Hit and Roll

Hit and Roll(Brian Hartman) Dave rolled down the street, headed towards the bagel shop. It was early, and the roads were virtually empty, so he decided to save himself some trouble and get a little closer to the middle of the road.

Big mistake.

As he came to a corner, he saw a blue Thunderbird stopped at a stop sign. He looked inside at the driver. She looked his way, so he figured she must've seen him. Somehow, she accelerated right into him. Dave's chair flipped back. His Walkman went flying into the middle of the street. As all this unfolded, the woman jumped out of her car.

"Oh my God! Are you alright? I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!"

He could see the alarm on her face, borne mostly out of a sense of responsibility, mingled with fear, no doubt. He swung his legs out of the overturned chair, then put it back on all fours, and got back in.

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

A balding man with glasses came running up.

"Hey! Stay here. Try not to move. I called it in, and they said they'd send someone here to check you out."

By this point, Dave was thoroughly embarrassed, and slightly amused.

"Really. I'm fine. Look." He did windmills with both his arms, and rolled his head on his shoulders, demonstrating. Of course, neither of them would hear it, so he waited for the ambulance, and the one cop car that he figured must've been on the way.

"I'm really sorry. Are you alright? Anything hurt?"

"I'm okay. Really. To be honest, I think you're in much worse shape than I am."

The bald man says, "Well, we'll just have them check you out."

"Okay." Turning to the driver, I say "My name's Dave Riggler."

"Erin Lubczek."

"Ron Nelson."

The woman handed Dave his Walkman, and he plugged in the headphones, which he still had around his neck. She handed him the tape and he put it in.

"S'it alright?"

Dave pressed play and breathed a sigh of relief. It's amazing how something that costs thirty-five dollars can be so indestructible. The thing played just as well as it did before he'd dropped it for the thirtieth-or-so time. Dave smiled.

"It's fine. Thanks."

Distantly, sirens whined. Three blue and white patrol cars pulled up. Three policemen came towards Dave. One policeman seemed to hold authority in the group. The one with the clipboard. He came up to the group, while surveying the car and Dave's chair. One of the other policemen reached into his car and talked into a CB. The other just stood there, looking attentively absent.

"What happened here?"

"I was turning the corner", she gestured towards it, "and I ran into him.", gestured towards Dave.

The policeman wrote on his clipboard.

"How're you feeling? You hurt?"

Dave nodded. "I feel fine, sir." More windmills.

An ambulance pulled up.

Dave waved off the approaching EMT's. "Really, Sorry to cause such a panic. I'm fine. No problem."

The EMT's look on dutifully, anxious and eager to get to their task.

The bald man chipped in, "You should let 'em take a look at you anyway, just to be sure."

"I'm fine, really. What's the worst that could happen? I'll be in a wheelchair the rest of my life? Not really an issue here, sir." Dave smiled, but no one else thought it was funny, apparently.

"What's your name?", the policeman asked.

"Riggler, David Riggler."

"Address?"

"45 Lynch Ave, Kearny."

"Age?"

"17."

"Do you want to go in the ambulance, have them check you at Clara Maas?"

"No. Don't worry about it. I got it."

The woman insisted on giving Dave an insurance business card. Allstate. He put it in my front pouch. Memento.

The policeman gave him a paper to sign. Dave signed it, and the cop got into his car. The others did likewise.

The group disbanded, and Dave was on his way.

All this for a freakin' bagel... I'm definitely getting extra cream cheese...