Page 36 of We Never Kissed

“Is Daddy coming?” I didn’t like going places without my dad, even though he sometimes wasn’t nice to me or my mom. Even when she was sick or had trouble moving around, he would get mad. But I didn’t think I was strong enough to help her.

“No, Daddy can’t come.”

I noticed she was driving pretty fast, passing other cars, and I was scared. “Will we be home in time for dinner?” Dad had said he was bringing home pizza.

“Stop asking me so many questions.” She moved so Icould see more of her face in the mirror. “We have to go away, honey.”

“Go away? From Daddy?” I’d heard them arguing many times before, both of them saying they were going to take me away somewhere, but they never did.

The beeping went off again, and I saw my mom pick up the pager from the seat next to her and then throw it to the ground. “Damn him. He’s not taking my son away from me.” She was crying, and the car was swerving some.

“Mommy, I’m scared. I want to go home.” I tried not to cry, even though Dad wasn’t there, but I didn’t want to get in trouble. He was always grumpy when I cried.

The car jerked to the side, and I heard a horn honk. Dad always asked me questions about my mom, and if he asked about this, I knew he’d be mad. Sometimes, Mom said, “Don’t tell Daddy,” and I bet she would say that about this too.

I didn’t know how long we drove like that, but my mom stopped answering me. It was like she was in a race, and she kept looking in the mirror.

I was watching her eyes in the mirror, so I didn’t know what happened—only that suddenly the car was jerking in all directions, my body being pushed and pulled, and I heard a loud screeching noise, then smashing and crunching. My mom screamed, and so did I. I squeezed my eyes shut until everything went still.

When I opened my eyes, I knew something very bad had happened because I was on my side and had slipped out of my seatbelt some. “Mommy!” She didn’t answer. “Mommy! The car is upside down!”

I couldn’t help it. I started crying. After a while, I heard my mom’s voice.

“Alex, get out!” She just kept screaming it over and over until I got myself moving.

I was able to crawl and climb my way out through the front where the windshield used to be, but when I got out, I didn’t see my mom. She was still in the car. I was on my hands and knees on the ground. I turned back around and saw her pressed up against her door in a weird, crumpled way. I called out, “Mommy, get out.”

“I can’t, baby. I’m stuck. We’ll have to wait for help.”

I wasn’t sure where we were, but I didn’t see anyone around. “Wait, I hear sirens.” But then I saw something else, the most horrible thing I’d ever seen. Our car had flames on it. “Mommy, the car’s on fire.”

“Oh, God. It’s okay, just back away, sweetie, as far as you can.”

I didn’t listen to her. Instead, I crawled closer and peered at her through the opening I’d come out of.

“God dammit, Alex, go back. Now.”

“No, Mommy, I have to help you.”

“It’s just my seatbelt. I can’t get out of it. Someone iscoming to help. You have to stay back.” She shook her head as I stared at her, tears streaming down her face.

“I don’t want you to get burned, Mommy.”

“Oh, my God, no. Alex, please go back.”

I didn’t care what she said. I crawled back through the opening and didn’t notice a piece of glass sticking out until it scraped across my chest. “Mommy!” It hurt so bad.

“Dammit, Alex, why aren’t you listening? What happened?”

“Please, just get out, Mommy.” I reached over and tugged on her arm, but she yanked it free.

“Okay, listen,” she said, breathing hard. “See if you can get a big piece of glass, and I’ll try to cut the seatbelt.”

I crawled around, searching, feeling the sting of pain in my chest and my hands and knees. “All the pieces are so small.” I kept looking and then, I saw it. “Daddy’s pocket knife!” I snatched it up and handed it to my mom.

As she started cutting, she kept telling me to get out, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen, watching her sawing at the belt. The next thing I knew, hands grabbed my arms and pulled me back out of the car.

Chapter 20

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