The Car Driver
It all felt like a deja vu to me. How long had I been sitting in the rusty park bench? My wristwatch cut into my skin. I didn't realize that I strapped it too tight. It was midnight. There wasn’t much going on. A few insects buzzed and chirped behind thorny bushes. The paper scraps in the dusty street swirled in the heavy air of the night.
Then I saw it again, at first, I thought I’m just hallucinating. But there it was, the same driver, that goes round and round the highway. The driver’s blood-shot eyes sent shivers down my spine. His eyes mirrored back my disheveled self. I couldn’t see the expression in the driver’s pale face, but from the place I always sat, I could tell that there was something off about him. I felt like I knew him, even though I knew nothing. The man in the car, swerved quickly through the intersection, with a sudden jolt.
I pulled out a cigarette, but I couldn’t find the lighter. Dang it! I threw the cigarette back in my pocket. I re-positioned myself on the hard metal bench, trying to make myself comfortable. I reminisced about 1965, the Bworken Pub in Ivory Street. I couldn’t recall much of my life, because I lived most of it being a drunk. I knew i had got to get rid of it, because I wasn’t happy with how I was. So, I told myself, I’ll sober up tomorrow. And that’s a promise that I had been telling for many years. I inhaled the crisp air. There was nothing exciting there.
I didn’t know how, but I fell asleep. It was way past midnight when I woke up. Now the air got crispier. I shuddered. I was used to falling asleep in pack benches anyway. I’ve been through much worse. It’s not easy being a man, with no belongings and nobody to call a family. The street lamps flickered, dimmed slowly then again brightened up. Something fluttered towards my neck, pricking my skin. I stood up. I swatted it away. I walked few paces, and I kicked a beer can. I decided to go back to my tiny flat.
Suddenly, behind me, I saw the car lights. As I turned back, the lights blinded my eyes. Then the car, went on, full speed. The tires screeched and scratched on the beaten down highway. It was the same car, because it was one that didn’t have a license plate. I stared at it, as it was moving far, and then, I saw something dreadful. The eyes of the man, rotated and stared at me through the back of his head. I saw pool of blood trailing through the path the car went. I stood there, jaw-dropped, horrified, just motionless.
