Conversations

The case of Belgian beer clanked together on the passenger seat of the old rustic chevy pick-up as it rattled down the avenue. Joel's elbow hung out the open window while his head rested snugly in his palm, the wind rustling his once parted hair. Normally he'd be singing to the latest top five, belting out over the radio, but there were other things on his mind. More important things.

Joel's tongue moistened his lips as he leaned forward in his seat, uncomfortably adjusting the seat belt. He swallowed hard, wondering how exactly he should start what he needed to start, and say what he needed to say. Joel closed his eyes.

"Hey buddy!" he practiced, not sure if it was the right tone. "Sorry I couldn't be there when your flight got in. Just couldn't get out of work, you know. Those few sick days I took off so we could go to Vegas really came back to bite me this time." Joel chuckled nervously. He looked at the beer sitting in the passenger seat. A drop of condensation rolled down one of the labels, as if shedding a tear for what was sure to follow.

The light at the intersection ahead switched to red. Joel slowed his truck to a halt as a women walking her dog crossed the street. His eyes followed her and the dog across to the other side.

"Damn Chihuahuas. Ugly little rats."

He looked back at the road ahead with the light still red and continued his one sided conversation. "So yeah, sorry I couldn't be there to pick you up, but I'm sure it was probably better off as family time, you know. I mean after not seeing your wife and kids for eight months, I could only imagine,"

A car horn behind him squealed to life. Joel snapped out of his speech as he realized the light ahead of him was green. He stomped down on the gas and accelerated. He looked into the review mirror at the car behind him.

"Fucking ass hole."

Joel took a left at the next light, into a more residential area.

"But hey," he started back up, "you wanna sit down? There's something I need to tell you." Joel sighed. He wondered if this was actually how it would go. If he'd actually be able to go through with it. "I mean, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now. Like I wanted to tell you this earlier, just, I don't know, never found a chance to. Or at least saw the right moment."

Joel stopped at a four way, than continued on.

"You know, I wanted to say something before you left, but I guess I thought it was probably better to not tell you then, because you didn't need to be pissed off with your thoughts someplace else when your life was on the line and bullets zinging past you."

He turned right and drove a short ways until he came up on his friends house, but the sight of his friends wife outside, working on the flowers sent chills down his back.. He drove past, hoping she didn't notice him.

"Shit," he sighed, and shook his head. "Why isn't she at work?" Joel stopped at the red street light. "Things just got a whole lot worse." He reached over and grabbed a single glass bottle from the passenger seat, snapping the cap off with the opener he wore as a necklace. "Guess I'll just drive around the block." He wiped his hands across the legs of his jeans and tried to swallow some of his fears. It didn't work "Now instead of just killing me when I tell him he'll kill both of us." The traffic looked clear. He accelerated. "So I guess I'll just have to come out and-"

A car ripped through the passenger side of Joel's truck. His head whipped sideways, striking the door as chunks of glass sprayed across his face. Joel lost consciousness as the truck began to roll on its side.

Joel's eye's quivered open, only to be rebuked by the sun's midday onslaught. Broken glass cut his neck and arms as he tried to lean up in vain. His strength was gone. He couldn't feel his legs. The aroma of hops mixing with blood filled his nostrils as he rested back against the hard surface of what once was his truck's roof. Before he closed his eyes and lost consciousness completely, the cry of a far off ambulance echoed in his mind. An ambulance he only hoped wouldn't make it in time.