Mistake or Fate?

"I am sorry, but I am running a little late", was all Jin could gather on the other side as Amy blurted out words in a hurry

Today was the big day Amy had been stretching her nights for. In the hustle, she left the alarm off and struggled to look presentable this morning. She sent her presentation to the office to have the setup ready and asked Jin to track the same.

She grabbed her purse, watch, mobile, car keys and stormed out of the house. The day didn't start off well and was determined to be no good to her, for the heavy rains in the streets of Colorado made sure to add to her troubles. She fastened her seat belt, brushed her poorly ironed shirt and checked if she had left anything just when the doctor's prescription fell before her reminding her that she had skipped the post-breakfast dose today. Amy could not afford any delay and hurried for her presentation consoling herself that the medicines anyway did no good.

Amy had been living in the same house with her family since the last 30 years and now she was desperate to move on. It was not only that she needed a change but she felt suffocated in the city. She realized her past would permanently become a part of her life here, not that changing city would erase everything that had happened, but least she could sleep without any prescribed pills. She had been reluctantly seeking therapy since the past five years to get access to anti-anxiety and sleeping pills. It took patience and a great deal of confusion for her to not reveal to the therapist what had really disrupted her life. She knew she needed a sob story

to explain the pale skin, lack of appetite, tiredness and literally the loss of life within her, so she stuck to her childhood for it was an easy sell. 

Amy led an extremely normal life until she was 18. Her mother and father seemed the perfect couple. Her brother Marco, who was just one year younger than her, would often 'go bankrupt' in his words and nagged Amy for her share of pocket money. Amy had always been his go-to since they were in their diapers. Amy was a bright kid. She excelled in academics. She was adored by everyone who met her. Every Sunday, her parents would sit at the dining table and solve crossword puzzles from the newspapers. Amy and Marco would pick sides and help them while eating pancakes.

 Little did she know, that her adulthood would come knocking so soon. The 2008 recession forced her father out of his job. Their savings lasted for a year but the setback of the recession

was huge. Her father could not find any job and did odd jobs to keep the family going. Alcohol and drugs soon found him. Amy and Marco cried in their beds when they would hear their father beating their mother. Amy never imagined that abuse and poverty would be something she would have to worry for. She knew she could live without money but she couldn't stand her father turning into something he never was. Helpless, Amy would run to the basement, where she could shield herself from the noises and screams of her reality. Her father would roam in the streets, live with drunkards and thieves for days. They had to bail him from the station quite a few times. Amy wished all this to end. She could see how Marco too was turning to alcohol and drugs to avoid things at home. Her mother looked weak from the beating and crying, but she never stopped loving her husband. She had faith in him and somewhere within her pain bearing heart, she wished he would turn normal. The Sundays at the Barne's residence would never be the same.

It was October 2009, when her father didn't return home for a week. Initially, they hoped for him to come back because of his past identified pattern. The family was troubled when he didn't appear even after ten days. Days turned to months, but there was no sign of him. No amount of missing banners, police complaints or enquiries led them anywhere. Amy was devastated. The poor child blamed herself. She thought her prayers for normal life made her dad disappear. She missed her father and the old times. Her mother had to consult physiatrist to remain sane. She would turn violent at Amy's idea to move to another city. She hoped for her husband to return someday and she didn't want him to find his only home empty. She insisted on keeping the locks of the house unchanged, in case he left with his key and returned when they weren't home. Amy's mother barely left the house.

Years went by. Amy had turned 25 now. She worked at a services firm and looked after the family. Her mother was mostly sick and seemed very old for a woman her age. Her face was full of stress lines and dark circles. She became weak. Amy bore herself into work. She would work late and avoid every chance of being home. She spent most of her time at home in the basement. 

But it was 16 September 2015, the day Amy wished she never had to see. The telephone rang at 2 pm. Amy had been hoping since years that one of the calls might have her father on the other side. Alarmed, she picked up the phone and the voice on the other side said things she had never anticipated. She absorbed everything as calmly as she could. She didn't want to tell Marco but she knew she could not do it alone. She woke him up, told him everything and they hurried to the car, keeping their mother out of the loop.

Never was she this anxious in her life. She couldn't tell mom until she was certain. 

They reached the Police Station in 30 mins. They were taken to the body. Mostly burnt, and unrecognizable. There were no things with the body but a burned wallet that had a family picture of four. The police had no idea how the person got this fate.

 She could never forget the look of the body and that on her little brother's face.

The traffic was unending which made her 5 min route to the office endless. She had to do this one right. She had to get out and this was her best chance. The promotion would mean decent money, enough for her to support her mother and Marco even when she moves out. She parked the car and dashed out to the conference room. The next hour was critical. She had to deliver her best. She had to get out of Colorado.

She received the mail a week letter. She hurried to her room and opened it.

Congratulations! and a pdf attachment.

Amy gathered the courage to talk ho her family. She had to convince them to let her go. She was elated for herself but a part of herself secretly called her coward. But she had no choice, not when she had a great opportunity. 

'Marco, it is for the best. I cannot live like this anymore.'

'You think it's easy for me? Have you been around here anymore? For us? For mom? You are so selfish Amy and a coward.'

'Oh, so you think I should become an alcoholic like you and forget as nothing has happened?'

'Hey I remember everything and it haunts me but I don't walk out like you and dad. Do you even know mom still sits at the same dining table every Sunday doing crosswords? No, you don't because you are hardly here and now that you are moving out we might as well consider you dead.'

Marco threw the glass cone on the floor and slammed the door before leaving. Amy was furious but she knew he was right. She looked at the broken glass on the floor and it all came back to her again.

