Split The Difference

There we were speeding along a curving main road in my hometown. It was four lanes wide, two lanes going and two coming.

"Don't you ever follow the speed limit?" my brother asked sarcastically.

"Whats the speed limit..." I asked coyly.

"Bitch, you know the limit........you haven't been away from here that long," he shot back.

As he said this I was passing a car which was on the right; it was red. As I turned my attention back to the front, I noticed my speedometer was tapping 58 while the limit was a 40. As I had the sense of amusement, for I knew the limit and was just in a hurry to go eat, I noticed a Camaro on the near opposite lane wanting to turn ahead. The turn was going to cross my path and that of the car that I had just passed. No biggie.....it would just have to wait until the red car and I cleared........well little did I know the Camaro was for student drivers........

The student driver began his half-ass turn and decided to stop. The problem is that there is no turning lane on this four lane road. His fucking nose was three to four feet into my lane which is already narrow as it is. He decided to stop......... Anyhow I put on the brakes, but my momentum was just carrying me through and through........the back brakes locked up and the rears skidded. I wanted to swerve to my right, but the red car was upcoming.

I wanted to stop but I was going too fast. The next course of action......TURN INTO THE FUCKING CAR! There is a problem with that........the opposing lane furthest from me, nearest to the student driver Camaro was a large Chevy SUV. Two sets of cars even with each other going in their respective directions, not much room for error.

No time to think! I turned into the Camaro and the on-coming white Chevy and hoped to split the difference. Sure enough there was room for the Camaro had pulled enough into my lane to free up space between his car and the adjacent truck. I squeaked through there as nimble as a cat. By this time, my bro's ass was off the seat with a big time "shock and awe" look on his face.

"Fucken eh baby!" I said so excitedly for I had pulled off a total disaster. I had been tested and passed! I kept my nerve in the face of sure disaster and possible death. At no time did I ever think of the pain or loss that would have been experienced in the coming moments. All that ran in my head was, "how do you play this?" "How do you avoid disaster?" I passed with flying colors. My bro and I were stoked about it afterwards. We high-fived each other and laughed. I was totally ripped to do anything. The adrenaline was phenomenal.......

Its been 8 hours since it happened. I know for sure that the occupants of those four cars/trucks will have a story to tell from here on out. Death was cheated today!! I know that later on at lunch, my brother seemed a bit held back a bit.......I guess the reality caught up to him of what had happened and what could have been....... After all, he has a daughter.........I don't have shit.

I'm sorry that I had put him through that. His ass was out of the seat hollering through the whole dilemma. He values life a bit more than I do. Amazingly, I was calm afterwards.......no shakes, no sweating, no sense of loss, no sense of remorse, no thanks to God for averting disaster..........I was cold about it. I joked sparingly about it. In fact at lunch, my mother had talked about a funeral she attended.........."well, you almost attended two more today, let me tell ya," I chimed back.

Cynical about love, happiness, and now life.........my God, what has happened to me............