Larry and his wife, Julie, had separated. They just could not get along any longer. They fought whenever they were together and so, they decided not to be together. At least this would stop the fighting, even if it would not stop the feelings. And their passions ran deep. That is one of the reasons they were still attracted to each other.
He could be a hot head and strong-willed. She liked that about him. She stood up for herself and stood up to him. He liked that about her. But neither would bend to the other’s wishes and in the end, both would break.
They decided to meet for drinks and talk things out, one last time. Of course, the drink was also a part of their relationship. He liked beer. He liked beer a lot. She preferred the fancy drinks; cocktails with fruit and colorful names. The first glass left her head spinning. Each successive drink increased her numbness to his hurtful remarks and increased her courage to make a few cuts of her own.
After several hours of talking and drinking, the bartender told them it was time to close up. They poured into his car and started the drive home. Talk turned into accusation. Finger pointing turned into shouting and it was not long before they forgot about the interstate and the traffic and saw only their renewed hatred of each other. With each cutting remark from her drunken mouth, his foot pressed harder on the gas. Every foul word he hurled at her brought a spasm of the muscles in his strong arms.
In a flash of time, his shouts and her yells were lost in the screeching of tires, the sound of crushing metal and broken glass. Because the car was going nearly ninety miles-an-hour, the thick embankment in the median was not enough to stop it. Instead, it acted like a ramp for a movie stunt car. It launched the car into the air, causing it to spin. When the car came to earth, the impact was so severe that the entire driver’s side was instantly crushed into the center of the car. But it was not over.
The car continued its trajectory, on its side. The roof of the car caught at the edge of the median and the car began to roll. It tossed into the air and slammed back to the ground. Over and over again. It rolled nine times, flinging bumpers, hubcaps, mirrors, floor mats, doors, and glass. Each item spun off into the air and scattered itself across the highway creating a debris field 300 feet long. At some point, certainly before the first impact, Larry had been ejected from the vehicle. His drunken, dead body lay in the dewy grass of the interstate median.
The car finally came to a stop. Not a sound was heard except Julie’s moans of pain. She was unconscious, blood dripped from multiple cuts and wounds. Both legs, three ribs, her left wrist and right eye socket were broken. A truck driver coming home from Texas witnessed the entire accident. He called for help immediately. Later, the doctors told the family that Julie would not have lived if help had not arrived so soon.
The Funeral – Part II will be available next week.