'I don't know Marco if its the best idea. Her psychiatrist said she wasn't making any progress and this news is going to shatter her.'

'Well, we cannot just keep her in the dark. She deserves to know dad is dead.'

Amy had asked Marco to drive for she was too shaken up after seeing the body. She could barely talk with her swollen throat from the crying. Marco was no good either but he knew he had to drive them home. 

'Listen, Amy, we will be fine. We cannot talk to mom like this. Listen to me, I am here for you. Maybe it's for the best you know? At least we got closure. Look at me and say it will be alright.'

'Yeah, Marco but... watch out!!!!!!'

 'Jesus!!!!!nooooooo!!!!'

Their car tripped and hit a pedestrian. Amy and Marco blacked out. 

Amy opened her eyes slowly and brushed the broken glass from her chest. She had bruises on her arm from the shattered glass. 

'Marco! Get up! Marco!', Amy was losing words and started crying just when he opened his eyes.

He was hit bad and bled a lot but there was no catastrophic damage. They managed to get out of the car that looked as if had fallen down the cliff.

They walked across the deserted street. The lake beneath the highway road would have resulted in a painful death had they been hit bad and down the road, thought Amy.

There he was. The pedestrian.A few rocks down the border. Bleeding. Dead.

'I...I don't know why I didn't see him!' fumbled Marco for he had been driving.

'Oh my God, he is dead' confirmed Amy while checking for signs for life.

The road was empty and they were at mercy only until someone showed up. Marco couldn't gather words for he was too scared to think straight. He knew he had to take the fall as he was the driver. He cursed Amy for letting him drive.

'Oh my God! What have I done? I killed him, Amy. I killed him.'

'Marco, let me think. We will be okay. You didn't do this on purpose. I am here. She needed to know if it was really going to be okay too. 'We have to inform the cops and the doctor. Call 911 Marco.'

'Have you lost it? Its prison time for me if we go through your bullshit. You will be spared because you weren't on the damn wheel. We are hiding the body. No one has to know it was us. No one will ever know okay?'

'I am not letting you do this.' cried Amy.

'Amy please listen to me. I am your brother okay. Please.' Marco was struggling with anxiety tears panic all at the same time.

'I was drunk, I was disturbed after seeing the body. You know that I know that but that is not the reason for a man to die. I am going to prison if this comes out. Think about mom. We have already lost dad please, you don't wanna lose me too. '

Marco knew Amy would not go through with this. But he had to try. He didn't want to spend any second away from home. He had to convince her. Amy thought of ways to not put her brother in trouble but in vain. She didn't want to cover a death like this. She knew how difficult it would be for his family to seek closure. She knew the pain. She didn't want anyone to go through the same. But she also had to protect her own. She was amidst the thinking when she found herself covering the body within the sleeping bag.

Marco looked terrified too. They had to do it before another car on the road showed up. Amy looked at the man. He was wearing sunglasses and had his face covered with a turban. He wore a headband as if to cover scars on the forehead. He looked so skinny and wore a torn shirt. He looked old. She slipped her hand to uncover the face and see the scars he had been hiding but Marco zipped the bag quickly. They saw some cars heading towards them. She wanted to see the man once. She had to know. She had to give her crime a face, a face of scars, but couldn't. Marco threw the bag in the lake. And just like that, in a second they changed the man's fate forever. And even their's. She picked up the bag, the man had been carrying when they hit him. They didn't throw it. Marco suggested to burn it and Amy promised she will.

The drive home was painful. There was the fear of getting caught, the burden of the secret and the guilt. The guilt neither of them could ever wash off their lives. 

Amy was standing with the old man's bag, ready to destroy it. She stared at it for a long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't do it. She couldn't kill him once again. But she couldn't stay with him either. She hurried to the basement, removed some bricks and decided to hide it in there. She checked the bag for chances of identification of the man. It had some issues, no money, packed tuna and a set of keys. No sign of who he was. She wanted to know him, but a part of her didn't. She didn't want to be in the position to lie if ever anyone came looking for him. She hid the bag in the broken wall and hid her crime and her truth in there forever.

Since then, Amy had been looking for a way out. Marco drank a lot since the accident. She had to look out for the family. But she also had to live. She barely visited the basement knowing what exactly remained hidden there. She had to keep it that way. For her family. Fo Marco. For herself.

Her mother refused to believe her husband was never coming back. She refused to believe he was dead. With so many years of waiting, she based her life on hope and was not going to change it until she saw him dead herself. She kept waiting. Amy's heart ached but she accepted her mother's way to deal with reality. She had her own ways to deal with her own too.

She had packed her bags. Mapped out the plan to look after her mother and Marco. She had to let it all go. She had to live a little.

That Sunday morning, she was flipping through the Sunday newspaper. She turned the page and there it was. She wasn't sure but it startled her. She pinned her eyes into the article on page 4. She started sweating. Her hands went cold. She couldn't suddenly hear any voices around her. She couldn't move. She anxiously read the entire article. Once. Twice. Thrice.

She hurried downstairs. Switched on the lights of the basement. It was like yesterday she hid it in there. She dug it out for the very first time. She brushed off the dirt and emptied the bag. She found the keys. Hands rumbling with fear. She ran out of the house. She took a breath and stood forth her main door of the house. She took the key and put it inside the keyhole. She didn't want it to turn. She wanted this to be a misunderstanding. A coincidence. A nightmare. She held the key firm and click. It unlocked the door.

She looked at the newspaper again. A body was found, wearing sunglasses. Been dead for years. They found the words Amy and Marco stitched in his jacket. The one Amy gifted her dad on his birthday.

She sat on the breakfast table. Blank. Breathless. She saw her mother across her, smiling at her. Solving crossword.