It was inevitable that something was going to go wrong. It always did. I rarely got a moment when I wasn’t fighting one fire or another. My car was my baby. I loved that little car and the gas mileage couldn’t be beat. That car made me feel special in a way. It was small and cute and it suited my personality. A bit too small to live in but I managed.
I left work that morning depressed at facing yet another day alone in a parking lot. No longer having the money for a motel I was sleeping in the car. My big choice for the day? Which parking lot I would hang out in until I had to go back to work that night. A depressing thought, but the only choice I had at the time.
On my way to the spot I was going to spend my day, I stopped at a red light. There was a car ahead of me as we waited for the light to turn green. For some reason I looked in my rear view mirror and what I saw worried me. The car coming up behind me wasn’t slowing down, it was headed in my direction and fast. I had nowhere I could go, too close to the car in front of me to maneuver around. As though in slow motion the event unfolded. He wasn’t stopping or even slowing down, I knew I was going to get hit and braced myself for the impact.
His car slammed into me doing about 30 and the jolt sent me flying into the car ahead of me. The impact so great it pushed me and the car ahead of me into the oncoming lane of traffic. I heard the metal crunch and felt the force throw me forward into the steering wheel. A seatbelt? Please. I hadn’t bothered with one in years — another brilliant life choice. Stupid move, I hit the steering wheel hard as I lurched forward. I was in shock, shaky and unsure what to do next.
It took me a moment to shake off the impact, but I got out of the car to access the damage. What was once the trunk area was now part of the back seat. Both back tires were flat and the car was a mangled mess. The man in the car ahead of me got out screaming at me. He was angry that I had hit him until he realized what had happened. I had been sandwiched between the two cars and I wasn’t at fault.
The at fault driver checked to make sure no one had gotten hurt and then apologized. He had fallen asleep and that’s why he never slowed down. Great his fault but another mess I had to deal with. It took every ounce of energy not to cry. What the hell was I going to do now. The other two cars had minimal damage and were able to drive away. Me, not so lucky. He helped me push the car to the side of the road, gave me his information and left. The police didn’t get involved because there was no personal injury and the cars all appeared drivable. However, I had two flat tires so I wasn’t going anywhere.
I called my mobile mechanic friend and explained what happened and that I needed two new tires in order to go anywhere. He came to my rescue, replacing the tires and doing his best to pull out the rear fender so it didn’t cut into the tires again. Discouraged and now nearly two hundred dollars poorer, but I was able to drive away. This wasn’t good. I had been unable to make the insurance payment on the car and my policy had lapsed. A totaled car an no insurance. Just my luck. I was now the proud owner of a expensive BMW keychain. The car ran, but not well and I knew I couldn’t continue driving it for much longer.
I was lucky enough to go directly through his insurance, since he was at fault and I managed to pull it off without getting cited for driving without insurance. When their adjuster came to look at the car he quickly realized I was living in it and gave me a choice. He could call it a total, which it was or make it so I just got repair costs although it wasn’t going to be enough to make the car right. I asked it to be totaled and took the money and ran. Fate had tried to nail me again, but this time I got lucky.
Another fire, another escape,
K.
I'm Still Here. Somehow... 