Page 6 of Crash
“Oh. Hi! I didn’t expect anyone to answer so quickly. The service out here is terrible.” Excitement was clear in her voice.
“What do you want?” Quynh deflated at the abrasive tone. Guess today won’t be getting better anytime soon.
“Oh, um, I need help. My car broke down, and I’mabout ten miles from town.” She bit her lip, fingers tapping against the steering wheel to distract herself from breaking down in tears again.
“Yeah, alright. Give me a few minutes.”
“Oh, thank-”
Quynh pulled her phone away from her ear as the telltale tone of her phone shutting itself off echoed in her ears.
“Wow, that was…rude.”
She blew her bangs out of her face and rested her head against the headrest.
What a day today had been.
She tried not to let her thoughts spiral, but the events of the last twenty-four hours had finally caught up to her. Tears welled in her eyes as the crushing sensation of being lost threatened to consume her. She fought so hard to get to where she was today. She'd undergone years of therapy and worked through her insecurities to help her move forward with her life and her career. It was all for nothing. She knew she was being dramatic, but she was allowed to be.
I can’t believe I was fired.
Never in her life did she imagine she would be fired from a job. Even more astounding was shortly after, she watched her boss wheel away in a body bag. After her embarrassing encounter with the detective at the crimescene, they asked her to go down to the precinct to answer some questions.
With her options limited to driving herself or a ride in his police car, Quynh reluctantly agreed. She opted to drive herself to the police station instead of being transported in the back of his police car like a suspect. Quynh wanted to get it over with quickly so she could move on with her life. Besides, it wasn’t like she had anything useful to report.
As she sat in the cold, sterile examination room, she reflected on the absurdity of the moment. At the direction of the detective, she gave a statement that was recorded for evidence. Following her statement, the detectives informed her Jared was under investigation, but refused to answer her when she pressed for more details. After what seemed like hours, the detectives wrapped up their questioning and told her they’d stay in touch if there were any fresh developments. Until then, she could not get her belongings from the office until the investigation was complete.
In those awful moments, she was trapped like some damsel in distress stuck inside a horror movie or a living nightmare.
She fought back more tears as the setting sun cast a kaleidoscope of colors in her rearview mirror. Streams of pink, purple, and orange stretched across the horizon. It would be a magnificent sight if she weren’t so distraught.She reached over the glove compartment for more napkins and blew her nose. A loud knock at her window made her jump.
Her heart leapt in her chest at the man looking down at her. A very large, but handsome man. Her nerves calmed slightly when she caught sight of his name patch, Griffin, embroidered on his thick coat.
At his gesture, she rolled her car window down. Shelly did not have automatic windows, and she squawked noisily at being mishandled. Quynh pressed her lips together as she continued to roll the window down.
“You called for help?”
“Yes, my car broke down. I can’t get it to start up again.” She winced at how hoarse her voice sounded from crying.
Griffin grunted as if annoyed with the situation.
Me too, buddy.
She watched as Griffin walked to the front of her car. The look of disappointment as he stared down at Shelly made her want to cringe. Hands on his hips, he brought his assessing gaze up to meet hers through the dirty window.
“You’re going to need to tow it back to the shop.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. She got out of Shelly and slowly approached Griffin.
Isn’t that why he was here?
“I didn’t think Shelly would make it into town, so I called for a tow truck,” she stated slowly.
“No, you called an auto body shop. I don’t tow. That’s Ricky’s gig. And who the fuck is Shelly?”
Her mouth parted in surprise.
“But the message on Ricky’s voicemail said to call Griffin’s Auto Body in case of emergencies. Well, I would consider this an emergency.” She gestured toward her broken-down car. “And Shelly is my car.” At that moment, Shelly let out a puff of black smoke as if she were saying hello.
