A Boy and His Dodge

“I think we should see other people.”

It was late and the rain was coming down in buckets, but that was not the reason why Dave had trouble focusing on the road. Mary, a girl who was about to go off to college, had just called him and he played it on speakerphone, letting her voice echo throughout the car.

“Dave?”

He was trying to think of what to say next. There was no traffic that late in the rush hour and the rain kept all pedestrians indoors, dry and safe at home or wherever they were smart enough to be.

Dry and safe…Dave had that phrase drumming in his head as he let the wipers pretend to keep the way clear.

“Dave?”

Maybe he should have waited to get back to his place before he even took the call. The sky had been threatening rain without giving up a drop, so he was surprised. Maybe that was a sign for only him. Maybe he was right when he let the call continue as the first large drops pelted the windshield at a traffic light.

“I know you’re there. Can you just…?”

What did she want him to say, anyway? Dave had been dating her for three years and they had known each other since childhood and her family’s move to their neighbourhood. There had been some fights, some drama with other people, but nothing he could not forgive (was that really her brother she was having dinner with last week, or…?)

“We have been doing this for so long now and it ain’t going anywhere. I told you that I was going off to school and you just thought that it could continue like we are still on the same page.”

Same page? Dave felt his throat get hard. She was sounding like a bad sitcom.

“You just want things to be the way they always were. That can’t…”

He knew that he was going too fast for this kind of weather, but he wanted to somehow get back before she could finish her thought. Or whatever it was she was doing now (making excuses? Driving the knife in?). Dave heard thunder nearby and made a brief calculation about distance from the brief flash to his left. He was so close to home now.

So incredibly close…

“You can’t just expect people to not change.”

He was now breaking the speed limit.

“People go on. We…we have things we want when we get older.”

Four blocks to go...

“And this will probably be good for both of us.”

If he had not heard that last part, the rest of the trip would have been another simple trip home to contemplate school, work and what he was going to do with the rest of his life at the end of another season. If he had just turned off the phone, he could have made it home unscathed. If, if, if…

But no, this was not one of those simple nights. This was a night when the rain made the road too slick and deadly for anyone dealing with heartbreak. It was a time when angrily reaching for a cell phone instead of keeping both hands on the wheel was a bad move. At least he had his seatbelt on as the car fishtailed, skidded and slammed into a local dropbox for the community’s mail. At least he was almost home…

It was a bit of a blur. Dave did not pass out, but he was disturbed for a moment when he saw the shattered glass of the windshield and heard the screams of his girlfriend.

Ex-girlfriend?

“DAVE!”

His right shoulder hurt as he reached for the phone.

“DAVE?”

“I’m here, I’m here… Just had an accident.”

“You okay? Where are you?”

“Not far from home. Hit the mail box and…damn.”

“What?” She really did sound like she cared. A possibility for another chance?

“The mail. It’s all over the road.”

“So what?”

“Gotta pick it up…”

“Are you kidding? Just…”

He finally got the phone to stop talking. On the passenger side, he could see the mail strewn on the lawn and at least one package on the sidewalk. And the rain was now letting up.

“Wonderful.”

There were no other cars on the road and he wondered when the police would show up. Under one street light, he could see about a dozen letters. The right shoulder was out of commission, so he put his left side to work (to the left, to the left – why was he thinking of that song now? Possible head trauma?) He left them inside his vehicle’s passenger seat, wondering what he was going to say to his dad when he got home.

The package was on top of another letter he had noticed. Dave read it, stared at it, and then read it again.

        To Dave Sandbring

That was his name. No other family would be burdened with such a name in this neighbourhood. He leaned against the bent and buckled frame of his car and kept this letter out of the pile.

Should he open it now?

In the casual drizzle and light of a street light, he opened a letter he did not expect:

        To Dave Sandbring:

        Congratulations! You have been accepted into our candidate school program for up and coming students in our automotive sales program! We are contacting you now to let you know that the process has begun to allow you to prepare for any and all eventualities…

He stopped reading. The road was quiet and he still could not hear any sirens nearby. The sky was dark but clearing up, creating a perfect view of the stars above. The car was still humming and, as he opened the side door, it was a comfort to sit down and stare at the page.

The address was real. There was the seal, the stamp, his name and the name of the administrator at the bottom. 

He was in.

And his phone began to vibrate.

He waited until he was home to handle the call. No one was home, but he decided to leave his father a note and not ignore what was happening.

“Dave? You all right?”

“I’m great. Really great…”

Mary left a pause there. His chance was up.

“You do what you have to do. I will do what I gotta do. Enjoy the school.”

“What the fu…?”

He hit the red phone icon and smiled. The letter was on his desk and nothing else mattered.