as well as a surprising severance package.

   The next day, he received his court summons in the mail. He was to come to court next Friday to face the charges of the DUI and manslaughter.

   That solemn Friday finally came around. He was dressed in all black, with his attorney to help with any questions.

"You are summoned here today to account for the death of Tom Mendolson. At 1:30 AM on the morning of Saturday, April 15th, let it be known to the court that a Mr. Joe Rossi failed to stop at a traffic light and T-boned a white mazda owned by Tom. Tom did not survive the crash. At the scene of the crime, Joe's BAC was recorded at 0.35, well above the legal limit. The court has decided to confiscate your driver's license and you have been sentenced to one year in Prison. Do you have anything to say about it?

He didn't know that the judge was the man's sister.